Bean 1927 England to Australia Recreation – On Road Blog

This is the on-road blog for the entire 5 month trip England to Australia.

“Bean 1927 England to Australia Recreation“

2 Feb 2024

Delivering Bean for shipping in Brisbane – the beginning!

28 February

We will attempt a near-daily update along the way with photos if possible. This of course depends on the situation! Breakdown, weather, and various bureaucratic hold-ups will impact on our 24,000km journey through 16 countries in a 100 year old car.
We have just got word the Bean has been loaded in Singapore on the Louis Bleriot and arrival Southampton on 02 April looks pretty accurate. We are aiming to get away on the first leg to Brussels on Sunday 07 April. Some really good things are planned through Europe during the following few days more later.

2 March

We have just been added to the FIVA event calendar. It is great to be adopted as an official event by the world peak body for historic vehicles. We are lucky to be included in their roster of International rallies, shows and concourse events.
Of course the FIVA affiliated clubs across the world have adopted us and we have “family” we have not met in almost every country.
Here is the link to the FIVA Event Calendar https://fiva.org/en/fiva-events/

13 March
The Bean, is on the Louis Bleriot, has its right blinker going preparing to turn north.

30 March
The Red Sea debacle has disrupted world-wide shipping. Hundreds of the largest container ships have had 10-14 days added to their sea-time by taking the South Africa route. We have just been informed our ship, Louis Bleriot, is stuck in Algecirus Spain (not on the original plan) and the car will not arrive in England until 10 April.
We will get away 6-7 days after arrival with any luck.
It is what it is, and all else is going good with both FIVA-affiliated and non-FIVA motoring club members awaiting our arrival in every country.

Bev and I fly out of Brisbane tomorrow night 31 March and will just disappear down a rabbit-hole “somewhere” to await the car arrival.

1 April

Arrived in London 5.30pm. Spent next 12 days catching up with granddaughter Grace and spending some time in Cornwell. Also visited Brooklands Museum where we have a very sentimental attachment as this was where we began both the Vimy and Avian expeditions. Also Brooklands is now the home of the Vimy where it is on permanent display.

11th April

Visited Brooklands, and had a lovely lunch with Morag and Geoff Barton also Malcolm Grubb. Morag was the Director of the museum for many years and has always been very supportive of all our adventures that we have begun from there. Malcolm Grubb is the FIVA representative in the UK and he and Madelaine have kindly offered us accommodation over the next few days in Dorking.

13th April

Back to Brooklands this time for a big open day featuring vintage buses and an unexpected catch up with Peter and Tessa McMillan from our Vimy expedition 30 years ago.

13 April.
The car finally arrived in Southampton. Not unexpectedly customs have a problem with paperwork with release and departure by weeks end.
A frustrating couple of weeks in a wet cold England

15 April
Well after 5 days lost because of incorrect paperwork and a nonworking weekend we have our carnet signed by a very friendly but inflexible UK Border Force “Let’s get the truck here to pick up the container for unloading in the nearby warehouse and immediate drive away”
“Sorry we have just been told the f…….g port is closed for high winds. You should check into a hotel for the night”

16 April
Finally free.

17 April
Today was the first pleasing day for a month.
The Bean cruised the 3 hours from Southampton to Chessington near London.
Andy Lambert organised for the team at National Recovery to help at the workshop to remove the dodgy overdrive. We then drove in the rental Fiat 500 3 hours to Rugby to Overdrive Spares
Within 20 minutes Josh had assembled all our parts onto the new unit and we set off to return taking 4 hours on the crawling M1 and M25. Why anyone would choose to live in southern England has me beat.
Tomorrow photos at Brooklands with the Vimy aircraft then head east towards Dover.
Friday cross to France and first night on the road at Mons in Belgium.

18 April

Wave off from Brooklands Museum by the FIVA group and friends. Were able to put the Bean beside the 1919 Vickers Vimy, very nostalgic. Two England to Australia trips we have done exactly 30 years apart!
First night on the road in Kent ready for an early ferry to Dunkirk in the morning.

19 April
Dover UK to Dunkirk France. First 2 counties down, 14 to go.

Spent night in Mons Belguim

21 April
Another couple of countries today – Luxembourg and Germany – and camped the night in Trier on the Moselle River. Even went and bought a bottle of Moselle Wine for dinner from the vineyard across the river from our hotel.
Things were going too well so this morning we came out in 3 degrees and rain and the car refused to start. Tracked a fuel blockage in the carburettor. Oh what a wonderful thing are SU carbies. Any other type would have been disassembled but a bit of fuel in the intake to get 10 seconds running and a hand hard over the carby sucked all the rubbish straight through and away we went.
Rain, rain, rain, colder and colder. Luckily unclipping the canvas boot around the gearstick allowed all that lovely hot engine air to permeate around our legs We are finding 73/74 kmh a nice cruising speed at 2,000 rpm. Interestingly the trucks sit on about 80kmh so we cause little obstruction on the motorways. Biggest danger is people trying to take photos and veering into us while looking at their phones.
Photo of our “quick-stay” canvas cover for use in private car parks. In more public places we will use the full tarp for some imagined security.

22 April
Long cold day from Trier to Stuttgart. We were met by Carl-Michael of FIVA at the Simshein Technical Museum. One of the best I have ever seen, pity we did not have more time to browse.

Carl-Michael and Berit welcomed us into their home and we went to dinner in the forest with some of the local car club/FIVA members.

Right from the start FIVA has proven to be a great organisation. Malcolm and Madeleine Grubb invited us into their home in England. Malcolm of course organised the nice send off from Brooklands, presenting us with the FIVA plaque.
The drive from Trier was very hilly (the Bean has an altimeter) and it just got colder and colder. The windscreen started misting up, very unusual in an open car, but no, not mist but snow!. Soon the hand windscreen wiper was ploughing the ice aside to enable a clear view.

Eventually descending from the hills we arrived at the Simshein Museum a bit warmer to be greeted by hail in the car park.
Wheel alignment this morning to correct slight unusual tyre wear as we must make them last as long as possible

23 April
Mohsin in Pakistan (another FIVA contact) has just sent the photo of the Pakistan club magazine. A lot of water to go under the bridge before getting there but great to
know we have keen support.

Today drove from Stuttgart through Munich and onto Schloss Sighartstein in Austria. Along the way we were met at Motorworld nr Stuttgart where the Bean was put on display and we were given lunch and a tour of this amazing collection of cars many of which are displayed in glass tiered boxes.

From there we drove over 5 hours to Sighartsein Castle in Austria where we are to be hosted by Baron Ernst Gecmen-Waldeck. Had a wonderful Austrian home cooked meal in the evening and we are accommodated in an apartment in the grounds of the castle

24th April
Ernst’s private tavern at his castle with our great guides Gerhart and Teshey Some very long, cold and busy days with fantastic German and Austrian hospitality.

Photo of garden pests out of our window at Ernst’s castle.
Therese, as well as cooking dinner the night before gave us breakfast at her wonderful Manro Classic Museum in Salzburg.

We are in Zagreb Croatia about to depart for Belgrade Serbia. 570km yesterday and 450 today. Yesterday -2 degrees out of Salzburg veritable tropical day today with 13 degrees predicted.

26th April

Well the border circus is under way. British Customs was merely the warm up. We reached the Serbian border [outside the EU] after a boring 400km run on beautifully smooth Croatian freeway.
At least 500 trucks were waiting in line. The car lines crept forward and it only took us 40 minutes to reach the front. So sorry the green card compulsory insurance you purchased for 350 Euros has the tick against Serbia omitted by the insurance company.
Bev trotted off to the customs office to buy 2 days cover. Disaster, there is no such vehicle make as Bean. Somehow they got around this intractable problem as Bev stood at the counter only losing 40 minutes and 185 Euros for a months minimum time insurance.

Should we stay in Serbia for a month to get value for money or keep driving?
At last sunshine and 20 degrees for Sofia Bulgaria tomorrow.

27th April

Entered Bulgaria from Serbia

A very nice run today through Serbia. Great stay in Belgrade with choice of meat or meat (very delicious) on the menu. I suppose the cigarette smoke caters for vegan cooked vegetable matter.
We did some checking today and find the Bean is getting a bit over 6 kilometres per litre. Despite coating every surface between UK and Serbia with oil it took only 1 litre of oil to top up. I would guess 75% went on the ground. A modern car could not do much better over this distance.
A bit of a worry was the reserve fuel tank as it ran for 10 minutes then cut out. Sounded like blocked fuel filter or air vent. A bit of wasted time discovered the gasket inside the fuel cap slides across the vent hole when screwed down tight. A bit of pocket-knife surgery has it on full flow so all is now good.
The brakes are not living up to expectations but I think I can slowly get them adjusted with a turn on each rod each day until they start to drag.
At the moment I have developed a braking plan. If you sing one chorus of Happy Birthday to You per 10 kilometres per hour progress will be arrested along the straight line graph. The handbrake assist halves the braking distance.
I got a bit lazy in our route plan and anticipated Haskova tomorrow still in Bulgaria.
By doubling up only to today’s comfortable distance of around 400km we can reach Edirne in Turkey making an Istanbul lunch-time arrival on Monday.
Yeliz from FIVA is looking for a place to do a full grease and oil change and maybe a tyre rotation. She will also suggest somewhere close to stay.

28 April
Leaving Serbia we finished a nice warm weather run in Sofia Bulgaria. We found a delightful family hotel Zarapart. Usual early start along the beautiful wide valleys with the snow-capped ranges on the Greek border only a few kilometres to the south.
I have been running about 50/50 on coil and magneto with absolutely no difference in sound or feel between them to keep the non-operating plugs clean. Magneto suddenly stopped so we carried on with coil looking forward to another job in Istanbul.
We now have 11 countries behind us and only 6 in front including Australia.
Arrival at the Turkish border and we were instantly in the East. Views of minarets and loud-speaker call to prayer were experienced waiting in line.

This was the best so far with 3 hours getting through. First problem was our visas were not the correct type for this particular border. Park the car alongside the customs box (only 3 operating out of 25} clear of the queues of around 100 cars each behind us.
Go to the box at Gate 48 over in the bus line to get a new visa. The only problem was Gate 48 was on the outbound side of the fence. There was no way to get to it and we wandered back and forth dodging across car lanes before entering a large building between the in and out section.
A kindly gent flashed his card to let us through to join the herd of bus passengers departing Turkey for Europe. All bus passengers must dismount, enter the only passport window on foot before boarding again. 20 buses, 50 passengers each, one window – do the math!
Not too keen to die of old age in a bus queue we just walked down the line, squeezed past the customs window and got ourselves on the right side of the fence for the elusive Gate 48. Once again stumbling through lines of buses loaded with passengers, no doubt several days older than when they arrived, a young fellow issued us with the correct visas. Knowing the way back, we just pushed past the customs window in the opposite direction to the crowd having left Turkey for Europe then returned to Turkey against the tide with not a word said.
First customs man stamped our passports and sent us to Building D3. We chugged out of the first shed and arrived at the inspection point where they were opening the boot of every car. “We are going to D3 to buy insurance” “OK but come back here for inspection afterwards” We drive about 200metres to D3.
Two windows, one to issue insurance and a customs one to check the insurance paper is correct. First window discovered there was no such thing as a Bean and the head office was not working to create a new make of automobile. “What have you got?” “BMW, Bedford, Bugatti, Bentley” “Ah that’s the one, Bean is short for Beantley” Problem solved.
I will not talk about the three other fruitless windows we were directed to. 3 hours and about a kilometre of walking but every single person smiled, did their best to direct us and allowed us to wander freely between Turkey and Bulgaria as we carried out our mission. Attitude is everything and we felt quite relaxed, unthreatened or bullied. Bureaucratic whirlpool but nice people.
Istanbul by lunchtime tomorrow.

29th April

We arrived late afternoon in Istanbul. Yeliz from FIVA went to a lot of trouble to find the right hotel for us and they were waiting with cones blocking a parking space for us.

As soon as she finished work Yeliz arrived to take us to the Klasik Otomobil Kolubo. What lovely club rooms.

We were joined there with a very friendly welcome by Sencer the President and the 4 of us went for a lively dinner at the Italian Restaurant upstairs (we did drink Turkish wine)

30th April

Sencer organised for us to go to the workshop of a FIVA and club member, The VetteSS garage. What an operation! It was crowded with beautiful classic cars being serviced. We were given the once-over by a mechanic then I followed him through the narrow hilly streets to their restoration shop filled with even more classic cars undergoing full restoration. Each car seemed to have a mechanic allocated.

