Kiwi Adventurer On a 12,000 km Human Powered Journey from Singapore to New Zealand

departing dili

Kiwi explorer Grant “Axe” Rawlinson has has plenty of epic adventures in his life. Not only has he climbed Everest, he has trekked and cycled all over the planet, and visited some of the most remote places on Earth. But now, he’s preparing to set out on the third and final stage of an epic journey that he calls Rowing From Home to Home, during which he will have traveled more than 12,000 km (7456 miles) from his current home in Singapore to his birth country of New Zealand.

Stage 1 of the expedition was a 4500 km (2796 mile) row from Singapore to Darwin, Australia via the Indonesian Archipelago. On that part of the journey, Rawlinson was joined by fellow adventurer Charlie Smith. From there, Axe left the boat (and Charlie) behind and embarked on a solo 3900 km (2423 mile) overland trip by bike, starting in Darwin and ending on Australia’s East Coast. Now, the third and final stage of the trip is set to begin, with Grant returning to his row boat once again to cross the Tasman Sea, covering another 3000 km (1864 miles) solo from Australia to New Plymouth in New Zealand.

In a recent blog post, Axe revealed that the final stage of the expedition will commence in October. That’s when he’ll set out from Coff’s Harbour across the Tasman Sea for his homeland. He is expecting the crossing to be the most challenging stage of the entire project, as the weather and rough seas will be unlike any he has faced before. The original plan was for another rower to join Rawlinson on the ocean once again, but after cycling solo across Australia, he has come to the conclusion that he wants to go it alone on this last stage as well.

For the record, Grant has spent 123 days on this expedition so far in 2017. 78 of those days were spent rowing from Singapore to Darwin, and another 45 were on the bike to Coff’s Harbour. It is tough to say how long it will take for him to row to New Plymouth, as weather and ocean conditions will dictate the pace. Plus, rowing solo means having to do all of the work, which will make it longer journey than originally planned too.

You can find out more about the Rowing From Home to Home expedition on Axe’s website, where you can learn a lot more about the journey so far and his other expeditions as well. Good luck Grant!

Kraig Becker