Oskar Speck

Oskar Speck was a German adventurer who in the 1930s paddled his kayak SUNNSCHIEN from Germany to Australia.

He departed from Ulm, Germany, on 18 June 1932, paddling down the Danube. Over his seven years and four months voyage, he stopped at ports in Germany, Austria, Hungary, the former Yugoslavia, the former Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran Jaya, Papua New Guinea and Australia. He arrived at Saibai island, in the northern Torres Strait, on 20 September 1939.

On arrival at Thursday Island he was arrested as an enemy alien and interned for the duration of the war at Loveday and Tatura internment camps. After the war he settled in Australia. Oskar Speck died in 1995.