Overland Live - The Blog about Overland Expedition Travel

Infographic Planning by @T2T_Trace

2013-05-22T16:30:00.003+10:00

How much planning do you do before your trans-continental overland trip?

T2T Africa Infographic

Do you spend hours researching countries, cultures, events before departing?

How do you document your pre-trip findings? Traditional highlighter pen in a guide book or typing endless notes on your computer?
Or do you simply wait until in-country before quickly referring to the guide book for things to do?

Regardless of how you plan, here is a neat idea from Tracey, a team member, of the Tsitsikamma to Tataouine Expedition:

Tracy has researched the various countries that the team will be traveling through (departing August 2013) and have created a set of infographics for each country:

An example of the Tanzania infographic highlights the official language, time zone, plus a few other interesting stats like the top award winning Tanzanian beer.

Tanzania Infographic by T2T

Rooftop Tent - Very useful modification: A balcony

2013-05-21T10:09:00.001+10:00

Roof top tents are practical - but they are also very impractical.

Roof Top Tent - Table

Where do you keep your shoes after climbing up the ladder? What about that first morning brew? Who gets the job of exiting the tent and making a cuppa before climbing back inside?

Wes Craiglow, owner of Central Overland, recently blogged about a wooden shower mat that he had been given. Thinking through the endless possibilities of the design, Wes started modifying the original shower mat - first he turned it into a table, but then started thinking how this modification could be used as a 'balcony' for his Eezi-Awn tent. He blogged the following:

in addition to its use as a table, I have developed a way to attach the AJIK mat against the front edge of my Eezi-Awn roof top tent using some string for support and two 3/8″ steel rods secured by four similarly-sized pipe straps as braces. It basically creates a “balcony” for dirty shoes and sandals just to the left side of our ladder. (I can’t tell you how nice it is to not bring them into the tent anymore.)

Read the full blog post: This Shower Mat is a Jack of All Trades

This simple and very practical roof top tent modification will benefit any traditional style rooftop tents but won't work with the 'Tourer' style tents.

Thanks to Wes Craiglow for the use of his photographs and for 'thinking outside of the box' and coming up with this unique idea. Be sure to visit the Central Overland website.

Mercedes G Entdecker Expedition Vehicle

2013-05-07T20:24:00.000+10:00

Looking for an alternative overland expedition vehicle? Fancy something like the Mercedes G-Class or G-Wagen?

How about a fully kitted vehicle prepared by a team in Germany and Austria?

Head over to Mercedes G Entdecker Expedition Vehicle website for some inspiration (Updated 2013).

As described on the website:

“ENTDECKER” is German for explorer and discoverer. An appropriate name for a vehicle designed, accessorized and built in Germany/Austria and created by a team with over 30 years of experience in G-wagen based overland adventure travel.

My Land Rover Memories...

2013-05-03T08:33:00.001+10:00

Land Rover is currently celebrating its 65th birthday since the launch of the iconic Series I. I thought I would add my Land Rover ownership to the mix...

I had my first Land Rover experience as a kid growing up in Namibia. A friends dad picked us up in his new Series III. I can still recall the white, five door station wagon. With no seat belt restrictions, the two of us jumped across from the rear bench seat into the back tub and chose a spot on the rear side facing seats. My friend mentioned to his dad that we should bounce the Land Rover - I had no idea what he meant, but recall his Dad doing a u-turn on a tar road and the Land Rover bouncing in the turn. I know now that he must have engaged the centre diff and performed the u-turn, causing a major wind-up of the axle and the outer wheels bouncing to remove the tension.

READ MORE >>>>

$99,000 Toyota Land Cruiser Ambulance

2013-04-30T18:05:00.002+10:00

Got a spare AU$99,000? If you do, Ebay Australia has a Toyota Land Cruiser Ambulance available...

Toyota Land Cruiser Ambulance

My search for an alternative vehicle for overland travel has lead me to Ebay searching for 2nd hand ambulances. I am aware of the older Land Rover 101 Ambulances, the few Land Rover Defender ambulance models plus an old Range Rover. But my knowledge of Toyota based Ambulances is rather limited...

Listed on Ebay Australia for a mere AU$99k, this 2008 vehicle has just about everything you would need to turn a Toyota Land Cruiser 78 Series Troop Carrier into a neat expedition vehicle

Fitted with the Toyota VD Engine (V8 4.5L diesel engine), this will cover any terrain that you might encounter.

Trip Report: Sydney Caravan & Camping Show

2013-04-25T21:03:00.000+10:00

The annual Sydney Caravan and Camping supershow is currently taking place.

