In little more than a year the 27-year-old striker’s footballing journey has taken him from Australia to England and now on to New Zealand.

He readily admits that he’s ‘lived the dream’ and is now looking forward to a new chapter in his life.

The man from Coffs Harbour is hoping the suitcases can be packed away for the foreseeable future to help spark the Phoenix to A-League success.

Brownlie was a member of the Queensland Roar side during the inaugural A-League campaign but was determined to pursue his dream of playing in England.

So with wife and family in tow, he headed for England in June last year, determined to make it a case of second time lucky.

The striker’s first foray into English football ended in disappointment after both injury and finance conspired to rob him of his opportunity.

A deal with Championship side Sheffield Wednesday slipped away in 2002 after he broke his cheekbone and a lack of cash prevented Swindon Town signing him in August of that year

But Swindon which gave him with the chance of a permanent deal when he headed back to England for a second bite of the cherry after his spell with Roar.

Swindon had just been relegated to the bottom tier of English professional football but former Chelsea duo Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet had recently been installed as the new management team.

Brownlie joined the team on its pre-season tour to Ibiza, scored in a series of warm-up games, and was promptly offered a deal.

Life got even better when he celebrated his Swindon Town home debut with a last-gasp winner after just 90 seconds on the pitch.

Swindon and Barnet were locked at 1-1 when Brownlie picked up the ball in the dying seconds.

As assistant boss Poyet yelled out ‘don’t shoot, don’t shoot’ from the touchline the Australian ignored the advice and cracked the ball into the top left hand corner of the net.

Although he netted again the following month, Wise and Poyet departed for Leeds United in October and new boss Paul Sturrock called Brownlie into his office at Christmas and told him his services were no longer required.

He was loaned out to fellow League Two club Chester City for the remainder of the season but failed to score for the club.

With the campaign at an end it was time to board another plane and pack his young family off to Wellington.

Brownlie made his first competitive start in Wellington’s 2-0 defeat at Central Coast Mariners in the Pre-Season Cup and sees plenty of signs of encouragement.

He said: “My dream was to play football in England and I’ve done that. It isn’t every person in life that gets to do that.

“I scored a winning goal, played in the FA Cup and worked with a great coach in Wisey.

“I could have stayed in England as there were a couple of clubs interested but I had to decide what was best for the family [Brownlie is married with three young children].

“Wellington offered a two-year deal and, although it’s another country, it’s only a three hour flight to Brisbane.

“I’m really enjoying it here, we have another great coach in Ricki Herbert and the people here in Wellington seem to be sports mad.

“Hopefully we can put on a good show for them in the games to come and that they come out and back us.”

So having banished the travel bug from his system, Brownlie admits it would take a very special offer to tempt him overseas again.

He said: “I’ve no regrets, I believe you treat each day as though it’s your last, you put everything in and hopefully get a lot out.

“I want to be part of an A-League which will hopefully grow and we get more clubs involved along the way.”

Not that Brownlie has chosen the right club if he is looking for life completely without travel. Each away game means flying to a different country with an away trip to Perth Glory hardly a quick bus trip along the freeway.

He joked: “I guess I know the inside of a plane by now.”