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Ted Audio Collective. You're

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listening to Ted Talks Daily. I'm your host,

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Elise Hugh. You're about to

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hear a gripping true story of resilience

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and survival. Iron Woman paddler and record

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breaker Bonnie Hancock shares at 2023's Ted

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at BCG, her

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experience of taking on part of the sea

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that no one has before, and the

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lessons that Mother Nature taught her out there after

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the break. Let

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me take you back to a day in my life. July

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2021. I was

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sitting with my laptop on my

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lap, slightly sweating, awaiting a call that

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could change my life. You

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see, a year ago I read a book about

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a woman who paddled around Australia, beating

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the men before her to become the fastest ever

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to do so. I'm

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sure most people would read that book and think, wow,

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and forget about the idea, but I

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cannot get it out of my mind. I'm

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a surf lifesaver and an ex-professional Iron

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Woman, and I want to beat that record. I

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want to become the fastest person to

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paddle around Australia. But

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to do so, I'll need to paddle

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80 to 100 kilometers a day and

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cover every meter of coastline in less than

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10 and a half months. A

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ski is basically a kayak that

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builds to withstand wind and swells and everything

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thrown up by the ocean. It's

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six meters long, just 45 centimeters

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across at its widest point, and

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made of carbon fiber, it weighs eight

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kilograms. Oh, I'll

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also need a support catamaran and a

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jet ski and a skipper and crew

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crazy enough to come with me for the

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journey. It's going to cost a

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really significant amount of money too, and my

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husband and I have sold our cars, but

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our sacrifice is just a drop in

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the ocean of funds needed. This

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call today is my opportunity to help you get

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to the ocean. to learn a sponsorship

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deal, which will enable me to start the paddle.

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And 15 minutes after the start of

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that call, I received the

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last change in yes I've been seeking, which

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gives me six months to plan the journey, to

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figure out what direction I'm going to paddle

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in clockwise, how to stay safe

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and how to film the journey. But

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despite the challenges that lay ahead,

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it finally feels real. In

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December, I will set

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out to cover every metre of

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rugged, unforgiving coastline

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of Australia. Flash

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forward, February 2022. I

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am 500 kilometres out to sea and

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facing the crossing of the Great Australian

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Bight, that untameable stretch of water at the

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bottom of Australia. If

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successful, I will be the first

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person to cross directly across the Bight, as

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opposed to those prior to me who would hug the coastline.

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But I figure that to break a world record, I

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need to be prepared to go where no one has before.

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I had a little scare earlier today, though. I

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fell out of my ski and I couldn't get back in. I

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was 100 kilometres into paddling. So

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the fifth time I tried to haul myself up

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into my ski, as I did

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so, I slid into the icy water, the shock

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of it sending, a chill up my spine like

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I'd touched an electric fence. Out

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here, it's freezing and hypothermia

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is a real risk. I've

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lost eight kilograms in the last two weeks from

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seasickness. My support

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boat's having trouble slowing down. They're sailing away

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from me in the 25 knot wind gusts.

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They're not turning around. One

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more time, I try to haul myself up into

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my ski and fail again. In

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waters known for killer whales and great white

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sharks, I start

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to sink into a sense of self-pity and

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feel terribly scared. But

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as I do so, I look up at the night sky and

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I feel like a dot in the grand scheme of crime.

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I also have a

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realisation. Out here, staying

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still is the worst thing I can do. If

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I can't get into my ski, I need to keep

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moving forward. I need to swim. So

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slowly but surely I move my arms as

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my legs start to follow and I inch

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my way towards the support boat. They're

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finally coming back to me now. I

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forgot to mention, it's night time. They're

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50 metres away and I can hear them calling

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out, seeing if I'm okay. By

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the time I'm pulled aboard, I've

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been submerged in the bite for 10 minutes. I'm

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so cold I can't speak. The

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bulging distance in my back are on fire and

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it feels like my back is breaking into. My

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lips are cracked and bleeding from dehydration.

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But the worst thing is, I need

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to get back in these waters and

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paddle for 16 hours again tomorrow

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as I'm just halfway across the bite. I've

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not really been able to hold any food down in

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the last two days due to seasickness.

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The only bit of protein I've got in my

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stomach is about five almonds from this morning. So

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I'm just running off soft textured carbohydrate.

