The public writing and running life that made change feel possible.
About Hearts Across Australia
Hearts Across Australia was my way of proving that ordinary people can attempt extraordinary things.
In 2015, I walked 5,400 kilometres from Perth to Brisbane. That was the public test, but the story began earlier, when running and my first marathon changed what I thought was possible.
The short version
Before HAA had a name, change had already started.
For more than twenty years, I believed there was no point setting goals because life would kick them out from under me. Then, back in the days of "no more mr fat guy", I started running, writing, losing weight, finding people, and slowly building different evidence.
The first big proof was the Perth Marathon in June 2013. I was slow, nervous, physically wrecked by the end, and completely changed by finishing. A few days later, the meaning was still landing. I had set a huge goal, kept working at it, and not let the hard parts send me looking for the easy way out.
Hearts Across Australia grew from that feeling. I wanted to make belief visible in a way people could follow, question, laugh at, support, and maybe recognise in themselves. Perth to Brisbane on foot was a ridiculous way to do it, which was probably why it worked.
Six hours and forty-seven minutes that changed what I believed about myself.
From 16 May to 17 September 2015, one practical day at a time.
The Heart Foundation
The cause came later, but it belonged.
Hearts Across Australia did not begin as a charity idea. It began as a personal demonstration of belief. But once I started talking about walking from Perth to Brisbane, people kept asking whether I was doing it for charity.
The Heart Foundation made sense because heart health was already part of my story. I had worried that if I did not change, I could become a heart attack statistic. My Grandpa died of a heart attack when I was 8. The connection was personal before it was practical.
If HAA has helped make something feel a little more possible, you can help carry that forward by supporting the Heart Foundation's work.
Current HAA fundraiserMore than $20,000 raised through HAA*
Help HAA support Australian heartsCurrent fundraiser: $304 towards a $1,000,000 goal
Progress checked 12 September 2026* The original HAA fundraiser raised approximately $20,000. This new page began its own count ten years later.Why it still matters
The walk finished in Brisbane. What it proved did not.
I want HAA to remain a proper account of what happened: the people, kilometres, mistakes, help and ordinary work behind the big idea. If that gives someone else useful evidence for beginning their own difficult thing, even better.
The story
The change before HAA, 125 days across Australia, and the people who made those days possible.
What it took
Planning, training, a support crew, mistakes, adjustments and the ordinary work of starting again each morning.
What it might offer
Practical evidence and reassurance for someone standing at the beginning of an enormous goal of their own.