Siblings drive 26,000km from UK to Perth in a Mini - but can't beat WA's outback

A BRITISH brother and sister spent 149 days driving more than 26,000km on an epic road trip from the UK to Australia in a Mini - only to be beaten by the WA outback.

Countless breakdowns, flat tyres and blown gaskets couldn't stop Jack and Josie Condron from navigating their way across Europe, Russia, Mongolia, China Andacollo South-East Asia to reach Australia.

They endured highway bingles, a run-in with a herd of camels, and crossed rivers, swamps, deserts and frozen tundra.

But yesterday the pair were trying to limp back to Perth from Kalgoorlie after the brutal WA outback and a series of blown head gaskets near Southern Cross a week ago ended their epic bid to reach Sydney.

"After 149 days, 16,435 miles from England to Australia, this little Mini has been broken and been fixed one too many times,'' Josie, a 21-year-old childcare worker, said.

When they reached Darwin by ship from Singapore, they drove to Perth for Christmas before setting off for the final leg across Australia.

But on a lonely highway near Southern Cross, 370km east of Perth, the outback claimed the 1992 Mini that had been too tough for the rest of the world.

"We've done so much, we've been on the road for 4½ months, we've been constantly breaking down and constantly fixing it. It's just got too dangerous if we get stuck in the outback,'' Josie said.

"But you know, it feels like we've succeeded. We made it to Australia. No one believed we'd make it, ver.

"Three days in, our head gasket went in Germany, we broke down for five or six hours. Everyone laughed in our face when we said Australia. I had a lot of faith - but probably because I was so naive.''

Jack, a 25-year-old telecommunications technician, learnt to be a mechanic during a road trip around Europe three years ago in his Mini after being inspired by the same car in the movie The Italian Job.

"Then he thought, 'Why don't I drive all the way to Australia?'. And I came along for the ride,'' Josie said.

"First we did a day at a time, then a country at a time. In Mongolia, our exhaust fell off eight times in one day. Finally we pulled it off and put it on the roof rack. Mongolia was sand, desert, swamp, mountains and hardly any roads. We got stuck all the time.

"We camped on the side of the road - no toilet, no shower, breaking down every day. The car was filthy. I thought I was tanned but I was filthy.

"One time in the desert we had to swerve around 20 camels, and then we had to eat cold food because our barbecue flew off the roof.''

The Mini may be down but it's not out, with the siblings planning to ship it home and keep the car that got them halfway across the world using 1583 litres of petrol.

But their adventure continues - Josie is heading to New Zealand to work while Jack is bound for the US.

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