Travelander

Open over a whopping 8-day period, this show aims at showcasing the very latest caravans (on road and offroad), camper trailers, tents along with the usual big brands like ARB.

I was curious to explore the various camper trailers on offer plus any internal vehicle modifications that might look useful.

Here are a few photos from the day...

READ MORE >>>>

Spotted: Toyota Land Cruiser Troopy - unique roof conversion

2013-04-24T18:27:00.000+10:00

Overland vehicle modification is big business. Just look at the number of 4x4 garages, retail outlets and online sellers. Even with all of these professional outfitters offering similiar products and services, independent overlanders always tend to find a unique way of modifying their vehicle. Take for example this Land Cruiser
HZJ75RV Troopcarrier (6 cylinder Diesel Aspirated 4.2L)

1994 Land Cruiser Troopy

Spotted on Gumtree Australia, this 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser Troopy has had an interesting roof conversion. Unfortunately no photos of the interior were posted online, however, the exterior photos make it look interesting.

Here is the detailed information as posted on Gumtree:

Unique conversion . Pop top with flip over roof carrier creates platform for bed above ground giving full standing space inside, on top of full length pull out drawers.
Complete with winch, limited slip diff. Compressor for tyres and diff. Spots front and rear. Tow bar (unused). Two radios – vhf and other. Completely treated under side at last rego.

Cost 24k 8 years ago. Used only for holiday trips not as a main car. In excellent running order.

Source: Gumtree AU Owner: Guy Baker (unconfirmed). Asking AU$14,000.

A few more photos from the advert:

What do you reckon? Neat idea or to cumbersome to setup? I will follow up with the current owner to see if I can get a few more interior photos.

Right Here, Right Now...

2013-04-23T09:40:00.000+10:00

How do you keep updated with all the overland travel blogs? Do you like current information: Right Here, Right Now? Or do you prefer reading historical overland websites? In this blog post, I mention the rise of RSS enabled websites...

Overland travel has certainly gained a lot of popularity in the last 5 years, and with that, the amount of dedicated overland websites have boomed...

I recall spending hours on The Africa Overland Network visiting each BIO page in turn, attempting to find which websites had been updated since my last visit. I was looking for updates on current overland travel information, current trip reports and current photos.

Google Reader

Thankfully, with the advances of the blogging websites, RSS feeds were introduced which allowed me to link all the RSS enabled websites into Google Reader. I now had the ability to quickly glance through my "Overland Live" folder and view all the current updates from these websites.

Google Reader then allowed me to publish all my subscriptions (currently 237 Overland websites in my RSS folder) to a webpage.

As a result of this, I launched "Overland Live" and started to display the latest blogs, videos, photos and Twitter feeds.

The website has been archived, but the feed is still available:

The invite...

2013-04-16T16:54:00.002+10:00

Who did you ask to join you on your overland adventure? Or did you get asked to join as a co-driver, navigator, bottle washer or simply as a paying passenger?

Initially I had been planning to do the trip on my own but after a friend initiated a blind date with Debbie, my plans started changing. I quite fancied asking her to join me and had often hinted that I had a dream to drive across Africa.

I opted to present her with an invitation highlighting a few key facts and instilling some enthusiasm for a year spent in an overland prepared vehicle.

The challenge of owning your dream is making sure you can share the excitement, the fun and allow someone else, whose ideas might differ from your own to participate fully.

READ MORE >>>>

The day before...

2013-04-10T21:31:00.000+10:00

Morgans Safari - Packing up

The day before you depart on your epic overland adventure: Excited? Anxious? Frustrated? Emotional?
Or, simply all of the above.

Over the last few weeks, I have been lucky to celebrate the departure of two trips from Sydney, heading to Africa...
First across the Sydney harbor bridge was Gareth and Kirsty from Aussie Overlanders and tomorrow it is the turn of Richard and Sophie from Morgan Safari.

I took the opportunity to pop down to the Mulgo Expedition vehicles workshop to catch up with Richard and Sophie. A last minute glitch with the fresh water filtration system had Richard re-plumping a stronger pump into the rear of the Mitsubishi Pajero.

Mulgo Expedition Centre

Twitter: @africaoverland

2013-04-07T16:53:00.000+10:00

The latest Twitter updates from @africaoverland

Tweets by @africaoverland

Spotted: UK registered Land Rover Defender: F974 RTW

2013-04-05T14:51:00.000+11:00

It's awesome spotting a foreign registered vehicle in a different country... This morning, Sydney time (07:33am), I spotted a UK registered Land Rover Defender (F974 RTW) heading towards Sydney airport.

