Oxford2Oxford in an Oxford

Fundraising in support of the Red Cross

Crazy? Foolish? Or brave and inspiring? World traveller, Michael Palin, commented that Tim Nicholson and I were undertaking "a very silly adventure" when we set off from Oxford, England, on 5th May last year aiming to drive to Oxford, NZ, in a fifty year old Morris Oxford.

During the previous year we had both left our respectable London jobs (Tim as a chartered surveyor working for a prominent commercial property investment company and I as a public relations consultant managing a political campaign) renovated and let out our flats, sold our modern cars and put our possessions into storage. By March 2004 the plan to travel to New Zealand had developed into an overland journey, but we had still not decided on a vehicle. The idea of driving a more sophisticated Toyota Landcruiser had superseded the suggestion of a Landrover but neither vehicle really grabbed our imaginations.

Flicking through the April 2004 edition of "Classic & Sportscar", I happened across an article entitled "Oxford Reunion". Not only did we discover that 2004 was the 50th anniversary of the Morris Oxford, the Price Guide demonstrated that buying one would not seriously challenge our limited budget and the "What's on" section directed us to where we might find one - the Austin-Morris Day at the Brooklands Museum. Any lingering doubts about the common sense of driving an old unfamiliar car across the world were firmly quashed by an article in the same magazine about the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen …" We cried with laughter as we read it and reasoned that if a team of eccentrics could drive cars that cost, less than £100 down the west coast of Africa then surely driving a car that would cost us. twenty times that amount was positively sensible.

The final deciding factor was that the Morris Oxford was the inspiration for the car I had being trying to weave into our adventure, the Hindustan Ambassador. The British Motor Corporation licensed the Morris Oxford to be manufactured in India where the model based on it is still made by the tens of thousands today.

An enthusiast at the Austin-Morris Day the following weekend suggested we contact Richard Monk of the Morris Cowley and Oxford Club. Approximately 20,000 of the Morris Oxford Series 11 were made between 1954 - 1956, the majority for export, and less than 200 are known by the club to exist today so finding one for sale and in a fit state might have been challenging. However, Richard had just agreed to sell one on behalf of a friend and assured us that, from a mechanics point of view, this particular Morris Oxford was ideal for our proposed journey.

In 1954, the 'new look' Morris Oxford was one of the most spacious 1.5 litre family saloons of its day and cost £744.17s 6d new. Powered by a four cylinder overhead valve BMC B-series engine fed from a 12-gallon fuel tank, it had rack and pinion steering; torsion bar front suspension with telescopic shock absorbers and Lockheed hydraulic drum brakes.

Interior features included twin sun visors and leather bench seats designed to seat six people. In order to seat three in the front the steering wheel was offset, the gearstick was mounted on the steering column and the handbrake was down to the right of the driver.

The lack of fuel-injection system, power-steering, air-conditioning, electric windows and a computerised engine-management system meant that there was not only less to go wrong than with a modem car, but that if something did go wrong on our journey it could be more easily fixed. We carried only essential spares, had the car serviced and the suspension reworked at no cost in India and found enthusiastic experts in Australia and New Zealand .

'Our' Morris Oxford Series 11 had had a few modifications over the years that made her better able to cope with the challenges of the journey. A slightly more powerful 1.8litre BMC B-series engine replaced the original engine, in place of the dynamo is an alternator and the differential is more highly geared than the original.

Richard Monk shared our enthusiasm and patiently instructed us in the basic mechanics of the car, including such essentials as checking the fluid levels and regularly greasing the front suspension.

Richard fitted a sump-guard (for which we thanked him immensely four months later as we bounced our way through the rutted and monsoon-pot-holed roads of India ) and ensured that everything was in good working order. Not having the time or money to have her stripped down and rebuilt we sought the advice of an international classic car rally driver and had an electric fan fitted to keep the engine cool, essential in temperatures in the mid forties across North Africa and the Australian Outback.

I thought Tim was wasting time and money when he also fitted an air horn, recycled from a Maserati, but as we later careered through the chaotic traffic of Cairo I wished we had two!

A final addition that would not immediately spring to mind, but one that was invaluable, was a cigarette lighter into which we plugged an inverter to power the laptop and cameras. This meant that the person not driving was not only the navigator and tea and sandwich maker they also wrote e-mails or website updates as we drove.

In addition to communicating with home we liaised with British Embassies, the Red Cross or Red Crescent, who we were visiting and fundraising in support of, the media and existing and potential sponsors, we planned the next stage of the journey and filmed for BBC Oxford so there was always plenty to keep us busy on the road. We did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing and fun activities along the way: we marvelled at the Pyramids, wondered at the Greek and Roman ruins in Libya , admired Hindu temples in India and skydived in New Zealand .

