Just over half a century ago, six intrepid Oxford students set off on a journey of epic proportions, traversing continents, deserts, frozen mountains and rivers in their quest to drive overland from London to Singapore.
Defying those who had failed in the attempt before them and others who questioned their sanity, and in spite of brushes with bandits, bad weather, and disappearing roads, six months and six days later their two Land Rovers rolled into the Lion City to flashbulbs and thunderous applause.
Fast forward to 2008, and this June UQ alumnus Dan Nicolau and current student Drew Sonne, along with four of their Oxford peers, are set to retrace the 20,000km passage, reviving the historic trip in the name of tradition, scientific enquiry, and of course, adventure.
For 26-year-old Mr Nicolau, who will act as expedition leader, the journey represents the culmination of a childhood dream.
In his early teenage years, the keen traveller resolved to one day take the longest overland trip he could see on the world map (at the time figuring Lisbon, Portugal to Vladivostok in the then Soviet Union).
“Ironically, [though], it was not until I was 25 and came to Oxford for a Doctor of Philosophy that I heard about the 1955 ‘First Overland’ (the name given the historic trip and the best-selling book that immortalised it in print),” Mr Nicolau said.
“Remembering my childhood ambition, the idea of redoing this trip began to simmer very slowly in my head.”
It wasn’t long before Mr Nicolau had added five other active, enthusiastic students to his expedition team, with each member bringing their own unique mix of skills and interests.
Together, he said the group hoped to document the exhibition using a range of different media (including a documentary, book, audio, and photos), and to do so in a multidimensional way, reflecting the team members’ diverse academic backgrounds and passions.
“[Drawing on] all of the different professional angles and interests contained in the membership of the expedition…. we will paint a global, coherent and integrated picture of the journey from biological, political, linguistic, sociological, musical, historic, economic, and geographic points of view,” he said.
“The First Overland [provided] a snapshot of the Old World as it was in the 1950s…and the retracing of the expedition after more than 50 years holds the unique potential to tell us how and in what ways the world has changed in the last half-century.
“By recording our observations and findings across this longest of overland journeys, we can help others… to have a more accurate, objective and understanding view of the world…and to glimpse parts of the world often forgotten by the West.”
For 22-year-old Arts student Drew Sonne, who will oversee the filming and editing of the expedition documentary, these scholarly endeavours mean the chance to indulge his fascination with building design and style.
“I have a keen interest in architecture and urbanism, so the chance to see everything from Paris to Angkor Wat is something I’m very excited about,” Mr Sonne said.
“Given the wide range of areas we’ll be travelling through, I’ll also be documenting the shift in style of both classical and modern architecture as we move across the continents,” he said.
“We are also going through Chandigarh, India which, like Canberra, is one of the few completely planned cities in the world, so I’m very curious about that.”
Despite the group’s enthusiasm, Mr Sonne said they were also conscious of the numerous challenges and obstacles that lay ahead of them.
Even 53 years on, the trip will be a testing one – while the team estimates the journey will take considerably less time than it did in 1955, to this day the feat is still regularly slated to be impossible (including in the Preface to the new edition of First Overland).
As a result, their exact route remains yet to be determined, subject to a range of political, security and environmental factors.
For now though, the group is focused on more immediate concerns – specifically, on continuing their efforts to garner support and raise the funds necessary to complete the expedition.
“So far we only have 28 percent of the total we need... but you can help make it happen by buying us kilometres [so to speak],” Mr Nicolau said.
“We suggest a donation of £1 per kilometre – there are 20,000 kilometres all up – and for anything over £20, we’ll put your name in the book to be published after the trip.
“[As well], any profits from the sale of expedition vehicles and gear (after the trip) will go to the United Nations’ Children Fund, helping disadvantaged children all over the world.”
To find out more about the Far Eastern Expedition and the students involved, or to help support their cause, visit the expedition website at www.fareasternexpedition.com.
Dan Nicolau completed his Honours and Masters at the UQ’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience and Advanced Computational Modelling Centre in 2003-2005. Drew Sonne is completing his Arts degree with majors in German and Information Technology.
MEDIA: Dan Nicolau (dan@fareasternexpedition.com), Drew Sonne (drew.sonne@gmail.com), or Lucy Manderson (07 3365 2339, l.manderson@uq.edu.au).
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