A tale of two cities that has a lot of mileage

Two Oxford University students are nearing the last leg of a round-the-world odyssey from Oxford in England to Oxford in New Zealand, travelling in a 50-year-old Morris Oxford car.

Tim Nicholson and Joanne Bowlt set off last May in their car to raise money for the Red Cross.

After 25,000km of travel through Europe, North Africa, India and Australia, the pair have arrived in Auckland to begin the final leg of their journey to North Canterbury.

Yesterday, the venerable car was taken out of a shipping container at the Port of Auckland.

Amazingly, it started first try.

Mr Nicholson said they'd had a few minor hitches keeping the 1954 car going, but had special help with repairs in India, where a similar vehicle is still made.

"Hindustan Motors sponsored us on the Indian leg and they did a lot of work on the suspension, which was just as well given the state of some of the Indian roads."

So far the most serious mechanical problem has been in the new electric fan they installed in the belief that the old mechanical fan would not cope with idling in hot weather in Africa.

Their journey has so far raised about $14,000 for the Red Cross general fund in Britain, New Zealand and Australia, but Mr Nicholson said that is only half the point.

"It's as much about raising awareness of the work of the Red Cross as it is about fundraising."

He said that the tsunami in South Asia had not changed the pair's focus.

Although he did say it had made people more aware of the work of the Red Cross.

The Oxford-to-Oxford journey will end in the middle of next month.

On the way south, the pair will stop in the Waikato town of Tirau, formerly Oxford, as well as indulging in some inter-collegial rivalry by visiting Cambridge.

To keep their spirits up on the final leg of their trip they've brought a case of Australian wine with them - Oxford Landing, of course.