Took me ages to catch it up and only managed to get a poor quality photo via my phone:

It certainly looked neat with an Eezi-Awn rooftop tent, twin spare wheel carrier and side awning. Unfortunately I could not get close enough to see who was driving.

Update:
Five days after spotting the Defender and asking a number of people and plenty of website searching, Daniel (Mulgo Expedition Vehicles & equipment) found the link to the website.

Check it out via: http://www.fourwheeltravel.com

Trip Report: Family Long Weekend

2013-04-02T17:26:00.000+11:00

"It always rains on the Easter weekend in Australia" stated a friend of mine as we discussed the various options for the long weekend. Traffic chaos was guaranteed if we opted for the rural campsites along the NSW coast line, so we decided on a route heading inland towards the Blue Mountains, in particular, the Newnes State Forest bordering the Wollemi National Park.

There are not many roads left in Australia that the Google Street car has not visited and I wanted to make sure we evaded those roads and followed alternative routes inland.
4x4 Earth Australia was my starting point. The website allows people to upload and download GPS routes across the country. I spent a few hours searching all the tracks until I had successfully downloaded a few that intersected my journey to the remote campsite. The route I opted for covered unsealed roads, fire tracks and potentially a few minor tracks linking the various fire roads.

READ MORE >>>>

30-Second Kitchen by Piranha Offroad

2013-03-21T21:20:00.003+11:00

Time for a cuppa? The freedom of overland travel is the ability to stop anytime, anywhere. Having the ability to make a quick cuppa tea or coffee makes the experience that much worthwhile whereas faffing about in the rear of your vehicle to find the dual fuel stove, kettle and cups can often lead to a rather frustrating experience.

Introducing a neat idea from Piranha Offroad in Australia. I first saw this product advertised during a 4WD TV show and immediately liked the concept. I will admit that I have not seen it, or had the ability to test the durability however the concept is unique and makes life on the road that much easier. The concept is fairly clear: a small kitchen and table mounted next to the fridge which can be setup in minutes allowing for easy access to the cooker, crockery and cutlery.

Piranha Offroad advert below:

Piranha Offroad - 30 Second Kitchen

The 4WD TV advert:

Link to website: Piranha Offroad

I think this type of kitchen will only work well with vehicles that either have a tailgate or a full rear door (like a Land Cruiser or LR Discovery). My feeling is that a LR Defender and Jeep won't have sufficient space due to the size of the rear door i.e. access to the rear will be cramped with the fridge and table taking up more than half the available space.

In summary, I think its a unique idea and would consider adding a unit to the rear of my Discovery. If you own a 30-second kitchen and have any feedback, please let me know.

Additional Reading:
Stimson Explorer Kit - Expedition kitchen in a box
Tea Time

Book Review: Wollongong to Woolwich by Will Wilkins & Kate Macdonell

2013-03-19T10:08:00.002+11:00

Wollongong to Woolwich is the overland motorcycle adventure of Will and Kate. Departing Australia and heading for the UK via Asia.

The book is an interesting read. It's not melodramatic, self-confessing travel book, and not technical for the avid motorcyclists. This overland ebook is styled as a personal diary, often highlighting blog entries to enhance the mood of the moment. The pace is quick, which often leaves you wanting to know more details.

You will enjoy this book if you are considering an overland trip using motorbikes as it highlights aspects of travel that make motorcycle travel interesting and challenging. One simple example is the daily endeavour of finding accommodation whilst on a motorbike compared to simply pulling over in your overland camper.

Visit the website: Wollongong to Woolwich and follow via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Austigirl and https://twitter.com/WillWilkins165

A few interesting paragraphs from the book:
Re. the City of Kathmandu:

The whole city was fantastic. I won’t go into a long-winded description to rival a tourist guidebook, but I will use some key words to paint a picture: Noisy, Hectic, Crowded, Vibrant, Friendly, Safe, Polluted, Ancient, Crumbling and yet so ALIVE

Oisin Hughes - video updates

2013-03-18T15:55:00.002+11:00

Oisin Hughes

A quick update on overlander Oisin Hughes - he completed two epic overland motorcycle rides across the Americas and Asia and has published two ebooks detailing his trip. The reason for the mention is that he has been uploading new video content highlighting his adventures.

As I write this, his blogs and photographs are currently unavailable however the videos are enjoyable and give a real sense of the adventure and journey of overland travel.

