Record looms for Outback trekker

Anna Hingley faced tough conditions on the five-month trek

A British nurse is on the verge of entering the record books by becoming the first woman to trek across the Australian Outback on horseback.

Anna Hingley, 24, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, is set to complete the 2,000-mile trip late on Friday.

She and her partner John Ostwald began in Broome, Western Australia, five months ago. A civic reception has been arranged for their finish in Cairns.

The pair have raised £4,000 for an Outback charity during the trek.

Speaking to BBC News on Friday morning UK time, Mr Ostwald, an Australian, said the couple were less than five miles outside of Cairns.

'Special feeling'

"We're definitely going to do it on Saturday morning (Australian time)," he said.

"It's going to be a very special feeling, she's very excited and happy to get here.

Miss Hingley and Mr Ostwald met as she travelled in Australia

"But she's taking it all in her stride," he said.

"It'll sink in over the next few days, at the moment she's still focused on the riding, which she'll do right to the end and it's important to do that."

The pair have battled extreme heat and severe saddle sores as well as had encounters with crocodiles, snakes and wild pigs on the trip.

But Mr Ostwald said the most difficult part was getting through a 300-mile section that was said to be impassable.

"Everybody was telling us that five rivers had flooded the whole area and it was impassable," he said.

"And it's not like roadworks on the M1 that you can look up on the internet, there were no details about it.

"But we just managed to ride through it."

The money Miss Hingley has raised will go to the Angel Flight charity which provides support to ill families in the Outback to transport them to hospital.