The team drives their Certified Discoverys in through the stern of the Hume Highway. This is ro-ro shipping. Roll 'em on, roll 'em off.

Journal by Adam Burgess, photo by Neil Dana

We spent a few days outside of Buenas Aires in the suburb of Zarate, close to the shipping port. It was considerably calmer here, and it offered me the time to begin soaking up what Argentina has to offer. It quickly became evident that the women are strikingly more beautiful here than almost everywhere I’ve been. Even the less attractive women have figures and dress in a style that draws your attention. Eyes dart everywhere, as the national pastime appears to be eye flirting. Seldom will you find a person overweight despite the lack of apparent exercise.

We spent most of the time preparing the Land Rovers for their 40-day ship ride to Australia. Unfortunately, we discovered quickly that our shipping sponsor only offers roll-on-roll-off, or “ro-ro”, service. This means that they have no containers for the cars, which results in no protection against theft, and if you saw the inside of these rigs you’d understand why that would be a concern. Thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment, computer equipment, GPS, camping supplies, and clothes cover every square inch of available space. Nick broke the news to us the next day and said that we have to take everything with us out of the cars.

The three of us were headed for Brazil in a week, and the number of cases we had couldn’t be carried by seven people, let alone by three travelling alone. So the obvious answer was to do our best in securing what we do have in the back of the cars. Neil and I headed for the local hardware store and bought 60 feet of heavy chain and 5 locks. Back at the hotel, everyone ripped apart all four cars, cleaning them out entirely except for what we were to store in the back. Our Pelican camera cases made it easy for us to thread the chain through the handles and lock to the D-rings on the floor of the bed. The rest of our stuff, clothes, toys and guitars, were then covered in heavy-duty cardboard in which Colin cut several holes and threaded the last 10 feet of chain through and locked it down. The final stage was 10 feet of black plastic wrapped over the entire package to deter the “roll-off” driver in Panama or Australia from even considering dipping their hands in there. They have little time between rolling the cars off of the cargo ship and parking them in the lot for rummaging through your loose odds and ends, so hopefully this triple-wrap blob isn’t mistaken for a Christmas present.

Logbook for February 17th, Day 109
Start: Lujan, Argentina
Time: 9:30 a.m.
S: 34*33.627
W: 59*07.278
Finish: Zarate, Argentina
Time: 9:00 p.m.
S: 34*05.879
W: 59*01.341
Mileage: 169
Notes: We filmed the loading of our vehicles onto the Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship today. It was a special moment. We drove the vehicles aboard the giant floating parking lot amidst the hundreds of new cars headed for new-car lots and the beginning their life's voyage. Our vehicles are headed for the Panamal Canal and then Australia. We'll meet them there about the first of April. Bon Voyage, D1, D2, D3, and D4! We'll miss you! (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.