The most recent videos from his 'Not Dead Yet' trip:

His two books are available from Amazon:

Book Review: Trans-Africa by Motorcycle: A Father's Diary

2013-02-18T15:56:00.002+11:00

Trans-Africa by Motorcycle

Embarking on any extended overland adventure can be quite daunting... opting to do so with your 17year son adds that extra layer of anxiety. Opting to use a 16year old 1981 Yamaha XT 500 to do the trip on, makes for one major adventure.

"Trans-Africa by Motorcycle: A Father's Diary" is the story of Lawrence & Gareth Bransby and their overland adventure from South Africa to the United Kingdom.

Overland routes varied considerably in the mid 1990's compared to what we have these days. Central Africa was an option to transit from West to East, along with the option of shipping from Eritrea to the Middle East and heading North into Europe. Lawrence and Gareth opted for the latter route.

Lawrence & Gareth Bransby

An extract from the introduction:

We opted for Yamaha XT 500's, 1981 models which we bought cheaply and which are renowned for their robustness and simplicity of design. They have points and coil ignition, easy to repair along the side of the road, easy to find spares for. The engine has about 5 moving parts, the gearbox said to be so over-engineered it could be used to drive a tractor...
We couldn't afford expensive aluminum panniers so made one from galvanised sheeting. We constructed carriers from angle iron for the jerry cans, water bottles and thousand and one other things necessary for the trip.

"Without problems, there is no adventure"

2013-02-12T20:45:00.000+11:00

Ben Coombs - Mongol Rally

A few months ago I stumbled on the website of Ben Coombs - an adventurer dedicated to driving unusual vehicles across some of the most famous overland routes. His first epic driving adventure was in a team as part of the Mongol Rally. His vehicle of choice: an old Mini.

Since then he has undertaken a few more unique trips, one of which he has detailed in his book & ebook and which I previously mentioned blog post: Overland in a classic Porsche

Survival of the Quickest

My reason for mentioning Ben again is to encourage you to read his book. His writing style, frank and open, will keep you entertained as you journey overland with him and his travel companions. He is not shy to express his anxiety levels as the old Porsche creaks over rutted roads, or the tough team dynamics after a long day and night drive. I was captivated by his words and was silently encouraging him along the journey as the Porsche scraped through another pothole. I found myself longing to be the passenger, and driver on this trip.

Not many overlanders take his approach to an overland adventure:

I wanted the journey to be a challenge. I wanted it to be uncertain. A reliable 4x4 just wouldn’t offer the same potential for problems. Without problems, there is no adventure.

Ben Coombs

Land Rover or Toyota: 2012 Trip Statistics

2013-02-07T19:34:00.002+11:00

2011 was a unique year. It was the first year that the preferred vehicle choice for a Trans-Africa overland adventure was a Toyota. Prior to 2011, Land Rover had been the most dominant vehicle choice for majority of overlanders who opted to list their adventure website on The Africa Overland Network.

Interested in the 2010 and 2011 statistics? Read them here:

2010 - Land Rover vs Toyota: Which overlander?
2011 - Big Changes

Roll on 2012

A few comments to make on the statistics:

Total trips listed on the website have continued to decline year on year since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) yet 2012 turned out to be a year that people opted to predict that they would travel for longer periods.

The Africa Overland Network - Trans-Africa Trip count

The website Kapp 2 Cape (Oyvind & Sheelah) are heading South from the UK. In a recent blog (from Senegal) they wrote the following:

We have, since our journey started, wanted to meet up with other overlanders. Both to share information with, and maybe to spend some time on the road with. To our surprise, the roads are otherwise very quiet; there doesn’t seem to be very many overlanders around. And further, most of those we meet are either on their way north, or just staying in one country.

Overland Forum Stats 2013

2013-02-06T20:46:00.002+11:00

How many overland and vehicle forums are you registered on? Got a favourite? Do you create threads and reply to posts? Or do you simply lurk scanning the huge amounts of content seeking out that fresh piece of information that glues your thoughts together?

In February 2012, I spent time researching the most popular overland and vehicle based forums currently active on the internet. I recorded the names of the forums, along with the membership, total threads and posts and even the Alexa internet popularity rank. You can read more via: Internet Forums - Love 'em or Hate 'em.

It's now February 2013 and here are the latest statistics on those forums...

Registered Users
The registered users are simply that. This does not represent the active members on the site. Essentially the more registered users, the more content there is to read. Only the forum 'ih8mud' publishes active membership count.

Overland Forums - Registered Users 2013

Rwanda: Be Inspired to visit...

