Adventurer celebrates 7,000-mile pedal across ocean with a cold beer in Australia

The British adventurer Jason Lewis finished his 7,000-mile voyage pedalling across the Pacific from America to Australia by downing a cold beer yesterday.

The British adventurer Jason Lewis finished his 7,000-mile voyage pedalling across the Pacific from America to Australia by downing a cold beer yesterday.

Mr Lewis, 32, from Bridport, Dorset, and April Abril, a 42-year-old teacher, pedalled their 26ft craft Moksha into Port Douglas, on the Queensland coast, about 6am yesterday. They had to be towed the last few miles after severe winds threatened to blow them off course.

The adventurer, who is trying to circumnavigate the globe by human power, now plans to in-line skate and cycle down northern Australia before heading for Indonesia.

Ms Abril, from Rye, Colorado, accompanied him on the last four-week leg of his Pacific pedal. She is suffering exhaustion and sea-sickness, and had to be airlifted to hospital shortly before Moksha reached land. Her condition was not believed to be serious.

Mr Lewis stopped in Hawaii, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, where he picked up Ms Abril, before making the final crossing of the Coral Sea to the resort town of Port Douglas, 1,430 miles north of Sydney.

"I know now that the ocean is not a place for human beings," Mr Lewis said shortly before reaching land.

"I've spent six months of my life out here on the Pacific and this last 1,000 miles has proved just how hard and unforgiving this challenge is."

He began his journey in London with Steve Smith, from Wolverhampton, in July 1994. He pedalled a bicycle across Europe, voyaged by boat across the Atlantic and skated across America, with an enforced nine-month hiatus after breaking his leg in a collision with a car.

His travels, he says, are aimed at promoting understanding between different cultures around the world. He has visited schools throughout his trip.

Moksha is equipped with satellite navigation and communications equipment, allowing its crew to send back daily updates on the internet.