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“Addictions can be very, very bad but addiction itself is not bad.
It’s a case of what you’re addicted to.
You better live each day like it’s your last, ‘cos one day you’re going to be right”.
Ray Charles.
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- Iceland.
Before she knew what Kanu Verein Unterweser even meant, Freya had spent 10 years in competitive gymnastics, 5 years in competitive body building and 10 years of skydiving, with 1500 jumps to her name.
- Iceland.
She was the first German female tandem pilot to amass 500 tandem jumps and her most exotic skydiving location was over the North Pole, getting washed out of a Russian Iljushin plane at 300kph’s with a tandem passenger strapped to her chest.
- Iceland.
She started kayaking 1997 in a folding kayak with her newborn son in the back hatch and in 2003, she started paddling in the North Sea along the German and Danish coastlines.
In 2004 she participated in her first international sea kayak symposium in Wales and that changed everything. This led to her in that year winning the Arctic Sea Kayak Marathon in Norway, placing 2nd in 2006 in the 300 km race around the Danish Island Fyn and had her paddle the 120 k’s around the Isle of Man 14 hours, seven minutes.
Her first extended week expedition was a three week trip in May 2006 on the remote south coast of Newfoundland and after that she and her paddling partner Greg Stamer set out on June 2007 to circumnavigate Iceland; day one required a 90 k crossing of Faxafloi Bay, followed by a second day of 100 k’s which included a 65 k crossing and 22 hrs of overall water time.
Going from headland to headland was a major feature of the trip, with some quiet weather on the west and north coasts, challenging conditions on the eastern one and especially on the infamous remote black sand southern one.
Although it was not a race, the pair completed the circumnavigation in record time, including two long open-water crossings that had never been done by kayak and they encountered great numbers of whales, dolphins and seals, saw skies darkened by vast numbers of seabirds and were dwarfed by mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and huge cliffs.
- Top end of Australia.
They completed the 1620 k circumnavigation in 33 days, taking 25 paddling days and averaging 65 k’s per day.
She then set her sights on becoming the first woman to successfully circumnavigate New Zealand’s South Island as this 2,386 k trip is recognized as one of the most beautiful, yet committing and challenging paddles on earth.
She set a new solo record completing the trip in 70 days overall, with only 47 paddling days and averaging 50 k’s per day. She paddled solo and unsupported, carrying all her camping equipment and food in the kayak and re-supplying along the way on the few longer sections.
Some more vivid memories of the trip? “Huge seas and swells, relentless roaring surf on the west coast, the remote Fjordlands with no road access for more than 500 k’s and few sheltered landing spots, are some of the reasons why only three men have succeeded in the past 30 years”.
The unforgiving ocean was a significant factor as it broke the stern off her kayak and when her favourite paddle was lost but the beautiful scenery, seals and dolphins and remote coastlines made up for these tribulations, even though the last day saw her continuously paddling for 165 k’s over 32.5 hrs.
- Top end of Oz and a massive sea snake.
When she finished, she became the first woman to do the trip, the 4th person overall and in the record time of 70 days, of which 47 were on the water.
Sooooo, one might think that after that lot it might be nice to knock off for a bit, have a couple of ice creams or 500 but 2009 has seen her undertake what is considered to be the ultimate challenge for a sea kayaker and has only been done once before and 27 years ago at that.
For all of 2009 Freya has been paddling the entire coastline of Australia, the whole 13,810 k’s of it and the whole fantastic journey is recorded at her site here
An extraordinary achievement and rationally one would think it might be a crowning and final one but somehow this seems unlikely …….
