摘要：I was sitting with my laptop on my lap, slightly sweating, awaiting a call that could change my life.
Let me take you back to a day in my life, July 2021.
让我带你回到我生命中的某一天，那是2021年7月。
I was sitting with my laptop on my lap, slightly sweating, awaiting a call that could change my life.
我坐在那里， 膝上放着笔记本电脑，微微冒汗， 等待着一个可能改变我人生的电话。
You see, a year ago I read a book about a woman who paddled around Australia, beating the men before her to become the fastest ever to do so.
你看，一年前我读了一本关于一位女性的书， 她划船环游澳大利亚，超越了之前所有的男性， 成为迄今为止最快完成这一壮举的人。
I'm sure most people would read that book and think, wow, and forget about the idea, but I cannot get it out of my mind.
我敢肯定，大多数人读完那本书会感叹一声“哇”，然后就把这个想法抛诸脑后， 但我却无法将它从脑海中抹去。
I'm a surf lifesaver and an ex-professional Ironwoman, and I want to beat that record.
我是一名冲浪救生员，也是前职业铁人三项女选手，我渴望打破那个纪录。
I want to become the fastest person to paddle around Australia.
我想成为划船环游澳大利亚的最快纪录保持者。
But to do so, I'll need to paddle 80 to 100 kilometers a day and cover every meter of coastline in less than ten and a half months.
为此，我需要每天划行80到100公里，并在不到十个月半的时间内覆盖澳大利亚海岸线的每一米。
A ski is basically a kayak, but built to withstand wind and swells and everything thrown up by the ocean.
滑雪板本质上是一种皮艇，但设计用于抵御风浪以及海洋带来的各种挑战。
It's six meters long, just 45 centimeters across at its widest point, and made of carbon fiber, it weighs eight kilograms.
它长六米， 最宽处仅四十五厘米，由碳纤维制成， 重量仅为八公斤。
Oh, I'll also need a support catamaran and a jet ski and a skipper and crew crazy enough to come with me for the journey.
哦，我还需要一艘支援双体船、一艘喷气式滑雪艇、一名船长和一群足够疯狂的船员陪我一同踏上这段旅程。
It's going to cost a really significant amount of money too.
这也要花费相当大一笔钱。
And my husband and I have sold our cars, but our sacrifice is just a drop in the ocean of funds needed.
我和丈夫已经卖掉了我们的车，但我们的牺牲在所需巨额资金面前不过是杯水车薪。
This call today is my opportunity to land a sponsorship deal which will enable me to start the paddle.
今天的这次通话是我争取赞助、得以开始划桨的良机。
And 15 minutes after the start of that call, I received the life-changing "yes" I've been seeking.
在那通电话开始后的15分钟，我得到了那个改变命运的“同意”，这是我一直在寻求的。
Which gives me six months to plan the journey.
这给了我六个月的时间来规划这次旅程。
To figure out what direction I'm going to paddle in -- clockwise -- how to stay safe, and how to film the journey.
弄清楚我划行的方向——顺时针——如何确保安全，以及如何拍摄这段旅程。
But despite the challenges that lay ahead, it finally feels real.
尽管前方充满挑战，但这一切终于显得真实起来。
In December, I will set out to cover every meter of rugged, unforgiving coastline of Australia.
十二月，我将启程，踏遍澳大利亚每一寸崎岖而严酷的海岸线。
Flash forward, February 2022.
快进到2022年2月。
I am 500 kilometers out to sea and facing the crossing of the Great Australian Bight, that untamable stretch of water at the bottom of Australia.
我已远离陆地500公里，正面对穿越澳大利亚大澳大利亚湾的挑战。这片位于澳洲南端、狂野难驯的海域，等待着我去征服。
If successful, I will be the first person to cross directly across the Bight, as opposed to those prior to me who would hug the coastline.
若能成功， 我将成为首位直接横渡大澳大利亚湾的人，不同于我之前的那些人， 他们总是紧贴海岸线航行。
But I figure that to break a world record, I need to be prepared to go where no one has before.