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I had some rice and Nutella

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and banana just then. So I'm really hoping

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it stays down. I pretty much have nothing

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in my stomach at the moment. Yes,

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it's really, really tough. So I'm trying to

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focus mentally when you're focused to go with

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no fuel in the tank. I

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made it across the bite. And on

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the 23rd of April, 2022, it's my birthday. I'm

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32 years old and I'm two

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months ahead of the world record. I

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saw 25 turtles on my paddle yesterday, but

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such experiences have become the norm. I've

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been surrounded by dolphins in the middle of the ocean,

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had seals play beside me, seen

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flying fish scoop 50 metres across the water

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in front of me. I've

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seen indigenous carvings over tens of thousands

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of years old. I've

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also had sharks, so a little too much interest.

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in my ski for my liking. At

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the moment I've got a fishing boat supporting me, and

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since the start of the trip I've had a mix

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of fishing boat, catamaran and jet ski. I've

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also got a crew of amazing young men who

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champion me every day. They're excellent

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listeners, they're feminists, but I'm

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missing having a female around when I have my period.

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I'm not quite ready to trouble the guys about

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menstrual cramps just yet. I'm

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also addicted to lolly snakes, which are known as gummy

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worms in other parts of the world that I found

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out recently. It's not my

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fault I'm addicted to them, though. The skipper

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of my crew, who looks like Crocodile Dundee and

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he's a kubra hut, said them to me on

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day one, and now I'm obsessed, I'm eating around

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a pack of the day. I

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do eat other things, though. Cut up

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wraps, fresh apple, we'll just crackers, they're

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among my favourites. As

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a dietician, which is my day job, I

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had the perfect plan for nutrition, and

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that all went out the window on day one when

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the craving started. I'm

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in Broome in Western

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Australia. This is where

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they say the crocodiles start and

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continue right across the top of the country.

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May 2022. Yesterday,

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my crew saw a crocodile 10 metres

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from my ski, watching,

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waiting. They were

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quick to call me into the boat and pull

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me aboard, but this record means I need to

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paddle every metre of coastline. That

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means today, I had to

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get back in the water where they saw that

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crocodile yesterday. It

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doesn't help that the water's brown and

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the hundreds of logs feel like crocodile

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heads waiting to pounce. Crocodiles

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are predators. They're patient, they'll

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stalk as long as needed. There's

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also hundreds of sea snakes out here that

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nobody told me about. Yellow

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with black markings, they're thick as pythons, and they

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coil up at me as I pass. At

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night, I try not to hit them with my paddle. So

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when water's known... For crocodiles and

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sea snakes, as I climb down into

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my ski, I tell my crew to

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talk to me. Childhood stories,

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jokes, riddles, just keep talking to

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distract me from what lies beneath.

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When I was an iron woman, I

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thought that vulnerability was weakness. Bestowick

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I thought, game face always at the ready.

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But out here, in these waters,

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no game face will help. Telling

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my crew I'm scared enables me to

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get through the day. And

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we talk and joke and

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laugh our way through the

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most dangerous waters in the world. On

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the 28th of August, 2022,

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I set foot on

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the shores of the Gold Coast for

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the first time in eight months as a world

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record holder. I

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paddled around Australia in 254 days, beating

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the previous record by over two and a half

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months. But while

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crossing the tape, it was very exciting. It

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wasn't the most valuable thing I took from this record.

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See, remember that time I told you about in the middle of

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the bite when I looked up at the night sky? It

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was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. And

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in that moment, I had another realization.

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Instead of feeling scared, I felt lucky.

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Instead of that sense of self-pity, I felt

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grateful, grateful and lucky to

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experience a perspective seen by so few

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humans ever before. And

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that gratitude carried me 12,700 kilometers around the

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country. Mother

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Nature taught me resilience, to

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keep pushing as a storm is only ever fleeting.

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She taught me to step back and

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look around as beauty can

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be found in the darkest of places. And

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though the sand and salt has been washed from

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my body, and someone

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someday will break my world record, I

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know they will, the

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memories I have from this past. will stay with

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me forever. And I

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know that all I ever need to do is

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take a step back and

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look around and remember, how

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lucky am I, how lucky

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are we to be part of

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this amazing, crazy, unpredictable

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journey of life, even

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if we are just a drop in

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the ocean. Thank you. Thanks.