Wade von Tunzelman, Jo Cahill and Darcy Ruffell have decided to enter the 2016 Mongol Rally, a part adventure, part charity fundraiser 17,000km rally across Europe and Central Asia to Mongolia and Russia.
There are only three rules - participants must drive vehicles of 1000cc or less during the journey from London to Ulan-Ude in Russia via Mongolia, they cannot have a support vehicle, and they must raise at least 1000 ($2300) for charity.
The trio, who call themselves the No 8 Wire team, believe they are the first Southlanders to enter the event.
They have been friends since they were teenagers. Mr Ruffell (32), the team mechanic, runs his own business, Ms Cahill (31) is a probation officer, and Mr von Tunzelman (33) works for Ballance Agrinutrients at Awarua, south of Invercargill.
It is a good thing they are friends, as their sleeping quarters during the month or more they are on the road will be tents or the back of the car.
However, they said they would book into a camping ground or motel from time to time.
''When we need a shower,'' Mr Ruffell said.
''When we can't stand it any longer,'' Ms Cahill said.
While Ms Cahill and Mr von Tunzelman are seasoned travellers - Ms Cahill has not long returned after three and a-half years living and travelling overseas - Mr Ruffell has not been further afield than Australia.
They said they had decided to enter the rally because it would be a different sort of challenge.
''It will be absolutely fantastic,'' Mr von Tunzelman said.
''We've seen people doing similar sorts of trips on television and it looks like great fun and a great adventure.''
The official Mongol Rally website warns it is a risky adventure.
''Individuals who have taken part in the past have been permanently disfigured, seriously disabled or lost their life,'' the website says.
To raise the $30,000 to cover their expenses and charity obligations, plus the cost of buying a suitable vehicle in the United Kingdom, they plan to hold fundraising events over 12 months, starting with a ''vehicular scavenger hunt'' in Invercargill on Sunday, a year to the day from the start of the 2016 rally.
They have bought a $600 Daihatsu Charade ''practice car'', hoping to attract sponsors prepared to exchange cash for their logo on the vehicle.
The 1982 Daihatsu was ''older than any of them'', Ms Cahill said, but was already proving a trustworthy machine.
''I wish we could take it with us.''
