Aussie paddler Bonnie Hancock rewrites the record books setting the fastest circumnavigation of mainland Australia by paddle in the Shaw and Partners Paddle of Aus

After 254 days, Queensland ironwoman Bonnie Hancock paddled into the Gold Coast’s Northcliffe Beach Sunday morning, to write her name into the history books after clocking the fastest ever circumnavigation of mainland Australia by paddle with her 12,700km journey Shaw and Partners Paddle of Aus.   

The ultra-endurance athlete left the Gold Coast last December 19 (2021) and sealed the job 254 days later with a finish in front of a big Northcliffe crowd early Sunday morning August 28, 2022.

Thirty-two year old Hancock is the first Australian woman, and the youngest ever paddler, to complete a circumnavigation of mainland Australia by paddle.  Piloting a 9-kilo carbon NK surf ski, the Gold Coast athlete also claims a new women’s world mark for the longest 24-hour paddle - covering an incredible distance of 213km, off Cape York - from Lockhart River past Flinders Island.

She is only the fifth person in history to successfully lap Australia on a ski or kayak, and the second woman.   

Bonnie was born in Sawtell on the NSW mid-north coast to a family of four girls and reared with a love for surf lifesaving.  The former ironwoman lives on the Gold Coast and is a practicing dietitian,  and “Bon” as she is known to friends, is married to the expedition leader, Matt Palmer.

Whilst reaching many personal milestones, and setting new world marks, Hancock used the paddle to raise awareness and funds for mental fitness charity Gotcha 4 Life.

“This journey has been far tougher, but also far more incredible, that I could have ever imagined,” said Hancock after crossing the finish line

“When I thought of setting a lap around Australia, I really did not realise how big Australia was!   It is mammoth.   But it is also so incredibly beautiful, it is just an amazing country and we are so lucky to live here.

“This 254 day journey has been life-changing, so many lessons, just memories for me forever.

“Team was crucial, I relied so fully on our crew.   It’s funny but the harder we worked, the deeper we dug, things seemed to fall into place. 

“We met people who just opened doors.  The Gold Diggers, the Cruising Kiwis, in the end they extended a helping hand and carried us forward and somehow, stroke after stroke, 12700 kilometres plus of paddle strokes,  we eventually got there.”

“The first month, my back felt like breaking every day, but I knew the only way was forward.  I knew my body was going to become conditioned to the extremes, but I really did not know how long it would take.

“But my will to complete this outweighed any pain

“The goal to do the fastest circumnavigation became my secondary focus as I went on, Gotcha4Life and raising money for mental fitness really gave me the motivation to continue.

“I had people messaging me, and people following with their own mental health struggles.  I thought if I could give them some hope in their dark days, if I could get through this, then they can apply it to their life and that’s what we all have to know.  We are far more resilient that we believe.”

There’s no question Hancock’s mental fitness, skill, and stamina were tested during her paddle, with the former ironwoman enduring wild weather, sharks, crocodiles, hypothermia, nausea and sickness during her 254-day expedition.

Armed with her personal mantra – ‘We will get this done’ - Hancock conquered a horror 17-day stretch across the Great Australian Bight where she made a strategic move paddling 500 km off the coast, rather than hug the coastline, to cut 1000 km off her circumnavigation.

Mother nature punished her for the shortcut sending six metre swells, huge storms and freezing Antarctic water to test her mettle.  Bonnie endured 17 days and nights in high seas, struck with sea-sickness, vomiting and nausea.

When she hit Esperance after her 17-day ordeal, it was COVID times.  Hancock was taken by ambulance - with WA police escort - to hospital, given two IV drips for dehydration and exhaustion, tested for COVID, and then sent back to sea for seven days in “COVID isolation”, paddling on to Albany.

Heading up the WA coast, she was tested by the daunting 180 km of coastline of the 250 m high Zuytdorp Cliffs; when she reached the Northern Territory she took a direct route across the Gulf of Carpentaria and was battered by six days of 5 metre heads seas; and then as she turned Cape York to head down the QLD coast she was struck by five days of trade winds, seasickness, no sleep and little food.

Further south, exhausted and about to give up, a gritty Hancock set off at 4.30am to beat looming bad weather.  She somehow dug deep, surged, and put in a mammoth 24-hour stint off Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula – paddling a massive 213 km with only two, 15-minute breaks - earning her a new world mark for a female.

Although pitted against the perils of mother nature, Hancock also experienced many magical moments at sea including paddling with 50 dolphins at Port Lincoln, being sung to by a humpback whale and her calf in Far North Queensland, experiencing the clear blue waters at Ningaloo, exploring the caves at Wedge Island (SA) surrounded by seals and ancient looking dolphins, and being greeted by a complete circular sunset with a rainbow-coloured sky at remote Daw Island off the WA coast – her first and only land stop as she travelled across the Bight.

Whilst paddling solo, Hancock says her journey was possible through the dedication and tenacity of her support crew, who faced many challenges of their own.

The Shaw Partners Paddle of AUS crew was headed up by her husband Matt Palmer and friend Ben Lavery, who handled the day-to-day logistics from land. She was also followed on water by a jet ski and ever-changing support boats including The Cruising Kiwis on their catamaran and Discovery Channel’s “Gold Diggers”, Goaty and Ryan Peters, aboard their boat “Good Times”.   There was also a film crew on hand to capture the adventure, but the entire team also acted as cooks, masseurs, cheer squad, motivators, mental health coaches, medical crew and entertainment.

Back on dry land for good, Hancock has raised over $70,000 towards her target of raising $100,000 for Gotcha 4 Life.  Gotcha 4 Life works to end suicide by delivering programs that create meaningful mateship, build emotional muscle, and strengthen social connection in local communities.   

Watch Nine Sports Sunday segment: https://www.shawandpartners.com.au/videos/shaw-and-partners-paddle-of-aus-bonnie-hancock/

View full image gallery: https://www.shawandpartners.com.au/image-gal_bonnie-hancock-paddle-of-aus/