The Bean spent the day being fully serviced and adjusted. Unfortunately the old-timer expert called in to look at the magneto discovered it needed factory service. We will carry on with single coil ignition like every other car in the world.

By the time we had finished, ready to drive back to the hotel, it was rush hour. I looked up the steep hill from the workshop and tracked a bus taking 10 minutes to move 100 metres. Oh well, get a taxi and come back in the morning.

A young apprentice came with me but every taxi had their lights off as they did not want to take fares to sit in traffic. Eventually we hijacked a cab (no danger of being run-over walking down the lines of cars as they were stationary). My Google Maps said 12 minutes to the hotel. After one hour and 20 minutes I got out and walked the last kilometre. The ride included two dead stops for over 10 minutes each.

The driver at least provided entertainment when his brother-in-law? called and the conversation quickly rose to them screaming at each other on the speaker phone with the driver smashing his fist on top of the dash.

1st May

Today we pick up the car and catch up with admin. We will head off tomorrow to have a cruise along the Roman (and many other civilization) towns of the Black Sea coast.

Just picked up the car from the workshop. General public holiday and Google Maps are correct and it took 12 minutes to the hotel instead of an hour and a half in yesterdays peak hour traffic.

Just a comment on Istanbul. Although they do have their old city tourist area it is a very modern and western city. Clean , great shopping, restaurants and many new high rise buildings

Unfortunately the narrow, hilly, winding streets in even the business area are like an ants nest,gridlocked much of the day.

Anything you want in Sydney or New York can be found here.

Lunch with Yeliz and 13 year old Kaan. Only one kilometre away on the other side of the Bosphorus is our next continent. A ten knot current from the Black Sea under the bridge made the huge grain bulk-carriers from Ukraine (about the only cargo permitted now) zip past with 20 knots over the ground. 10 minutes after leaving the hotel in the morning we will be in Asia!

2nd May
Not too much to report today. We left Istanbul at 0730 and luckily were going in the opposite direction to the seething traffic going the other way.
We decided to go along the Black Sea for a few days and headed for Zonguldak.
The drive was very pretty much of it in very rugged “jungle clad” hills and one pass was 4,000ft. We dropped down on to the coast and discovered Zonguldak had beautiful rugged shoreline with very steep streets but it was pretty grubby and unexciting. A quick bite to eat and we headed another 45km back inland through the mountains to a very nice little chalet type motel off the beaten track.
Interestingly we are really struggling to find basic cheap hotels for under AUD100 per night. Fuel is cheaper than Europe but accommodation certainly is not. Another full tank run check resulted in an improved 7 km/litre or 14l/100 kilometres – what idiot came up with that measurement.
Only incident of the day was been stopped by the police, the reason for this below.
Second photo is the Bean with the front wheels in Asia while the back wheels are still in Europe.

3rd May
Well last night the 2024 equivalent of sitting through Aunty Gladys’ 1964 slide show of her bus tour of Europe.
We sat down together with nobody in the restaurant but it was all set up for some sort of conference. Gradually suited men and power-dressing women started to arrive and milled around out the front where the Bean was situated. Bev went out and discovered nobody spoke English but we got the message across with our trip story written in Turkish (we have one written for every country.)
Eventually an interpreter arrived and I watched through the window as Bev was surrounded for photo opportunities. At last a chauffeur-driven black limo arrived and the occupant was brought over to the dog and pony show at the car. She was introduced to this obviously important person and found out it was a Government conference or awards night. We never did find out if it was the Turkish President or the local Mayor.

I went out this morning in Gokcebey after a nice night in our little chalet hotel and the Bean started up on 3 cylinders. It was pouring rain so I decided to wait for it to stop and went into town so Bev could have her boots resoled and I could get a haircut. It started to let off after lunch so I changed plugs and decided to rotate the tyres. We carry 2 full spares and 3 tubes but I suspect we will reach Australia without a single puncture. The work will be in maximizing the tyre treads to make sure we at least get as far as Darwin where replacements can be positioned.
Upshot was it was too late to get rolling so we are setting off in the morning for our Black Sea run all along the coast.
Photos are of the shoemaker who completely stitched formerly glued soles on Bev’s expensive hiking boots total cost $2.50.
Best haircut I have had in my life. It took half an hour because I took the short option without the face and scalp massage, after-cut shampoo and chiropractic neck twisting. The cigarette lighter on full flame shoved into my ears certainly got rid of the internal hairs but he deftly put the flames out just nipping a change of underwear in the bud.

5th May
Yesterday was cold and windy as we left Gokcebey and headed South East through magnificent gorges filled with dense green vegetation. We eventually joined the main West to East highway, a beautifully smooth 3 or 4 lane each way motorway with very light traffic. The trucks sit on 75-80km/h not much different to us.
There must be restrictive regulations as all the trucks are single drive with triple axle trailers. Every vehicle is a late model Mercedes, Volvo, DAF etc but very underpowered (the Bean actually passes them on hills). Seems a waste of good road to an Australian used to tandem drive axles and B-Double trailers carrying double the weight maintaining 100km/h up hill and down dale with 500/600hp.
Turkish drivers are quite polite and drive conservatively. Even in the swarming mess of Istanbul traffic hardly a horn was heard.
Having an altimeter is good because we saw almost the entire 350km heading towards Marzifon was at around 4,500ft in big wide valleys with few hills. They are growing rice among many other crops but I do not know how it survives at such altitude with sub-zero winters and high 20 summers.
Once again it was raining on and off. We have not had a single full sunny day since arriving in England a month ago. Still feeling fit and the car running well we decided to do a double day and finished up with close to 600km knocked over by the time we arrived in Samsun on the Black Sea again.
What a great city, starting as a Greek trading port 700BC and run by the Romans and their franchised Kings for a thousand years from Julius Caesar’s time. We will have a day off here as we are somewhat running a time table to fit in with arrangements of supporting old car people (particularly FIVA associated clubs).
Several clubs are sending people very long distances to greet us at borders so co-ordination is essential.
Finally we failed to introduce our third passenger, Bertie Bear. Bertie is the world’s most travelled bear. He was personally outfitted in a genuine World War One flying suit by Robert Gieve of Saville Row London and presented to us by Prince Michael of Kent on our departure in the Vickers Vimy in 1994. He flew once again with me in the Avro Avian from England to Australia. Since then he has crossed the Gobi Desert, driven through Siberia and Alaska, just the bear outline of his extensive travels.
Bertie and me are having a quiet hubble-bubble smoke in Gokcebey.

7th May
We are in Ordu, another clean and pretty old Greek/Roman port. I spent the morning
completely dismantling the magneto but to no avail.
We are moving at a sedate rate to coordinate with our classic car border crossing greeters. They are driving hundreds of kilometres to meet us so timing is important.
Frustrated by the magneto we took the cable car ride to the top of the hill for lunch.

Bev has been walking the 3 kilometre tree lined boulevard and has become best mates with the fishermen trying their luck on the sea wall.

More ancient history on this beautiful hilly Black Sea coast with Trabzon our next destination.
Well, it pays to advertise! 24 hours after this video was put up by “someone” Bev was on her evening walk along the seafront and a passer-by came running up to her with this video playing on his phone. I know she is a good looker for 77 years of age but he must have been pretty observant to recognise her. Many selfies and smiles. Its only downfall as to describe us as English.
I do not know why but videos only seem to pick up high frequency audio which makes the car sound like it is screaming. The straight cut first 3 gears are certainly noisy but the engine has a nice low rumble.

İngiliz Kidby çifti, 1924 model Bean marka klasik otomobilleri dünya turuna çıktı. Dünya turunda güzergahlarındaki 9. ülke olan Türkiye’ye gelen çift, mola verdikleri Samsun’da ilgi odağı oldu.

British Kidby couple took their 1924 Bean brand classic cars on a world tour 9th on her way to the world tour The couple who came to Turkey, the country, became the center of attention in Samsun, where they were taking a break.

Link to Video

https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/yasam/asirlik-aracla-dunya-turuna-cikan-avustralyali-cift-trabzona-ulasti/3214426?fbclid=IwY2xjawFEkH1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYg-VAjKp1E0iKG8DBsVdZvDH1bUWE9oTiqwDUEdcODaA01_a0f_S6_ruA_aem_3Ov754jU05tYXtftEIshsA

8th May
Never a dull moment. We sailed along on the first total blue sky day about 20 degrees for the run between Ordu and Trabzon.
The Great Ocean Road in Australia or Highway 1 in USA have nothing on this.
Magnificent wooded coastline with hills down to the sea. Headland followed by bay. Small ancient towns now fully modernised except for the little ports. The almost deserted 3 lane freeway wound along the shoreline cutting through short tunnels to reach the next bay.
We stopped for a coffee and to do our last minute search on Booking.com for the best priced accommodation for the night. Pulling out of the service station the engine locked up. This looks serious!
A pull of the starter knob resulted in nothing. A bit of investigation and taking the inspection cover off the pinion housing I could see it was stuck in the ring gear. After a bit of rocking it final came free and the attendant crowd of onlookers helped push
back into the service station.
Help appeared from everywhere. A passing scrap merchant used his brawny arms to finally get the starter released from the pinion grip out of the motor. Phones were running wild as friends of friends were called. Finally after an hour on the phone a German, Emre, and his mate found an auto electrician 40km away (fortunately in the right direction)

Luckily the Bean starts first shot so I pulled the crank handle over half a turn and we were on our way.
Arriving at a giant rabbit warren of motor workshops in Trabzon the very professional
team at Karaoglu oto elektric attacked the problem.
The pinion was badly worn and the light spring destroyed allowing it to angle on the flywheel ring gear and jam. Where do you get a 100 year old starter pinion? Of course, a Landrover Defender! Lucas could see absolutely no reason to change a perfectly good system that genuinely had at least half the life of a Toyota starter.
I did not see the part numbers but I would not be surprised if the last of the Landrovers was still using up the remains of the 1924 Bean stocks. Anyhow the pinion and spring slid perfectly on to the threaded shaft and away it went.
But wait there is more. As I was retrieving a dropped washer for the auto electrician I noticed the front right shock-absorber arm had snapped. I suspect the friction shock absorbers do almost nothing to better the ride and handling but they refused to let me go until it had been welded and refitted.
Of course all this action was being recorded by a TV crew who appeared on the scene. We had a few interviews and maybe a record of events if we can ever find it.
All in all a good result. I was not looking forward to the next 6 weeks crank starting
every time.

9th May
Today was one of the most interesting drives we have had for many years. We decided to go over the direct road from Trabzon on the Black Sea to our destination Erzurum on the main Turkish East West Highway. Setting out from Trabzon we were quickly off major roads and onto a winding 2 (sometimes 1) lane road into the mountains. The road followed a rushing river in a steep gorge only about 100 metres between the walls. Never more than 100 metres of straight road for over 3 hours as we climbed and climbed.
In that time we saw half a dozen other vehicles. The Bean plugged along at 35km/h in third gear and sometimes down to 25km/h in second as we switchbacked up the gorge. The scenery was magnificent. We got to 6,000ft on the altimeter and stopped at what appeared to be the top above the tree line But no, more climbing to be done. The Bean eventually crested the rise at 7,800ft way above the height of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain. The sky was cloudless and you could see forever.
Over the top and we headed down to the high plains we had followed earlier in the week to the west. A huge valley about 20km wide with agriculture bordered by snowcapped ranges.
Arriving at Erzurum we found a delightful city which is a ski resort in winter. The altitude on the altimeter in the hotel car park is 6,200ft.

