Congo Overland - Kinshasa to Lubumbashi

Into The World

No matter what the obstacle - closed borders, unknown routes - overlanders will always find a way around.  In this particular instance, the ability to be issued with a tourist Angolan visa is constantly proving to be difficult and time consuming.  This does present the opportunity to find an alternative route...

During the early 1990's, a well established route was known heading from West Africa across Central Africa and eventually into Uganda.  My post, The Lost Routes, goes into more detail and more recently the well published adventure of Frederik and Josephine inspired many with their daring adventure North.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

'A place where Noah left his ark' was our destination in November 2005.   Gorongosa National Park is located at the Southern end of the Great Rift Valley in Mozambique. I recently watched a film about the park which has prompted this post.

Entering the country from the North had been a relatively easy experience, and as the diary recalls, we were the only vehicle passing through the remote border.

The National Park was originally established as hunting reserve but after many years it's popularity turned to one of tourism.  Fauna and Flora were abundant in this secluded country until the difficult civil war broke out.  Thirteen years of war, often centered around the park, had a devastating effect on the wildlife.  In 2005, evidence of the war was still visible in the old tourist camp however the staff were very motivated after receiving a financial grant to begin the rebuild process.

Schrader spark plug air pump

Schrader spark plug air pump advert

"Always use metal dust caps as unlike the plastic tyre these will form an air seal"

The 1974 'a guide to Land Rover expeditions' has a few interesting paragraphs on tyres, as the quote above indicates.  Metal dust caps are still available (check your local ebay) however I don't think I know anyone who has metal dust caps fitted!

One item in particular caught my attention: 'Spark plug air pump (Petrol models only)'
The paragraph continues: 'The latter is extremely useful, as manually inflating large tyres in hot conditions can be very exhausting'.

A Guide to Land Rover Expeditions (1974)

"Exercise care in applying the accelerator pedal as sudden power surges may induce wheel spin"

A very useful tip from the 1974 "a guide to Land-Rover expeditions" in the section "Hints on cross-country driving".

The guide book was originally posted on Oval News and can be downloaded as a PDF from the following link: a guide to Land-Rover expedtions

Dichotomy

The Dichotomy of an Overlander... (source: Overlandia)

*no other words needed to define this Land Rover advert...

#Motochat

Twitter: Motochat

I have been watching with interest as the hashtag Motochat has gained popularity.  What is it?
It's a weekly twitter chat for people who ride motorcycles - hosted by the Motochat team. They are also using Facebook and Google Plus.  Each week a topic is promoted and then discussed in detail during the hour session.  I think it's a fab way to meet new people that follow a similar interest.

Here's the latest Twitter search feed on #motochat:

Be sure to join the conversation each Wednesday.

Gravel roads...

Gravel roads are diminishing as the black bitumen creeps over the old dusty back roads of Australia.  It is getting harder to find those original gravel roads that have been immune to the creep of tarmac - yet one website in Australia is encouraging people to list their 4x4 routes and share them.

I stumbled upon 4x4Earth Australia in an effort to find alternative routes between the major cities. I was after gravel - lots of gravel.  My destination for the excursion was based on the 4x4 Earth route: Canberra - Goulburn: for those who think tar sucks.  With a title like that, I just had to follow the suggested GPS track.

I departed Canberra close to 6am so as to allow myself time to explore before beginning the full commute to the office.  Sunrise was schedule for 0626 which was perfect as I had a few kilometers to cover before the detour.

Stockton Beach, NSW

Land Rover Discovery 300tdi - Stockton Beach

Sand tracks, beaches, dunes and desert all have one thing in common: they make the vehicle work very hard and are a pleasure to drive.
Having recently purchased a Land Rover Discovery 300tdi automatic, I was keen to test the vehicle out in local conditions in New South Wales, Australia.  A comfortable three hours North of Sydney is the Southern Hemisphere's largest rolling sand dune beach.

Wikipedia describes Stockton Beach:

Stockton Beach, on the Tasman Sea, starts on the northern side of the break wall that protects the entrance to Newcastle harbour in Stockton, Newcastle's northern most suburb, and stretches for 32 km (20 mi) in an approximate north-easterly direction to Anna Bay in Port Stephens. In some areas it is as much as 1 km (0.6 mi) wide and has sand dunes over 30 metres (98 ft) high although at the Stockton end it is at its narrowest with no dunes. Each year the dunes move north by approximately 4 m (13 ft). The sand on Stockton Beach varies from hard to soft packed and changes daily with the changing winds and weather. The dunes are the largest continuous mobile sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere.

During my recent search for a 2nd hand overland ready four wheel drive, I stumbled upon this Land Rover whilst searching for the following:  Bullbar & Sunroof.  A great criteria for an overland vehicle ;-)
The Discovery is fitted with the 2.5l turbo diesel (300tdi), a Davis Landys turbo upgrade, BFG AT, Snorkel, rear drawer system and automatic transmission.  I have never owned an automatic 4wd before which meant I was rather apprehensive of the performance an automatic diesel Land Rover can achieve so when the first outing of 2012 was Stockton Beach, I packed the family tent, sleeping bags and the essential gear like the ARB snatch strap and shackles.

Choosing an Overland Campervan by Stephen Stewart

Are you, like me, progressing from a rooftop tent to an overland campervan?  If so, be sure to read Stephen Stewart's 'Choosing an overland campervan' article. Stephen has provided enough detail and thought into the article to make it worth reading and reviewing:

An extract from the website:

Living in the vehicle, not beside it.
Overland vehicles can be divided into three groups depending on what is expected of the vehicle. At one extreme is "transport only". All the vehicle is expected to do is to get you, and your luggage, from A to B (for example travel by car from hostel to hostel). At the other extreme is the "live-in campervan" where the vehicle is expected to provide both transport and the comforts of a "home".
In between these is the "live-beside" vehicle. This is typically a 4x4 (SUV) vehicle (often a Toyota Landcruiser or Land-Rover Defender) with a tent, on the roof or on the ground.
This web page is only concerned with the "live-in" type of vehicle, which I shall refer to, from here on, as an "overland campervan".
(As an aside whilst it can be advantageous to travel in groups, this works best if all the vehicles in the group are of the same type (i.e. all "live-in" or all "live-beside")).

Source: Stephen Stewart

GPS Graveyard...

Garmin GPS III+ mounted on Land Rover dash.

What happens to old GPS units?  Those ancient direct-line-of-sight GPS receivers that would take minutes to acquire the satellites and could only hold 1.44meg of internal storage which was used for waypoints, tracklogs, routes and basemaps.

My old GPS is currently abandoned in a cupboard drawer waiting for a need to be turned on.  It's a Garmin III+ with the world basemap along with limited coverage of Africa.  It uses a serial cable to download and upload the data to a computer (which PC has a serial connector now?).