Oskar Speck

Oskar Speck (4 March 1907 – 28 March 1993) was a German canoeist who kayaked from Germany to Australia. He departed from Ulm, Germany in 1932 to seek work due to being unable to find work as an electrical contractor in Hamburg. He initially intended to kayak to Cyprus to work in the copper mines but ended up continuing the journey through the Middle East and Southeast Asia to Australia. He was interned as an enemy alien. They consisted of treated canvas skin that was pulled over a wooden frame. He was often dehydrated, exhausted, sunburnt, and short of food.

After the journey Upon arrival on Thursday Island in Torres Strait, a group of locals welcomed him, but he was arrested by three police officers and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp due to his German background.

Speck was released in January 1946 and, within a week of his release, found work in an opal mine in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. She started the voyage at the age of 42 and spent 5 and half years on her journey from Germany to Australia. In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2016, she claimed that she was inspired by the voyage of German Oskar Speck in the late 1930s. Unlike Speck, she did not face political issues as Australian Border Force personnel were on hand to provide customs clearance; however, she encountered crocodiles, pirates, and malaria. Although Sandy Robson documented her voyage in detail on her blog ‘Sea Kayaker Sandy’, she claimed that like Speck, she also wants to write a book about her voyage. During her interview with The Australian Broadcasting Corporation she also claimed:"I was just captured by the journey he made and inspired to relive that journey in modern times... I've tried also to take something into myself from each of the different cultures as I've travelled across the world... I've been in 20 different countries — there are really fantastic things in each of those cultures that I've experienced."