10 May
Today we had a lovely 280km run between Erzurum and Dogubeyazit. We never dropped below 5,500ft and crossed one pass at 7,100ft. The road, except for that one great range is flat. Talk about Big Sky Country! The whole trip was in a huge flat valley averaging 6,000ft in altitude, all agriculture. The valley was walled by continuous snow-capped ranges averaging 10,000ft high. Blue sky and about 16 degrees.
At last we arrived in Dogubeyazit which sits right at the foot of Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain at 16,500ft. People come from all over the world to visit the place here Noah and his animals came ashore. There is a strange shape on the side of the mountain claimed by one school of thought to be the man-made Ark. I had a look at it and believe the Birdsville Zoo would have trouble accommodating its stock let alone every animal in the world. Scientific discussion has raged for a couple of hundred years on its authenticity. I heard that Greta Thunberg is being brought in to ensure the science is in.
This mountain has fascinated me since childhood. I could never relate to a bunch of people dressed in bedsheets wandering around in the desert speaking Elizabethan English. But here was a story with real adventure, ship building, animals, storms at sea.
I think Noah is an unsung hero. Firstly building a boat with bronze tools he then had to collect the animals. Just think how far the lions and tigers had to come and give a thought to the poor little penguins shuffling their way the whole distance from Antarctica! What an organiser. Then there was the planning to cast off before his mother-in-law found out.
For 40 days and 40 nights he had to captain the ship and keep order below. There must have been the usual complaints like the anteater whining because he had only brought 2 ants. Then there were other stresses like discovering one of the unicorns was transgender, coming out to find the cats decapitating tweety birds and masticating mice and the psychology of trying to explain to the Spanish Stallion that he could not hump the good looking girl with the stripes from Africa.
Anyhow it is all laid out before us, no longer a badly drawn Ark to be equally badly
coloured with broken pencils at Sunday school but the real deal!
Photo of Mt Ararat from Dogubeyazit

11 May
Birtles Travel and our route choice Explanation
There has been continuous discussion about the choice of route since the project began. We remain very flexible. Numerous experts and non-experts have given advice, some of it very helpful but as always much of our travel planning is done on the fly.
World events have caused problems for overland motorists for over 100 years and so it remains today.
When planning we were presented with the impossibility of following Birtle’s Bean 14 Sundowner route through Palestine (Israel), Syria and Iraq.
Two options (apart from numerous sea shipping routes) stood out.
Firstly take the southern route by ship from Greece to Egypt then avoiding the Israel, Syria, Iraq section, suffer a boring 2,000km drive on an endless desert highway across Saudi Arabia to the Arabian Gulf and ship from Dubai, Oman etc to Pakistan to catch up with Birtles across India. This route would lose a huge amount of Birtles’ original travels but be politically and security risk-free.
Many people do not know that Francis Birtles with fellow Australian Malcolm Ellis drove all the way from England to India early in 1927 in a first attempt to reach Australia. Their vehicle was also a Bean but a large experimental 6 cylinder vehicle that staggered from disaster to disaster before finally collapsing in India.
Ellis, the brains of the expedition, returned to Australia (Birtles was the iron man who
kept the car and team moving forward).
Not to be beaten, Birtles returned to England where his faithful Bean 14 Sundowner, mercilessly flogged on several record breaking trips through the heart of Australia, had been taken for publicity purposes. They “washed it” and he set off 6 months later entirely alone on the successful journey we are recreating.
We decided not to travel thousands of kilometres away from “Birtle’s Roads”, either the first or second expedition and follow his experiences as closely as possible. As a result we are going through his available original countries of Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India, the last 3 countries he did twice in the same year.
Here is a photo of Birtles and Ellis’ first attempt in early 1927 in the Bean 6. The car completely failed in India. The photo is taken in the Balochistan area between Persia now Iran and India (now Pakistan)

12 May
We are limited with our social media for a week or so. Reports may be brief.
We crossed the border from Turkey to Iran. It took 3 hours about half on each side.
Waiting on the Iran side was our support team. I will give a better description of these two great fellows later. Customs came out with flowers and cakes.

As the crossing had been so quick we decided to do two days run through to Tabriz We stopped for lunch at a 400 year old caravanseri [ancient truck stop] that looked more like a palace. Waiting for us was a dozen classic cars and crews.
A pretty wild convoy ride to Tabriz including 3 dead stops from fuel blockages in the Bean.

13th May

Today has been nonstop with food, photo op on the mountain, food, visit to the classic car museum with newspaper and tv reporters, food, visit to the Tabriz ancient huge bazaar mentioned by Marco Polo, more food, walk through the street market and finished with a light snack.
All accompanied by a great happy team in several classic cars.
Naz a local dentist and 4×4 rally driver cancelled her appointments to spend the day with us and she and Bev hit it off well.

We decided that the only thing in the world today to get more photos may have been the Eiffel Tower.
The effort put in by Noureddin Hashemi famous Iranian adventure travel organiser has been fantastic. Not only has he set up his fully equipped escort vehicle with two crew to follow us the whole way but it is totally sign written with the trip details.
Ramin the Iran FIVA representative has of course made sure we have classic cars with us right across Iran

14th May
Well another busy day. Setting off early from Tabriz with a car club member in front to guide us and Noureddin and Behmam in the ute behind we were soon on the freeway to Zanjan

Traffic moves quite slowly at about 80kmh. The lane lines are purely a suggestion and in the city may as well not exist.
After about 250km we were met by a crowd of classic car members and had a delightful roadside ceremony. This included a huge banner with photos of us and the car Behmam and the Tabriz boys then turned around for the 250km drive home.

Now under the care of the Zanjan crew we were taken to our luxury hotel for lunch followed by a tour of the museum then a walk through the thousand year old 2km long Bazaar

At each place they are bringing one or two ladies specially for Bev to give her some company on what is essentially an all male operation.
Tomorrow into Tehran looks to be a very busy one with a lot programmed. A car service at a classic car shop is included.

14th May

15th May
Another full Iranian day.

Heading off early from Sanjan followed by Nourri in the trusty ute we headed for a 1pm appointment in Tehran.
About an hour from our destination the overdrive started slipping. Feeling it was very hot we swung into a small town and did a quick oil change and filter clean. A bit better but not right so I accepted direct drive losing 10kmh by not going over my self_imposed 500rpm.

Met at the side of the highway by the national auto club, old car people and press we were escorted into the vast modern factory complex of Mammut our Iranian sponsor.
Mammut has a huge range of activities ranging from truck and car manufacturing to construction. It was here we finally got to meet our great supporter, FIVA board member Ramin.
We were taken to a huge feast in the HQ dining room where we met the many people who have been responsible for our Iran arrangements. This was followed by a presentation in the board room including a gift of a large boxed silver Woolly Mammoth, the company logo and name.

After many photos, press interviews a Mammut tilt tray truck arrived “You have had a long day and the traffic is terrible so just relax in Ramin’s car and follow the truck through the crawling cars”

16th May
We had a pretty full day in Tehran.
We were picked up by the tireless Ramin and taken to the 1969 Classic Car Garage then headed off in convoy the the Shah of Persia’s palace.
During the night the car had been cleaned and polished to concourse standard. Oil changed and fully serviced.
Awaiting our arrival at the palace were numerous people including FIVA Hall of Fame winner Shahzad Pakniat Hamedany who had saved the Royal Fleet of Rolls Royces and numerous other vehicles. She had worked tirelessly to establish the museum in the beautiful palace grounds.
The great people from the Iran Motoring and Touring Club [RAC, AA equivalent] all came along to reinforce their continued support We were presented with a beautiful hand made brass and silver vase.
Bev drove back to a catered lunch at the garage in a nice Camaro after a very long session with the main TV reporters. As the overdrive is still unfixed a mechanic drove with me to see if he could get any clues.
I forgot to mention we were accompanied yesterday by Maryam Talaie a well known competitive motor cycle rider
She was recently elected FIVA Emmisary.

Also representing the Womens Motoring Association was Kimia Abrishami. They have a program training women as car detailers and setting them up in business.
During the afternoon the boys worked on the overdrive adjusting, refilling, testing. I called the builder in UK but he could not offer a solution from that distance. At about 8pm the legend of Iranian classic car mechanics arrived and starting from square one he went through every possible solution to finally declare it had major internal failure.
Oh well, back to 65kmh just as Mr Bean designed back in 1924. This will add at least an hour a day to our travel. We are working with Mohsen in Pakistan for a solution in about a week time.

17th May
Finally departing Tehran we were met at the 1969 Garage by Nourri and Mohammad in the ute after we were picked up at the hotel by Ramin.
Not to be left out Mammut once again provided their tilt tray truck to save us 30 km driving in the heavy Friday traffic on the freeway south. I thought the drop off should be about 250km from the city but unfortunately we were back in the Bean on the edge of town.
It took some time to adjust to driving at 60-65kmh with no overdrive but it is what it is
and we will plug on.
We were joined by good friends of Nouri who crawled along in front with flashing lights while the ute gives us cover from behind. The cars only travel about 80kmh on the freeway but lane keeping is totally free-form.
At least 50 times we were almost sideswiped by photo takers who then pull in front, slow down for us to overtake for better shots then speed up and pass us again, usually on the shoulder inside us.
At one place we were pulled up by the police. Nobody smiling, for a registration check. Nouri put on his charm and after numerous photos the police car joined the convoy behind and for the next 35 km I could hear the siren going continuously – why?
We were met at the entrance to Kashan by the local group. As has happened before I was presented with the traditional flowers, Bev being a woman was politely treated as an also-ran.
I think this is an old habit as so far we have been very impressed by the number of female movers and shakers. The modern Iranian woman is certainly not in the shadows.
We were taken to a fabulous old mansion in Kashan. This is something happening in many areas where these beautiful old houses with central courtyards are being converted to hotels.
Esfahan tomorrow.

Leaving 1969 garage. Ramin and Lang sporting their FIVA caps.

18th May
Running a bit behind
A quick breakfast then away from Kashan for a good 5 hour run to Isfahan, a city a couple of thousand years old mentioned by everyone from Alexander to Marco Polo.
We were met at the outskirts by the local car club and escorted to Bentley Motors (related to 1969 Garage in Tehran]
A magnificent brand new car dealership. Starter just spins without connecting.
Oh well, let’s have the welcome and huge catered lunch. Once again huge banners and lovely presentation bowl. Nouri will have to get a shipping container to post home all our gifts.

Pulling the tools out and dripping oil on the one month old black marble showroom floor, Mohmmad and I began on the starter. Making use of the workshop next door we fabricated the missing Bendix spring bolt which is no doubt laying in the bottom of the clutch housing.
Unfortunately we could not come up with the light pinion return spring. A good start but the pinion was rattling against the ring gear
Bev was driven about 20km to the hotel by a club member and our convoy of hand started Bean and numerous classic cars led by a police car (club members) with flashing lights arrived near dark at the fabulous restored mansion, Ghasr Monshi.
Bev was relaxing in the court yard with a drink as I was taken to our room In 50 years of traveling I have seldom seen such luxury.

19th May
Departing Isfahan we first had a long interview with the Ghasr Monshi hotel manager. A small price to pay for 12 days free accommodation across Iran.
Off to the huge Khomeini Square a beautiful open area with lawns and trees surrounded by historic buildings and a magnificent mosque. No vehicles are allowed in the square along the pedestrian promenades except 1924 Beans.

Pose for a gang of media people then on our way with the club escort. 10km out of town the springless starter pinion worked its way forward to start rattling.
Mohammad showed his fortitude by plunging his hands between red hot exhaust pipes to remove it.
Crank start and as an encouragement award he jumped into the drivers seat for two hours. Bev did not object too strongly about accompanying Nourri in the air conditioned ute.
Once again a welcoming committee waited outside Yazd. Once again a random police car swung in to lead the growing parade
We were led to a magnificent building housing a huge collection of classic cars. The club members began arriving and we soon had a huge flock waiting for the hotel convoy. Quick coffee eats and speeches and the waiting police car [as in Esfahan club members] took the lead.

Bev and I had a few chuckles as various members claimed the lead and jostled for position in front of the Bean. This was boosted by the wild driving of a press car trying to get his lady photographer in position
.
Good thing I did not paint the car as the extra layer would have resulted in contact. Cool calm and collected as usual Nourri manouvred the ute close behind.
We arrived at yet another fabulous restored 400 year old mansion, Ketrova Hotel. Of course the VIP room.
What a welcome!
As we were escorted by the manager through an ancient alleyway into a beautiful courtyard the Australian National Anthem burst forth.
Ernie Dingo must have visited Iran because we were given the genuine original welcome smoking ceremony with hot coals and various spices to sprinkle on.
The starter was sent off but upon refitting the repairs were not a success. Looks like cranking from now on!

