Teacher and mum on final chapter of country-wide trek as she crosses WA border on Queensland-Kalbarri journey

A Queensland teacher and mum is in the final stretch of her journey across the country as she crosses the WA border on her 6000km trek from her home town to Kalbarri. Lizz Hills began an 8 million-step trip from her home town of Rathdowney on January 23 to raise funds for Wild Mountains Trust, a Queensland organisation that runs environmental education and conservation programs. On May 13, Ms Hills made her way into WA, 4500km into her Trek2Reconnect journey, having visited 32 towns and 24 Aboriginal nations in five States. Inspired by her passion for the environment, Ms Hills decided she wanted to see the immense landscapes of this country for herself and go from one ocean to another, which inspired her to finish in coastal Kalbarri. “I didn’t expect to be so tired, but I’m also being inspired by the natural beauty that’s surrounding me, which feels pretty wonderful,” she said. “The Australian Outback is vast. To see it in a picture is one thing, but to really live and breathe it for three or four months is something completely different.” During the trip, Ms Hills has also been meeting with various communities and holding talks at different schools. She said she decided to embark on the expedition not just to raise money and awareness, but to inspire her children. “I got it into my head that if one person could cross a whole country, a whole continent on foot, then that would just have to show that we live on a small planet in an infinite universe with infinite possibilities,” she said. The cross-country trekker expects she will arrive in Kalbarri on June 30, which would be perfect timing with the local high school having its own cross-country event on the same day. She aims to raise $80,000 and has hit $53,200 at this stage. To donate, visit https://chuffed.org/project/trek2reconnect.