THE ‘OXFORD IN NZ’ FILES Getting here

So, where do I start a story about Oxford’s New Zealand adventure? I guess for the benefit of the nonbelievers, I had better start at the very beginning.

Back in 1955, three graduates from Oxford University and three from Cambridge University in the UK set themselves a challenge to be the first to drive Overland from London to Singapore.

Perhaps a bit ‘ho-hum’ now, but it had never been done before and being less than 10 years after WW2, many parts of the journey still had smouldering ruins. All had just finished their degrees when they set out on the expedition, with the exception of Nigel Newbery, who had one year left.

All of the team members were selected based on their skills. Antony ‘BB’ Barrington-Brown – Cameraman. Adrian Cowell – Business Manager. Patrick Murphy – Navigator and Chef. Nigel Newbery – Quartermaster and Mechanic. Henry Nott – Chief Engineer. Tim Slessor – Scribe and Assistant. Cameraman (Author of the book First Overland).

During this time of ‘A Brave New World’ – it was rapidly becoming a craze to go on ‘Safari’ and explorenew frontiers – and there was a huge number of manufacturers who had turned their war-time production into civilian ‘Safari suppliers’ with tents, packs, clothing and camera gear.

Photos of Ed Hillary’s ascent of Everest, for instance, reveal a tonne of Army Surplus type gear – and the Rover car company’s new invention –the world’s first ‘RV’ the ‘Land Rover’ – was rapidly building a reputation as the ‘vehicle of choice’ for all self-respecting Explorers…

And so, the six young student types contacted the Rover Car Company asking for their support and were