Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor) · Morocco · Norway (Arctic Circle) · Turkey · Australia

Featured Vehicles

Black Sheep expedition vehicle (Switzerland to Dubai)
Matzker MG6-Commando

Events

Introducing the Overland Discovery Expo in Wales

Travel

Solving the 3,000-year-old mystery of the Oxus River (Lake Malang expedition)
Heading east across Eurasia in a Series 2 Land Rover
Waiting for the wind: travel, time, and patience
Morocco: the Chouara Tannery in Fez

Portfolio

Far Above the Arctic Circle

Overland Chef

Road Trip Snacks II

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The post Number 11: Historic Geographic Discovery, Feature Vehicles, Solo Adventure Moto Travel, and Cultural Tradition appeared first on overland-europe.

Australia · France · Spain · Namibia · Norway (Nordkap)

Field Tests

• GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV pickup
• BOXIO Cook (12-month test)
• ARB Skydome (4-year long-term test)

Featured Vehicles

• Land Rover Defender OCTA Black
• Volkswagen Amarok

Travel

• Nordkap in winter with two INEOS Grenadier Quartermasters
• France and Spain in a 1963 Land Rover Series IIA
• A family of four driving from India to Germany
• Cycling across Australia (Part 6)
• Guided self-drive travel in Namibia

Portfolio

• Africa

Conservation

• Australia: Denham & Shark Bay aquaculture project

Skills

• Cordless power tools for overland travel

Overland Chef

• DIY road trip snacks

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The post Number 10: Winter Travel, Vehicle Testing, Skills and Conservation Across Remote Regions appeared first on overland-europe.

Australia · Jordan (Wadi Rum) · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Peru · Egypt

Featured Vehicles

Land Rover Series vehicles (historic and expedition use)

Events

Behind the scenes of the Dachzeltnomaden

Travel

Eight Series, One Colony
Modern Explorers: Popski’s Private Army
Australia: Rabbit-Proof Fence, Jigalong & Mount Augustus
Historic Overland: Route ’66 to Egypt

Portfolio

Topless in the Sand

Conservation

Rewilding Cattle

Overland Chef

’Nduja Meatball Pasta

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The post Number 9: Australia, Desert Travel, Historic Routes, Expedition Culture, and Practical Overlanding Skills appeared first on overland-europe.

Pakistan · Indonesia (Sumatra) · Australia · Nepal · Turkey

Field Test

UrQuelle Outdoor water purification system

Travel

Travel Is Fatal: Pakistan on an Enfield 500 Bullet
Sumatra: Whitewater rafting on the Asahan River
N.E.P.A.L: Never Ending Peace And Love
Australia: Tjuntjuntjara and the Spinifex People

Historic Overland

Magic Bus and the Hippie Trail

Portfolio

Australia’s Hidden Gems

Conservation

Fences, Fury & 4x4s

Overland Chef

Beef Kofta

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The post Number 8: Pakistan, Indonesia, Australia, Expedition Motorcycling, Remote Rivers, and Historic Overland Travel appeared first on overland-europe.

Stream the episode here, or search for @overlandeurope on your favourite podcast platform.

Stephan Fischer has just one goal in life: Live life to the fullest and unlock the adventure and freedom that still exists in the great, remote and beautiful land of Australia.

In this episode we talk about Australia as an overlander’s paradise and learn about what to take into account when you embark on an adventure in one of the largest and least populated areas of the world.

Make sure you don’t miss any of Stephan’s videos by following his social media channels:

YouTube | Instagram | Facebook 

The post Podcast #4: Overlanding in Australia appeared first on overland-europe.

Balkans · Australia · France · Corsica · Greece

Field Tests

Gaslow Multivalve Self-refillable Cylinders
Portable Omnia Stovetop Oven
KLIM Badlands Pro A3 Jacket & Pant
Roof Space 2 Rooftop Tent

Travel

Keeping a Diary: On Our Balkan Tour in 2023
Cycling Across Australia: Back Out There
Corsica: Island of Rough Beauty
Director’s Cut: Into the Desert and Beyond

Portfolio

It’s Greek to Me

Skills

Water Purification

Overland Chef

Pizza Pockets

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The post Number 5: Balkans, Europe and Australia: Travel, Field Tests, Skills, and Culture appeared first on overland-europe.