但我认为，要想打破世界纪录，就必须准备好去那些前人未至之地。
I had a little scare earlier today, though.
不过，今天早些时候我确实有点儿惊慌。
I fell out of my ski and I couldn't get back in.
我从皮艇里翻了出来，却怎么也爬不回去。
I was 100 kilometers into paddling.
我已划行了100公里。
For the fifth time, I tried to haul myself up into my ski.
第五次，我试图将自己拉上滑雪板。
As I did so, I slid into the icy water, the shock of it sending a chill up my spine like I touched an electric fence.
就在我这样做的时候， 我不慎滑入了冰冷的水中，那股寒意如触电般直窜脊背， 令人震惊。
Out here it's freezing, and hypothermia is a real risk.
此处严寒刺骨，体温过低成为实实在在的威胁。
I've lost eight kilograms in the last two weeks from seasickness.
过去两周，我因晕船体重减轻了八公斤。
My support boat's having trouble slowing down.
我的支援船在减速方面遇到了困难。
They're sailing away from me in the 25-knot wind gusts.
他们在25节阵风的吹拂下，正离我远去。
They're not turning around.
他们没有回头。
One more time, I try to haul myself up into my ski and fail again, in waters known for killer whales and great white sharks.
又一次， 我试图将自己拉上滑雪板， 却再次失败，身处以虎鲸和大白鲨闻名的水域中。
I start to sink into a sense of self-pity and feel terribly scared.
我开始陷入自怜的情绪，感到极度恐惧。
But as I do so, I look up at the night sky, and I feel like a dot in the grand scheme of creation.
然而，当我如此沉思时，我仰望夜空，感觉自己仿佛是造物宏图中的一粒微尘。
I also have a realization.
我也意识到。
Out here, staying still is the worst thing I can do.
在这里，静止不动是我最不该做的事。
If I can't get into my ski, I need to keep moving forward.
如果我无法穿上滑雪板，我就需要继续向前移动。
I need to swim.
我得游过去。
So slowly but surely, I move my arms as my legs start to follow, and I inch my way towards the support boat.
于是， 我缓缓但坚定地挥动双臂， 双腿也开始配合，一点一点地向支援船靠近。
They're finally coming back to me now.
他们终于开始向我这边返回了。
I forgot to mention, it's nighttime.
我忘了提，现在是夜晚。
They're 50 meters away, and I can hear them calling out, seeing if I'm OK.
他们距离我50米远，我能听见他们在呼喊，查看我是否安好。
By the time I'm pulled aboard, I've been submerged in the Bight for ten minutes.
当我被拉上船时，我已经在巴特河中浸泡了十分钟。
I'm so cold, I can't speak.
我冷得说不出话来。
The bulging discs in my back are on fire, and it feels like my back is breaking in two.
我的背部椎间盘突出处如火烧般疼痛，仿佛整个背部要被撕裂成两半。
My lips are cracked and bleeding from dehydration.
我的嘴唇因脱水而干裂流血。
But the worst thing is, I need to get back in these waters and paddle for 16 hours again tomorrow as I'm just halfway across the Bight.
最糟糕的是，我明天还得再次回到这些水域，再划上16个小时，因为横渡大澳大利亚湾的行程才刚过半。
(Video) I've not really been able to hold any food down in the last two days, due to seasickness, and the only bit of protein I've got in my stomach is about five almonds from this morning so I'm just running off soft-textured carbohydrate.
由于晕船， 过去两天我几乎无法进食，胃里仅有的那点蛋白质是今早吃的约五颗杏仁， 所以我现在只能依赖软质碳水化合物维持体力。
Had some rice and Nutella and banana just then, so I'm really hoping it stays down.
刚才吃了些米饭、能多益巧克力酱和香蕉，真心希望它们能安稳待在胃里。
I pretty much have nothing in my stomach at the moment.
此刻我的胃里几乎空空如也。
Yeah, it's really, really tough.
是的，这真的非常非常艰难。
So I'm trying to focus mentally when your focus starts to go with with no fuel in the tank.
