From Hamburg to Australia in a Canoe (German article)

Date1930s

Object numberANMS0542[016]

NameNewspaper clipping

MediumInk on paper

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Nancy Jean Steele Bequest

Terms

DescriptionThe German canoeist Oskar Walter Speck has arrived at Tanjung Priok, the harbour city of Batavia (Java). He left Hamburg on 13 May 1932 and initially planned to travel in his canoe only as far as Ceylon. Arriving there, he decided to continue his adventurous and lonely journey to the Far East. The canoeist, who was all of 25 years old when he set out, gave the Indian Port Authority a report about his trip, which then appeared in the local Java newspapers and brought him considerable admiration there. No-one has so far undertaken an adventure of a similar kind. His first boat, already six years old when he set out on his trip, took him as far as Iran. There, he needed to start using a new boat.