By Any Means: Ireland to Sydney

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[edit] General Information

Travel Documentaryhosted by Charley Boorman, published by BBC in 2008 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

By Any Means, also known as Ireland to Sydney by Any Means, is a television series following Long Way Round and Long Way Down star Charley Boorman. Travelling from Wicklow, Ireland, to Sydney, Australia, it features him completing the journey using 112 modes of transport and only travelling by plane when absolutely necessary.

After Long Way Round and Long Way Down, Boorman and producer Russ Malkin conceived By Any Means in late 2007. Charley returns for his most daring journey so far, covering three continents, 25 countries and over 20,000 miles from Ireland to Australia, the crew comprised only Boorman, Malkin and a cameraman, Paul "Mungo" Mungeam.

He gets off his bike and on to local means of transport, avoiding commercial airlines wherever possible to travel over land and sea on more than 100 different modes of transport, including container ships, dug-out canoes, solar cars and an elephant.

[edit] Episode 1

In the first episode, preparations are underway as Charley plans the three-month expedition. A few knock-backs, several training courses and some minor route alterations later, the three team members - Charley, producer Russ and cameraman Mungo - are ready. Starting from Charley's home in County Wicklow in Ireland, the trio rev the engines of three classic bikes before heading northwards for the shores of Kilkeel and the start of their adventure.

[edit] Episode 2

Charley's adventure takes him from the shores of Calais to the shores of Bandar-e Abbas. First, he crosses the tempestuous English Channel in a sailing dinghy. From Calais, to France and Italy, across to Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, before pressing on through far western Asia from Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran. The expedition hinges on whether they can enter Iran and make it to Dubai in time to catch a container ship to Mumbai.

[edit] Episode 3

Charley and the team are separated from Dubai by the Persian Gulf, where a scheduled container ship will depart for India in a matter of days.
Disaster strikes as one of the team gets seriously injured and has to drop out, with an emotional goodbye, and return to London for medical attention. One man down but determined the expedition will continue, the team reach Varanasi, the holy town on the banks of the sacred river Ganges.

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After a spiritually enriching time in India it's time to head north towards Nepal. The team have an easy border crossing and find themselves in the comparatively peaceful land of Nepal, where they take a tractor, a multicoloured local bus and a dugout canoe all the way to the Royal Chitwan National Park.
Charley bonds with an elephant that takes him through remote Nepali villages, before transferring to jeep and travelling over deep valleys and Indiana Jones-style suspension bridges.
Eventually making it into China, Charley and the team travel along the Xi Jiang River to Wuzhou on a cement barge.

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Charley has made his way to Vietnam where he travels on a Minsk Motorcycle and makes his way to Halong Bay. However, it is not long before this peaceful excursion takes a turn for the worse - nerves are quickly on edge as the team, now aboard a very small speedboat on rough seas, are pounded by the water.He then drives a US military jeep to take a look at some of the most significant places from the Vietnam War. He then travels on to Thailand and Malaysia.

[edit] Episode 6

The boat carrying the team to Borneo runs into difficulties. From Bali, Charley embarks upon a series of boat journeys navigating his way across the Indonesian archipelago. After finally making it to Borneo the team travel across the the Indonesian archipelago. After a turbulent five-day crossing from Kupang aboard a handmade boat, Charley and the team are delighted to finally hit the shores of Australia - the end of the journey is in sight!
However, it is not enough to be on the right continent - there is still a huge distance to cover across the outback.