12,000 MILES OF ADVENTURE

by Peter Stebbings

Safe Down Under: Finchley man Adriano Truscott, centre, and his travelling companions, Alexis Keech and Gregory McCann, with their trusty Land Rover dubbed The Beast

Five months and more than 12,000 miles into his trip, the Finchley man who is driving round the world for charity in an old military Land Rover has reached as far as Australia.

Thirty-year-old Adriano Truscott, of East End Road, Finchley, set out with friends Gregory McCann, 30, and Alexis Keech, 28, both from Leeds, in October, in a Land Rover Forward Control 101, which they have labelled The Beast because of its awesome power and sturdiness.

Starting in the UK, the trio drove across Europe into Russia and then Kazakhstan.

From there they travelled along the ancient Silk Road to China, then down to the South-East Asian countries of Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, from where they took a ferry to Darwin.

Recounting some of their tales so far, Mr Truscott said: "The journey has been incredible, mainly because of the people we've met.

"In China, when we would stop in villages for lunch, people would swarm around the car and us, some just gawping at us, others practising whatever English they had.

"In Russia we had our engine rebuilt for us by a team of local mechanics working over night at the weekend for free."

They are raising awareness of three charities: Save the Children; the International Fund for Animal Welfare; and Adopt-A-Minefield.