Freya Hoffmeister finished her circumnavigation of Australia around noon, Tuesday, December 15, 2009. She landed at the Queenscliff beach at the mouth of Melbourne Harbor 332 days after departing from that same spot on January 18th.  She covered approximately 8,470 miles (13,800 km) in 245 days of paddling, averaging nearly 35 miles (65 km) per day. In spite of numerous attempts, the circumnavigation of Australia has been completed only once previously, in 1982 by Paul Caffyn in 361 days. Freya saved time and distance by taking a bold “short-cut” across the Gulf of Carpentaria, a 350- mile (575-km) open-water passage that took eight days and seven nights on the water.