Anna Hingley

Anna Hingley, (b 1982) became the first woman to ride across the Australian Outback on August 5 2006. The 3510 km journey was undertaken to raise Aus$100,000 for Angel Flight, an Australian charity that co-ordinates non emergency flights for financially and medically needy people.

Hingley and Ostwald met in 2004 whilst Hingley was travelling from Sydney to Darwin by bus as part of a year-long backpacking tour. Ostwald was driving the bus and their conversation turned to their mutual passion for horses. They decided to perform the trek while visiting Hingley's parents in December 2005.

Angel Trek

Hingley, a veterinary nurse from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, Great Britain, began the journey from Broome in Western Australia on March 17 2006. She and boyfriend John Ostwald used six Brumby horses that they had caught and tamed through a process of horse whispering before the trek. The pair were assisted in their record-breaking effort with a support truck carrying the spare horses, gear and water tanks. The couple covered an average of twenty-five miles per day. Also travelling with Ostwald and Hingley was Thomas Guerrier, an English filmmaker who created a documentary about their journey.

The first section of the route involved following Outback highways and traversing the top of the Great Sandy Desert before turning in to bush roads, tracks and fording rivers. Notable points of interest on the journey were Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Daguragu, Top Springs, Daly Waters, Borroloola, Doomadgee, Burketown, Normanton, Croydon, Georgetown, Atherton and finally Cairns, Queensland, on August 5 2006.

External links

* [http://www.crocjohn.com/ www.crocjohn.com, John Ostwald's trek blog]
* [http://www.angelride.info/index.htm http://www.angelride.info/index.htm]

Sources

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/5168542.stm "Epic ride across outback near end" BBC Online, 13 July 2006]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2263255,00.html "First woman conquers the Outback", Times Online July 10 2006]
* [http://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/news/banewsroundup/display.var.839558.0.annas_outback_challenge.php "Anna's Outback Challenge", Bromsgrove Advertiser, July 19 2006]
* [http://www.angelride.info/about.htm Angel Ride facts and figures]