A news reporter has swapped the gloomy British winter for some sun down under.

But it's not all lazing on the beach for Emma-Kate Lidbury, as the journalist is putting herself through a strenuous triathlon training regime.

Two years ago Emma-Kate decided to take part in a triathlon for a feature for the Oxford Mail.

She enjoyed it so much that she became hooked on the three-discipline sport and is now training in the small town of Noosa, north of Brisbane.

Bosses at the Oxfordshire daily have given the 27-year-old unpaid leave so she can race and train in Australia until the new year.

In September, Emma picked up a bronze medal in the women's 25 to 29 age category at the Triathlon World Championships, in Hamburg.

She said: "Things are going brilliantly in Oz, I'm absolutely loving it. I'm certainly not missing the notepad and newsroom much when there's permanent sunshine, gorgeous beaches and brilliant training facilities here in Noosa.

"I am training with some of the world's best triathletes and I'm building on my fitness day by day ready for a stonking season next year. Life is pretty damn good and I do have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that this is all real.

"Most days go a little like this - up at 5am for a 5k swim session in the pool where Aussie Olympic swimming hero Grant Hackett is currently training. Then it's back home for breakfast and a mid-morning snooze before catching up on e-mails and writing up training logs before lunch.

"I do a late-afternoon bike or run then a stretching session, shower, dinner and bed. Obviously not all days are like that - some have involved the beach - and I've also done a bit of sightseeing.

"I'm off to the idyllic Whitsunday Islands in a fortnight or so for a few days R&R so all in all pretty darn brilliant. It's crazy to think I only got into this triathlon lark in order to do a feature on it."

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