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Wade Whitear | Overland & Travel

@wadewhitear

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Building a 2013 Fortuner for the long road 🛻

Ultra Ironman in training 🏊🏼‍♂️🚴🏼🏃🏽
Postcards from wherever I end up 📍Cape Town

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DID YOU KNOW???

Did you know Palermo has been ruled by the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Spanish and Italians, and you can still see traces of every one of them in the city today? (Wikipedia)

What makes Palermo so unique is that its churches aren’t built in just one style. When the Normans conquered Sicily in 1072, they didn’t erase the Arab and Byzantine influences that were already there. Instead, they combined them, creating what is now known as Arab-Norman architecture, a blend found almost nowhere else in the world. (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

The city’s crown jewel is Palermo Cathedral. The site started as an early Christian church, was later converted into a mosque during Arab rule, and then became a cathedral again after the Norman conquest. The cathedral we see today was commissioned in 1185 by Archbishop Walter Ophamil (Gualtiero Offamilio), making it a living timeline of Palermo’s history. (Wikipedia)

Just outside the city sits Monreale Cathedral, built by King William II in the 1170s. Covered in breathtaking Byzantine mosaics, it was part of a rivalry between the king and Palermo’s archbishop, a competition that ended up giving Sicily two of the most spectacular churches in Europe.

Today, Palermo’s churches, palaces and cathedrals form part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for blending Western, Islamic and Byzantine cultures into something entirely its own. (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)

A city where every stone tells a story, and every church carries the fingerprints of empires.
📍Palermo, Sicily taken in Palermo, Italy by @wadewhitear

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a month ago

Brooks on Safari 🌿🦒☀️ Somewhere between a game drive and golden hour. by @wadewhitear

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5 months ago

I no longer drive a Van … 👀

New roads unlocked 🔓⛰️🤠🫱🏼‍🫲🏽

#4x4capetown #wesouthafrica #explore4x4 #southafrica #motivation taken in Cape Town, South Africa by @wadewhitear

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7 months ago

Fortuner travels ⛰️🚗

Shot for @quickpitchsa

#overland #travel #4x4 #4x4offroad #thomasbainpass taken in Route 62, Western Cape by @wadewhitear

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7 hours ago

Catch of the day … 🦑

#italy #ocean #travelitaly #catchoftheday #seafood taken in Favignana by @wadewhitear

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a day ago

Drive a little further and stay somewhere different. 🌄

Open the Quick Pitch RTT, get the 270° Weathershade Awning out and you've got camp ready for the night.

A pretty good way to travel.

📷 @wadewhitear @we_films_ by @wadewhitear

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2 days ago

Scala dei Turchi 🇮🇹

On paper: a must-see. In reality: I could barely see a thing 🫠

Those white cliffs are blinding, and of course I left my sunglasses behind. Add wind pumping sand straight into my eyes and it was lowkey miserable 😭

Still one of the coolest places I’ve seen in Sicily though. Would I go back? Maybe… on a day the wind isn’t pumping.

📌 Tip: bring sunnies and check the wind before you go.

#scaladeiturchi #italy #sicily #travelsicily #exploreitaly taken in Scala Dei Turchi Tour by @wadewhitear

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2 days ago

Summer season 🪸🌊

#italy #favignana #summerseason #travel #travelitalia taken in Favignana by @wadewhitear

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3 days ago

Happy birthday to my adventure princess ❤️

Love you lots 🥺❤️⛰️ @cayleighlisashaw taken in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal by @wadewhitear

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4 days ago

What I’d tell you before you visit the Valley of the Temples

A bit of history first. This was Akragas, founded by the Greeks around 580 BC and once one of the richest cities in the Mediterranean. The temples you walk past are around 2,400 years old, and the Temple of Concordia is one of the best-preserved Greek temples in the world. Carthage sacked the city in 406 BC, and what’s left is still enough to stop you in your tracks.

My advice:

Entry is free on the first Sunday of every month. Great for the budget, but it’s the busiest day you could pick.

Be prepared for a lot of people, even at the end of the season. Get there when the gates open or come for the last couple of hours before sunset if you want space and clean shots.

It gets hot and there’s almost no shade. Take a hat and sunblock, and put it on before you start walking.

Pack plenty to drink and some food. It’s a long walk between the temples and you’ll want to take your time.

Give yourself 2 to 3 hours and wear proper shoes.

Swipe to the last slide to see what it looked like in its prime (AI reconstruction).

Save this for your Sicily trip, and send it to whoever you’re going with.

#agrigento #valleyofthetemples #valledeitempli #sicily #travelitaly taken in Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, Sicily, Italia by @wadewhitear

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5 days ago

1000km. 4 nights. Wind, rain, gravel and three mountain passes. Here’s what we learned.

PART 5: THE VERDICT

A test trip doesn’t fail you in one big moment. It’s the small things that build up, climb after climb, day after day, until you can’t ignore them anymore. By the last pass, the build had shown us exactly where it’s weak.

What worked
The dual battery setup ran camp every night without a thought. The tyres gripped on loose gravel and shrugged off the rocks.

What didn’t
The clutch. Hairpin after hairpin, fully loaded, it started to slip. Revs climbing, car not pulling the way it should. That’s why a heavy-duty clutch is next on the list.

Signs your clutch is slipping: revs rise but your speed doesn’t, it’s worse uphill or under load, or you catch a burning smell after a steep climb. Don’t ignore it on a loaded trip.

The back of the car. Four nights of digging through bags to find one thing gets old fast. Gear shifting on corrugations, heavy stuff sliding around, nothing where you left it.

A proper drawer system keeps heavy gear low and locked in place, stops your load moving on rough roads, and means everything has a home you can reach in seconds.

Lesson: Build for how you actually travel, not for how the build looks online. One test trip will teach you more than any forum thread.

And it wasn’t all mountains and mechanics. We went underground at the Cango Caves, got far too close to the crocs at the crocodile farm, and found good food, cold mornings and empty roads in some of the most beautiful parts of our country. The joy is in the machine, and in where it takes you.

The test is done. Now the real build begins. taken in Cango Caves - Oudtshoorn by @wadewhitear

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12 days ago

Built by hand, and still standing after more than 130 years.

PART 4: THE PASSES

Swartberg and Seweweekspoort are Thomas Bain’s work. You climb through switchback after switchback, stone walls stacked by hand on the edge, then drop down the other side into gorges that make you forget to talk. You don’t rush roads like these. You listen to the engine, feel the car work, and look up because the mountains demand it.

This is where the build earns its keep.

The clutch
A loaded overland vehicle puts serious strain on a clutch. Steep pull-offs, slow crawling and constant gear changes on hairpins all build heat. A heavy-duty clutch is made to handle that extra load and grip without slipping, so you can take tight corners slowly and confidently instead of feathering and hoping.

The tyres
On gravel, your tyres are doing everything. It gave us grip on loose corners and the tougher sidewalls you want when sharp rocks are lining the road.

Lessons from the switchbacks:
• Pick your gear before the corner, not in it. On tight hairpins, first or low range keeps you in control
• Don’t ride the clutch. Commit to the gear and let the engine pull you through
• Going down, stay in a low gear and let the engine brake. Riding your brakes all the way down overheats them
• Drop a little tyre pressure on gravel for grip and comfort, then air up before you hit tar

Convoy partner and Com’s @caid_pope

Roof top tent @quickpitchsa taken in Swartberg Pass - Swartberg Mountains by @wadewhitear

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13 days ago