Adventure Magazine December 2019/January 2020

SEE THE WORLD
YOUR WAY
Explore beyond the road, and your imagination
Ever wanted to leave it all behind
and travel the world your way?
Image by Dayna Andrews
Dave Clark, owner and director of
Clark Global, has always had an
insane passion for travel. After
a successful 20+ year career in
building and fabrication in
New Zealand, he embarked on his
first intrepid journey from Cape
Town to Cairo over six months with
a well-known overlanding company.
After 157 days of packed buses,
camping every night in every weather
condition, he learnt two important
things; 1) he needed to see more of
the world and 2) he needed to do it
on his terms, his way.
But what did that mean? Anyone can
pack a suitcase, book a tour and
see what the world has to offer - but
that is not what intrepid adventure
travellers aspire to do! Adventure
travellers want to explore beyond
the tours and experience the world
down the path less travelled. But to
do that, you need to be in control of
your own adventure, so that is exactly
what Dave set out to do.
18 months later, after returning
home to NZ from Africa and spending
a considerable amount of time
researching a vehicle that could
handle what it was going to be put
through, he put his life on hold and
moved to the UK. He began building
his first Unimog 1550 expedition
truck ‘Aroha’ with the plan to take
it back to Africa and explore the
Western Coast. Unfortunately, Ebola
had other plans, so a new route was
to be found.
Dave says “It’s liberating to be
able to pack up your home, set
off and explore the unknown …
Overlanding as a form of travel is
in itself a wonderful way to explore
what a country has to offer. More
so than not, many people fly into
main cities, see the tourists sights
and fly onto the next major city
without fully having the sheer joy
of immersing themselves in the
backcountry, meeting the locals
and experiencing the culture in its
purest form …”
“...This experience is only
enhanced when you have your own
overlanding vehicle, where you are
the creator of your own adventure
and destiny. Stop where you want,
stay in places where few people
have ever seen and do what you
want when you want. You don’t
need to be anywhere by anytime to
meet anyone - you can just be you.
A gift rarely experienced by people
nowadays.”
Once he landed in the UK, he
collected his Unimog and drove it
back to the outskirts of London.
Once the crate arrived with all the
necessary tools to build her, less
than four months later, and with his
best mate in tow, they drove ‘Aroha’
on her maiden voyage from the UK
along the Silk Road via Mongolia and
Russia over eight months, totalling a
massive 41,000km and 17 countries.
Over the eight months the pair
experienced and encountered some
truly awe-inspiring events, including
arriving in Turkey and taking the
truck off-road into an unmarked
clearing in a forest to sleep on a
cliff top after travelling for 22 hours
straight. To then stay the next night
in a carpark they found in the dark,
only to discover the next day while on
an ANZAC tour that they unknowingly
had not only stayed on the cliff the
ANZACs had to climb up when they
accidentally landed in the wrong
place, but the exact place they stayed
had a monument that a specialist
they spoke to hadn’t been able to find
again in 10 years. To add to the awe,
the carpark they stayed at the next
night was on Brighton Beach, where
the ANZACs should have landed.
And it just got better. Seeing
the infamous Gates of Hell in
Turkmenistan, to being stuck
in quicksand for 27 hours in
Kazakhstan. They fell in love with the
majestic landscapes of Kyrgyzstan,
the vibrancy of Almaty and the
humble nature and generosity of the
Russians.
"If anyone can replace a severed drive
shaft in the middle of Mongolia with the
only thing visible within 1000km is a
horse without a rider and still be back on
the road within two days ... it’s Dave"
When travelling through Mongolia
they went the first five days without
seeing anything but the odd camel
and shepherd. When they did come
across a nomad family, they were
excitedly chased down by spirited
children smiling and waving (the
sheer joy would compel anyone to
stop). They were then welcomed
into the family yurts where they
shared meals with families that
had little to spare. Giving what they
have is all they know - they have a
sharing culture.
They returned the generosity
throughout their travelling in kind.
They cooked and shared their food,
they prepared and smoked shisha
around family tables, they fixed
motorbikes, towed out trucks, gave
first aid to a family that rolled their
water truck down a bank and got
their truck back on the road.
As sparse as Mongolia is, they
still drove down rivers to camp as
far from civilsation as they could,
only to still hear the greeting of a
lone shepherd on a donkey at the
front door. Being able to immerse
themselves so deeply meant
that they met amazing people,
made lifelong friends and more
importantly sparked a dream.
Since the Silk Road, ‘Aroha’ has
spent time in NZ before being
shipped to the US to attend Burning
Man and then driven through some
of the most remote parts of Canada
into the North Pole to see the
breath-taking Northern Lights on
display, through to Houston over six
months just last year.
With ‘Aroha’ still in Houston and
set to be shipped over to the UK,
Dave has now built her big sister,
‘Arohanui’ which is his show and NZ
based truck.
Everything that Dave learnt and
experienced inspired him to
form Clark Global LTD and build
expedition vehicles that with the
right engineering will enable kiwis
and global overlanders to explore
the world on their own terms.
It just goes to show where a
passion and a dream can take
you. In only a few short years, Dave
has expanded his factory and
crew, built a new showcase truck,
consulted and built expedition
trucks for multiple customers - at
the same time expanding his global
connections and strengthening
his reputation as being one of
the leading expedition vehicle
specialists.
‘Arohanui’, their new U1700
Unimog expedition vehicle, is the
culmination of their global travels
and displays the very best in
engineering, fabrication, knowledge
and specialist collaboration with
some of the leading suppliers in the
industry.
clark-global.com | Auckland, NZ
@clarkglobal | #clarkglobal
58//WHERE ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS/#217