Sydney to United Kingdom - Tanya Paterson and Jason de Souza

Twenty two months, twenty four countries and 86,000km after setting out from Sydney we arrived in the UK. Our goal of traversing three continents in our trusty Land Rover, Snortie, was complete.

The challenges, many – the weather which dropped to minus 20 in Kazakhstan causing our fuel and bodies to freeze, hourly harassment by the police in Central Asia asking for bribes, a major mechanical breakdown on the top of a 4000m mountain in Pakistan administered by Kashmir, an attack in Iran which meant a hospital visit for Jason and acute appendicitis for Tanya requiring an operation in Turkey.

The highs - even more impressive. The kindness and generosity of the people in Iran, the sight of the world’s greatest concentration of high mountain peaks in Pakistan’s Northern Areas, visiting exceptionally beautiful mosques, churches, monasteries and temples in nearly every country we visited, the breathtaking bluer-than-blue sky and lakes of Tibet.

Our aim was to find similarities with the people and cultures we met rather than focus on their differences. Wherever we travelled we found people who wanted the same things as ourselves – love, friendship, happiness, security for their families and a better standard of living. We discovered many people who we now aspire to emulate with their good humour, positive thinking, friendly hospitality and unconditional kindness.We aimed to find similarities with the people and cultures we met rather than focussing on differences. Everywhere we found people who shared our aspirations – love, friendship, happiness, security for their families and a better standard of living. We were inspired by, and hope to emulate, the many people we found with good humour, positive thinking, friendly hospitality and unconditional kindness.

Our intention was always to get off the well-trodden tourist path and get closer to people. In China we visited villages where we were the first foreigners the locals had ever met and in Tibet we met monks who prostrated themselves every few feet on their way to Lhasa.

We have fulfilled one of our greatest dreams and had the experience of a life time. The euphoria at completing the journey was only slightly diminished with the realisation that we would have to get back to the nine to five routine and a normal life. We consider ourselves very blessed to have had the opportunity to live out our dreams, to have met so many wonderful people and see some of the most amazing sights in the world.

The only question that remains is..... Where should we go next?

Snortie’s repairs & replacements:
- whole clutch system was replaced (clutch slave and cylinder, clutch cable in Australia, clutch plate and pressure plate in Pakistan)
- 5 pieces of glass including windscreen, small rear windows, rear door window and driver’s side window
- new deep cycle battery before leaving for China (second battery to power fridge)
- front prop shaft repairs replaced uni-joint
- 1 indicator bulb
- brake pads & windscreen wiper rubbers
- diff seals replaced several times (and still leaking!)
- front off-side headlight replaced in UK (slightly cracked when we hit a small bird in Turkmenistan)
- 8 oil filters, 8 fuel filters and 4 air filters during services (including final service after arrival in the UK)

Fuel prices:
Highest – USD$1.00 (France)
Lowest – USD$0.01 (Iran)

Tanya and Jason’s Wardrobe Comments
First Layer® Thermals – most toasty we had ever worn all fitted very well, excellent for wash and wear.
Merino Thermals – beautiful fabric, very warm, great style.
Piranha Jackets – we rarely felt chilled wearing them, great for pockets, especially the inner security one.
Prolite® Shirts and Trousers – these wore extremely well, even when absolutely filthy they washed clean with no problems.
Tanya and Jason also wore Thermal Pro fleece jackets, fleece hats, WindStopper® gloves and prototype Vista waterproof jackets.

Further photographs and information on Tanya, Jason and Snortie’s journey can be found online at www.globaloverland.com