Previous entrants in the Mongol Rally
From quick roadtrips to get a burger fix at McDonalds, or weekend drives to Wellington, three former Stratford High Students are now planning to do a slightly longer roadtrip together, having signed up for the Mongol Rally.
Ralph Gallyer, Dylan O'Neill and Woody Bradley, all 25, will be joined by Megan Taylor from Central Otago,19, as they race out of Prague in the middle of July this year, driving through Europe and Mongolia to end up in Siberia.
Under the team name The Dusty Kiwis, the foursome will cover an impressive 18,000km over eight weeks raising money for charity as well as enjoying spectacular scenery along the way.
The team needs sponsors to help with the costs and to help them raise money for their two chosen charities; The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and Cool Earth.org. As well as sponsorship incentives such as logos on the car and wearing company uniforms or clothing at official media events, the team is also planning a few homegrown incentives - including mowing lawns and baking what they claim to be the best chocolate brownies you'll ever have.
Ilona Hanne caught up with them to find out more about the rally, the team and the brownies:
■ Who had this idea?
Megan: Someone with a few braincells missing!
Ralph: It was my idea.
■ How were the others recruited?
Dylan: I think Ralph and I were somewhere in Thailand when he first mentioned it, but I didn't think he was too serious. When I realised he was, I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then decided it was now or never.
Woody: When I heard there was a spare seat, I jumped at the opportunity.
Megan: For me, it was a quiet afternoon on a Wanaka couch, and Dylan caught me in a moment of boredom. I thought there was no better way to spice up life than to join a team of young lads driving a rust bucket across 22 countries. Doesn't get much better than that!
■ Three of you grew up in Stratford together - did you go on roadtrips then?
Woody: Since we grew up in this little town of Stratford, there were always plenty of weekend trips to Maccas!
Ralph: The three of us have been on many small adventures together. The biggest roadtrip all three of us did together would have been down to Wellington a few times, but Dylan and Woody also did a big trip to Germany a few years ago.
Dylan: Yes, weekend missions to Wellington were fairly frequent. Megan and I have done a couple of roadtrips between Wanaka and Dunedin.
■ You offer to bake the best ever brownies - why are they the best, and who will be baking them?
Megan: Let's just say that Dylan doesn't live in my flat because I like him. There's a significant amount of bribing and his brownies have a lot to do with his weekly rent.
■ What country on the route interests you the most?
Megan: Iran is a big one for me. Being female, showing respect for their culture and traditions will be really important. Travelling through the Middle East is going to challenge the views on society I'm used to. I'm excited for this trip to put to rest some of the more negative stereotypes that come out of these strongly religious countries.
Dylan: The ones I'm most excited to see will be the Pamir highway region in Tajikistan, and Mongolia.
■ Any parts of the route that worry you?
Dylan: I'm not really worried abut the places along the way or the people we'll be meeting, I'm more concerned we might break down in the middle of nowhere.
■ What car will you be using for this?
Woody: If you can call it a car ... whatever we find will do!
Ralph: Most likely it will be a small VW Polo or something similar. Megan did say she'd love a Mini so we're on a look out for one of them too.
Dylan: I'm 6 foot 3 inches so I'm voting we ditch the Mini and find something more spacious.
■ What overseas driving experience do you each have?
Woody: Only a little in Canada.
Megan: I drove a car 20 minutes down the road on the Australian coast. I got a little bit dizzy - there were way too many roundabouts.
Ralph:A good buddy and I spent six weeks riding small motorbikes through Vietnam.
Dylan: I had a trial for a job driving for a catering company in Berlin. They drive on the other side of the road, and the traffic in the city was mental. Needless to say, I turned the job down.
■ What individual skills do you bring to the team?
Woody: A calm easygoing attitude to get us through the stressful times. Also I am somewhat practical so hopefully my Kiwi ingenuity will help if we break down.
Megan: Being the only female, naturally I'll bring intelligence and rationality. Besides, someone needs to be there to put the plasters on the boys' knees.
Ralph: I have a semi decent set of mechanical skills, not-bad banter and I've been known to be pretty good at convincing people.
Dylan: I'm good with a camera, so when the car bursts into flames or the others are unsuccessfully trying to get directions from a goat herder in the middle of Kazakhstan, I'll be documenting it all for the folks watching back home.
■ How are you going to agree on the soundtrack during the trip?
Woody: Assuming we have the luxury of a functioning stereo, we will have to take turns, as we all have different tastes.
Megan: I get seven hours of the day allocated for my music, and the boys get the other one hour to share. However, if the person in charge of the music falls asleep it's fair game again.
Dylan: I'm not sure if the others realise, but we probably aren't going to have reception to stream music most of the trip. So unless the others are working on some playlists now, it's going to be100 per cent me for two months straight.
■ Who will you sacrifice first if you end up stranded and have to resort to cannibalism?
Woody: I'll try my own finger first, and if my stomach doesn't agree with human flesh there's always bugs.
Megan: Dylan is all skin and bone, but I don't know the other two well yet, so right now they will be no loss to me.
Woody and ralph can rock-paper-scissor it out.
Ralph: Woody - he has nice meaty shoulders.
Dylan: I'll be safe as with my long legs I can out-run all of the others.
As for the victim - it depends on who starts criticising my music tastes first.
To donate to the team's fundraising efforts for the two charities, visit www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/the-dusty-kiwis-charity-pot.
The money will go directly to the Mental Health Foundation and Cool Earth.
To sponsor the team or follow their adventures along the way, visit thedustykiwis2018.wixsite.com/home/blog
Email them on thedustykiwis2018@hotmail.com or follow them on Instagram: @thedustykiwis2018