He initially intended to kayak to Cyprus to work in the copper mines but ended up wanting to continue the journey through Southeast Asia and the Middle East to Australia.

[1] Due to the lack of money and the rumours of miners being needed in the Cypriot mines, Speck decided to kayak there, disregarding the risks including dangerous conditions and his inability to swim.

[3] Speck had never kayaked out at sea, but nonetheless ended up paddling through high swell and large waves, even narrowly avoided a collision with a cargo ship.

[2] After these modifications, Speck was able to travel through the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas by going along the islands and following the coast of Turkey before reaching Cyprus.

[2] Along the Euphrates, Speck experienced a lack of food and water, intense heat as well as regularly being shot at by the locals.

[3] Further into his trip down the Euphrates River, Speck was stranded on a small island with a corpse, where he waited for a week for a storm to pass.

[3] When he reached the Gulf, he continued to paddle down along the coast of Iran where he stayed for six months waiting for a new kayak to arrive.

[2] After a few months, he arrived on the coast of Pakistan, where he stopped at various ports to trade stories of his voyage for food, water, and shelter.

Various stories of his kayak being able to fly, and dive led to him being arrested at the next port he rested at; however, he was released two days later and resumed his trip.

Speck reached Port Moresby in August, before continuing down to the Saibai Island in the far north of Australia, in September 1939.

[2][3][5] The three officers welcoming and congratulating Speck as documented as in the Australasian Post Magazine:“Well done, feller... You’ve made it — Germany to Australia in that.

[5] One of Speck's double ended paddles from his voyage was presented to Carl Toovey as a trophy for the 100 mile Cruising Canoe Club’s Nepean Marathon on the Hawkesbury River in 1952.

Speck's opinions on his popularity as documented in the Australasian Post Magazine: “But would Australians recognise my authority to speak about it?

As my voyage progressed and reports of it went home from Cyprus, from Greece, from India, I became acknowledged as the most experienced sea-going kayak expert in the world...

[8] 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.

[8] 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.