Adv 223 Yumpu

An unlucky
beginning to a
350,000km long
journey!
By Bridget Thackwray
and Topher Richwhite
After meeting each other only two months earlier,
through a mix of reckless lust and spontaneous
adventure, we came up with an idea. Together,
we would drive the planet. Inspired by Gunther
Holtorff’s 24-year world tour, we put pen to paper
and drew up a 350,000km-long route through
all 7 continents and 90 countries. This would
become our life for the next 3 consecutive years.
Neither Topher nor I had any 4x4 experience,
mechanical background or overlanding history.
And with our departure date set for only one
month away, we knew we would have to learn on
the fly.
This quick departure turnaround also allowed us
to keep the entire expedition on the down-low,
with our friends and family back home in New
Zealand having near to no knowledge of our
3-year world tour. Our aim was to announce the
expedition on day one, from the most northern
point in the Americas.
We flew from Auckland to Vancouver, and finally
met our third companion on the expedition,
Gunther, a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. After
one week he was packed, kitted out with little
more than a roof rack, and ready to go! We
turned ourselves north and began the drive to
Deadhorse, Alaska, our expedition starting point.
After 10 days, we reached the end of the road,
the distant mining town of Deadhorse. 700
miles earlier we had crossed over the arctic
circle, now deep within the northern slope. Here
temperatures were sitting between -15 and -30C.
Gunther was parked outside, and we were
happily perched within a cafeteria servicing the
oil drillers in the area. With no cellular signal, this
became our Wifi hub to announce the expedition
to all of our friends and family back home.
Our trusty Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Gunther
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