#175: Bonnie Hancock - Why Not Paddle Around Australia?

This week on the podcast I’m delighted to welcome Bonnie Hancock.

This episode is very timely because today - December 19 - Bonnie sets out on an epic quest: to paddle her surf ski around Australia. 

Her goal: to become the fastest and youngest person to do it.

It’s a journey of 16,000km that will take her around 6 months, along some of the most remote parts of Australia and not to mention through (in places) shark and crocodile-infested waters.

Bonnie grew up in the same coastal town of Sawmill and was joining in activities at her local surf club from the time she was 5. 

At the age of 17, she (and her sister Courtney) moved to the Gold Coast to train and attempt to join the professional (surf life saving) Ironwoman series here in Australia which she did, just a few months later.

After competing in the professional ranks for close to a decade (and a bout of overtraining and burnout), Bonnie switched her attention to ocean ski paddling and finished the Molokai Challenge - a 52km ocean ski race between the islands of Molokai and Oahu in Hawaii, finishing fifth - in her first race in the sport.

Sometime later, she read a book written by the first woman to paddle around Australia, the seed was planted and the rest, as they say, is history!