The adventure may be over for Daisy. The intrepid van, emblazoned with the Curious Roo Coffee Roasters logo and driven 11,000 miles through Europe, the Caucasus, the Stans, China and Laos by the Harrison family from Putney, may end her journey not with a triumphant drive back to SW15 but in a shipping container from Malaysia.
Last month, the Harrisons put out a call for someone to do their remarkable journey in reverse and received hundreds of offers, eventually settling on two Brits calling themselves ‘”the rescuers of Daisy”. All looked settled, although Edwin did note in a call with Putney.news last week that “you just never know with two young guys from London – at any point they could pull the plug. Which I really hope they don’t.” Five days later, they did.
But if there’s one thing we have learned from the Harrisons’ extraordinary trip, it’s that barrier is too large to get in their way. “We’re back on the hunt and there’s a chance we will ship Daisy as time is now short,” Magda Harrison messaged. Without someone willing to fly to Malaysia at very short notice, a shipping container it is.
The Harrisons’ story, though, keeps getting better. The goal remains the same – delivering a bag of coffee to Magda’s mum in Perth, Australia – without getting on a plane. Which leaves the small issue of 2,000 miles of sea between SIngapore and Darwin. Fortunately, Edwin is also a yachtsman and has bagged a berth on a racing yacht leaving from Banda Island, a tiny speck of the Banda Sea in eastern Indonesia. Population 15,000. Historically the only place on earth where nutmeg grew, which once made it the most fought-over island in the world. He confirmed the lift five days ago. He will take the coffee.
The yacht sails to Darwin. Magda and the three children fly to meet him. Then the Kimberley highway: 3,000km south through remote Australian scrub to Perth and the end of the journey.
Right now the family are in Laos but will shift to a rental car in Thailand, without Daisy. Daisy will be on a flatbed truck, wheels never touching Thai soil because the country has classified her as a motorhome and the permits will be months to acquire. The family will collect her in Malaysia, and then go their separate ways: van by ship, Edwin by yacht, Magda and the children by plane.
In case you were wondering the bag of coffee is still holding up albeit worn from use across three continents. “The bag of coffee’s world record, I suppose,” Edwin said last week, “and we’re just chaperones of the bag of coffee.”
Daisy will find her own way home. The Harrisons have a boat to catch.
Following the journey? Read the full series: The Putney café family driving a bag of coffee to Australia | Thailand won’t let their van in | TV presenter joins their appeal | Daisy makes it to Singapore
If you want to discover the latest follow @curiousroocoffeeroasters on Instagram.
