She doesn't think of herself as the type who would walk more than 4000 kilometres along the length of the Australian east coast.

But she does consider herself stubborn and, paired with the rock-solid motivation of her own life experience, that is exactly the undertaking she is attempting.

The 23-year-old left Wilsons Promontory - the southern most point on the Australian mainland - on May 16, with the goal of arriving in Cape York - Australia's northern most point - approximately 12 months later.

By road, the distance is 3900 kilometres, but Ms Seamer isn't taking the roads, she is determined to follow the coastline, walking as close to the Pacific Ocean as feasible.

She arrived with her 17 kilogram pack in Batemans Bay on July 11, already 800 kilometres into her hike.

She has had a fox creep into her tent, a lyrebird mock the noise of her Garmin satellite device, been covered in leeches numerous times and been warded off by a mob of hissing emus, but Ms Seamer said the experience had been beautiful, and she would not give up.

"You start walking, get stubborn and just don't stop," she said.

The third-year nursing student said life in the bush was uncomfortable, but brought a different type of anxiety to normal life.

"You can't be worried about bills to pay, or the price of petrol," she said. "You have to problem solve every day - it might be a river you need to cross that isn't meant to be there, or something else going wrong.

"You can't be anywhere else but in the moment."

Motivated by personal experience

Ms Seamer was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was 19, which led to "a really rough period" in her life.

Hiking became an outlet, a form of meditation and mindfulness, that allowed her to escape the anxiety looming over every day of life.

Gradually the distances she was hiking grew longer and longer.

In 2021, she spontaneously pushed herself to hike 400 kilometres from Coolangatta to Coffs Harbour. It was a success, and so she turned her attention to her next goal - the entire east coast.

She said the hike represented her life living with a chronic mental health disorder.

"It doesn't follow established roads the general population travel conventionally along in life," she said.

"The walk, to many, seems impossible, just like recovery seems to a person diagnosed with a chronic mental health disorder."

She is using the opportunity to raise awareness about mental health conditions, and also to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute - an Australian not-for-profit researching, and supporting those with, mood disorders including bipolar disorder.

But Ms Seamer's goal is more than just raising money. She wants to be a role-model.

She hopes her efforts will inspire the next generation, proving those with a mental health condition can achieve great things.

When she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, Ms Seamer saw no future for herself, and knew only the negative stigma associated with the condition.

"I couldn't see myself having the sort of life I wanted, and I didn't know anyone else who had done it," she said.

She was fortunate enough to meet former ABC radio host and inspirational speaker Craig Hamilton, who himself was diagnosed with bipolar in 2000.

"It was wonderful to meet someone else living with a chronic health condition who had their life together," Ms Seamer said.

Though they only met once and chatted over a coffee, the experience resonated with Ms Seamer, and made her realise she wasn't alone. She hopes her hike screams the same message to others in her situation.

"I can't be the only person who has mental health problems and doesn't know what they can do in the world - who doesn't feel like they have a place or a purpose," she said.

"If I become the sort of person I needed when I was younger, for just one person, that would be awesome."

Along the journey she wants to chat with anyone happy to yarn - about themselves, or about the world. She invites people to contact her if they want to talk.

In the two months she has been on the trail, Ms Seamer is already seeing the benefit of her journey and her message.

She met a 75-year-old man who suffered from a major depressive order and had only ever told his nephew, and now Ms Seamer, about his condition - he hadn't even told his wife and kids.

"He was blubbering to me at this café, and said he had never had the opportunity to talk to someone," she said.

"It came from how open I was with my stuff."

It hasn't all been smooth sailing, however.

In the Nadgee Wilderness just north of the Victorian border, the trail disappeared on Ms Seamer.

The GPS pointed to a route she could not find.

"That is the worst feeling while hiking," she said. "The trail just died."

She spent a few hours scouring for a trail, taking one hour to bush bash just one kilometre.

As she bent over to fill her camelback with water from a creek, her pack flipped up on her head. Ms Seamer doesn't remember what happened next, but she must have fallen, because she woke up a short time later drenched, lying in a puddle, all her gear soaked.

She set up her tent, at best a days walk from civilisation, took off her soaked clothes and cried in her sleeping bag.

"My fingers were turning that cold purple colour, and my toes too," she said. She had nothing dry, nor anything warm to put on. She thought she might die.

"I could say 'I'm done', but the reality is I am still there in the situation, and nothing will change it," she said.

"It is incredible what you can do when you no longer have a choice."

She let off her beacon, and rangers and emergency services were able to access her through a nearby four-wheel drive track by chain sawing a path through the thick scrub.

Unbeknown to her, Ms Seamer had a big black eye from her fall.

A few days later, she hiked back in to where she was rescued from, so she could continue her journey in entirety.

There are many ways the community can support Ms Seamer on her journey. Her website - wandering-minds.org - has links for people to support her financially, provide accommodation or donate to support the Black Dog Institute.

Ms Seamer also invites anyone to come and hike with her, for even just a portion of a day.

She doesn't know when she will reach Cape York, or what she will do then, although she is considering pushing on to circumnavigate Australia. She will decide when the moment comes.

"If I just hang in there, day after day, pushing forward, bit by bit, with the love and support that surrounds me, I will create a life worth living. One step at a time!"

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