Imagine this: 5,500 kilometres in a small car with 55 cats in the middle of the summer of 1969.

That's the great trek Sydney's Rae 'Manx' Morgan undertook in order to celebrate the holidays with her husband.

"It was the first time my husband and I had had Christmas for five years, and I suddenly decided in two hours to go and spend Christmas with him in Adelaide," she said.

Ms Morgan was the only Australian breeder of Manx cats at the time, and had to bring the animals with her so they could continue to be fed and looked after over the festive period.

When she arrived, Mr Morgan was "amazed".

The pair shared the details with an ABC TV show, It's a Big Country: A Pet's Mad World, mid-trek.

Sound like the kind of trip you'd have proverbial kittens over?

Well, Ms Morgan did — real ones. A litter of six was born the day she got back.

After having already managed a cross-country trip with scores of the animals, that final litter prompted Ms Morgan to open a shop to sell them: Frivolous Felines in Her Majesty's Arcade.

We'd love to find out what became of Ms Morgan (and her cats). Drop us a line if you have any more information.