所以当注意力开始涣散、体内能量耗尽时，我正努力保持精神上的专注。
I made it across the Bight.
我成功横渡了巴斯海峡。
And on the April 23, 2022, it's my birthday, I'm 32 years old, and I'm two months ahead of the world record.
2022年4月23日， 这天是我的生日，我32岁了， 并且比世界纪录提前了两个月。
I saw 25 turtles on my paddle yesterday.
昨天我在划桨时看到了25只海龟。
But such experiences have become the norm.
但这样的经历已成常态。
I've been surrounded by dolphins in the middle of the ocean, had seals play beside me, seen flying fish scoot 50 meters across the water in front of me.
我曾在浩瀚的海洋中被海豚环绕，与海豹嬉戏共处， 目睹飞鱼在我面前掠过水面， 疾驰五十米之遥。
I've seen Indigenous carvings over tens of thousands of years old.
我曾目睹过数万年前的原住民雕刻。
I've also had sharks show a little too much interest in my ski for my liking.
我也曾遭遇鲨鱼对我所乘的滑雪板表现出过于浓厚的兴趣，这并非我所乐见。
At the moment, I've got a fishing boat supporting me, and since the start of the trip I've had a mix of fishing boat, catamaran and jet ski.
目前，我有一艘渔船在支持我，而从旅程开始以来，我轮流使用了渔船、双体船和水上摩托。
I've also got a crew of amazing young men who champion me every day.
我还有一群出色的年轻船员，他们每天都为我加油打气。
They're excellent listeners, they're feminists, but I'm missing having a female around when I have my period.
他们是出色的倾听者， 也是女权主义者，但每当我来月经时， 总会怀念身边有女性的陪伴。
I'm not quite ready to trouble the guys about menstrual cramps just yet.
我还没准备好向这些哥们儿诉说经痛的困扰。
I'm also addicted to lolly snakes, which are known as gummy worms in other parts of the world, I found out recently.
我也迷上了棒棒糖蛇，最近才得知， 在世界的其他地方， 它们被称为橡皮糖虫。
It's not my fault I'm addicted to them though.
不过，我对它们上瘾并非我的错。
The skipper of my crew, who looks like Crocodile Dundee in his Akubra hat, fed them to me on day one and now I'm obsessed, I'm eating around a packet a day.
我的船长，他戴着阿库布拉帽， 看起来就像《鳄鱼邓迪》里的角色，第一天就让我吃了这些， 现在我着迷了，每天大约吃一包。
I do eat other things though.
不过，我确实也吃其他东西。
Cut up wraps, fresh apple, Jatz crackers, they're among my favorites.
切碎的卷饼、新鲜苹果、Jatz饼干，这些都是我的最爱。
As a dietician, which is my day job, I had the perfect plan for nutrition, and that all went out the window on day one when the craving started.
作为一名营养师， 这是我日常的工作，我原本制定了完美的营养计划，但这种渴望在第一天出现时， 所有计划都泡汤了。
I'm in Broome in Western Australia.
我身处西澳大利亚州的布鲁姆。
This is where they say the crocodiles start and continue right across the top of the country.
据说鳄鱼就是从这里开始，横贯整个国家北部的。
May 2022.
2022年5月。
Yesterday, my crew saw a crocodile ten meters from my ski, watching, waiting.
昨日，我的船员发现一只鳄鱼在距离我的滑雪板仅十米处，静观其变，伺机而动。
They were quick to call me into the boat and pull me aboard.
他们迅速呼唤我上船，并迅速将我拉了上去。
But this record means I need to paddle every meter of coastline.
但这一纪录意味着我必须划遍每一米海岸线。
That means today, I had to get back in the water where they saw that crocodile yesterday.
这意味着今天，我不得不回到昨天他们看到那条鳄鱼的水域。
It doesn't help that the water is brown and the hundreds of logs feel like crocodile heads waiting to pounce.
水色浑浊，那数百根浮木更似潜伏的鳄鱼头颅，随时准备扑击，这无疑加剧了紧张气氛。
Crocodiles are predators.
鳄鱼是捕食者。
They're patient, they'll stalk as long as needed.
