The amazing story of an Aussie's 10 year adventure around the world in a jeep

It’s incredible to think that almost seventy years ago Australian adventurer Ben Carlin took an amphibious jeep around the world on an epic voyage that has never been repeated.

It took Ben ten years to circumnavigate the globe on his floating jeep, and it cost him his marriage, his sanity and almost his life.

American author James Nestor first heard about the Aussie adventurer on a sailing trip in San Francisco Bay.

“I think it needs to be recognised as one of the great feats of the 20th century,” James told Sunday Night reporter Alex Cullen.

“I think sometimes these historic feats - be it discoveries in science, medicine - take generations to really soak in and I really think this is one of those stories.”

Ben Carlin was born in 1912 in Northam, about an hour out of Perth. His mother died when he was just four-years-old.

“He said that losing his mum was a very traumatic experience for him and in some ways the circumnavigation was to prove himself a man," James said.

Ben was sent to boarding school at Perth’s Guildford Grammar where he studied engineering.

During World War II he was posted to India where he saw a vehicle that would change his life.

“He's your anti-adventurer. He's not looking so much for the glory and fame and award at the end of it, he's looking to just prove people wrong,” James said.

After the war, Ben moved to the United States where he bought an amphibious jeep, modified the engine and added a cabin to make it sea-worthy.

It was small, ugly, but sturdy; Five-and-half-metres long and just under two metres wide.

The first few times he took it out to sea, he very narrowly escaped with his life.

“Any sane person would say okay, bad idea, but instead it really stirred something in him,” James said.

“It made him more determined to try to really see this thing through.”

Ben needed a crewmate for his grand plan to drive and sail the jeep around the world.

His new wife, an American nurse Elinore Arone, signed up for the job and he told her it would be their honeymoon.

They christened the craft ‘Half Safe’ and set off from Canada.

In 1950, the pair sailed into the worst hurricanes in 50 years.

“They said the swells were about 60 feet high and they were just getting tossed for about three or four days in a row,” James said.

The vehicle was one-tenth of the size of any vehicle that had attempted the journey previously.

“It’s just astounding they actually made it and what’s even more astounding that once they made it across this arduous hellacious journey, they kept going,” James said.

“They put the wheels up and cruised up Africa.”.

Ben and Elinor drove the Half Safe across the Sahara and the Straits of Gibraltar, through Paris and across to London.

Ben thought the entire journey would take a year. After seven years, they were still only half way and for Elinore, the honeymoon was over.

“She was suffering from malnutrition, she was getting various diseases,” James said.

“Her hair was really starting to fall out, losing a tremendous amount of weight.”

By the time Ben and Elinor made it to India, she finally put up the white flag.

Elinore went back to America and began divorce proceedings.

“She seemed to be his real anchor to the rest of the world and when she was gone he went into some pretty deep madness,” James said.

Ben pushed-on and made it through Burma, Thailand, Vietnam before arriving in Japan.

That’s where things start to really look up, as he secured a valuable sponsorship deal from an oil company.

“Being Ben Carlin, I think he very irresponsibly spent it on wine and women,” James said.

Ben’s adventure had caught the imagination of the Japanese and hundreds had gathered in downtown Tokyo to see him-off on the next leg of his journey.

He’d enlisted a new crewman, a brave young journalist named Boye de Mente, originally from Arizona.

Today, Boye is 87* and his memories of Ben are still as sharp as ever.

“Carlin had an ego that you wouldn’t believe, when he decided on something, he was going to do it come hell or high water,” Boye said.

“It was that kind of attitude that made it possible for him to do what he did.

“A very rational logical person, careful person wouldn’t have done that, they simply would not have done it – it was too dangerous.”

Soon enough on their journey from Japan to Alaska, Boye learned the true nature of the man Ben had become.

“We were at sea for one solid month, thirty days, no land in sight, nothing except the water and the sky.

“He angered very easily and stayed angry a long time, he got to boiling point many times,” Boye said.

When they reached land, Boye couldn’t wait to get away from Ben.

“In order to catch the plane, I had to get up early,” he said.

“I got up early the next morning, I left and I never saw him again.”

Ben was now alone but still had a final leg to complete to finish his circumnavigation of the world.

He drove the Half-Safe the final 3000 kilometres to Montreal, Canada, where it all began and planned a huge homecoming.

“He put out postcards, called his friends, announced it to newspapers, thought there would be this whole fantastic parade there of people there to welcome him back – he did it,” James said.

“Ten years. Same car, around the world. Not one person showed up. Not even Elinore showed up.

“He showed up alone, parked the car, got out, walked around, end of story.”

Ben Carlin returned to Perth where he died, aged 69.

Today, Ben’s school - Guildford Grammar School in Western Australia - honours his memory by proudly displaying the original Half Safe.

It remains the only vehicle to have ever crossed the globe over land and sea.

It’s not seaworthy, but it can still circumnavigate the school’s oval.