Maybe we should start a new thread on travel adventure books.
sorry to hijack this thread Adelle, but all these books should give you inspiration - if these people could do these places, doing NZ in a Moke should be a doddle.
Eurasian Moke remains one of my all-time favourites. Hard to come by these days (although I do have a copy going up on Ebay shortly) but well worth it if you get it.
I read First Overland quite a few years ago, and I thought I had a copy of it, but maybe I borrowed it from someone. A great adventure, but even with Land Rovers they didn't make it all the way without transhipping the cars around the worst bit. Looks like it is a re-release, so I should buy a copy. Where did you get yours from Brett?
This is the book that Brett referred to, that we are now selling:
A great story about a couple of blokes who take on the 1977 London-Sydney Marathon in a Mini, and within a couple of days realise that even finishing in the top ten is out of the question, but just to reach Sydney becomes their all-connsuming goal. They make it, finishing last with hundreds of hours in penalties (and technically disqualified), but at least they finish - unlike a lot of other competitors.
I love reading adventure travel books, but not all involve cars.
A real "Boys Own" adventure of the second group of men to reach the South Pole - how depressing it must have been to get there and find you had been beaten by a few days - who died on the return journey.
Getting back to cars, there is this one. While most people think of East to West, or the other way around, when looking at trtans-global drives, this one went from North to South
Although interesting to read, and a truly great adventure, the author of this one left me cold. A decorated WW2 veteran who obviously thought himself superior to all those around him, and who decided that the rules and laws of some of the middle-east countries did not apply to an English Gentleman explorer, by the end of the book he had me hoping he would fail. Despite ignoring many warnings, breaking local laws and generally treating native people in a number of countries as idiots (as clearly comes across in the book) he became the first person to drive a normal family car (Austin A90) from above the Arctic Circle (North Cape) to Cape Town in South Africa. The car is actually now on display in the British Motor Heritage Centre, Gaydon, done up as it was on the adventure.
Then there is this one, that came out a few years ago.
Two young guys head off from England to drive to South Africa, almost on a whim. Unfortunately, the car they choose for the trip is a race-prepared Mini. Incredibly, the Mini makes it through the deserts and jungles, but the final fate of the little car almost brought tears to my eye.
For a taste of the Australian deserts, there is this one:
Ray Ericksen was bored with his urban Melbourne life as a university academic, so in 1967 he bought a Land Rover and headed West for 7 months. A terrific read about adventure in a country virtually unknown by most people who lived in it.
For Australian Outback adventure, you really can't go past the books by Len Beadell. This is one of about six books, of which I have five.
Starting out after the War as a surveyor with the Defence Department, he surveyed the roads through Central Australia for the Woomera Rocket Range, first in a Jeep, then, more famously, in a Land Rover. Often travelling on his own for weeks at a time, he would return to the start of the road and set off leading his small road gang, known as the Gunbarrel Road Construction Party. The first book details his work around Woomera and the first investigations along the rocket flight line. Each book afterwards details his adventures in building one road. Gunbarrel Hwy, Sandy Blight Junction, Gary Hwy, Connie Sue Hwy and others are all testament to his work. Len Beadell has been described as the last true Australian explorer, and his books are written with wit and sometimes outrageous humour. Very highly recommended.
Then comes one of my favourites
Seven years after Len Beadell completed the Gunbarrel Hwy, a Mini and an Austin 1800 became the first private cars to use it, on their way to becoming the first cars ever to cross Australia from East to West through the centre. The book was the first written by Evan Green, who was the leader of the party, and was re-released about 20 years later - as
Hit The Road Jack complete with all the swearing that had been edited out of the first edition.
If you like the book then you will love the film that was done of the same trip -
Crossroads Alice, which we sell on DVD (shameless plug).
Another book by Evan Green was this one, which is one of the all-time great motoring adventure stories, and a tale of "what might have been"
The story of Evan Green and John Bryson's entry in the London-Sahara-Munich World Cup Rally of 1974, in a P76. While leading the rally outright they got lost at night in the Sahara Desert (due to poor instructions and changed road conditions) along with other competitors. Eventually back in the rally they suffered numerous suspension problems, turning their rally into a test of survival. Back in Europe they were able to show what the car was capable of - winning the Targa Florio stage outright - but it was too late and they finished well down the order. This book is really hard to find (no, I don't have a spare copy) and sometimes sells on the internet for as much as $150. See one for much less than that and grab it!
Another book that features desert travel in an excellent adventure is this one
New Zealanders Ivan and Beth Hodge honeymooned in England in 1961 and while there they bought a VW Beetle and drove it overland to India, then shipped it to Sydney. 35 years later they shipped the Beetle back to England and retraced their steps, almost exactly. The book has a number of interesting photos taken of the same sights 35 years apart, but the most remarkable thing about this journey is that neither Ivan nor Beth had any real mechanical knowledge - just an unswerving trust in their Beetle.
Finally (for now) there is our own little adventure from 1986 on DVD, when we took 5 Mokes to the very top of Australia - Cape York. I did more of a review of this DVD in Issue 20 of TME, but the highlight of the trip was without doubt floating the Moke Missy across the crocodile habitat Jardine River. Copies are also available from us (another shameless plug).
http://miniexperience.com.au/memorabili ... f2df69245d
That's all for now folks.......
Right, back to work....
Watto.