20th May
Driving at 6,000ft altitude (we broke our record on a 7900 ft pass yesterday) is hard to grasp as the country is just flat desert with rugged ranges sticking up. You can only tell you are climbing by extra throttle and raised water temperature. Getting hotter well over 30 deg.
Unserviceable starter began rattling. Removed it and found our Yazd expert had redesigned the drive thereby completely destroying it beyond recovery
Our longest day about 350km and a late start after the usual ceremony saw us arrive in Kerman pretty hot and tired.
Numerous helpers and we found a true expert. I am writing this in his shop while he fits a brand new Landcruiser geared starter. He spent many hours modifying the original pinion and adapted a mounting plate off another vehicle.
Anyone who does minimal test fitting and cuts and drills from his vernier and micrometer measurements can’t be bad!
Another beautiful hotel attached to the thousand year old bazaar kept Bev busy while we were working on the car.
We should get away on a short 170km to Bam before lunch.
All fitted and on the way. The boys have christened it the Beancruiser.

21st May
I forgot to mention we met the Governor of Kerman Province after he heard about us and came to the hotel to say hello. Bev was presented a lovely traditional embroidery this morning “from the Government”

After the completion of the starter we got on the road to Bam a city with 3 000 years of history. The Egyptian Kings wore silk from China woven in Bam.
We began in Kerman at 4500ft and almost imperceptably began a gradual 50km climb along wide flat desert valleys. The country is treeless and dry but as we drove in 35c heat the rugged ranges still had snow.
With the radiator temperature on the red line we crested the rise at 8300ft, certainly the highest we will see on this trip. The Bean thrived on the equally gentle 50km slope down the other side.
We stopped for fuel and a miracle after 3 days of cranking _ a pull on the knob and away she went. Did mention fuel is 20c US per litre.
Arriving in Bam we were met by the Tourism Group and led to the huge intact citadel as old as the city.
We were led through lovely wide green boulevards lined with huge mature Australian eucalypts (gum trees) to another great hotel, the Arg-È-Jadid.
Interviews and lunch and back to the room and aircon.
0500 start tomorrow for our last night in Iran. Long run of 350km or 7 hours into expected 45c temperature.
It is damn hot in the Bean and despite my best efforts red hot air flows in past the pedals and gear shift. A 30kt 40c side wind with dust adds to the charm.

22nd May
A very testing day today.
We got out of Bam right on sunrise at 0500. Nice run for an hour or so before the day began to warm up.
The countryside is pure arid desert but very rugged barren hills, not a blade of grass. Wind blowing strongly kicking up a dust storm. By 0900 it was approaching 40c with sand reducing visibility. No goggles so just squint. Bev found use for her scarf as a dust mask.
We varied in height from 2500 to 5500ft. On one long, long climb I was juggling the ears and throttle to keep the water temperature above the red line
We got down to a 30kmh crawl in third gear winding through the craggy gorges The main problem was the wind of about the same speed as us from behind. This meant there was no airflow through the radiator and we sat there in 39c heat with no cooling air movement for ourselves.
I became adept at throttle manipulation by watching for the steam and slightly backing off until it stopped
Two 2 litre refills on that one long 3 000ft climb.
Into Zahedan and met by the local club. Escorted into town being held up for 20 minutes while an Army check point confirmed our passports and visas were correct.

We are in an area where the Baluchis have been problem children to the British and later the Iranians and Pakistanis for centuries
Coming into town a hissing sound like exhaust manifold leak turned out to be a loose plug.
Pakistan tomorrow. Mohsin has driven down to the border with his mechanic to meet us.

Still more photos of a hot day between Bam and Zahedan.

23rd May
Last day in Iran. We got out of Zahedan early in the morning for the 85km run down to the border. Arriving there the usual song and dance started with every man and his dog wanting to inspect, stamp, copy every certificate in our possession.
Very calm (nobody else going through the border except about 500 trucks lined up) The trucks have their own gate.
We were taken into the Tourist Officer’s office and sat there for about an hour and a half as various minions brought in tea, coffee and cold drinks while others popped in from time to time to take more copies of our paperwork.
Eventually we were cleared and it was time to say goodbye to our faithful companions for the last 12 days, Nouri and Mohammad.
Two more attentive fellows you could not meet. Their Mammut Industries supplied ute was our constant companion and Nouri had worked out our route plan in consultation with Ramin from FIVA and the Iran Motoring and Touring Club plus numerous car clubs along the way.

What a surprise Iran was! It is a modern, clean and friendly country and certainly should be on everyone’s visit list once the current unpleasantness subsides.
Once free we crossed into Pakistan to meet our enthusiastic friend and supporter Mohsin Ikram, a Karachi classic car man who had driven over 1,000km to meet us through an area of Baluchistan which he (and few outsiders) had ever ventured to.
Great reception and we were ushered into the Chief of Immigration office. Same tune, different piper. We sat for another hour and a half sipping tea and cold drinks as minions came and went with our paperwork and numerous people from the Army, Border Force and many mystery senior people dropped in to look at us, chat for 20 minutes and disappear.
The Australian Embassy in Iran had become extremely concerned by our route, more so on the Pakistan side through lawless Baluchistan right along the Afghanistan border so to avoid back and forward emails establishing the public service “I told you so” base line for any warning no matter how mild I decided to let the Australian Embassy in Pakistan possibly find out on the grapevine.
Outside the gate our first team of Levies (para military police) joined us in a Hilux ute. Foreigners may not travel the 700km between the Taftan border and Quetta without armed escort. The Army (far up the chain from the Levies and Police) also had a ute with a few boys on board.
After a couple of hours I had to stop the Levies and get them to travel behind us because they were so attentive that they drove at 45kmh and nearly stopped at every bump to look after the Bean. When one considers the road was totally RS and comprised mainly of bumps you can imagine the rate of progress.

Every 50km in this totally barren desert with the rugged Afghan mountains to the left and sandhills to the right there was a post with a couple of mud buildings and the boys would hand us over to the next crew. This hand over comprised a full inspection of our passports and visas (thank God for mobile phones as they just photographed everything including mug shots of Bev and me to prove they had done the handover). Did I mention it was 45C.
Occasionally we would pass an Army post with an almost Foreign Legion atmosphere with no supporting town. What sins must you have committed to be posted here! The Army was well equipped and even in this hellish heat the guys on duty wore full helmet, body armour and webbing.
They were totally friendly, wanting endless photos and many spoke good English. Once more you could see, although they chatted together the Army were above the Levies.
We crossed over the spot an American drone took out a convoy carrying the Taliban
Leader in 2016.
Finally after a very long, hot, rough day we arrived at the small town on Dalbandin.
There were no hotels so we set up for the night in the Government Hostel.

24th May

Dalbaldin to Quetta.
We negotiated an early start with the Levies of 0700 as compared with their 0900 bid. Naturally it was after 0800 when we got away, already over 30C.
This is the seriously threatened area, they kept calling it a war zone. Anyhow we plodded along on terrible road. The Army outposts became more regular and the Levies put an extra couple of AK-47s in the ute.

About halfway more airborne than road bound I hit a bigger bump. The car shot across the road with the steering locked. Pretty obviously a broken front spring. It had sagged to catch the steering arm on the axle.
Luckily there was an Army Frontier Force post a few hundred yards back. I got half a dozen boys to lift the front while I jammed a rock between axle and chassis. Crawled back to the post to realign the main leaf using the jack against the spare tyre carrier.
Every body and his brother was shouting advice until I quickly identified one of the soldiers as having some mechanical skill to assist me. Firmly telling the mob to cease and desist with the advice work commenced.
Of course the young Major in charge made sure “Madam” was safely set up in the officers mess (a wood table and 4 chairs in a 5 metre square mud building) with tea, cool drinks and biscuits
This little oasis had sweet water gushing into tank from underground.
Eventually fixed and even the troops were claiming 50C temperature.
100km further on big bang and same deal. This time there was no Army oasis. Just bite the bullet crawl in on the red hot sand. More jacking and banging and an hour later again mobile.

By the time we got to the hotel we had 3 police utes with troops two army utes with troops and no less than 3 Levie vehicles with troops.

Fabulous 5 star hotel, the Quetta Serena, with bag and body x-ray, sniffer dog and numerous armed security people.

I was as tired as I can ever remember. After a tv interview I stupidly accepted an invitation by a famous retired senator to his charity dinner.
We were there for 40 minutes before I fell asleep in my soup so made apologies and went back to the hotel.

Photos of Pakistan

26th May

Well we are finally stopped 55C equal highest temperature ever recorded on earth.
Bean boiling and vaporising. Police escort Hilux boiling Mohsins Honda over red line. His Apple phone shut down from overheating in his pocket. My Samsung soldiers on.
We threw the Bean on a passing truck for the 100km into Sukkur Now stopped on road beside boiling truck.
Two new Army Hilux stopped and have gone for truck water.
Mohsins Honda boiling and refuses to start. Vaporising fuel does not go too well with fuel injection. Stopped at an Army post for water. We are skulking inside the post (I go on duty at 1800). The evaporator cooler brings it down to a balmy 40C. Truck just went past with Bean. One of the boys is sitting in the car in 55C heat. Looks like a second truck for the Honda
We are having bets on getting in to Sukkur before midnight. Honda RIP. Photo of the plastic dip stick. It takes seriously hot oil to do this On the road update. 1900 with an hour to go. Honda zipping along on 3 cylinders and truck driver keeping it just on the red line at 40kmh. We will get there!

2100 – we arrived at a large factory in Sukkur which had a magnificent guest house for board members and VIPs to stay at. Mechanics waiting and by 2300 claimed the Honda wounded but fit for return to action – we will see!

27 May

Long discussion this morning on our options. The temperature on our route for the next two days predicted to be 49C and 48C. No matter how early we leave we are only averaging 50kmh which means at least 7 hours on the road plus fuel and rest stops and no avoiding the heat where the Bean (and many other vehicles) is struggling to operate.
We have proven that the low 40s expected in India are quite OK but another 5-10 degrees is a major problem. The heat wave is predicted to continue but drop to normal summer temperatures as the week progresses. It is well over 40C by 0900.
Choices include plunging on with a possible repeat of yesterday’s performance.
Breaking the journey to Lahore into 4 early days instead of 2 standard long ones.

Mess around rigging up a temporary electric fan in the wishful hope it will knock the engine temperature back into operating range. It did not help the Honda much. Unfortunately there are other factors involved with dates for the Pakistan India border crossing and numerous events involving people driving hundreds of kilometres not easily changed.
On top of that Bev and I have not had a single free day away from the car since leaving UK two months ago. She also mentioned some rubbish about us not being 25 years old.
Upshot. We will do a deal with the truck driver to continue to Lahore to cut out the
two hot days. We will go direct in Mohsins Honda to have a full day off to ourselves before resuming the Lahore meet and greet program when the Bean arrives.

27 May

Got so carried away with current events forgot Quetta.
Fabulous hotel, great reception. Took the Bean to a hole in the wall spring shop. About 3 hours and a complete new spring set including new bushes made and fitted for $30.
The spring maker had 2 helpers about 9 and 12. These little guys slipped under the car, had a look and selected the correct size spanners without trial test like most
people.
The shop photo reminds Australians of Banjo Paterson’s poem “The man from Ironbark”
“and a row of gilded youths sat against the wall…”

28th May

Who said we were not 25 years old? 55C degrees like a rat up a drainpipe.

Bev Kidby
The truth was my hero climbed up the red hot side of the truck to retrieve my bag that had been left in the Bean while loading. He knew things may have been hotter if I had been parted from my belongings!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1157133085483703

28 May

Yesterdays decision to go direct to Lahore is working well.
We got away from our accommodation in Sukkur about 1000 after final work was done on the Honda.
I have neglected to make much mention of Akhtar who has been with Mohsin from the Iran border. He is a panel and body man in Mohsin’s Karachi classic car shop. He is a lovely happy bloke keen as mustard. He swapped places with Bev for a couple legs.
I never had too much communication problem using the “If they do not understand
just shout louder”

29 May

Another very late night by the time we got the Bean off the Kuttar truck, onto a tilt tray then brought to Amir’s house.

Amir is an architect and keen collector of classic cars, an old friend of Mohsins. He and Ayesha welcomed us into their beautiful home with green gardens and swimming pool -too hot to swim.

At 0800 the mechanic arrived to give the Bean the once over after the boiling and rough running stresses of the Quetta run in 55C heat.
Unfortunately Amirs cleaning team got a bit energetic with the hose and we had to wait for the electrics to dry – not long in 42C and rising heat.
Ikram (same name as Mohsin) the mechanic is one of those blokes you see on You tube fixing a broken truck chassis with a flattened Coke can and a length of wire, just brilliant.
The car was not running right despite adjusting everything.
Not giving up, he finally discovered a microscopic crack invisible to the human eye in the distributor cap where spark was tracking. Spare cap on all fixed.
He has now taken the broken insulator fitting from the magneto to hand make a new one. A job declared impossible by mechanics in 5 countries.
If he succeeds it will give us our back up ignition system once again.
Bev and I are skulking in aircon in Lahore on our first full day off (except for ignition
work).

