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Love your work and your courage. There maybe a moment or two where you wonder what you were thinking but ultimately it'll be the trip of a lifetime. Dont be too surprised, once you get to the end, if you want to just keep going.
Thank you for your lovely comment. Yes, I think there will be many times laying under the Land Rover covered in oil, or at a border past for 7 hours, thinking we have had enough. Time will tell.
If all goes well and we get to the UK, the plan may be to turn left and go down to Africa.
G'day and I just like to make a smallish comment because I'm very envious of your coming planned journey. Fantastic! In 2019 I did something similar in my 2015 Defender 130 and therefore my envy because I know of whats's awaiting you. I had joined a small group of 8 cars driving from Vladivostok to London. All kiwi's, as it was professionally kiwi organised and I was the only Aussie. ( from Perth ) There had been a semi-organised meeting in Ulaanbaatar with a couple from NZ in a seriesII ex armyLandrover.They had driven their Landy from Singapore all the way up into China and then Mongolia.Their only problem so far had been a their gearlever braking and unfortunaly it got welded with it somehow being the wrong way around but it worked anyway. They travelled with us from UB, of and on, most of the way into Europe after traversing Mongolia, the Russian Altai,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,Kazak again,Russia,Ukraine and they parted us for good in Poland where later they broke down with transmission problems and waiting there for spares for near on 3 weeks, from memory. They did complete their journey eventually via Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and down to Calais and ending up in the UK in the town of York,which was their end destination but also where a mother lived. Whilst with us they did get a broken centre bolt on the rear suspension Tajikistan and later some broken ignition leads in Uzbekistan. Their Landy was open at the back and was therefore very dusty.I remember after visiting the Ural Sea, it had been particular bad because of the type of soil in that part of the country.One could hardly recognise them. As for myself, we all ended up in London after 82 days and just on 21800 km's.Out of the 8 vehicles 6 were actual paying tourists and one of the couples had departed in Germany in order to visit something in Italy. Unfortunately, their Nissan Patrol overheated in the alps and caused terminal engine damage and their end destiantion of Iceland didn't sadly eventuate. My wife and I toured England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Eire itself before returning to the UK with a must visit to Solihull, where ofcourse "Lazarus" ( my 2nd 130 ) had been tinkered together.Unfortnately it was on a Friday and late afternoon and our reception there had been pretty unfriendly. No photo's had been allowed to be taken of the whole facility and we didn't get any further then the front gate, that being blocked by gungho security guards. Workers were leaving and fortunately one person displayed some interest in the Landy and he had been working at the very same plant where the Landys had been put together but was carefull with his wording. So quite a very disappointing visit to Solihull and I very much hope that your visit will be much better, so make sure not to arrive before a week-end and I believe bookings must be made well in advance for a tour of the factory. We then hopped over to Holland from Harwich and my wife flew back to Perth from Amsterdam. She had actually joined me a month before in Odessa( Ukraine) from Perth. I had decided to drive back to Vladivostok solo and there for "Laz" to be shipped back to Oz.My preference would have been to go via Turkey and Georgia et all but as I had also planned to drive to Magadan on the Pacific Russian coast by driving the "Road of Bones" as well as going to Oymyakon, the world's coldest place in winter.I had a time limit as well with that because the Aldan river near there starts freezing over late October and the paddle ferry will stop quickly, thus I choose not to use Turkey but the shorter route via Latvia. I did make the 6000 kilometre detour via Yakutsk to get to Magadan but did not get to Oymyakon because of terrible snow and rain weather and bad road conditions. Getting stuck on the
Tomtor/Oymyakon road in deep mud could entail days before helped arrived , as our convoy leader had experienced a few years before on a solo trip by himself, and thus I might not be back in time for the ferry crossing and the way back. I did get back to Vladivostok with virtually no brake pads left but had covered just on 47000 km's over the whole journey and had just one flat tyre in those 6 months. As a by note: I did get to Oymyakon last year in January (2025)by taking a private tour to there and experienced a -63C temperature during the day, of which one gets a certificate as proof. Normal temps were around the -48/-50C every day and -55/58 C at night.I hope that my little tale gets your travel juices flowing with more urgency and I wish you the very best of times along the way. If you're looking for a companion, then please let me know. Cheers, André.
G’day André,
What an absolute epic of a comment—thank you so much for taking the time to share this! Reading through your journey had me completely hooked. 21,800 km to London, a solo detour to Magadan via the Road of Bones, and hitting 47,000 km in total with only one flat? Lazarus sounds like an absolute beast of a Defender 130!
That story about the Kiwi couple in the ex-army Series II is fantastic. Getting a broken gear lever welded backwards in Mongolia, surviving the Aral Sea dust storms completely exposed, and pressing on all the way to York—that is the exact grit, spirit, and madness of Land Rover ownership in a nutshell. Hearing stories like theirs makes the road ahead feel all the more real (and exciting!). Now I wish the house would sell faster so we can hit the road!
Sorry to hear about that frosty reception at Solihull on a Friday afternoon, but top tip noted on booking well ahead and avoiding the weekend knock-off! Also, huge respect for finally making it back to Oymyakon last year. -63°C would be an experience!
Your message definitely got the travel juices flowing! Thanks again for the encouragement and the legendary tales. If our paths ever cross on the road or back home in Oz, the first round is on me.
Paul and Lucy (Plus Peanut)