Topher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray of Expedition Earth. Photo / Supplied
Topher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray rolled up to the border of Iran in a vehicle banned from the country and sporting enough electronic equipment to set any paranoid regime's teeth on edge.
Then they disappeared, sparking intense work behind the scenes to free the newlywed globetrotting influencers.
It took just under four months for the couple to find freedom and the fact it was won so quickly - compared to others held in Iran - is likely a combination of New Zealand diplomacy, Five Eyes' connections and the very deep pockets of Topher Richwhite's father David.
The pair began their Expedition Earth journey in April 2018 in Alaska. It was a journey intended to cover 350,000km across seven continents and 70 countries over three years.
It's been an incredible journey, recorded on their website and across social media for their 300,000 followers. High-quality photography has recorded the attractive young couple and the scenery through which they passed, adventure-seeking across the world with a nod to the environment and the media coverage and sponsorships that came with it.
The journey was derailed with the pandemic but was set to begin again. They had stopped in Moscow but redrawn their route as they prepared to set off again in what appears to be an attempt to avoid the conflict in the Ukraine.
Their journey now took them through Greece and Turkey. At the Turkish town of Gurbulak, with Mount Ararat to the North, they crossed into Iran.
Here they encountered what may have been the beginning of their problems. Iran is an authoritarian regime and an Islamic theocracy, elements which leave it isolated on the world stage and in direct opposition to the Unites States, which is on occasion called "the Great Satan".
Richwhite and Thackwray rolled into the border town of Bazargan driving a $100,000 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, built in Canada by a United State company. It is on Iran's list of banned vehicles as part of a series of reciprocating sanctions.
In one of three videos posted before their disappearance, Richwhite spoke of a stern 45-minute meeting with a Customs boss about the banned Jeep. The meeting was about "who we were and why we were coming to Iran with a sanctioned vehicle", he said.
In another video, Thackwray, who was wearing a hijab, spoke of being excluded from the meeting because her top was too short. It flowed to her hips but needed to reach her knees, she said.
As they waited to find if they would be allowed entry, Richwhite told the camera: "We're just waiting to hear the answer. If we get told to turn around, it would be a disaster."
As it turned out, that would have been a better option. As it happened, they were told entry was allowed. The last video showed a visit to a mechanics and Iranian number plates being fixed to their Jeep, dubbed "Gunther".
Global Risk Consulting director Chris Kumeroa - whose military background led to a business assessing security and travel risks - said those at the border would have had heightened awareness because of the US jeep and it would have guided questioning.
Kumeroa said those questions would have been led by an intense interest as to whether Richwhite or Thackwray had connections to the United Kingdom - a nation also demonised by Iran's leaders - or the US.
That interest would likely have extended to whether they had studied there, where they studied and what they had studied. Kumeroa said university study that took in politics or similar could have encouraged greater suspicion.
Richwhite and Thackwray were both well-travelled and had spent extended periods living abroad. For Richwhite, most of his life has been spent outside New Zealand, first in Switzerland and then schooling in London. His passport might have said "New Zealand" but his accent did not.
The questions in the minds of those looking at the couple would have been: "Why are these foreigners in our country? Why are you here? What intelligence are you gathering - and for what purpose?"
As Kumeroa puts it, they might have looked like globe-trotting social media stars but that's likely not how they were seen by Iranian officials.
A look inside the Jeep would have increased concerns. From the outset, Richwhite and Thackwray have documented and broadcast their journey from wherever they might be in the world.
The Jeep carried everything needed to run a full-blown sponsor-pleasing influencer campaign from on the road to their social media followers. "To the untrained eye, all that equipment takes on a different look," said Kumeroa.
The couple's arrival in the country came at a time when tensions were high and increasing. Advance planning would have been critical, said Kumeroa, so as to warn the couple of the challenges ahead.
If they received that advice, they would have learned the current protests that have drawn international attention were not isolated and Iran had suffered a year of turmoil.
In June, the month before they crossed the border, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened harsh reprisals after repeated protests over living standards.
When Khamenei did so, he raised the spectre of external agitators as behind internal dissent. For a country that had set itself against the "Great Satan" for so long, it is not unusual to suggest internal problems are the fault of external actors.
In a series of speeches in June, Khamenei warned of a crackdown as seen decades before when brutal violence - and a wave of executions - was used to quell opposition. Against a backdrop of protest and mass arrests, he warned of "enemy objectives of provoking the nation" and "the enemy's soft war on the Iranian people".
Khamenei cautioned officials to be wary, saying: "It is important to understand the plots of the enemy in different fields and times, and then prevent them accordingly or launch a good defence or pre-emptive attack."
They would have increased vigilance across the country, and if not actual vigilance then a determination to appear so because it would be expected - especially from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Corps were originally an ideologically-driven militia but revolution saw its role formalised as protecting Iran's theologically-based political system. It has interpreted that role broadly and now holds enormous power and influence across the country.
It was the Corps that detained British-Australian academic Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert for 804 days, accusing her of spying. For years it has done so with others, originally with a focus on those with dual nationalities but increasingly simply arresting and detaining foreigners in Iran.
It was Moore-Gilbert who made public the detention of Richwhite and Thackwray in a series of tweets that called for an end to "quiet diplomacy" which, she said, "never works". At the time, it was not known they had just been released and Moore-Gilbert's tweet went against security advice that held media off publishing.
That advice came through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which had spent weeks engaged in "quiet diplomacy". Kumeroa said simple questions over welfare would have led the way - "do you have them, are they safe, are they well" - before talking about how they might come home.
There would be an effectiveness to New Zealand's "quiet diplomacy" other nations might not achieve. Our ongoing diplomatic presence would help, as would trade between the countries. In Iran's eyes, New Zealand is no "Great Satan".
For Mfat, there would have been similarities to its work searching for Louisa Akavi, the International Red Cross nurse who was kidnapped in Syria almost a decade ago. For years it asked media across the world to stay silent as New Zealand exerted its small power it the most influential possible ways.
That would have happened in this case, too. Our intelligence agencies would have made contact with Five Eyes partners to broaden their focus for any chatter about Richwhite and Thackwray. New Zealand intelligence and military personnel stationed at the United States-led Middle East intelligence centre in Jordan, Operation Gallant Phoenix, would have been called on to exercise personal connections. There's not much in the Middle East that doesn't flow through Gallant Phoenix.
As with Akavi, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister would have received regular briefings. There's claims New Zealand softened its tone during diplomatic engagement which Jacinda Ardern has denied. If not softened, then certainly Nanaia Mahuta would have been keenly aware of her phrasing when talking to Iranian counterparts.
And there would be legal advice, as there was with Akavi, setting out for diplomats and others what New Zealand could do and couldn't do. As with Akavi, there would have been the prospect of a willing third party who could act in ways that governments could not - like paying a ransom.
In this case, Richwhite's father David is worth an estimated $1 billion.
"Money talks," said Kumeroa. Not only would Richwhite senior potentially have contacts or friends of influence, he also had the means to hire expert advice and the means by which to meet demands that might be made.
By whatever means, they are free of Iran and free to continue their journey.
From Iran, they had intended to loop back to Azerbaijan and headed East, skirting the top of Afghanistan to Mongolia before the long trip south and back to New Zealand.
Will they continue? Their 300,000 social media followers will be eager to find out.
It follows concerns about use-of-force powers being given to staff.