29 May

A lazy day turned into a successful operation.
As mentioned Ikram the mechanic said he would have a go at fixing the magneto which died back in Europe.
Mechanics in 5 countries have looked at it including a specialist who took it to his workshop and declared it deceased without factory parts and service.
Ikram cut up an old car distributor and mated that to a nylon door roller carved with a knife and file to fit the magneto hole. He used the original carbon pencil and spring in the centre hole he drilled to size.
Looks more robust than the original.
Arriving back at the car the unit was dropped in to the magneto
Pull the starter and away it went first kick!
Amir and Ayesha invited friends in for dinner and Bev, Mohsin and I had a pleasant night before I faded hours after my normal bed time

Some random Pakistan photos
and Lahore Polo Club

30th May

Indian travels
The not entirely unexpected Indian bureaucracy has struck
Leaving Lahore early we reached the Wagah border to be told to wait until 9.30.
We said goodbye to our great friend and helper Mohsin Ikram.
Ushered into the Pakistan customs all sorts of stamping and checking took place
regarding the car.
Passport section and suddenly Bev has been issued an Indian arrival by air visa while mine is by land. Amritsar arrival airport is 20km away but no way they will allow her to be taken there for clearance.
Upshot is despite the Pakistan customs boss pleading with his Indian counterpart Bev is prohibited land traveler.
Mohsin who is halfway back to Lahore turns around and because he is a travel agent gets Bev on the only flight at 0300 in the morning while I meet Vikram in the car to be taken to his home in Amritsar for the night.
Minor problem is there are no direct flights between India and Pakistan. So as I proceed towards Delhi in the Bean Bev is winging her way to the same destination via Dubai (look at the map) $1500 dollars poorer.
She will arrive a day before me and is now a minor celebrity being met at the airport and hosted by some very prominent car people. Such is life.

31st May

Lovely night with Vikram and his family. He met me at the border and drove the first hour from daylight with me this morning.
Once in the country the Indians are great. Not long after leaving Amritsar a police car swung in behind me and ran interference to block traffic as I swung out to pass slower vehicles and animals on the freeway.
They changed every 50km to hand me over to the waiting car club crew in Chandigarh.
Wonderful reception at Navaz house where a crew of skilled people are fixing the total loss of spark from the coil. I ran nearly the whole trip on the Lahore repaired magneto.
Navaz is the FIVA rep who is doing a great job. Her husband serves excellent cold beer.
Just heard Bev got bumped on her Dubai to Delhi flight and had to sit in business class, how sad. She is in Delhi being whisked somewhere by her greeters.

1st June
Another successful but very hot day
After being escorted out of Chandigarh by Navaz and Karandeep the only problem was a fuel line coming loose.
About halfway to Delhi I was met by a team from the car club plus an escorting police officer. We then commenced about a 4 hour drive in ever increasing heat. The route chosen was quite a bit longer but avoided the traffic as long as possible.
Plunging into the traffic the poor old Bean was steaming at each hold up but we eventually reached a green paradise in the centre where a crowd of club members waited with rose petal machines blasting flowers all over us. What a reception.
Bev was waiting having been picked up at the airport and taken to Ranjit Malik’s lovely mid city farm.

Diljeet Titus was a prime mover in putting it together
The Malik family opened their place to us and the members of the car club arrived for a wonderful evening. A nicer group of people would be hard to find.
Today has been relaxed doing an oil change and several jobs on the car as various club members dropped by.
0500 start on another hot day to Agra in the morning.

3rd June
We got going from the Malik farm in Delhi at first light. It felt better to have Bev back in her seat beside me.
Not just any member arrived to guide us through the light traffic but Uday Bahardin in his Maybach. Uday had come out 200km (not in the Maybach) to meet me on the way into Delhi.
The freeway traffic was quite light but by 0900 it was well over 40 degrees.
Waiting at the last toll gate was a team from the Agra club who gave us a very warm (pun intended) welcome.
Bev happily jumped in the Toyota with ac and Siddharth Jain took her seat to guide me through the traffic into Agra
I am starting to learn that even the slowest of movement helps keep the temperature needle above the red line. There is no escaping steam if stuck at lights. Turning off of course just makes it worse without any flow through the hot block. The Toyota outside air temperature indicator said 47 degrees.
Straight to a Kanhaiya Goyals workshop where his team attacked the car and fitted a full carpet to go on top of the insulation which was fitted in Delhi.
Just the insulation alone made a huge improvement over the original aluminum floor boards. We were suffering serious personal heat issues from hot engine air flowing through numerous holes.
Actually melted the sole of my RM Williams boot.
Great improvement with noise also.
Leaving the workshop we were taken to the Kanhaiyas beautiful home for lunch and a rest before the evening onslaught of press conference followed by dinner and member gathering.
All ready for another 0500 start to get ahead of the heat on a longer day still to Lucknow tomorrow.
It is wonderful hospitality

Once on the highway from Agra to Lucknow we had visibility of about one kilometre in thick smog. We did not see the sun all day as we trundled along in a warm grey soup. The road was excellent with very light traffic.
Encouraged by the lower temperature of only 41 degrees I decided to keep driving nonstop the 335km for 6 1/2 hours. The new carpet has improved cockpit conditions considerably.
Bev sits there stoically dispensing water with an occasional wet cloth head wipe. It is amazing how much water you drink in these conditions consuming up to a litre an hour. We use electrolyte powder in the water bottles.
Bladder range extends exponentially with heat and sweating.
Very nice to arrive at a good hotel with no social commitment’s for the evening
.
The Bean running fine. Well down on temperature on the highway but got up to the red in the crazy free-form traffic in Lucknow
We were only bumped gently twice but returned serve on a tuk tuk (called auto rickshaws in India).
The holy city of Varanasi/Benares tomorrow

5th June
It seemed like an easy day today. Only 40 degrees by arrival. I think we might be getting acclimatised.
Traffic was surprisingly heavy leaving Lucknow but once on the highway things got better. I have no idea what was going on but we were directed off the highway with everyone else and did 50km through the countryside on a road 10 metres wide full of people, bicycles, scooters, trucks, dogs, cows and sundry living and mechanical moving objects.
Back to video game driving and playing musical chairs with an oncoming bus for a space between an ox cart and a roadside stall.
The run into Varanasi was amazingly free flowing and after only 6 hours continuous driving, except for one refuel, we arrived at the historic 150 year old Clarkes Hotel by lunchtime.
A bit of Francis Birtles History.
I thought I might just have a few words about Australian adventurer Francis Birtles whose first drive from England to Australia we are celebrating.
This was not Birtles first trip from England in 1927!
Early in the year Malcolm Ellis, an Australian journalist and leader of the expedition, set out from London with Francis Birtles, the iron man of the group who was the expert driver/mechanic and Billy Knowles (who returned home after Turkey) to drive to Australia.
Ellis and Birtles had already broken several Australian cross country driving records together. They appeared to be the perfect combination. Ellis was highly educated, spoke several languages but was a good mechanic and driver. His patience and tact got them out of some sticky border and legal situations. Birtles had endurance beyond most people, excellent bush mechanic skills and would never give up. Ellis was always the “front man” avoiding Birtles explosive temper and unlimited supply of profane language exacerbating a tricky situation.
They were driving a new experimental Bean 6 car much larger than the famous Bean 14 that held the Australian records. Our car is a sister Bean 14 to Birtles machine.

Setting off from London in the big car they followed a similar route to ours via Turkey and Iran through what is now Pakistan to Delhi in India. Their roads were different to ours in a number of places because of political developments.
The car was a disaster (the boys had christened it “Scrap Iron” before they were out of Europe) and despite heroic efforts by the crew (particularly Birtles) to keep it going, losing weeks waiting for parts from the factory it finally died in Delhi, India. By this time Ellis had such a badly infected foot he could not walk and apart from the car being unrepairable, they had run out of money.
Ellis returned to Australia to become one of the best known and controversial Journalists in Australia. He wrote several books including “Express to Hindustan” which relates the story of the Bean 6 trip. A ripping yarn!
Birtles, being Birtles, refused to accept defeat. Fortuitously his famous Bean 14 record breaker had been taken to England for publicity by the Bean Car Company.
Francis returned to England and they “washed the Australian outback mud off it” and he set off once more 6 months after their first departure, this time by himself, from
the great Olympia Motor Show to be the first person to drive from England to Australia. The rest is history.
We have always been aware of the blending of these two Birtles trips and have often remarked about being in the same place as the Bean 6 when forced to detour around a later Bean 14 section.
When we got to Delhi we felt we had paid some tribute to the trials Birtles and Ellis had suffered to get that far. In many respects the first trip was far more difficult than the second solo drive as far as India.
Here is a Photo of the Bean 6 in Balochistan. That is Ellis fetching water for the constantly boiling Bean 6. I am fairly sure this pass is one we took (now with a smooth road) on our 55c degree drive not long after crossing the border into Pakistan from Iran. There are a number of these tight gorges on the main road.

GPS Tracker
Before we left UK our old friend and supporter Andy Lambert donated and fitted a GPS tracker to the Bean.
Unfortunately for several reasons including political and security the ability to access it has been restricted.
We are now well into India where there are no restrictions and it is now open for everyone to follow. It is a fantastic asset and once you log in you will be able to get the full Bean travel history all the way from England.
It is an amazing unit, two wires and minutes to hook up, giving huge amounts of information and it is strongly recommended anyone needing such a device both commercial or private (eg for family tracking or finding your stolen car) get in touch with Andy Lambert at Classic Car Tracker.
Here are the Tracking details. The link to the page is www.classiccartrack.com and this can be given to anyone who may be interested.
The use is simple enough – On the first (landing) page is a link to the Demo Map and once there you have to select your type of screen. The options are Phone Screen (which is for smaller devices), and works with more information on a Computer

Screen (this also works for tablets, Smart TVs, Game Consoles, in fact anything with a bigger screen connected to the internet).
Once you have told it what screen you are using you will see the BEAN car on the list of objects. Clicking on the icon will take you to the map page. You can also go to history and see where it has been. It is free to log in to follow the Bean.
The car is set up to report in every 30 mins (if your master power switch is on). Once moving however, it will switch to sending updates every two mins. It will also send one if you turn more than 35 degrees and also when you have travelled over 400 meters. If you end up in a part of the world with weak, or non-existent Cellular Coverage the unit will store those fixes until it can make a connection again. It works using USA, Europe, or Russian GPS Satellites whichever is best and if struggling will use a mix.
Below is a typical screenshot of today. Whenever the car is stopped for a period it shows P for parked. You can also see the stops on the speed graph at the bottom.
Our stops today were stuffing around for money at Toll Gates. Straight lines on the past history charts are when we accidently pulled the tracker wire off for a day or so a couple of times.

6th June
Quick one today.
Departed Varanasi at 0500
Traveled on the National highway to Gaya. It should be called the National Disgrace 4 and 6 lanes but rough as a motocross track
Every 5km there is an unmaintained pothole diversion around roadworks started 5 years ago and seemingly abandoned.
You have to follow trucks scooters and rickshaws (tuk tuks) at walking pace as they first gear twist and roll for up to a kilometre at a time
Thousands of trucks traveling between 30 and 60kmh occupying mainly the outside lane but any eye pleasing lane will do. Three across crawling along blocking everything is standard. Many insane passing maneuvers by faster traffic including us.
Of course opposing traffic appearing in your windscreen on a 6 lane divided highway is so common it is not worthy of mention.
They have the temerity to charge tolls for this goat track.
Got to Gaya by 1100 and decided to push on in really bad smog and blowing dust for another couple of hours to Barhi as it was just 40c degrees but humidity is noticeably rising.
The team in Calcutta have done a poster for our Sat and Sun two night stay at Cossimbazar Palace at the invitation of Pallab Roy a car buff himself.

7th June

The Classic Drivers Club had organised the lovely Peerless Hotel in Durgapur and we all got to know each other between press conferences’.

8th 9th June

Leaving early in the morning we launched off on a marathon cross country. 155kms which took 6 hours continuous driving. The temperature has dropped to high 30’s but the humidity is at tropical levels here in West Bengal.