它们有耐心，会持续追踪，直到时机成熟。
There's also hundreds of sea snakes out here that nobody told me about.
这里还有成百上千条海蛇，之前没人告诉我。
Yellow with black markings.
黄黑相间。
They're thick as pythons, and they coil up at me as I pass.
它们粗如蟒蛇，我经过时，它们盘绕着向我袭来。
At night, I try not to hit them with my paddle.
夜晚时分，我尽量用桨避开它们。
So in waters known for crocodiles and sea snakes, as I climb down into my ski, I tell my crew to talk to me.
因此， 在以鳄鱼和海蛇闻名的水域，当我爬进我的滑雪板时， 我告诉我的队员们和我聊天。
Childhood stories, jokes, riddles.
童年的故事、笑话、谜语。
Just keep talking to distract me from what lies beneath.
继续说话，好让我不去想那些隐藏在表象之下的东西。
When I was an Ironwoman, I thought that vulnerability was weakness.
当我还是一名铁人时，我曾认为脆弱等同于软弱。
Be stoic, I thought.
我以为，要坚强。
Game face always at the ready.
随时准备迎接挑战的面孔。
But out here, in these waters, no game face will help.
但在这片水域，再好的伪装也无济于事。
Telling my crew I'm scared enables me to get through the day, and we talk and joke and laugh our way through the most dangerous waters in the world.
告诉我的船员我害怕， 这让我能度过每一天，我们边谈笑边开着玩笑， 就这样穿过了世界上最危险的水域。
On August 28, 2022, I set foot on the shores of the Gold Coast for the first time in eight months as a world record holder.
2022年8月28日，我以世界纪录保持者的身份，时隔八个月首次踏上了黄金海岸的海岸线。
I paddled around Australia in 254 days, beating the previous record by over two and a half months.
我用了254天的时间划船环游澳大利亚，比之前的纪录快了两个半月。
But while crossing the tape was very exciting, it wasn't the most valuable thing I took from this record.
尽管冲过终点线非常激动人心，但这并非我从这一纪录中获得的最宝贵的东西。
You see, remember that time I told you about in the middle of the Bight when I looked up at the night sky?
你看，还记得我跟你提过的，在布莱特中部仰望夜空的那一刻吗？
It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
那是我见过的最美的景象。
And in that moment, I had another realization.
在那一刻，我又有了新的领悟。
Instead of feeling scared, I felt lucky.
非但没有感到害怕，我反而觉得自己很幸运。
Instead of that sense of self-pity, I felt grateful.
我不再感到自怜，而是心怀感激。
Grateful and lucky to experience a perspective seen by so few humans ever before.
感激且幸运能体验到如此稀有的人类视角。
And that gratitude carried me 12,700 kilometers around the country.
那份感激之情，引领我穿越全国，行程达一万两千七百公里。
Mother Nature taught me resilience.
大自然教会了我坚韧不拔。
To keep pushing as a storm is only ever fleeting.
如同风暴终将消逝，我学会了坚持不懈，持续前行。
She taught me to step back and look around, as beauty can be found in the darkest of places.
她教会我退一步，环顾四周，因为在最黑暗的地方也能发现美。
And though the sand and salt has been washed from my body and someone someday will break my world record, I know they will, the memories I have from this paddle will stay with me forever.
尽管沙粒与盐分已从我身上洗去， 未来某天也会有人打破我的世界纪录，我知道这终将发生， 但这次划桨之旅带给我的回忆将永存心间。
And I know that all I ever need to do is take a step back and look around and remember, how lucky am I?
我知道，我只需后退一步， 环顾四周，铭记在心：我是多么幸运？ 我们能参与这精彩纷呈、疯狂而不可预测的人生旅程，又是何等幸运？
How lucky are we to be part of this amazing, crazy, unpredictable journey of life?
我们何其幸运，能成为这精彩纷呈、疯狂而不可预测的人生旅程的一部分？
Even if we are just a drop in the ocean.
即便我们只是沧海一粟。
Thank you.
谢谢。
来源：英语东