Women tackle Tasmania kayak trip

Justine Curgenven is leading the expedition

Three women from north Wales have set out in an attempt to kayak all the way around Tasmania.

Justine Curgenven, 30, Gemma Rawlings, 24, and Trys Morris, 37, believe they would become the first female team to complete the trip.

Over the next two months, they will be braving winds, tides and swells to circumnavigate the 1,500km around the island off south-east Australia.

They are planning to start out on the expedition at the weekend.

"I love going round islands - it is an aim, a challenge, " said Ms Curgenven, who lives in Llanberis, Gwynedd.

"The most dangerous parts are on the west and south - it is very exposed coastline with steep cliffs and very little settlement.

I have been to lots of cold remote places, but we wanted to go somewhere sunny Justine Curgenven

"We could go for five days or more without seeing anyone - there are 30-40km (48-64 miles)stretches where we can't land.

"We have done lots of research and have had a lot of help from a local guy who has paddled around Tasmania twice."

She said the team were planning to be self-sufficient after they set off, carrying tents and food for the journey.

"We hope to do 35km a day but if we have lots of bad weather, we might have to do 50km a day," she said.

Tasmania is approximately the size of Ireland, and the three women will start and finish in Hobart and will travel anti-clockwise.

The trip is expected to take about six weeks. It is being sponsored by an outdoor equipment company, whose spokesman said it would be a "testing circumnavigation".

Ms Curgenven, who will be filming the expedition, is a veteran of trips to Russia, Alaska and Iceland.

"I have been to lots of cold remote places, beut we wanted to go somewhere sunny," she said.

Ms Rawlings, who grew up in Derby and now lives in Angelsey, has paddled extensively in Wales and Scotland.

Ms Morris, originally from London, works for the National Centres, Plas y Brenin, Plas Menai and Glenmore Lodge.