We proceeded along mostly one or one and a half lane wide roads through continuous villages with teeming traffic. Thousands of trucks were on the road often in stationary lines waiting for “something”. The trucks of course reduced the road to half a lane to cater for the normal two way traffic of cars, rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes, three wheelers, horse, donkey and buffalo carts. Numerous dogs, cows and goats proceeded determinedly on their missions known only to god and themselves.

Anyhow we finally arrived to meet Pallab Roy at the fantastic Cossimbazar Palace where we have been invited to spend two nights in preparation for the attack on Calcutta traffic tomorrow.

More of the Classic Drivers Club crew having driven the 200km up from Calcutta were there to greet us. We had a great traditional reception and were shown to our beautiful rooms in the Palace.

Pallab, the 10th generation of former Rajahs and son Saurav were there to meet us. They have a large bakery and confectionary business in West Bengal as well as a classic car restoration business in Calcutta. Over the last few years they have restored the huge palace to its former glory.

After yet another meal we went into the marble Palace Temple and had a great hour being entertained by the local traditional dance school (with a bit of Bollywood thrown in). Pallab himself plays several instruments and he took to the stage with his piano accordion to accompany the young dancers with more modern western style music.

This morning we went to see the Palace of a 1000 Windows built in grand style larger than Buckingham Palace in the late 1700 to early 1800 by the British for the Nabob. It is now a museum and a really spectacular place to visit.

10th June

We made it, completed the classic London to Calcutta drive finishing with probably our most unpleasant couple of hours melting in 100% humidity and 36 degrees in Calcutta’s seething traffic. The Bean gave her last puff of steam just to keep me on my toes.

Ravi Kumar was waiting at the Tollygunge and Equestrian Club who are kindly accommodating us.

Some of the boys from the Calcutta Motor Sports Club intercepted us about 15kms out, how they found us in the traffic is anyone’s guess.

Knowing Ravi it will be go go go with functions and events. The Classic Drivers get us again at the end of the week for more activities.

Some shipping decisions to be made quickly.

11 June

We have been to Calcutta a number of times and always find the people so friendly , generous and hospitable, so again we are enjoying our stay here immensely.

Priority is sorting shipping.

The final happening should be a drive around Calcutta on Sunday with the Classic Drivers Club in a parade of classic cars.

We got a grip of reality by looking at the map and what is still to go. About 5000km from Darwin to Melbourne via Birtles Brisbane, Sydney Canberra route is still a bloody long time left squeezed into the Bean.

12 June

Special request.

I am looking for a Laycock J type overdrive, heavy 28mm shaft as fitted to 1972 to early 80s Ford Transit.

I fitted one to the Bean to allow us to cruise at 75kmh but unfortunately it failed after a short time forcing us to sit on 60kmh for the last 10,000km.

It would be nice to have it back for the Australian section to be fitted in Darwin.

Please contact me directly not on this facebook page.

Lang

13 June

Having now arrived in Calcutta we have a number of route choices.

The Burma/Myanmar border is now sealed to all crossing by the Indian Government. This means we can not proceed on Birtles route from Calcutta to Myanmar.

It is not the end of the world as Bev and I drove that route in preparation for the Bean journey 10 years ago. We bought a car in Calcutta and drove north into Assam and through the mountains into Manipur to Imphal. It was here that Birtles and Stollery started their horrendous month cutting a road through the Naga Hills into Burma. Birtle’s track is now very closely followed by the very winding current road and we drove this to stand on the border at Moreh where they crossed in 1928.

Photos below of Bev and me at the Moreh foot crossing between India and Burma. Birtles drove through here in 1928 after beating the Naga Hills. They had never seen a car before Birtles and Stollery emerged from the bush half dead from dysentery and malnutrition.

There is no vehicle crossing in town now but the vehicle crossing is a short distance away with a WW2 portable Bailey Bridge still serving the limited traffic. Unfortunately this sole crossing is now sealed shut.

To read about our Birtles Calcutta to Burma trip in 2013 here is a link to our website story. https://next-horizon.org/expeditions/indian-expedition/

So, where to?

In 1927/28 Birtles was caught by the monsoon and flooded rivers after he arrived in Burma and was forced to load the Bean on a ship in Mergui and take it down the coast to Penang in Malaya. He then drove the short distance to Singapore before shipping to Darwin, Australia.

We have an opportunity to also ship to Penang from Calcutta and take the two day drive to Singapore before reloading on another ship for Darwin.

This option is economically irrational as we are entirely self funded with no corporate sponsor, press team or support crew. As well as the administrative debacle of entries and exits and reloading containers we can not justify well over $5000 for two days driving.

As a result we are now shipping direct to Singapore then on to Darwin to resume the last 5,000km of Francis Birtles trip from Darwin to Melbourne. There could be a 3 to 4 week (who knows?) transit time before we hit the road again in Australia. The Calcutta shipping people are working on it.

The boys in the Tollygunge Golf Course workshop have been beavering away this morning making a stainless steel badge bar to carry the club badges we have been presented with along the way. Makes it look 20’s period even more.

14th June

Today we transferred to the Saturday Club where we are hosted by the Classic drivers Club

16th June

Getting close to the end in Asia.

Today the Classic Drivers Club put on a run around Calcutta. By the time we started we had 40 classic cars, the oldest being a 1913 German Stoewer.

We followed the most scenic tree lined route to the Victoria Memorial before proceeding to Pallab Roys wonderful bakery and restaurant for breakfast.

Pallab you will recall was our host at the Cossimbazar Palace last week. We all went outside to inspect the beautiful work they do on classic car restorations and his personal car collection.

The Bean developed a ticking noise after the valve adjustments so our faithfull mechanic got to work at the Roy mansion. It was really hot and steamy so Pallab took Bev inside, sat her down and proceeded to serenade her on the piano.

Pallabs parents came down and Bev enjoyed a lovely hour with them while I worked with the mechanic.

Tonight at the Saturday Club we had a great night with all the members of the Classic Drivers Club to say thankyou for their assistance.

And that wraps up our commitments in Asia and we now concentrate on the next leg of the journey ie the shipping to Australia

17th June

Administration only today.

This morning we took the car to the 3M detailing shop. It is currently undergoing concours cleaning in preparation for Australian Quarantine inspection in Darwin.

Apart from that Bev is skulking in the Saturday Club aircon while I melt at the detailers.

Shipping loading promised for tomorrow. It will be a miracle if that happens.

18th June

Lots of people are asking about our Australian route

We are not precious about inch by inch Birtles track following but at this stage it seems the best. Darwin to Charleville , Cunnamulla, Bourke, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne. Longreach, Brisbane, Sydney etc is a possibility but unlikely without some support.

19th June

Going into the container in Calcutta. Arrives Darwin 12 July for the last leg.

Ritabrata and Darshan from the Classic Drivers Club came to the Saturday Club and made a very nice presentation of a certificate and a specially commissioned painting of the Bean.

Darshan’s twin 13 year old sons, Vivaan and Sanghvi, also presented us with a great book of short stories they have written.

What great hosts they have been!

20th June

Last report from India.

We are on an 0200 flight to Brisbane to wait until returning to Darwin to meet the Bean 12 July.

This is the Classic Car Tracker route for the Europe/Asia leg.

For those who do not have the tracker app(free) you can follow our route from London to Melbourne minute by minute, go back in history for any day etc. Just click on Demonstration then select the Bean from the car list. Basic info only on a phone but full access on a computer.

A couple of days we accidently knocked the wires off the tracker so it just joined the points with a straight line.

24th June

The car is scheduled to leave Calcutta tomorrow morning. If this actually happens and the transfer of the container in Singapore is accomplished it will arrive in Darwin 12 July.

We will be there to meet it, do some work with the Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club of NT in the Old QANTAS Hangar and should be on the road 14 or 15 July.

26th June

Well, Indian bureaucracy has struck and the Bean missed the boat. It is now arriving in Darwin 29 July. All other plans remain in place.

Attached is a nice little video done in India. I was a bit distracted by people asking questions over the interviewer.

28th June

Another Nice Article from Calcutta. If you think we look comfortable standing beside the car in 37 degree heat and 95% humidity look at our shirts.

I notice that like all on-line news feeds this is full of adds as well as the story. I strongly recommend “Ad Remove” , “Ad Blocker” or any similar apps to get rid of all ads, popups etc.

29th June

I have lost track of time and can not remember if we put up this article from Trabzon in Turkey (you will have to use Google Translate)

1st July

The Bean position 01 July

3rd July

Here is an interview Bev did in Calcutta. The Text translations are quite humorous.

4th July

We are slowly getting stuff from our trip sent to us from various sources. Of course any interview or newspaper articles were lost as we moved on each day.

Here is one done at the Lahore Polo Club gathering organised by Mohsin Ikram in Pakistan. We did a number of interviews and photo shoots but this semi-amateur one is the only feedback I have seen from that day so far as I remember.

You can see this is Tik Tok with over a thousand likes. We realised how old school we were everywhere with Facebook. Almost everybody aged under 40 rolled their eyes when we mentioned that was our main media platform.

I have been told there is a huge amount of stuff on our trip out there on Tik Tok from people we met and casual bystanders but I am not going to chase it.

6th July

The Bean has reached Singapore. It is now cooling its heels sitting on the dock for 10 days.

10th July

About a year ago I found a photo of the original Bean factory identity plaque. Of course these are almost unheard of being stolen or “souvenired” long ago. They are quite large at 100mm/4 inches in diameter.

Werner Kroll cut me a brass circle and Michael Ferguson the Brisbane veteran and vintage car collector asked the local Men’s Shed to reproduce it from the photo. They did a wonderful job and it will go on the firewall in Darwin where it should have been all the time.

Attached is a photo of 11a Regent Street in London as it is today referred to as the Bean office on the plaque. They had the left hand door and display windows and the floors above.

July 12th

Andy Lambert of Classic Car Tracker in UK sent a composite of the trip so far from the daily tracking points. The tracker will be on again from Darwin and if you look back in these posts you will see how to track the Bean live minute by minute across Australia.

Of course it is turned off now as it sits in a container on the dock in Singapore awaiting the Darwin ship.

15th July

This is Francis Birtle’s hand drawn map of his England to Australia drive with “whimsical comments”. He obviously purloined the map from the shipping company which has its sea routes printed upon it.

It appears he drew this map on the ship between Mergui and Penang (after being caught by the Burma monsoon) with his proposed route after Darwin. The comments cease after his note “13,000 miles to date May 19 1928” and an arrow pointing to Southern Burma.

As we see in the later posts above he diverted to Brisbane instead of going to Bourke via the inland route he has drawn on the map.

Birtle’s travels are in the rougher hand drawn lines.

15th July

Francis Birtles Interview.

Seeing Francis deviated from his planned direct inland route to Sydney and went via Brisbane we may be adjusting our route to suit.

Shell, his major sponsor, were putting out regular press releases throughout his journey and it is quite possible they pressured him into diverting to Brisbane rather than skipping the populated areas via the “back way” to Sydney.

Here is an interview he did in Brisbane on the way through. Francis being Francis never let a good story fall short for lack of a bit of a stretch. Although they did their best, journalists back in 1928 were mere amateurs when compared to modern 24 hour news cycle sensationalists.

There is no mention of Percy Stollery who must have been standing beside him as he gave this interview. It is all “I” and “me” and no recognition of the tough kid who busted a gut and finished up in a Rangoon hospital with dysentary and malnutrition after the two of them almost carried the car through the mountains.

I know it is 100 years too late but here is Percy swinging a pick to build the road to Burma. This young Canadian came to a tragic end when Shell, recognising his work ethic and good education, gave him a job in their Melbourne laboratory. Only a few weeks later there was a chemical explosion and he was blinded for life.

18th July

The Bean is once again on the high seas!

In the ship tracker Singapore port diagram, compare the size of the “Burrup Trader” (7664 tons) taking the Bean to Darwin with “Vasco da Gama” (184,000 tons) parked behind it which is the sister ship to the even larger “Louis Bleriot” (219,000 tons), which took it to England.

18th July

Malcolm Grubb of FIVA just sent us a little clip of the FIVA send off from Brooklands Museum south of London. Editing has made it sound like this is the original Birtles car but as we all know it is an original 1924 with a Birtles replica body.

Our trip would have been so much harder and less pleasant without the support of FIVA and the associated car clubs across the world.

22nd July

It was an honour to detail the 102 year old beauty,a 1923 Bean from the World War I era!

