Two-Up: By Scooter to Australia

This is the second of Marriott's travel books I have read, the first his excellent [b:Desert Taxi: The Story of an Achievement by a Veteran London Taxi-Cab 13604371 Desert Taxi The Story of an Achievement by a Veteran London Taxi-Cab Michael Marriott https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348162897l/13604371.SX50.jpg 19198504]. No less ambitious, this time Marriott and his wife head for Australia (from London) on a scooter (a German made Prima)! Their goal in Australia was to spend time with the Aboriginal in the Northern Territory (more specifically on Melville Island). The route took them through France and Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia (at the time), Bulgaria and Turkey. Then on through Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. There they caught a ship to South Australia, and fro there travel extensively to the Northern Territory before returning to Melbourne. Not a route for the faint hearted while travelling in comfort, but on a scooter? Madness of course comes to mind before braveness.Published in 1960, the travel took place in the late 1950s. It was an interesting time, particularly for parts of Europe, and the writing references some of those situations - Germany in the early years of recovery, still occupied by American soldiers, Yugoslavia finding its feet under Tito and the hinting that people found it was not necessarily turning out the way they expected, and also the British occupation of Cyprus (the State of Emergency, I believe), which ruffled a few feathers in Turkey.The writing is very consistent, easy and explanatory. It is written humorously with Marriott unafraid to have a laugh at his own expense, but seldom at the expense of others - very British in that respect (a compliment, not a criticism!). He was quick to lavish praise on those people who helped along the way, and the close friendships he an his wife quickly formed with many along the way.As you might expect from this type of travel, there was much discussion around the success and equally failures of the scooter, its performance and the struggles which go with it. There were also the day to day challenges of food and a place to sleep (although they camped extensively), and navigation. While the decision to proceed with a scooter was primarily financial, it also forced them to travel incredibly lightly - taking an almost negligently small amount of luggage, all the more challenging given the variance in weather conditions on the journey. The financial situation reached a climax in Australia, where they were forced to stop travelling three times and take up employment to gather sufficient funds to carry on. All in all the story of eighteen months spend mostly on the move, in the company of a scooter and little else. There is, of course a chapter at the end where their goal is achieved, and with the help of well known Australian journalist and author [a:Douglas Lockwood 297883 Douglas Lockwood https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], himself a champion of the Aboriginals, they spend time on Melville Island.Overall, it perhaps fell just short of [b:Desert Taxi: The Story of an Achievement by a Veteran London Taxi-Cab 13604371 Desert Taxi The Story of an Achievement by a Veteran London Taxi-Cab Michael Marriott https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348162897l/13604371.SX50.jpg 19198504], but only by a half star.3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.