This a narrative, or as I had the feeling, possibly an expansion from a number of blogposts  about their adventures. Some were quite hair raising, many most enjoyable with the addition trepidation.

It is important to recognise that this book is about a personal adventure.It is not written by a professional writer. Hill, now retired was the Principal Horn Player as a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Wellington and his wife Anne Loeser is a violinist in the same orchestra. Their touching story is in the introduction to the book.

Nevertheless, it is well written and a thoroughly enjoyable story as Gregory Hill has a most wonderful sense of humour as he describes situations and people's foibles that they met on this epic journey. There were many times that I laughed, smiled or was sitting on the edge of my seat. It certainly is an enjoyable page turner. Several maps are included which help with understanding the route taken as well as photographs.

This journey is not of the faint-hearted and although it was taken over only 89 days, it seems the many and memorable experiences travelling in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal to Mt Everest crossing Russia and onto Spain via Germany and France would last a lifetime.

They observed some interesting habits of fellow western travellers when in Asia, especially when it seems Gregory and Anne were the only ones willing to eat delicious local foods instead of burgers and chips.

The ferry crossings were quite eventful, especially missing out on the safety drill thanks to language difficulties. This was also evident when collecting previously booked onward journey train tickets. I wondered if this was likely to happen in most places with different alphabets to our own. Fortunately they were pleased with the efficiency and sing the praises of their travel agent based in China who had booked most of their train tickets and accommodation.

Descriptions of local customs as well as the conditions of the many trains they travelled on from spotless to dirty are humorous, tongue-in-cheek, eye opening, amusing and at times quite worrying, especially at border crossings.The thought of being woken up late at night by border guards who want to strip the whole sleeping compartment from ceiling lining to carpeting taking two or so hours by the time they could get back to sleep is quite shocking. On this long expedition they came across quit a few border guards as expected. There were the stony faced, the pleasant and the ones dressed in high boots, mini dresses and heavy, over the top make up, all amusingly described.

Reading that they had left their tickets and passports in their locked compartment and ventured out onto the street of a Russian town in search of breakfast one day is one I was expecting to end badly after seeing they were blocked by a large Russian guard who did not speak English, nor they Russian.

The detailed descriptions of local scenery in some countries in Asia are frankly described especially the, cleanliness or rather lack of it, makes one wonder. Leaving that aside it is interesting reading about the beautiful landscapes, buildings, history and other very interesting points.

Every overnight stay or longer in the many regions is also very interesting, particularly the journey to Mt Everest, Tibet, Mongolia and the world's deepest lake with beautiful beaches. The descriptions of their various tour guides and their travelling companions, their behaviour are entertaining, especially the two German fellow travellers who live in China. Although these two weren't so entertaining after a while.

For train enthusiasts the details of the railway gauges, changing of bogies to fit the different tracks with seemingly interminable waiting times and the differences in individual country trains would be interesting. 

Conveniences or lack of such luxuries varied greatly as did a few of their travelling companions who were foist upon them in sharing sleeping compartments, is quite shocking. The same could be said for dining facilities on these trains and also the standards in furnishings and comfort levels for often very long journeys, taken over several days.

There are some good tips for places to visit in Spain away from the usually over crowded over touristy spots.

As Hill describes their arrival at their almost antipodes I couldn't help smile and relate to some places we have been to in France, but also feel the elation when they reached the exact spot. Goal achieved.

Th Antipodean Express is a wonderful way to travel vicariously on this route,  especially now as most of this journey would probably not be safe to undertake with all the changes in these countries and our world since 2019.

The author

Gregory Hill, born in Auckland, diverted from his country’s obsession with sport to pursue a passion for the French horn, which eventually led to his career in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Despite living in a country with a basic passenger train service, he nurtured a fascination for long-distance train travel, which he finally indulged in after his retirement. In the year between ending his career and the world coming to a standstill, Gregory undertook an epic journey by rail from New Zealand to Spain. He now lives in Wellington with his violinist wife Anne, cherishing his two adult sons and two grandsons.

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