22nd November Carnarvon Gorge We leave Emerald and make the drive to Carnarvon Gorge driving along the A7 65km south to Springsure then another 70 km east to Rolleston along the Great Inland Way. From here it is a further 61km south to the Carnarvon turnoff. Plumes of smoke from bush fires appear on the [...]
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The Bloomfield Track & Cooktown
9th November Wanting to explore historic Cooktown to the north of Cairns, we drive via the scenic 33km off-road Bloomfield Track through the pristine Daintree forest. The track was the scene of major confrontation with conservationists in the 1980’s who opposed the development, however the track was completed within three weeks. We had hoped to [...]
OverlandSphere.com is now Live!!
Overland Sphere Spanning the globe to bring you the latest overland news and blogs With the help of 18 overland bloggers, a mixture of 4×4, Truck, Motorcycles and even a Taxi, OverlandSphere is now live! We currently have over 400 individual blog posts which span the globe detailing overlander’s adventures from the initial preparation to finally [...]
Crocs, Koalas & Humpbacks
10th -15th October Sydney Flying from Cairns to Sydney we have a five day whistle stop tour of the clean and compact city, the capital in terms of culture and finance. We manage to find an amazing deal at a 5 star hotel in Circular Quay at half the price of a hostel! Luxurious, complete [...]
The Savannah Way – Outback Australia
26th September The Savannah Way The epic Savannah Way stretches from coast to coast, from Broome in Western Australia to Cairns in Queensland through the heart of the outback. The rugged outback adventure takes us from Darwin to Cairns, driving 2700kms, and takes just over four days. A month on, given the torrential rain, it [...]
Katherine Gorge – NT Australia
24th September Katherine We finally leave Darwin and drive the 350kms south to Katherine along fast and barren highways arriving four hours later. The temperature hits 39C. The road trains that share the highways are humongous, each time they come past, the car is sucked towards them. We see one ahead of us snaking dangerously [...]
The Beginning of The End
One flat tyre, a new radiator, two gear box solenoids, a new brake master cylinder, around 100 tanks of fuel, 1000s of hours driving, 36,000 miles (58,000km), 31 countries and 461 days on the road later, we have made it to Australia! We have now joined the small club of people who have successfully driven [...]
Timor Leste
29th August Timor Leste History The Portuguese first arrived in Timor in the 16th century, with the Dutch following 50 years later, both with a vested interest in the trade of sandalwood and timber. The two powers were to compete for Timor over the next three centuries. After various conflicts for control, by the mid [...]
Indonesia – Flores
Flores 21st August We relax in Labuanbajo, in a modern cafe overlooking the bay, with a delicious vegetable pizza and some iced tea. Located on the far west coast line, it’s billed as Flores’ next big tourist destination, probably a result of its setting within a stunning bay and also with the proximity of Komodo [...]
Indonesia – The Togean Islands and an encounter with a Whale shark
2nd August We leave Manado early and head to Gorontalo, to catch the ferry to the Togean Islands. We had two choices for our return journey, drive 750miles all the way back round, or pay for the car ferry which would firstly drop us in Wakai on the Togeans and then another ferry on to [...]
Indonesia – Northern Sulawesi
Northern Sulawesi 22nd July We decide to drive to the top of Sulawesi, Manado and visit the Togean Islands on the way back down. It is a mammoth 750 miles from Ampana to Manado. On route we stop at a Toyota garage in Poso, where we have the tracking realigned. It was probably knocked out [...]
Indonesia – Southern Sulawesi
15th July Pantai Bira As soon as we leave the port, there are numerous calls of ‘Hello Mister!’ as we pass people on the roadside, and we wonder if we will be given even more attention here than everywhere else. We pay a 5000Rp fee at the toll booth before being allowed into town. A [...]
Indonesia – Lombok
Lombok Part 2 5-6th July Senggigi We say goodbye to the tranquil Gili islands, speeding past all three on the way back to Lombok and make the short drive to Sengiggi. We go to Windy Cottages, but arrive to find they are full, so head into town instead. Later we take a walk to the [...]
Indonesia – Diving the Gili’s
Lombok 21st June The ferry docks at Lembar in the south west of the island. We immediately drive north to Bangsal, the jumping off point for the Gili Islands via Matram, the capital; the drive is under an hour taking us up over monkey lined mountain roads. Around every corner there’s a troop of [...]
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