With no overall sponsor, we funded all aspects of the journey with which we could not persuade a company to assist us. Without the support of several corporate sponsors, mainly in the areas of accommodation, shipping and communications, and many individuals, the overall cost would have been huge.

Getting essential visas for Libya and Algeria before leaving England proved to be extremely challenging but with luck on our side they came through just in time. We also had to get International Driving Permits, an International Certificate for Motor Vehicles and a Carnet de Passage.

Having the correct documentation though, is sometimes not enough. From England we drove down through France and Spain, by ferry to Morocco then back to Spain to take another ferry to Algeria (because the land border is closed), we were escorted through armed police checkpoints across Algeria and through Libya were accompanied by a compulsory guide. When we arrived at the Egyptian side of the Libyan/Egyptian border we were on our own.

Tim had checked the Carnet de Passage (the customs document for the car) against the car registration documents before we left and all was in order. The fact that fifty years ago one digit of the chassis number had been wrongly recorded on the registration document was not something we wished to discover when confronted by an Egyptian Customs official. The next five hours were hot, stressful, and infuriating but we were relieved to have made it through before nightfall.

By ship, and plane for us, to Bombay , India , or Mumbai as it is now officially and confusingly called. Seven weeks in India was an intense and overwhelming experience; appalling poverty cheek by jowl with ostentatious wealth, beauty and colour rising above mud and filth, high technology alongside ancient methods. In Tamil Nadu we stopped to marvel at the largest wind-farm we had ever seen and an ox-cart trundled past us, the design unchanged for over a thousand years. We shared the roads with overloaded buses, colourful trucks, cars, mopeds, bikes, pedestrians, buffalo, even elephants and quickly discovered that the only rule that really counts is "might is right" - cyclists give way to rickshaws, rickshaws give way to cars, cars give way to buses, buses give way to trucks, and everyone gives way to ...cows!

On via Singapore to Western Australia where we dodged kamikaze kangaroos and erratic emus across the Nullarbor Plain, one of the world's longest straight roads, then to Adelaide to pick up the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, up over the Snowy mountains and on to Sydney from where we shipped to New Zealand, the twelfth country of our outward journey.

After nine months and 17,000 miles of driving we arrived in Oxford, New Zealand, on February 13th 2005, to a rapturous welcome.

Over six thousand people and six hundred classic cars celebrated the car's arrival (with her drivers) at the small rural town near Christchurch. Treated like celebrities, we were blown away by the reception that, amongst other activities, included a flypast of old British aircraft, marching bands, Morris dancing (in honour of the make of the car), and a demonstration by the New Zealand sheep-shearing champion. They even recorded a song about us!

After three months in New Zealand we began the journey home by ship/plane to Australia for a 3,000-mile drive through Australia 's Red Centre then by ship and plane on to Italy. From there through Geneva, the home of the Red Cross, to Paris before returning to Oxford, England, on 23rd July 2005.

We have made many new friends and have been shown generous hospitality by people in all countries on our route, rich and poor, and regardless of faith: Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Bahais and atheists have welcomed us. From yogis to monks and sex-change brothel madams we have found even strangers generous and kind. We have slept in the sitting rooms of Muslim family homes across Algeria ; been hosted by a monk at an Egyptian Coptic monastery; and spent several days visiting an Indian Red Cross AIDS hospital.

We were so inspired by the outstanding work of the team at the Bel-Air Hospital that we are now fundraising in support of the hospital. They treat patients with HIV, AIDS and TB on a virtually non-existent budget with amazing courage and dedication. For details of how to help us help Father Tomy and his team in India please see our website www.oxford2oxford.co.uk or e-mail us at timandio@oxford2oxford.co.uk

Our website also has details and photos of our entire Oxford odyssey and there are links to the British, Australian and New Zealand Red Cross Societies as well as information on how to contribute to the "Fix Florence Fund".

Despite driving 25,500 miles across varied terrain we suffered no flat tyres and no breakdowns, though we did have some problems: she needed a new battery in Adelaide, the loss of first gear in Melbourne was rectified with a replacement gearbox after our arrival in Oxford, New Zealand and a smashed windscreen in New Zealand was replaced with a salvaged one. However, on the first major journey after having returned to Oxford , England , Florence broke down in a haze of blue smoke. Her engine requires significant work but with the help of Summit Motors MG Centre, Maidenhead, and Classic & Modem Engine Services, Bracknell , she will soon be back on the road. Who knows, there may be further adventures of Florence , as our Morris Oxford is affectionately called.

We are still called crazy and mad but we are also congratulated by people across the world for having had a dream and made it reality and in so doing inspired and entertained people of all ages as well as supported the valuable work of Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers. The last couple of years have not been a holiday, but the tough times and hard work has meant that we have had an adventure of a lifetime, an experience that has, no doubt, changed our lives forever.

Joanne Bowlt