I am Roger Evans, a 56 year old plumber from Blackpool in the North West of England. Over the last two years I have gone back to adventuring. Firstly in 2013 I walked the Pennine Way from Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish borders to Edale in Derbyshire, a distance of nearly 300 miles. In 2014 I cycled the 1,000 miles of Britain from John O'Groats to Land’s End and now in 2015 I am facing my biggest challenge yet - walking across Australia - a distance of nearly 2,700 miles (about 4.5 million steps).

My journey across Oz started nearly 18 months ago as a small madcap idea when I came back from walking the Pennine Way. Over countless months of research, planning, extensive emails, conversations with experts (most of them said ‘don’t do it !’) and many late hours on the old interweb the plan slowly started to take shape and today, one day from departure everything (well, nearly everything is in place).

After spending 3 weeks in Darwin in the Northern Territories to acclimatise and source final provisions for the walk I will leave Darwin and set out for Southport in Tasmania, about 4,200 kilometres away. Shadowing the Stuart Highway, all the way through the centre of Oz, past Katherine, Tennants Creek, Alice Springs and onto Port Augusta. From there to Mildura along the banks of the River Murray and then due south to Melbourne, the capital City of Victoria.

From Melbourne a boat trip to Devonport in Tasmania. From Devonport right through the mountainous centre of Tasmania and finally to Hobart, then my final destination Southport.

With the various links provided you will be able to track me and see exactly where I am on a daily basis, follow my blogs of the journey and pictures and videos I will send back.

This is the adventure and personal challenge of a lifetime, to meet people whom I’ve never met, to experience the best and the worst of nature and the environs, to push me to and probably beyond my personal comfort zones, it’s what adventure is about. But the most important part of the journey is to raise money for and the profile of the Ben Trend Foundation and bring it and all the good work they do for young aspiring athletes to the attention of a much wider audience.

Thank you very much and I hope you will follow and experience my journey with me as it unfolds.