Peter and Eileen Crichton began long distance travelling in their 1992 Land Rover in 1997 whilst based in the Middle East. With a penchant for exploration, their passion ultimately took them around the world twice on Michelin tyres, covering a total of 150,000km during 23 months on the road.
 
The Michelin 4×4 A/T tyres are designed for 50/50 road/off-road usage and the tyre manufacturer says the Crichton’s ‘Global Discovery Expedition’ pushed them to the limit. Incredibly, the 50,000km leg of their journey around the African continent was completed with only one puncture.
 
Rabia’s trek was split into two distinct sections – the first was a single circuit of 42,000km, circling the Northern Hemisphere by the longest land route possible. This six-month passage through four continents left the Crichtons hungry for more. The second circuit featured a mere 99,000km jaunt throughout the Southern Hemisphere…plus a 50,000km drive through Africa.
 
Australia was the first southerly challenge with the couple planning to reach all eight extreme compass points around the continent’s 30,000km shoreline. This goal was almost within their grasp, and was only thwarted by the difficulty of reaching the most northwesterly point in the Kimberly region. After Australia came South America, where they followed the Inca Trail through the Andes from its most southerly point in Chile some 8,000km north to the Colombian border, much of it at high altitude and through wild remote places on difficult tracks. At the northern limit they continued through Colombia and Venezuela before shipping to Northwest Africa. In total the expedition covered 15,000km over three months and included a detour to drive up the volcanic ash slopes of Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador to reach the snow line at 4,850m.
 
Finally the intrepid couple’s Michelin tyres began rolling in Africa. Completing an anti-clockwise circle of the continent, they took on often non-existent roads and unpredictable seasonal weather, which can quickly change a driveable route into a 4×4 test track. They drove to Cape Town through the Sahara and battled the jungles of Cameroon, Gabon, Congo and Angola before following the Rift Valley from its southern limit in Mozambique to the northern end and through the Middle East to complete the circuit back to where they had started from in the U.K. In total, their African odyssey covered 49,782km.
 
Thanks to his experiences, Peter Crichton is a respected advocate of good tyre choice and a firm believer in Michelin products. “Throughout our travels the Michelin tyres performed flawlessly over every conceivable terrain that the world could throw at us. Good tyres are a core aspect of reliable travel in the world’s remote and wild places. We were immensely relieved that we could rely entirely on the products supplied by Michelin UK.”
 
And Michelin is quick to add that its range of 4×4 tyres has something for everyone, not just the global explorers out there. From the 4×4 Diamaris, Michelin Latitude Tour HP and Michelin Latitude Sport tyres for the latest high-powered SUVs that spend their lives on the school-run or travelling up and down the motorway, to the 4×4 Synchrone or 4×4 O/R (Off Road) tyres used around the farm or by one of the major utility companies, Michelin has something suitable to offer. (Tyres & Accessories/Staffordshire, U.K.)