LEIGH Thomson-Mathews has always done things a bit differently.
Most would look for a relaxing holiday to put their feet up – not walk across an entire country.
But that’s what Thomson-Mathews decided to do – walking from Perth to Melbourne in 2010.
“I wanted to go on a holiday and it needed to be cheap. When my friend asked me to come on the trip with him I thought it would be a good challenge,” he told Sunraysia Daily at the time.
“My friend – who is a journalist – was taking part in the walk, planning to document his journey and write an article for the Australian Geographic magazine, but three days in he turned around.
“I wanted to keep going, so I did – it was a personal challenge.”
Thomson-Mathews carried a trailer with food and water weighing up to 200kg, camping out on the side of roads.
“It was a lot of weight to carry,” he said.
“It sounds like a lot but when you are pushing something on a flat surface it’s not too bad.
“It was up to 200kg so as you ate and drank more water the lighter it got.”
