Stu Trueman has circumnavigated Australia!  What a man!  What a feat! 

From April 2010 to July 2011 he has solo-paddled his way around, facing many trials including serious dehydration on his very first day and a long night paddling a cliffline while ten kilos of water in a loosely-tied drybag on the back deck created an unknown source of constant tension. 

He suffered on his arrival into Sydney when all his mates offered him to eat was an old banana!  He has made many new friends and admirers along the way, including some who remembered when Paul Caffyn passed by.  With infrequent and short emails, he has kept us entertained.  And the home brew supplies of those in isolated places dotted along the northern coastline must be seriously depleted.

Stu, tonight I stand in toast to you mate!

Stu after a training weekend back in June 2008

In Western Australia Stu Trueman is less than two weeks from closing the gap on his round Australia kayak adventure.  How amazing to think back over what he has seen and done and experienced since he started out from Broome in April 2010.  His tales of this expedition are just incredible.

Last night I watched Spot dots for three hours.  Yesterday Mark, Rob and Chris paddled an open crossing of 80km from Fraser Island to Lady Elliot Island off the Queensland coast at the start of their North Reef Expedition.  Sitting in the comfort of home it was somewhat bizarre to join the dots on the map while trying to imagine their journey, checking weather observations to find out what conditions they were encountering and using Google Earth to select the likely landing place on the reef-fringed island.  Mark’s post today fills the gaps with their story of a thirteen hour crossing and a most welcoming landing.

Hats off to all four!