2013-01-21T20:48:00.002+11:00

Heading overland? Don't skip Rwanda:

Comments from the Vimeo website:

In summer of 2012, Mammoth spent two weeks in Rwanda, Africa filming for the country's tourism department.
After delivering the finished video, we decided to create another edit to include all the bonus footage and outtakes.
This video is NOT the edit currently playing in their airports and welcome centers.
Plus:
To say Rwanda is an amazing country, would be an understatement. However, we felt the true magic of Rwanda would be lost in this video, without showing the beautiful people that live there. Can't wait to go back!

Adventuress Wanted - Download the movie now.

2012-12-15T07:23:00.001+11:00

Released a few years ago, the movie 'Adventuress Wanted', was all about Tom's trip South from Norway in his red beach buggy. I reviewed the film in August 2010 and was lucky to show the film to the Overland Workshop (Yorkshire, UK) in 2011.

The good news is that you can now download the movie for free and if inclined, donate a few dollars to the team.

Link: http://redbuggy.com/donate/

Anatomy of a Land Rover Defender 110 200Tdi

2012-11-30T09:59:00.000+11:00

Anatomy of a Land Rover Defender

Choosing your vehicle for your overland adventure is probably the hardest decision you will make... If you opt for a Land Rover Defender, you will be choosing a vehicle that has completed the majority of Trans-Africa journeys and has every accessory you could possible need (and want).

The 'Anatomy of a overland vehicle' series was started by Nick Bradshaw and detailed the various modifications he did to his Defender 300Tdi before and after his epic Trans-Africa adventure.
Be sure to read his post via the Langebaan Sunset blog. My previous blog entry detailed the anatomy of a 1968 Land Rover Series II 109" which I purchased in 1999 and spent a few months driving around Southern Africa.

READ MORE >>>>

Anatomy of a Land Rover Series II

2012-11-27T12:26:00.001+11:00

When last did you drive a Land Rover Series? Did you dream of driving a Series through the African veld, the front air vents fully extended in the hope of getting fresh air into the vehicle?
Did the smell of EP90 gearbox oil make you look at the complex, yet simple, gear lever combinations and wonder if you were leaving an oil stain behind?

Land Rover Series II 109"

My first drive in a Land Rover Series was the day I offered to buy a 1968 Series II 2.286L diesel. She was named Jaboa (after the previous owners: Jenny and Brian's overland adventure) and was perfectly modified for expedition travel. Her steering wheel wobbled in my sweaty hands as I drove her North from Johannesburg. Traffic congested behind me as I double-clutched in an attempt to select the right gear for the smooth but hilly motorway. The radio, mounted on a wooden roof console, struggled to be heard over the clatter of the diesel engine. The Fairey overdrive required a punching action on the gear lever to get it to engage and would squeal brutally under load. Equally, the brake pedal required a strong shove to pump enough brake fluid through the pipes to engage the ancient drum brakes. Sounds tough, but it was a pure pleasure!

I spent the next few months in 1999 driving around Southern Africa, mostly in silence, as it was difficult to keep shouting to my passenger, over the racket of the gearbox and engine! She was renamed to 'Mrs Golly' for Grand-Old-Lady, as she had a fine presence about her which attracted many admirers, and a few detractors who voiced their opinion about Land Rover. You can read all about my first overland adventure in this very amateur blog, which I created in 1999 (with very low resolution scanned photos): To Africa & Beyond

I have borrowed the concept of 'The Anatomy of a Land Rover' from Nick at Langebaan-Sunset blog. His idea of labeling the external and internal features of his Land Rover Defender is a good and practical way for all overlanders to ponder what accessories we considered worthwhile.

READ MORE >>>>

The Overland Dream

2012-11-20T16:07:00.002+11:00

Land Rover 109 - Overland Expedition Prepared

The Overland Dream, for me, needs nurturing and feeding. The dream needs to grow... it needs to expand... to needs to be fulfilled. It needs to be kept inspired, kept fresh and sometimes it needs to be shared.

One way I keep my overland dream alive is to admire photos from overland-related websites. I first started searching independent overland expedition websites in the mid 1990's. It was an extremely slow process of attemping to search via an internet dial-up connection. The content was hard to find, and when I did, the photos were generally scanned using a low resolution. However tedious the process seemed, each new website was inspirational and the photos I viewed made an impression on me. I liked the grey sketched image (on the left) but have no idea where I found it.

I used the following quote on my first overland website...

The original websites have long vanished from web servers but a few remain... Here is one of my favourite websites:

In and Out of Africa - Derek Tearne

What inspires and keeps your overland dream alive?

21-Nov-12 Postscript:
Thanks to the wonders of the internet and image search features, I found the front of the Land Rover image (above). The Land Rover turned out to be a Series II. Unfortunately the person who took the photo is still anonymous.