Irish lads David Foran and Fintan Gillespie are travelling from Australia to Ireland in a Hummer, with two mates, raising money for charity along the way. This is the first of their reports
CRAZYJOURNEY involves us driving 45,000km across the world for roughly seven months in a Hummer.
This idea originated three years ago when Dave Foran, 24, was pondering whether to sell his car or bring it home to Ireland after his degree at Sydney University. As his mind wandered during a boring financial mathematics lecture he thought, "why not just drive it there?" Connecting the dots on a map through 44 countries all the way to Dublin, Crazyjourney was put in motion.
As the trip involved driving through some of the most remote places on earth, a serious 4X4 was needed. Realising that the car he had in Sydney wouldn't stand a chance of making it home, Dave bought a Hummer H2 in the logic that if it couldn't get him there, nothing would. The group also grew to four, adding another Irishman - Fintan Gillespie, 24, from Dublin - and Sydney lads - Rhys Baker, 22, and Charlie (Chuck) Ross-Smith, 22.
Planning and organising the route as well as the countless visas and permits has taken the guts of two years. It was essential that we bought a "Carnet Du Passage" for the Hummer, a form of vehicle passport which allows entry and exit through foreign countries.
The route will bring us through Australia, Asia, India, the Middle East, North Africa and home via Europe. Such an epic drive was the perfect opportunity to raise money and awareness for a worthy cause so 100 per cent of all proceeds from the drive are going to Aware, Ireland's leading youth depression support organisation.
Australian diary
Writing this in Darwin, after a 5,000km, 12-day drive from Sydney, we are only beginning to contemplate the true extent and madness of what we have embarked upon. We set off from Sydney Opera House on December 3rd after a manic final week of organisation.
After interviews with several news crews from all over Australia and waving goodbye to family and friends, it felt a bit surreal as we drove over Sydney Harbour Bridge knowing that we would not be stopping until we were upside-down on the other side of the world.
The 14-day Australian leg took us up the east coast as far as Townsville, then inland through the Outback towards Darwin. Our first stop was Byron Bay 800km north of Sydney. With its numerous beaches and relaxed lifestyle it is a favourite for backpackers.
We stayed at a YHA and the place was crowded for "Schoolies", the Australian equivalent of the Leaving Cert holiday. We even felt a bit old that night in a bar filled with 17 year olds.
Our next drive was a two-hour hop to Brisbane. We had been in contact with the Mental Health Education Board of Australia who had organised a media event in the city centre. A good crowd turned up, including the heads of many of Australia's mental health organisations. It was really encouraging to get such a positive response to what we are doing from people who had experienced mental illness themselves.
A mammoth 13-hour, 1,400km drive was ahead of us the next day to reach Townsville for media interviews and to catch the car ferry for the stunning Magnetic Island. This island's name came about from the apparent magnetic effect it had on Captain Cook's compass as he sailed past the island en route to Australia in 1770. On arrival, we headed to Base Backpackers.
Located on Nelly Bay, with stunning sea views and chalet rooms by the shore, Base is undoubtedly one of the best located "flashpackers" - a premium level hostel - in Australia. Although this island has spectacular beaches with crystal clear waters, swimming is strongly advised against as there is a high chance of being paralyzed or even killed by Irukandji jellyfish.
Leaving Magnetic Island and heading further inland, the seemingly everlasting roads became the only hint of infrastructure.
At times we found ourselves in absolute isolation surrounded by vast open plains with nothing in sight as far as we could see. The heat soared as we neared Cloncurry, which holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia at 53.1 degrees.
Our first Outback stop was the mining town of Mount Isa, 700kms inland of Townsville.
After a quick overnight stop at a roadhouse in Threeways, we pushed north to reach Darwin. As the landscape gradually changed from barren red soil to lush green tropical forest, the humidity of the Northern Territory's capital became almost unbearable.
The Lightning Capital of Australia certainly lived up to its name with incredible lightning storms illuminating the city every night. Darwin is actually closer to Jakarta than it is to Sydney, so it gives some perspective of how far we've actually driven so far.
Next week: The Hummer is shipped to Singapore and CrazyJourney begins its Asian leg travelling to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos towards China
See www.crazyjourney.com for daily updates, videos, photos and to donate to Aware