Victoria Hatch, 29, and Zach Smith, 32 – both part of Kendal Cycle Club – are setting off from the town’s leisure centre at 9.30am on Sunday, with the hopes of returning to the UK in around 14 months.

The pair have planned meticulously for three years, saving up and choosing a route, to make their dream a reality.

Both Victoria, originally from Lancashire, and Zach, originally from Yorkshire, gave up their jobs as a business consultant and an IT technician, respectively, for the expedition.

It’s been a long time coming, especially for Victoria, who initially dreamt up the idea a decade ago when her brother moved to Australia.

Vic and Zach set off on their cycling adventure tomorrow (Image: Supplied)

“I work in sustainability, so ten years ago I just thought, I want to get to Australia as much as I can without flying,” she said.

“When I met my partner Zach three years ago, I said I wanted to cycle to Australia, and he was like, ‘Oh, I want to ride around the world.’ So we made a plan, saved some money, and quit our jobs.”

From Europe, the duo are heading through Turkey, the Caucasus and Kazakhstan, then on to South Korea, Japan and China. From Vietnam, they will ride through Southeast Asia before flying to Australia. On the way back, they hope to visit New Zealand and South America before cycling home from Portugal.

Both have been heavily supported by members of Kendal Cycling Club, who, Vic says, have been “so helpful” with tips and tricks; the cyclist also received a £500 bursary from the club to help fund her trip.

The cyclists, who plan to move back to Kendal when they are back in the UK, are documenting their journey through a blog on their website: https://ridesidequests.com

“I’m going to write along the journey; maybe make a podcast. I want to get some new skills while we’re out there,” added Victoria.

“I’ve found that at the moment I don’t really want to write for social media, I want to write to become a better writer.

“I don’t want to try and be viral. It’s more about disentangling from all the algorithms and the scrolling. If I’m going to write, I want to help people go on trips like this themselves.”