The proud owners Lang and Bev Kidby have given Calcutta that nostalgic feel when this Vintage beauty drove around the city and left everyone astonished!

27th July

We are now getting to the stage of planning the Australian route. We have decided to follow Birtles through Brisbane.

Here are the days (not dates) planned at this stage. We are hoping to get away from Darwin 01 August but experience with containers and customs makes us very wary.

Our planned arrival in Melbourne is Sunday 18 August at the Linfox Car Museum in Docklands.

If we get away as planned there are 4 days in this program for slips

An old Army Public Relations compatriot, Andrew Reynolds, has been working hard on organising stops and getting the word out. Here is a simple Press Release he is sending out today.

Feel free to distribute it as far and wide as you wish

AGE IS NO BARRIER TO ADVENTURE

Whether they crossed oceans, tackled jungles, traversed mountains, braved the poles or went to space, our nation’s greatest explorers and adventurers helped forge the intrepid Australian spirit.

The names Bert Hinkler, Kingsford Smith, Mawson, Jessica Watson, Ross and Keith Smith readily come to mind but perhaps the name Kidby should be added to this group

At the age of 77, Brisbane couple Lang and Bev Kidby are embarking on the final chapter of their latest adventure, driving a 100 year car, 22,000km, from England to Australia in the footsteps of Australian adventurer Francis Birtles who drove an identical 1924 model English Bean 14 car in 1927/28.

They departed England in early April and the final hurdle has been waiting for the car to arrive in Darwin from Singapore. The Kidby’s plan to leave Darwin on the 1st of August and reach Melbourne on the 18th of August. (see attached schedule)

The Kidby’s trip has involved many adventures driving through 14 countries including Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and on into India, crossing mountains and deserts experiencing everything from driving snow to 55c temperatures.

Following the original route 5,000km from Darwin through Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria they will finish at Birtles final destination of Melbourne where they will be greeted by a party of vintage cars at Lindsay Fox Car Museum.

Adventure is no stranger to this couple. Lang built a replica of the 1919 Vickers Vimy aircraft, which Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith flew from England to Australia. Bev stitched the linen for the wings by hand. Lang then flew it from England to Australia. They have driven a 1907 ITALA car from Peking to Paris and driven a tiny Fiat 500 from Vladivostok, in Russia to Anchorage, in Alaska. These are just some of the trips this adventurous couple has undertaken. (See website https://www.next-horizon.org).

Bev and Lang are proving that age is not a barrier to achieving adventure. They have been helped in their journey by members of FIVA (Federation of International Veteran Automobiles). Their welcomes by club members have included receptions at Austrian and Indian Palaces and humble homes.

Lang is an ex-Australian Army pilot and Bev was a radiographer. These skills have enabled the 77-year-olds to conquer most of the world but their adventures may not be over. When asked what they will do next Lang laughed and said, “South America is looking good.” Motorists should be aware that the 100 year old Bean has a maximum speed of 70kph, so passing vehicles should bear that in mind. “We would welcome beeps and waves along the way,” Lang added.

Further information: Lang Kidby 0439 677279 Bev Kidby 0438612946

28th July

The BEAN has arrived Home!

Don’t get too excited we have been warned there are huge delays getting Quarantine inspection. Bev and I fly to Darwin Sunday night to see how we can get the car released.

31st July

5 days and counting. A port with SFA coming through compared to the others around the country has low inspection staff numbers so just get in line.

Customs went through in 20 minutes so we are legally in the country with the Bean. As usual Quarantine are the road block.

Shayne and Jo Harris have taken us in and even given us a car. The weather is absolutely perfect at about 30c with a cool sea breeze.

We can outlast them! Stay tuned.

2nd Aug

If you get involved in shipping you should be prepared to be surrounded by bureaucrats, slackers, incompetents, obstructionists and general ne’er-do-wells.

The failure of our Indian agent to get the paperwork processed in time, costing us nearly 3 weeks departing Calcutta, pales into insignificance when compared to the Australian port debacle.

We are dealing with an unrelated problem in Darwin where, as well as the normal Chlorine added to to the town water supply, vast quantities of Valium are added for general consumption.

The delays in port just physically moving cargo are disgraceful. We are further burdened with an agent who has obviously been consuming too much water. I have had to spend the days physically taking documents around town to ensure action which should have been dealt with electronically.

The pick up from the port to be taken to the agents warehouse for inspection looked like going on forever. It is now costing me $100 per day to have the container left on the wharf (along with many others). Shortage of trucks and drivers is the claim.

When I said I will pay for a tilt tray to get it the response was “Oh will it fit on a tilt tray?” It is an empty container containing one ton of car. “We can do that and I have booked it in for Tuesday”, 6 days after the shipping company and Customs issued the container release note.

Now we have Quarantine. After numerous visits phone calls and emails I find only the agent can book an inspection time, why not done already? They are not answering their phone or email as they have the wonderful modern system of working remote, somewhere?

So we are stuck in Darwin shelling out hundreds a day until next week.

I make a grovelling apology to the Poms whom I criticized for 3 days delay.

Enjoy your weekend and tune in when the Northern Territory world starts turning, albeit slowly, some time next week.

3rd Aug

History is repeating itself. As usual there is more to this story than generally advertised but when Francis Birtles arrived in Darwin in 1928, Customs demanded he pay duty on his previously exported Australian car.

Although the Customs officers involved had seen and knew well both Birtles and this very car from his previous record breaking dashes from Darwin to Melbourne they persisted in demands for payment or proof that it was an Australian car. The “Sundowner” was probably Australia’s most well known car.

The newspapers leapt on the story and created national outrage and it was brought up in Parliament. The upshot was a 3 word telegram from the Prime Minister to customs “Let him go”.

Customs immediately went into damage control and correctly stated the car was never seized, they just refused to release it from the ship until duty was paid.

In a masterpiece of weasel words the Comptroller of Customs squirmed his way out of the Prime Minister’s ire by saying they had released the car but they still did not admit their error and a car distributor had to make a personal guarantee that this was really Birtles Bean.

Naturally Birtles fiery temper, extremely colourful language, contempt for bureaucracy and an eye for publicity only inflamed the situation.

Here are a few clippings about the drama.

7th August

At long last after $400 penalty wharf storage our agent found the energy to collect the container this morning.

We are getting the feeling that Quarantine are used as a scapegoat for all the shipping stage failures.

In Darwin generally a couple of times we have been quoted disruption from Covid 3 years ago as a factor in non-performance.

Anyhow Quarantine have come to the party after priority request from our agent and face to face negotiations and booked inspection for tomorrow morning.

Still not a pass mark until looked at but at least we are progressing.

8th August

Hopefully this will be my last rant on Australian port procedures.

We rolled up this morning to greet the Quarantine lady at PJ,s warehouse. Very thorough inspection on a vehicle that had been scrubbed to within an inch of its life before loading.

All looking good until “there is a water mark inside the spare tyre”

I could not see anything until she shone her torch at an angle and yes there was a slight stain where a couple of tablespoons of water had dried from the washing. It had been dry for two months in the container but might “have mosquito eggs”.

It will have to be taken back to the wharf for cleaning (about $400 worth). I said just destroy the tyre as it is only worth half of that.

The lady was trying hard, so called the Entomologist whose first reaction was clean or destruction but she managed to talk him around. The storeman was dispatched to boil the kettle and the Quarantine lady got on her hands and knees and scrubbed inside the tyre with the hot water to kill all the mosquito eggs.

Computer punching proceeded apace and suddenly we had our Quarantine release. I went into the office to say farewell before driving off and the manager told me he could not release the car because Customs who had signed off last week had a hold on the car and he knew not why.

A 30 minute drive into town and knock on Customs door. A 40 minute wait and they came out and said it was now all good. I asked what the problem was and he said he did not know but probably some sort of computer glitch.

30 minutes back to the warehouse and finally, after 12 days of frustration, incompetence and indifference the Bean is now on the hoist at the Old QANTAS Hangar at the Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club ready for its new overdrive job tomorrow.

Maybe we will get away on Saturday??

At least there was one willing helper at PJ’s.

10th August

“On the Road Again” Left Darwin early morning.

For those following the tracker it is back in action.

If you missed out on how to just scroll down a few pages to find out.

11th August

Daly Waters Pub

11th August

We finally got away after an extended stay at Shayne and Jo’s. Running around trying to sort out containers consumed a full tank of fuel in the ute.

Off we went in lovely weather and decided to only go about 300km to Katherine because the car club rallied for a B-B-Q.

The car went perfectly, Oh such a pleasure to sit on 75-80 instead of 60 with the new overdrive. The roadtrains are now 4 trailers and look the length of a football field. With over 600hp and the rear trailers so good they do not wander like the old days

They cruise past giving you 20 minutes of shade while alongside.

What a nice relaxed evening in Katherine with everyone dressing up and wearing their best thongs,jandals,flipflops

Jenny and Steve were wonderful hosts

We left early and stopped at Mataranka with the swarms of grey nomads. Bev wanted a shot at the Pink Panther pub in Larrimah and we came on to Daley Waters which is concentrated history and a caravan/motorhome destination.

Hundreds of city dwellers suddenly clapping and singing along to the country singer (who is really good at least).

Big day tomorrow to Barkly Homestead.

12th August

I can see why after all the Darwin trials and tribulations I love coming back to Australia.

As friendly and hospitable they are in other countries there are just too many people. We started and finished in an ants nest and nowhere on the trip, even remote areas of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan there was always traffic and somebody alongside the road.

We set off at first light from Daley Waters along the Stuart Highway. Beautiful road, eventually rose to 27c degrees and blue sky.

Note. Telstra phone system has been off for much of the last couple of days in this area so the Tracker can not send updates.

100km between roadhouses or tiny towns with absolutely nothing in between except green savannah. Averaged one vehicle per 10 minutes passing for next 530km to Barkly Roadhouse.

Having to suffer a girl singing country songs out of her nose was a small price to pay for my personal paradise as Bev and I sipped a cold beer.

Did I mention the Bean is going great.

For the Europeans and Asians we drive on the left and this road train of double deck cattle crates is passing us at 110kmh. The fuel tankers and tippers often have 4 trailers making them 25 metres longer than this truck.

13th August

We are into our series of 500-600km daily runs to get to Brisbane. Pretty tiring with about 8/9 hours driving but we are eating up the miles.

Australian outback, at least in tourist areas, has become very expensive and is now not far off UK prices for food and accommodation and most importantly beer. At least fuel is still about half UK.

The proposed BEAN program is tomorrow 14 August we leave Cloncurry for Longreach.

15 Aug Morven

16 Aug Dalby or Toowoomba

Saturday 17 Aug arrive Brisbane

Sunday 18 Aug Open greeting at the Veteran Car Club premises 1376 Old Cleveland Road, Carindale. We will be there from 0830 until lunch time, all welcome.

Monday 19 Aug Meet and greet at Rocks Cafe near the boat ramp on Dohles Rocks Road, Griffin 10.00 to 13.00. Ammended to 1pm Sunday

14th August

A good run today saw us knock off the 530km between Cloncurry and Longreach before 3.30pm.

We stopped for an hour at the Waltzing Matilda Centre in Winton to meet the city council and get some photos. Bev tells me her family history DNA shows me as a cousin to Christina MacPherson who played the tune of Walzing Matilda to Banjo Patterson to which he then wrote the words. I suppose if you collect enough DNA you can find a relative on every page of a history book.

Mileage at a steady 75kmh has improved to 7km to the litre. Still zero oil being used and the dipstick is on the same place it indicated in Darwin some 2500km back.

For the people wanting to look at the car on Monday at Dohles Rocks Griffin.

Due to an essential repair the car will now be on show after the Vintage Car Club do on Sunday morning at Carindale.

The Bean will be at Dohles Rocks from 1300 to 1500 Sunday afternoon.

16th August

We did a runner today from Morven. We had Wayne and Wendy riding shotgun in their OKA for a few hours to Roma very kind of them to slow down.

We met Paul Van Bruggen from Darwin along the way. Ken and Karen Dawes in their trusty Morris Minor greeted us in Roma and my old Army mate Leigh Collins and Di intercepted us in Dalby.

Despite all the socialising we knocked over 717km for the day not bad for a 100 year old car.. The headlights are seriously RS in heavy traffic on single lane winding roads. Thank goodness for the left hand white line! Night driving will be restricted to emergencies from now on.

More detail tomorrow after a sleep.

