The unexpected Canberra mum who is behind an adventure travel Instagram account

Truth be told, a 60km hike is nothing compared with some of the other things this 43-year-old mum has conquered. But at 105 kilograms, Wallis doesn't look like someone who would hike the 160km across a frozen Lake Khovsgol in Mongolia or the 170km across Australia's Simpson Desert.

The Canberran is the adventurer behind the Instagram account @plus_size_adventurer, which aims to not only showcase Wallis' travels but to help break the myth that adventure travel is only for the young or athletic-looking people.

"I think people assume that it's elite people who do this," she says.

"Sure, there are people who are absolute superstars and I have met particularly some of the Moroccan runners who just blister their way through the course, but the reality is that a full third of the people participating in these events actually walk them. If you can walk at a decent 5km an hour pace and keep that up all day, you can actually complete these events."

Wallis' adventures have seen her not only accomplish amazing feats, but they have given her the chance to experience things others would only dream of. She has seen snow on the dunes of the Gobi Desert and witnessed the changing colours of Lake Khovsgol when it is frozen two metres deep.

And in August her adventures will see her swim from Europe to Asia, across the Dardanelles.

"It's on the Turkish national day and so they close the strait to shipping and all of the fishing boats line the course on both sides so they can both cheer on the swimmers and pluck people out of the water if required - although I'm hoping that won't be required," Wallis says.

This particular adventure is one which Wallis' is also raising money for Soldier On, and she's hosting a fundraising event at the Old Canberra Inn on June 27, which will give people an insight into what it takes to take up adventure travel.

"The thing is that you have to pick big ambitious goals," Wallis says.

"In my mind, they're the things that you don't know if you can achieve but you work for them and then you achieve them, and that sense of achievement that comes from that is just fantastic.

"I think that if you have that adventure that you know you've worked for - and you're working towards that physically in terms of the training for it and also in terms of saving up the money to go and do it - then it just means that much more when you do it.

"Plus, for me, there is no better way to experience - particularly wilderness areas - then to be physically moving through them on your own two feet."

For tickets to the Old Canberra Inn event, go to eventbrite.com.au.