Preparing
For An Overland Adventure
For very adventure there is the decision to take the plunge
"Come on let’s do this, we can do it - a pure moment
of insanity!"
We
are both in our 50s and we could not see ourselves settling into
a permanent 9-5 existence until we reached retirement. We both
knew if we did not take this opportunity we would regret it 20
years from now. Armed with plenty of ambition to experience different
cultures, travel vast and beautiful landscapes - Overland Vision
was born.
Transcending
our dream into reality is where all the fun started. The red tape
involved for a journey of this scale was challenging and the mountain
of paper work involved is huge, visas, carnet, health and personal
insurance, shipping to name but a few. In the beginning it was
daunting but slowly after months of planning everything started
to come together.
"The Route"
January
2004 we shipped our Nissan Safari 4x4 to Singapore. Our
itinerary involves driving overland through Malaysia, Thailand,
Laos, entering China on the Laos border and exiting at Kazakhstan,
driving a daily average of 250 kms.
From Kazakhstan we will be following parts of the silk road,
the crossroads of trade and travel through parts of China
and the Stan’s, then on through to the top of Iran
along the Caspian Sea, into Azerbaijan, Georgia, then along
the Black Sea to Turkey, Europe, UK and return to NZ via
Africa.
The
unrest in Pakistan, Nepal, and Afghanistan played a major
part in us choosing this particular route. Another factor
was that the China leg was a relatively new route that has
only opened up in the past few years.
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"Our Travel Companions"
Along
the way we will be meeting up with 3 other couples and their
vehicles at the China / Laos Border where we will be hiring
and sharing the cost of a guide for the 45 days that we
are travelling across China.
Jill
and Paul Robertson, and Lynda and John Pinder all ex kiwis
now living in Australia. They will be driving a Toyota Land
cruiser 4x4 flat deck with a slide on mounted camper and
a brand new Sun liner Motor home.
Joseph and Janet Vogrinec,(Janet who is an Australian and
Joseph was born in Slovenia), will be driving a Winnebago
Leisure Seeker motor home, built on a Mitsubishi canter
truck.
Paul
and Lawrie will be the only two driving 4x4's Together they
have already sourced out some challenging roads to drive.
It will be interesting to see how the motor homes stand
up to the rigors of the trip.
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"Preparation Is Now Over"
With
the preparation now over, we both are thrilled to finally
be starting our journey.
Lawrie
and I would like to take this opportunity in thanking all
of our family and friends for their undying support, enthusiasm
and encouragement throughout the planning process.
Special
thanks also goes out to Steve, Wal and his team at Macau
Motors for their time, expertise and workmanship that went
into modifying our vehicle.
Our
website will be updated every couple of weeks, so do come
back again and check on our progress.
Carol
& Lawrie Chandler
We
aim for our web page to be a show case for our trip and
an inspiration and a source of information for others planning
a similar adventure.
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