We bought BIGGLES, a 1992 Land Rover Defender 200tdi, in Sheffield from a lovely couple who had taken it to Central America, Tunisia and Scandinavia - in fact, Mike even proposed to Sharon in the roof tent...

The vehicle already had some alterations to accommodate overland expedition travel. This included a snorkel, a Husky Superwinch, polybush kit, high lift suspension, galvanised roof rack, Hannibal roof tent and a full set of Pirrelli Scorpion All Terrain tyres.

This gave us a good head start, however there was still a lot to do to prepare the vehicle for our trip. We have spent the last few months preparing 'Biggles': adding features such as underbody protection (fuel tank guard, front and rear diff guards, Salisbury axle guard and front steering guard). We have also fitted a false floor, with the help of Andrew and the team, in the back to store our recovery gear, water cans and camping kit. This floor then doubles up as a sleeping platform in the event that we can't sleep in the roof tent. We have aslo added a fold-away table, and multiple lashing points to secure our gear for when we hit the rough terrain.

The biggest challenge was welding in two side lockers to store our extra fuel in jerry cans. We left this to the expert - our good friend Tim Maw. He angle-grinded two gaping holes in the side of the vehicle and welded steel angle to make up the lockers. These lockers add extra support to the chassis and help keep our weight low to help avoid rolling over in difficult conditions. The lockers are now complete and look great.

We have now spent many weekends playing "Changing Landrovers" - adding chequerplate to the bodywork and roofrack, making a secure cubby box, converting an old army blanket box into a kitchen, making an awning and shower tent from old groundsheets...to name just a few... we now only need to work on the electrics before we go.

We both know how lucky we are to have had so much help from great friends - Andrew and Natalie, Tim and Georgie, and Camilla's parents, Gareth and Jilly. Thank you for your help and support over these past few months.