Well the time has come where I thought i'd better get back out into the wild places of the world in a Land Rover. I've booked a Defender for November this year with Bushlore, so and me and the missus will be jetting off to South Africa where we'll pick it up and head into Botswana for a couple of weeks...
I find myself writing a third chapter in my saga of expedition vehicles. I never intended it to work out that way. My first expedition vehicle was supposed to be "the one". But a couple of things had happened......
Following on from my other posts on desert expeditions in the Outback and the Sahara, there a few short clips worth reiterating the importance of water...
After you get your first Land Rover Defender and you're starting to learn about where you can save money by doing things yourself, you realise that for every task there is something you lack. Namely, tools....
It is said that to drive a Land Rover Defender safely you should imagine that you are driving a soft-top; that is to say that the aluminium body construction doesn't provide much strength should you find the vehicle inverted and the weight of the chassis/engine/axles hovering above you...
In July 2024 I took an Armenian-registered vehicle from Georgia to Bulgaria on the Batumi to Burgas ferry...
I'd been planning on going to Salisbury plain for a long time. It's held in great esteem by off roading communities for its large areas of byways and public access to vehicles. I was expecting a pay and play day mecca, but as it turned out it was rather tame. Where Pay and play days may get to 7/10 on difficulty for a standard vehicle, the plain peaked at around 3/10 with most of it 1 to 2....
The large debate to have with yourself when planning any expedition is "what should you take and what should you leave?". This inevitably encompasses spare wheels as they're bulky and heavy. If you're planning on going remote, then a spare wheel is absolutely essential in the event of a puncture....
I've finally started the journey towards my own Land Rover expedition. In June 2009 I purchased this 1992 Land Rover Defender 110 Hardtop 200Tdi from eBay. I've already found myself trawling catalogues and websites for things I can buy to upgrade it with. My journey to make the ultimate expedition vehicle has begun....
I've been watching Ray Mears Extreme Survival recently way back from the year 2000. Despite his shorts hiding not nearly enough flesh, he has some great pointers about preparing yourself and gathering the right equipment for heading into the Australia Outback....
