Better care She's back - Department of Defence

2 November 8, 2012
FEATURES
Adventure of a lifetime
It’s a unique event with no rules, support or safety net. LAC Bill Solomou talks to LCDR James Lawless about his
experiences in the Mongol Rally.
HIS annual event has no real
prizes except for the chance
to camp in some of the most
remote parts of the world
while taking in some of the most
unique and breath taking scenery
imaginable.
In the May 4 edition of Navy News
we introduced you to the Trekking in
Tweed team which was preparing for
the 2012 Mongol Rally.
While the team changed slightly,
planning proved a challenge as the
ntrepid participants were living in
ifferent locations around the world.
CDR Eric Radford was in Malaysia,
CDR James Lawless in Canberra,
reservist LEUT Mick Newman in
ingapore and newcomer to the team,
New Zealander Phillippa Hendl, was
n Spain.
Little did the travellers imagine that
driving more than 18,000km in 42 days
across 18 countries and crossing two
seas from Europe to Mongolia would
end an amazing experience that no
glossy holiday brochure would come
close to describing.
“Countries like Uzbekistan and
Kazakhstan certainly provided a view
of lifestyles and cultures very different
from our experience back home,”
LCDR James Lawless said.
“We started off with the four of us,
but due to work, illness and family commitments,
we completed the second half
f the rally with just Pippi and me,” he
aid.
The 2012 Mongol Rally attracted
more than 400 teams from around the
orld, the only requirement being a
mall fee, and a vehicle as a means of
ransport.
The start and finish positions were
ixed but it was up to each team which
route they took and how long the
dventure would be.
At the end, most of the cars were
onated to be auctioned to raise further
unds for the Lotus children’s charity
n Mongolia and UK’s equivalent to
egacy, Help for Heroes.
“We were towed across large rivers,
rove on dusty, dirty, barely recognisble
roads, and on several occasions
ame close to wrecking the car,”
CDR Lawless said.
“It really was an amazing experince,
and on top of it all we made
many new friends.”
He said the teams gave each other
support, especially in repairing the
cars.
“Our little Skoda Fabia was not
modified, it was great and it survived
ome pretty harsh treatment from
omania all the way to the finish line,”
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Image © Australian Department of Defence
THE STARTERS: LCDR Eric Redford, LCDR James Lawless, Pippi Hendl
and LEUT Michael Newman dress in their best tweed for their official send
off, hosted by Legacy at Queensland House in London.
THE CAR: The Skoda Fabia was the e
car of choice for the team and proved d
more reliable than first thought. LCDR R
James Lawless and LCDR Eric Radford d
pose (above) take in the scenery in n
Turkmenistan as (left) LCDR Radford d
provides a push after LCDR Lawless s
bogged the car in Kazakhstan.
LCDR Lawless said. “During the
later stages of the rally, in the wilds of
Mongolia, it became necessary to convoy
with other teams for support and
companionship as some of the places
were very remote.
“We supported each other with
towing, fixing broken suspension,
flooded engines, punctured fuel tanks,
tyre blowouts, bad fuel and damaged
radiators.”
LCDR Lawless said the rally had
two distinct parts, the first part from
London ndon to Russia Russia, and the second from “It also meant our tim time in
Russia to Mongolia (the finish). Mongolia was much longer than origi-
“The road surfaces changed dranally planned, which is why Eric left
matically,” he said. “The closer you us in Russia. However, it also meant
got to Mongolia, the worse the roads we were able to witness some of the
became. In fact the gate separating most beautiful and unique scenery in
Russia and Mongolia literally marked the world.”
an instant change from paved to dirt Along the way the team tried to keep
roads.
family, friends and followers up-to-date
“We took the harder, longer west- on their progress on their Facebook and
ern road into Mongolia from Russia, website pages.
which meant we travelled on some of “We tried to provide as much infor-
the worst roads imaginable.
mation and photos, as possible, back to
THE FINISHERS: Illness, work and family commitments meant LCDR
James Lawless and Pippi Hendl were the only team members to finish the
second half of the rally. They are pictured (above) in their finest tweed in the
dust and wilds of Mongolia and (below) enjoying the breathtaking scenery
in Southern Russia.
our friends and family,” LCDR Lawless
said.
“In some places, such as
Turkmenistan we couldn’t get internet
reception and in others, such as
Mongolia, wifi and internet cafes are
probably yet to be invented, so our blog
fell behind and as a result Pippi and I
‘disappeared’ for about two weeks.”
To donate to Legacy go to www.legacy.
com.au/donate. For a detailed description
of the journey, visit trekkingintweed.com