DAY 4 | INNAMINCKA TO THE DIG TREE | 58KM

On reaching Innamincka, the first thing we needed to find out was whether I could cycle to Birdsville from there. The planned route along the Cordillo Road was closed due to flooding and Walker’s Crossing, the shortest route, had also been closed for a few seasons. Fortunately, the publican of the Innamincka Hotel was able to confirm that the only other option, the Arrabury Road had just re-opened, otherwise we would have had no way of reaching Birdsville.

Having pushed myself to reach Innamincka (142km) the day before, I decided to take it easy in the morning, and just aim to reach the Dig Tree, some 58km along the Adventure Way, a sealed road.

The Dig Tree, 14km via Nappa Merrie Station, is the site that represents both the achievement and tragedy of the 1860-61 Burke and Wills expedition. It was here, at Camp 65, that Burke, Wills, King and Gray set off on their main push to make the first European crossing of the continent to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria. Burke left a small group of men, lead by Brahe, at Camp 65, the site of the Dig Tree, Burke telling them to wait three months for them to make the return journey. Wills apparently said to wait for four months.

Brahe waited for over four months, desperately clinging to the hope that Burke and Wills would return. Finally Brahe and his team left on 21st April 1861, sure that Burke’s party had all perished. That evening, only 9 hours later, Burke, Wills and King arrived at the abandoned Dig Tree Camp; Gray had died on the return journey from the Gulf. A carving on the tree read DIG and the basic supplies Brahe buried there sustained the men with some food provided by local Aboriginals. The men were too weak to try to follow Brahe’s party. In desperation they tried to cross the Strzelecki Desert but when their camels died, they returned to Cooper Creek. Starving and exhausted, Wills and then Burke died and only King survived because he was cared for by local Aboriginal people. He was rescued two and a half months later.

Taking in the history at the actual site I found very moving but also haunting, thinking of how desperate the men must have been. The expedition was poorly planned and executed from the start, born out of grand Victorian-era colonial vision, the choices (personnel and logistics) they made were not suitable to cope with the environment they were to travel through – in summer!

DAY 5 | ARRABURY ROAD | 90KM

From the Dig Tree I headed north on Arrabury Road – my favourite road so far, full of character.  After about 15km I entered the St Ann Range, as series of mesas and buttes, with minerals eroding from the flat-topped hills. Spectacular. The hills gave way to sand dune country. The road that tracked parallel to the line of dunes, was sandy at times but mostly hard-packed clay base beneath the sand, and I made pretty good time cycling over it. 

DAY 6 | ARRABURY ROAD | 111.2KM

About 15km from our campsite, I passed the Arrabury Station turnoff and the road connecting to the Cordillo Downs Road. I had hoped to take this shortcut to the Burke Development Road but unfortunately it was still closed. I had no choice but to continue all the way to the end of Arrabury Road, a route adding a further 70km to my journey! At least there was a way through!

Here the route crossed the eastern fringe of the Sturt Stoney Desert. The stark landscape was like a sea of gibber (stones) with the only trees being those that lined the occasional creek. At 45km, I stopped at the ruins of what was probably an old outstation. The wooden posts had stood defiant for possibly a century of harsh, weathering climate and white ants. The nearby Arabie Creek would have been the water supply for the stock, most likely sheep judging by the size of the remaining fence posts. I can’t imagine what the stock lived off, and how harsh the existence would have been for those pioneering settlers. This was winter, so summer out here would be extreme.

Continuing north, I could see the occasional distant range, and at times, sand dunes almost encroached over the road.

DAY 7 | 100KM

I had high hopes of taking a short cut as shown on OzExplorer, which would have cut 30km off my route, but the tracks had been closed since the maps were last reproduced. Since the rains, the landscape was becoming greener and small flowers were starting to bloom. It was wonderful to see this area in such good heart.

After 35km, I finally reached the end of the Arrabury Road and turned west onto the Birdsville Development Road. My legs were really starting to get very heavy and were aching constantly. This was a much longer first stint on the road than I had intended and I just had to find a way to keep the pedals turning. 

