Filed Under: News
In 1973 my husband and I traded in our Ford Anglia saloon for a Morris 1000 8cwt van. We had decided to drive approximately 12000 miles from England to Australia to visit relatives. It took us 14 weeks, travelling through 17 countries including Iran, Afghanistan and India.
We took supplies of food, toiletries/clothes and spare parts with us so Graham built a false floor of chipboard between the wheel arches; we stowed boxes under this and slept on top when it was not advisable to pitch the tent! Every week or so we raised the floor to replenish the racks he had fitted down each side of the van.
Over several months before leaving the UK we gathered a fairly comprehensive supply of spares, some new, some second hand. This included radiator hoses, engine mounts, cables for anything that used one as well as a clutch plate and exhaust extension. However, although we used some spares for keeping the vehicle in good running order, such as brake linings, the only ‘breakdown’ we had was a puncture in one of the Town and Country rear tyres.( No problem, we had 4 spares!)
We had been given advice by BMC Cowley as well as the AA who also made up a route specially for us. We kept to this for some of the way but then local conditions meant inevitable detours. Petrol costs for the whole distance came to £109, the cheapest was in Iran and the dearest in Germany. Accommodation costs totalled less than £50, but this varied from the beach in Malaysia to a car park in Pakistan to a hotel in Australia. We also had to pay to ship ourselves and van from Southern India / Malaysia/Australia. Even so the grand total including buying the moggie was just under £1400 for the trip of a lifetime!
Val is writing a book about this trip
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