Most people tell him he's bloody bonkers. But British man Dave Cornthwaite reckons a 6000 kilometre journey across Australia on the back of a skateboard is the ultimate way to see the country.

The graphic designer, who only took up skateboarding 18 months ago, told smh.com.au he woke up one morning and decided, as you do, to chuck in his day job and skateboard the length of the continent.

"I woke up and my cat was bugging me for food and I thought the only thing keeping me going was the skate to work and the skate out of work. I wasn't very happy with my job. I thought I'd try and change that," Cornthwaite said.

"Then I was looking around for a place to go. I saw a Lonely Planet guide to Australia. There was a map on the back. Perth [was] on one side and Brisbane on the other and I said, 'That'll do."'

Tomorrow morning he will set off from the outskirts of Perth with a seven-person support crew in tow and a 6000 kilometre journey ahead of him.

"Onwards and eastwards."

Skating an average 50 kilometres a day at 15 kmh, and hitting speeds of up 50 kmh on downhill runs, he will cross the Nullabor to Adelaide, then make his way to Melbourne.

After that it's up to Sydney, where he plans to ride across the Harbour Bridge, before winding up in Brisbane.

If all goes to plan, the trip will take about four months and smash the current 1500 kilometre world record for long distance skateboarding.

He also hopes to raise more than $120,000 for several charities linked to the mission.

Cornthwaite said when he told his mates in the United Kingdom about the ambitious trip, "they thought I was barmy. They just thought I was insane."

Others in Australia have said: "First of all, you are absolutely crazy and, secondly, what you are doing is absolutely amazing."

He admits parts of the journey will be hell but reaching Brisbane will make it all worthwhile.

"The main highways with lots of traffic [are the worst]. It's mentally exhausting skating along [when] you've got cars whizzing by at 100 kmh. I'm not necessarily looking forward to those bits.

"But it's a great way to see the country at 15 kmh. You don't miss much at all going at that speed."

"I'm going to be elated [at Brisbane]. I'm going to be pretty tired. I'll just feel like a sleep but what an achievement to get across there."

Cornthwaite is already the holder of one significant skateboarding record. As a test run for the Australian trip, he skateboarded the length of Britain - a 1441 kilometre trip that caused a blister "the size of a tennis ball" to blow up on his foot.

"I tell you what mate, it wasn't pretty. I was just screaming about 400 miles of the journey."

Cornthwaite is due to reach Sydney in early December.

For more information visit http://www.boardfree.org.au