Solo teen sailor Jessica Watson says she’s not a hero, but just ‘‘an ordinary girl who had a dream’’.
The 16-year-old was welcomed by thousands of cheering people at the Opera House and on a flotilla of boats crowding Sydney Harbour just before 3pm this afternoon after a 210-day round-the-world voyage.
‘‘It’s completely overwhelming right now,’’ she said as thousands whistled and clapped while others chanted ‘‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie … Oi, oi, oi!’’.
‘‘There was nothing out there … and there’s absolutely everything now.’’
The harbour was turned into a spectacular reception area, as hundreds of boats crammed into the narrow waters to greet the young adventurer on her small, pink yacht.
She had left Sydney in October, sailing in sometimes difficult conditions through the Pacific, across the equator, past Cape Horn in South America, across the Atlantic, past the Cape of Good Hope, through the Indian Ocean before returning to Australian waters.
Fellow solo sailors West Australian Jesse Martin and English teen Mike Perham helped Watson take her yacht in after she crossed the finish line, as an aeroplane wrote her name ‘‘Jessica’’ in white smoke in the sky.
Fears that Watson would struggle to walk after such a long time at sea were unfounded, as she made her way up a pink carpet to the Opera House forecourt with her family, wearing a broad grin and looking none the worse for her epic voyage.
She was met by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who hailed her as “Australia’s newest hero”.
“You do our nation proud,” he said. “You are a hero for young Australians … and young Australian women.”
But Watson said she had to disagree with Mr Rudd as “I don’t consider myself a hero”.
“I’m an ordinary girl who had a dream. You just have to have a dream and set your mind to it.’’
Confident and relaxed, Watson was even able to throw in a joke or two. ‘‘It was tough,’’ she said when asked how it felt to leave her yacht.
‘‘Stepping off was so strange, because for the last seven months, I was doing everything to stay on board,’’ she said as the crowd laughed. ‘You can achieve anything’
The Queenslander was quick to emphasise how young people – especially girls – could achieve anything ‘‘if you want it enough’’. ‘‘People don’t realise … what girls are made of,’’ she said.
‘‘When you take away those expectations, it’s amazing what you can achieve.’’
She added at a press conference later that people ‘‘just need the passion to want something bad enough and a way to make it happen’’.
Thanks to Martin Pryor for waiting hours for Jessica’s arrival to get these photos.