The Bean home again in our driveway where it all started. Only about 2,000km to go to Melbourne leaving Tuesday.

We managed to get an historic photo in Blackall in front of Smiths Garage. The building is well preserved but now a shop. We thought it was brick from the 1928 photo but the façade is pressed tin to give the illusion of a more solid structure. We could not park the car in the same place as the centre of the main street where Birtles is stopped now has a garden divider right along.

1928 photo of Birtles and Stollery outside Smiths Garage

2024 photo in the same place.

18th August

We had a nice day at the Vintage Car Club grounds in Brisbane. Good to be on home territory. During the morning many people passed through, mainly in old cars, to have a look at the Bean and talk about the trip.

Tomorrow some work on a vibrating tail shaft then Tuesday off to Grafton.

Wednesday on to Port Macquarie then Avoca on Friday.

Saturday to Sydney western suburbs “somewhere”

Sunday on display at Shannons Car Classic at Eastern Creek. They are expecting 1,500 to 2,000 cars to roll up.

Monday and Tuesday nights in Canberra then TBA to finish Melbourne the next Sunday morning at Linfox Car Museum Docklands.

After the car club meet and greet we took the Bean to the coffee shop on the corner of our street at Dohles Rocks. Many people appeared from far and wide.

Appropriate sign.

An old FIAT Car Club friend Karen came in her Ferrari. That is Bev peering out of the windscreen wondering how she is going to get out. She says the Bean is easier to get in and out of.

19th August

Andy Lambert from Classic Car Track has just sent the Australian history. Despite there being big gaps in phone coverage the tracker stores the information in its memory and sends it out next time it gets a signal.

This is why people trying to track real time have problems with the phone hotspot then nothing coverage along the highways in the outback. Should be 100% real time from now on.

The “P” on the map shows extended stop. Some we can not figure out as being of any significance other than Pee stop.

Driveline Services took a look at the tail shaft and threw their hands in the air when I said I want it back this afternoon. Anyhow the big boss was visiting so grabbed it and drove to their engineering shop on the far side of Brisbane. Very hopeful about getting to Grafton tomorrow.

20th August

Shane at Driveline Services has pulled out all the stops and avoided cutting the tail shaft and fitting a modern universal joint. The boys in the shop completely rebuilt the complicated original joint and it is being fitted at the moment.

Looks like Grafton overnight.

Wednesday breakfast with the club members at Coffs Harbour then on to Port Macquarie arriving a bit after mid day to meet the team there.

Birtles arrives Sydney 1928

20th August

The tailshaft was finished and we were on the road by 1000.

For those technically interested the drive pins on the tail shaft had flogged the holes out in the sliding blocks and allowed about 1/6th of a loose turn which caused increasing vibration.

The Driveline team bored the holes out and made up brass sleeves which will last longer than the original steel on steel. You can see how badly the holes were damaged by the thickness of the sleeves to fill the gap.

They have given me a 100 year guarantee and I will certainly hold them to it.

We had a nice visit in Grafton from Warwick Purdey and Annette Everitt, both descendants of the Birtles family .

Warwick trying his great uncle’s Bean for size.

We were given a photo of Francis Birtles on the left aged 28 with his brothers and numerous sisters. He could not resist having his bicycle in the family photo as he had already become famous for his cycling journeys.

Most of these old photos did not do justice to the ladies but I must say Birtles had an attractive female family, including his mum.

As a Family History nut the nice part of the trip for me has been connecting with the various branches of the Birtles family. It will be great at the end of the trip to be able to link them together. The above photo L to R Francis, Clive, Elsie, Sarah Jane (mother), Iris, Harold Everett (son in law) David (father) Ida, Edith Jane, Harold Vernon (baby) Florence, Vernon Bev

21st August

Today has been a chance to meet many old car people from clubs along the way.

We were constantly stopped by police in Asia for a talk and photo opportunity. I have never heard of Australian police doing it until today. Cruising along south of Grafton a black BMW started with the flashing lights. Very nice highway patrolman just wanted to look at the car he has been following on Facebook..

Fiirst gathering was breakfast with the Coffs Harbour club members with a good old car turnout.

We stopped at the Kempsey truck stop for fuel to discover the local club having their monthly breakfast. Most knew about the Bean.

We then arrived in Port Macquarie for our planned rendezvous with the combined clubs. A really good turnout of cars formed a procession through town to park beside the river for chatting and photos. Dinner with the members tonight

Thanks to Kim Michelmore for tying up all the loose ends to create the welcome

23rd August

A busy couple of days making miles down the coast but with time in hand before the Sydney car show we were able to take the scenic route along this beautiful area.

From Port Macquarie we were intercepted by Cobbadog one of my truck collector mates then we drifted into the lovely Tea Gardens for the night.

We actually had time for a waterfront breakfast before stopping at the Hunter Wetlands Centre near Newcastle. It is a very large operation and similar to Osprey House environment centre near our home where Bev has been volunteer for 20 years.

Arriving at my cousin Graeme and Lyn’s house at Avoca Beach the car club members arrived for inspection. Graeme has a beautiful 1938 Dodge and an MG TC.

A really beaut dinner with 30 Central Coast Leagues Vintage Drivers Club members went late at the club.

This morning we did the 100km sprint to Eastern Creek Raceway where the show is on tomorrow. We have been allocated a place on Shannons Insurance stand. They are expecting around 2,000 cars with over 120 clubs restricted to 20 cars each. Biggest show of the year.

25th August

A good day today at Shannons Auto Classic at Eastern Creek Raceway.

The Bean was in a prime spot and the whole day was spent talking to hundreds of people.

Intial count of show cars exceeds 2,000. Everybody got 2 laps of the Formula 1 track very well organised club by club throughout the day.

Off to Goulburn and Canberra tomorrow

26th August

We left Eastern Creek 0630, a little chilly but blue sky unfortunately 40 knot wind.

We arrived at Goulburn to be met by a good turnout of car club members. Adrian, in his 90’s turned up in his 1924 Bean truck

He has 5 other Beans.

Highlight of the day was meeting David Ragless who built our car way back in the 80s. Although he is 90 he drove the 1,000km from Adelaide to catch up.

Bev jumped in David’s daughters car and it was a pleasure to have him alongside me for the 95km into Canberra. I hope I am still as fit and sharp when I am 90

Out the windscreen shot of Australian Federal Parliament.

27th August

What a nice day we had yesterday. In the morning we had a select gathering of cars on the shores of Lake Burleigh Griffin at the National Museum for a motoring journalist and a chat.

Note the Bean tourer beside our car in the photo.

Unfortunately Birtles Bean is in deep storage for museum restorations. Also a photo of it beside our car 30 years ago during a Bean rally.

During the day our friends Phil and Peter ran us around Canberra.

At 1630 we proceeded to the Spanish Club and found waiting around 100 people and 25 classic cars. All organised by the tireless Greg Francis of the Council of ACT Motor Clubs.

The sausage sizzle was going as we inspected each others cars. Everyone went inside and David Ragless who built our car in 1987 gave a nice history of both this vehicle and the second one built a little later.

Bev and I gave a talk on our trip. It happened to be Bevs birthday and the club produced a birthday cake with a picture of the bean on top.

Not only that, but Bev had mentioned her favourite car she had owned 40 years ago to Greg and he organised a surprise Volvo P1800, (The Saint) and she went for a birthday spin.

What lovely people.

Picture of Bev and her cake and David Ragless seated.

28th August

We left Phil and Peters place in Canberra on a chilly morning. We arrived at the Dog on the Tuckerbox (lunchbox) to find the Cootamundra Old Car Club waiting with a dozen cars and 3 bikes. They had driven a long way to see us.

For non-Australians the Dog is an institution arising out of a traditional poem and his statue has been a stopping place beside the highway for generations. It is actually 5 miles from Gundagai not 9 as in the poem.

I’ve done my share of shearing sheep And droving and all of that I’ve bogged a bullock team as well on the Murrumbidgee flat I’ve seen the bullock stretch and strain And blink his bleary eye While the dog sat on the tuckerbox Nine miles from Gundagai But that is past and dead and gone I’ve sold the team for meat Perhaps one day where I was bogged There’ll be an asphalt street The dog, ah well, he took a bait And thought he’d like to die So I buried him in the tuckerbox nine miles from Gundagai

29th August

Arrangements for final day in Melbourne on Saturday

We will be meeting at 1030 with car club members at:

VDC Clubrooms 41 Norcal Road Nunawading

Everyone will then proceed to the Linfox Collection at Docklands leaving the club around mid day to arrive at 1300.

Those who do not want to do the run can go directly to the Linfox Museum.

There is no giant brass band finale just a display of the Bean in the car park and a chat to those interested and the whole show is over.

The Bean will then be for sale and hopefully find a new owner. This subject will NOT be discussed on Facebook, direct contact only.

29th August

An early start this morning with an interview with Matt and Kylie on the breakfast show. Kylie just happens to be the wife of Paul who is president of the car club so she knows old cars. She also just happens to be Mayor of Albury

The car club turned out in force to see us off with lots of nicely restored cars.

Next stop was at Benalla where we met John who is Francis Birtles great nephew with his wife Margaret. Their daughter Jenny and Barry had driven all the way from Melbourne to bring them to meet us.

We then cruised a further couple of hours to Seymour to put us inside 100km to Melbourne.

30th August

We were met by Nick from Channel 7 in Seymour and proceeded to Tallarook to find a country road for drone shooting.

Finishing that we battled 40km of Melbourne traffic to arrive safely at the home of Bev’s sister Caroline and husband Bill

31st August

Next morning the Bean arrived at the Vintage Drivers Club rooms to find many beautiful cars and about 100 people waiting. We received an official welcome from the club and Darryl made the official FIVA welcome with a nice letter from the International President. Bev and I gave a short talk.

Everyone then formed a convoy of magnificent veterans and vintage to plunge into the traffic all the way to the Linfox Car Collection at Docklands. Here we received a wonderful welcome from friends family, car enthusiasts and TV crew.

Champagne and biscuits and the show was over

Where to leave the car? Darryl, the FIVA representative, was on the phone with the result a fabulous veteran car collection offered space in Ballarat about 120km away. So Bev went back to her sister’s home and I started the final 2 hour drive in 50 knot wind and winding hills.

Darryl followed the Bean 120km to get me parked while Rick the owner made me welcome. Darryl then drove me 120km back to Melbourne before turning around to drive 120km back to Ballarat where he lives, arriving after midnight. What generosity!

31st August Evening News Saturday Night

FIVA were the driving force behind alerting and encouraging a hundred car clubs across the world to take an interest in our journey. As anybody who has read our Facebook reports, now fully transferred to our web site www.next-horizon.org will know, they were fantastically successful.

The brotherhood (sisterhood) of classic motoring transcends all borders and nationality. Rich or poor, young or old they welcomed, hosted and aided us in every one of the 14 countries we crossed.

We can never repay their hospitality other than to remember a thousand smiling faces and think back on a wonderful 22,000km of vintage motoring.

5th Sept

Home at Last

The trip has ended and we are home again in Brisbane. We finished last week in Melbourne with the Bean and both of us, all in good shape.

Five months from start to finish and we did it! We did have one left in us!

There are just so many people to thank for making this not only possible but for the majority of the time totally enjoyable. I have said a number of times that I never saw an angry face once during the trip.

In a world full of problems I finished the trip knowing that the universe is full of wonderful people. The hospitality and generosity shown throughout our trip was amazing and very humbling.

To have been able to follow Birtles’ original trip as closely as possible and to enable us to experience countries we did not expect to be possible, we must make a special thanks to the FIVA family.

Lang and I did this trip as a team, but the reality is that he did ALL 22,000 kms of driving and ALL the day to day maintenance which is no mean feat in a 100 year old car. He has the capacity to deal with every situation as it arises with the mental attitude of “This is just a black Jelly Bean in a jar of coloured Jelly Beans” (excuse the pun)

I have to confess though, he did take on the Birtle’s style and took up swearing like a trooper when juggling the heavy gears in traffic and (under his breath) pinned in by well wishers.

This may be my last very big trip but be assured we are not quite ready to give in to our “senior age” just yet.

This is Lang’s favourite quote on travel

For my part I travel not to go anywhere But to go I travel for travel’s sake The great affair is to move Robert Louis Stevenson

This is my favourite

Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey to unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Civilization. Robert Francis Burton

A heartfelt thankyou to everyone for your support and encouragement.

Bev Kidby