Despite feeling worse for wear, we decided to divert off the main road to Betoota, famously the world’s smallest town. The lone hotel has an interesting history, first used as an interstate customs post in 1885. Then after a police presence was established, in 1915 the building became a prison before it became a hotel complete with dance floor in 1923. Having run into decline, it was taken on by a new owner and reopened in 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. I met with the seasonal manager, Julie Eaton and her husband and got to learn more about the place.

DAY 8 | 111KM

By now I was just focusing on keeping an even effort. The Birdsville Development Road was generally in good condition – good gravel most of the way with occasional strips of tarmac over the steeper sand dunes, along floodways and emergency airstrips. I was also dealing with a headwind at times streaming up from the southwest. The second half of the day the road started to follow the course of the mighty Diamantina River, a major artery of the Channel Country. There was a lot of water in the clay pans between the dunes. I willed myself to within 50km of Birdsville and we enjoyed another delightful bush camp; stunning sunset and sunrise, a cold, starry night and a crackling campfire.

DAY 9 | 49KM

Although the final push into Birdsville was only going to be half a day, it seemed to last forever. Some of the vistas were so green, I could have been in the tropics!

Finally I reached the famous Birdsville Racecourse and 4km later I had cycled over the Diamantina River and into town.

The post Breaking the Cycle Across Australia 2023 #3: The Long Way to Birdsville appeared first on overland-europe.

Welcome to the first blog for Breaking the Cycle Across Australia 2023. Many of you will remember that in 2021 I began this 7500km journey from Cape Byron, Australia’s most easterly point with the aim of finishing at Steep Point, the continent’s most westerly tip.

I started on 1st May from the Cape Byron Lighthouse, my route tracking across the Great Dividing Range and through northern NSW to Tibooburra and the Corner Country. Ninety kilometres into Day 17, after 1528km, I crashed on the edge of the Strzelecki Desert and broke my collarbone. We immediately returned to Melbourne where I had surgery, but when my shoulder had healed (enough for me to resume the ride), the team was unable to travel due to interstate Covid-19 border restrictions and I had no choice but to postpone the expedition.

Finally, after two years, I am almost about back out there, writing this blog from my tent in Broken Hill. I plan to start cycling on 8th June at the point where I crashed on the Toona Gate Road, 10km north of the Queensland/NSW border. 

As usual, pulling this expedition together has involved months of planning and many weeks of very little sleep, so effectively, a detraining regime! I’ve been juggling several big projects at once – its all good but I can’t wait to get on the bike and away from the computer screen. 

Over the last two years, my plans for the journey have evolved even further and are a little more ambitious now as I weave in stories related to sustainability and First Nations knowledge and culture. And … I’m pretty excited about how the story will unravel. Here is the route plan:

Winter is meant to be the Dry season but this year seems to be wetter than usual. Out here, it doesn’t take a lot of rain to make the dirt tracks impassable. There is an issue with the flooding of Eyre Creek, forming a barrier across the eastern side of the Simpson Desert (Munga-Thirri). I have access to the best experts who are all watching what happens. After significant rain yesterday there are issues also around Tibooburra and Innamincka and we have to wait until we reach Tibooburra to get the most accurate information.

The 13-week Breaking the Cycle Across Australia 2023 expedition will be filmed by two highly skilled, experienced filmmakers; Gelareh Kiazand will cover the first 5 weeks to Coober Pedy and then Mark Game will cover the final 8 weeks. Gelareh is arriving in Broken Hill in the morning, having flown in from Tehran (quite a contrast!)

I am working with the same support team; Neil and Helen Cocks, Martin and Sandra Bailey, Rick Hunter and Russell Knight is also joining us this time. Unfortunately, Neil and Helen are unable to start but we hope they can catch us up very soon. I am in safe hands – I could not find a more experienced and competent team of 4WD experts.

This time I have some more help on the social media side thanks to Mike Brailey from Overland Europe, Belouga (education partner) and Anthony at ZeroSixZero who has created a beautiful tracking map.

You can follow the expedition as it happens https://z6z.co/breaking-the-cycle-australia.

Belouga has created some education resources using the four videos from 2021, though you need to be an educator to sign up (free). https://www.breakingthecycle.education/belouga/

Here are all four videos if you would like a recap of the journey so far:

Last but not least I would not be able to do this journey without the support of my Sponsors, Official Suppliers and Partners. Thank you!

The post Breaking the Cycle Across Australia 2023 #1 appeared first on overland-europe.