Julie Angus
Julie Wafaei now Julie Angus (born 1974) is a Canadian rower and cyclist, married to the explorer Colin Angus.
Julie’s undergraduate degree is from McMaster University, honours in biology and psychology; she graduated in 1997. Her Masters of Science is from the University of Victoria, where she specialized in molecular biology. She also studied at the University of Leeds for a year. After graduation she worked in the area of venture capital, technology transfer, and business development . She met Colin Angus in 2003, and they were married in 2007. Julie and Colin have two sons: Leif, born September, 2010, and Oliver, born June, 2014.
Adventures
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean
Julie is the first woman to row the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland. Her Atlantic row was part of an expedition with her then fiance Colin Angus to circumnavigate the Northern hemisphere entirely by human power. She accompanied Colin Angus for half of the expedition, in a bid to promote self propulsion as a fun and healthy means of travel.
For her achievement Julie and Colin Angus jointly received the Adventurer of the Year Award from National Geographic Adventure. She co-produced a documentary and wrote a book titled "Rowboat in a Hurricane: My Amazing Journey Across a Changing Atlantic Ocean" , detailing her exploits.
Scotland to Syria
In 2008 Julie and Colin Angus, completed a trip from northernmost Scotland to Syria, covering 7,000 km (4,350 miles) of rivers and roads. Each used a separate rowboat on the water sections, and portaged using bicycle-trailer systems between waterways. This expedition was described in their book “Rowed Trip, From Scotland to Syria by Oar” published in 2009 , as well as a film titled “Rowed Trip.”
Olive Odyssey
Also in 2011, Julie and Colin Angus and their young son Leif sailed from Spain to the Middle-East, retracing the domestication of the olive tree. Their adventure is described in Julie's most recent book, "Olive Odyssey: Searching for the Secrets of the Fruit that Seduced the World"
The book has received excellent reviews:
"[An] unfailingly interesting odyssey." —Philip Marchand, National Post
(2014-07-11)
"[Olive Odyssey] is an engaging mix of history, food travelog, and botany lesson . . . There is much to enjoy here, especially for foodies and armchair historians." —Library Journal
(2014-05-15)
"It is a pleasure to try to keep up with this book; like its author, it covers an enormous amount of territory." —Christopher Bakken, Wall Street Journal
(2014-05-30)
"Angus excels in tracing the history of the olive: any botanist or cook will walk away from Olive Odyssey well-informed on the plant and its products." —Georgia Straight
(2014-05-30)
"A deeply informative biography of the olive, a versatile fruit that has played a huge role in the history and development of civilization." —Vancouver Sun
(2014-05-30)
"Olive Odyssey has many strengths: its contribution to scientific and historical research on olives, good food and travel writing, a sense of humour and an eye for detail, and a sense of adventure and exploration." —Literary Review of Canada
(2014-05-30)