Brit skates across Oz
David Cornthwaite set out from Perth in August 2006
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Monday, 22, Jan 2007 12:06
A 27-year-old British man has completed a record-breaking trip across Australia on a skateboard.
David Cornthwaite, a former graphic designer, gave up his job last year and set out on a 5,823km (3,618-mile) trip from Perth in Western Australia to Brisbane in Queensland, where he arrived today.
He braved 40C temperatures and expanses of desolate outback as he completed the journey on his skateboard Elsa, after starting on August 24th last year.
His exploits mean he enters the record books for the longest continuous journey on a skateboard, surpassing the 4,830 km (3,001 miles) completed by Jack Smith in the US in 2003.
"I left Perth on August 24th last year," Mr Cornthwaite told Sky News on his arrival in Brisbane today. "Just imagine what you've been doing since then - I've been skateboarding all that time."
"I used just the one board and have gone through 13 pairs of shoes in that time. It's the same board I used to go from Lands End to John O'Groats in the warm-up."
He added "It was a journey of ups and downs. Five months across a country that offers up amazing scenery, but also hard scenery.
"I crossed the Nullabor plain [an arid flatland of 200,000 sq km (77,200 sq miles) which stretched between Perth and Adelaide] dodging King Brown snakes on the road and skating through 40C summers - it's not easy."
The skater has kept his supporters updated on his progress via an online diary, where he has detailed his trip the amount of money raised for his three chosen charities, Link Community Development, The Lowe Syndrome Trust and Sailability Australia.
He says he is planning to write a book about his experiences.