Almost immediately after I had
returned in August 2014 from the path breaking drive to London from Cochin planning
for the next adventure had begun. The exhilaration of an international
expedition, the challenges related to it and attempting to do something that
had not been done till then, all combined to spur the renewed interest. Tours
of South East Asia, South and North Americas and Australia and some more
jostled for attention in the mind. Detailed plans were drawn up for expeditions
in South East Asia, North America and Australia. South East Asia tipped the
scales and a 77 day solo round trip was completed between Feb and May 2015 from
to Cochin, which included Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and
Malaysia besides India and Singapore. Then, in August 2015 I successfully
completed the first solo Trans Himalayan expedition in 18 and half days. May-June
2016 saw the most adventurous of the road expeditions till date, the
Trans-Siberian Highway, which began in Chennai and ended in St Petersburg. En
route I drove through Myanmar and China before successfully tackling the 11000
km Vladivostok-St Petersburg stretch, the second longest highway in the world.
2017 saw the Four Corners of India being negotiated solo in a record time of 88
hours. Four tough expeditions, three international and one national, in three years
and ‘yeh dil mange more’ (this heart yearns for more).
All the above while the Australian
dream kept bubbling and expanding. Finally, I decided to do the Australian
Highway 1, which arguably is the longest highway in the world, along with a
drive in New Zealand from the north tip to the southern. Google enquiry
consistently throws up the Pan-American Highway as the longest highway in the
world, at over 45,000 km. I feel that this is not valid for two reasons. One,
the highway spans two Continents across several countries. It could have even
been extended to the northern-most point in Canada to make the highway even
longer! Secondly the Pan-American Highway is broken by the Darien Gap, across
which one cannot even ferry a vehicle. How can this then be the longest Highway
in the world? Thus, the highway network that circumnavigates the content of
Australia should, in all fairness, applies for the distinction of being the
longest highway in the world at over 15,000 km, which includes the island of
Tasmania.
Thus, after 42 months of
planning, researching, sourcing and saving funds time is almost at hand for
what promises to be an exciting trip. Advice came in from many quarters about
the vehicle to be used in Australia, communication system, precautions to be
taken and places to be visited. Along with that came offers of accommodation from
family and friends. This will be the first time that I would be using a rented
car for my expeditions. There are three reasons for this decision. The first is
that I would have to ship the car from Chennai to Sydney and back. Without
having to drive in India, I considered it pointless to record huge expenses for
two way shipping and uncertain shipping time. The second is that the cost of
Carnet can be avoided, the process for which has, mercifully, been tempered
down. However, the Carnet fee of Rs. 150,000 can be put to better use Down
Under. The third, and most important, factor is that I have not been supported in
any of my ten previous expeditions by any car manufacturer in India despite my
fervent appeals. Be it Maruti, Ford, Hyundai, Isuzu or Mahindra deaf ears and
complete disdain of proposals I have been met with. Even my travelogues that espoused
the cars, such as “A Glorious Endeavour” and “An Indian Cheetah in Siberia”
have been assiduously ignored by the car makers. In such a situation, I did not
consider it financially prudent to give these brands mileage without being given
some small change, at least, in lieu.
On 1 March I will fly to Sydney
from Chennai and pick up the rental car at the designated place at the airport
premise. After a couple of days in Sydney, shaking off the jet lag and getting
accustomed to the new Continent, I will start the Australian Highway 1
expedition. The route (proposed night halts) is Melbourne – Devonport – Hobart
– Devonport - Melbourne – Adelaide – Ceduna - Border Village, Nullarbar –
Norseman – Albany – Perth – Carnarvon - Port Hedland – Broome - Halls Creek –
Katherine – Darwin - Daly Waters – Borroloola – Camooweal – Normanton – Cairns
– Mackay – Brisbane – Sydney. The 31 day round trip from Sydney, during when I
will be covering nearly 15,000 km, includes an extra day each in Melbourne,
Adelaide, Ceduna, Perth, Darwin, Cairns and Brisbane for local visits. After
finalization of route and booking accommodation online I wished I had factored
in a couple of days more in Tasmania. In fact, the entire Continent needs a
couple of months to fully enjoy the landscape and diversity.
From Sydney I will fly to
Auckland with three friends – BN Shukla, my railway batch mate, his wife and
Hetal Shah, a family friend; a merry band of three hardcore vegetarians and a
cannibal! Archana Kaul, a railway batch mate settled in Auckland, painstakingly
went through the proposed itinerary, suggested changes and additions and
identified must see places on the short tour of the Northern and Southern
Islands of New Zealand. After reading references to New Zealand in Sapiens I
wished I had more than the 19 days I had set aside for that country. The
stunning landscapes, rich diversity of flora and fauna (the author of Sapiens
attributes this to the fairly recent occupation of the land by the destructive
Homo Sapiens) and the friendly people make this a fairytale land in modern
times. Tom Sanders, an American from Florida settled in Christchurch, New
Zealand, who I met recently in Chennai, told me that he had gone to New Zealand
for tourism, fell in love with what he saw there and decided to move base to
that country. The proposed itinerary in New Zealand is Auckland – Cape Reinga –
Whangarei – Whitianga – Rotorua – Gisborne – Wellington – Nelson – Greymouth –
Wanaka – Te Anau – Bluff – Dunedin – Christchurch, covering 5,500 km.
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