'IT WAS A CRAZY IDEA'

254 DAYS, 12,700 KILOMETRES, SHARKS, CROCODILES AND STRETCHES OF OCEAN, THE ATHLETE'S CIRCUMNAVIGATION AROUND AUSTRALIA BY PADDLE IS ONE FOR THE AGES

- Sara Tapia 

One hundred kilometres off the shores of Western Australia and just days after a very close encounter with a great white shark, Bonnie Hancock knew exactly what she’d be doing when she returned home from her daring circumnavigation by paddle around Australia. “I knew we were heading into crocodile waters soon, so I was trying to prepare myself for that,” the 33-year-old recalls to WHO of the day. “And I turned to my crew and said, ‘I’m gonna write a book about this. I’ve got to.’ I just remember thinking I could not make up these crazy happenings, you know?”

In 2022, over 254 days, Bonnie journeyed 12,700 kilometres around the country solo in a surf ski, breaking records by becoming the fastest ever paddler, the first Australian woman and the youngest person to circumnavigate the continent. “I actually looked in the mirror prior to leaving and thought I knew I wasn’t going to come back the same person, but

I could never have predicted everything that was going to happen to test me in ways I never could imagine,” she shares. “I thought, everything I’m learning about myself, I’m gonna write a book so I can hopefully pass on these lessons.”

Although Bonnie is the first to admit that “it was a crazy idea” that came to her after reading about German sea kayaker, Freya Hoffmeister – who at the time was the fastest ever paddler to complete the feat – the athlete’s hunger for a challenge quickly won out. And having become a professional IronWoman by the age of 17, completing seven IronWoman series and also representing Australia in surf lifesaving, Bonnie certainly had what it took to get the job done.