The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Morris Minor major road trip
Trek: Woman completes epic Aberdeen to Cape Town journey in memory of her father
A woman has completed an epic six-month journey driving a 1958 Morris Minor from Aberdeen to Cape Town in tribute to her dad.
Laura Morrison embarked on the “trip of a lifetime” last June, setting off from the Granite City with the aim of raising £15,000 for Cancer Society.
The expedition is something she and her father Neil, who was from Aberdeen, had dreamed of embarking on together but he died just over two years ago, aged 62, following a battle with melanoma.
The 35-year-old reached her destination on Saturday after being escorted to the South African city by the local Morris Minor club.
She announced her arrival on Facebook with a photograph of her on the Cape Town sea front with a well-earned beer in her hand.
“This is an emotional day – it’s been a long time coming,” she said. “It was my dad’s dream to drive from his birth city to Cape Town as he had a love of Africa, but unfortunately he never got to realise that dream.
“This was something I always wanted to do as well, so I guess I’m doing it for him and me, and to raise as much money as I can for cancer research.”
Ms Morrison, who was born in Aberdeen, set out from her now-home of Picton in New Zealand. She took a ferry to Auckland before shipping her car to the north-east of Scotland.
Her blue 1958 Morris Minor, which was passed on by her dad, is emblazoned with the slogan “Morri 2 Africa” and the logo for Cancer Society.
The self-funded journey took Ms Morrison through 14 countries across Europe and Africa before arriving in Cape Town.
She has so far raised nearly £18,000 for the charity.