Breathtaking! I was thinking how breathtaking beautiful this desert environment beneath us was and Max leant over to also peer out of the window…“We have driven down near there Jule.”..he said as we both now were mesmerised with an aeroplane view from 30,000 feet over China and Mongolia on our way to Helsinki. It was absolutely incredible knowing that we had driven in Penny, our 93 year old vintage car – just to the north along parts of the Gobi desert. I found myself being a little overwhelmed seeing from the air the landscape we had driven in the 2016 Peking to Paris car rally. It really hit me with such gratitude what an amazing life I have and how many incredible experiences I manage to fit into my life!

Now in Murmansk about to board the Akademik Shokalskiy for the epic and privileged journey across the breadth of the north of Russia; The North-East Passage – Northern Sea Route I am able to catch up on some blog notes.

We’ve spend an amazing week in Helsinki. I will write a separate post about that shortly… and in a months time I’m certain will have many incredible stories and photos to share at the completion of this remarkable voyage across a waterway which used to be impassable.

A large component of this journey will be landings on the remote islands and northern shore of Russia. I’m really excited about experiencing the Arctic land component as well as the ocean. … so stay tuned and I will keep you updated upon our return…. but until then enjoy some of these beautiful photos of the geology of the land across western China and parts of Mongolia.