In my last post, I wrote about not being afraid to paddle during the cooler months.

Well, look no further than Hayley Sheperd, a native Kiwi who's now living in British Columbia, for inspiration.

For the last seven years, Hayley's been guiding and leading kayak expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica. Now, she's getting ready to attempt the first solo sea kayak circumnavigation of South Georgia Island, starting in January 2009.

Never been to South Georgia? Me neither. By all accounts, it's a desolate, wind-swept outcropping of rock and ice in the Southern Atlantic that puts the burliest of polar explorers to the test.