Oz to Russia - epic 'mail' delivery
2012-08-22 15:19
Earlier in July 2012 we reported that adventurer Rainer Zietlow and his team would take on an epic 23 000km cross-continent journey from Melbourne, Australia to St. Petersburg, Russia.
The journey was to mimic dispatch riders of yesteryear as Zietlow set off with a letter from the mayor of Melbourne to be delivered to his Russian counterpart.
Zietlow and his team completed the journey in August in a world record-setting time of 17 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Touareg.
'COULD'VE ARRIVED EARLIER'
Zietlow described his journey: "Exhausted, but happy. We did it! We have overcome almost 23 000km from Melbourne to St. Petersburg, and arrived at the Palace Square."
The customised Touareg was equipped with a roll cage and auxiliary tank and proved highly capable of handling the varying terrain changes faced by the team.
The unpredictable road and weather conditions in Indonesia cost the team more time than originally planned as they finally crossed the island state in five days. Despite this, the adventurer still set a new record.
"We did it in 17 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes, there's a new record! But it could've been faster and, if not for our delay, we could've arrived earlier," said Zietlow.
Click here to view images and videos of Zietlow's journey!
Watch the Indonesian leg of Zietlow's journey below:
