Couple Lisa and Philip Armstrong taking on incredible 44,000-mile drive from Melbourne, Australia, home to Gullane

Lisa and Philip Armstrong (pictured below at the Great Wall of China) are driving from Australia to Gullane and are due to arrive in East Lothian in May.

The couple set off from Melbourne, on Australia's south coast, and have already clocked 36,000 miles as they close in on "a bit of a knees-up at The Old Clubhouse".

The couple quit their jobs and Lisa, who worked as a project officer in the Australian finance sector, said: "On paper, driving from Australia to Scotland seems like a ridiculous foolhardy idea but, with a lot of research and forward planning, it's actually relatively easy and a lot less bureaucratic than you would imagine.

"You can watch the news and think it is a big bad world out there but we have not experienced that at all.

"We've been overwhelmed by the interest and kindness people have shown us along the way.

"They have taken us into their homes, fed us, danced with us, let us drive their motorbikes and ride their horses and never once asked for anything in return.

"It doesn't matter whether you are from Thailand or Tajikistan, everyone has the same hopes and dreams for themselves and their families."

The couple lived in Australia for more than a decade but decided they wanted to be closer to their families, with Lisa's family having lived in Gullane "for generations", with her mum and dad Ian and Catherine Thomson living on Muirfield Park, and Phil's family coming from the south of England.

So, 17 months ago, they packed their belongings into a 1998 Toyota LandCruiser Troop Carrier (pictured below, in Kyrgyzstan), which they have named Troopy, and began the long journey home.

Phil, 43, has done the bulk of the driving but Lisa, who grew up on Gullane's Muirfield Drive, told the Courier there had been occasions where she had to get behind the wheel.

The former Gullane Primary School and North Berwick High School pupil said: "Phil fell and broke his wrist when we were camping at Lake Khövsgöl in northern Mongolia.

"The lake is probably as remote a place as you will find.

"We had no phone reception and no one around that could help us.

"I had to patch Phil up and then drive for 10 hours to get him to a hospital in Moron (I'm not making that up).

"The conditions were terrible: mud, river crossings, broken bridges and heaps of bumps.

"Poor Phil had to endure it all with a broken bone.

"When we finally got to hospital, they tried their best but didn't have the equipment to set it properly and so we were evacuated to Ulaanbaatar for further treatment.

"We thought it had all been fixed but a follow-up appointment in Kazakhstan (four weeks later) showed the bone had re-broken and we were sent back to Australia, by our insurer, for surgery."

So far, the couple have driven across Australia and much of Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China, Mongolia (where the picture above was taken), Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where they had interesting encounter with the local military.

Forty-three-year-old Lisa, who moved to London 20 years ago, said: "In Tajikistan's Wakhan valley (which runs along the Afghan border) we broke our own rule of "find a camp-spot before dark" and rocked up in unknown territory long after sunset.

"Morning broke over our riverside camp to reveal five military trucks offloading soldiers next to us.

"We thought we were in trouble for camping at that spot but relaxed when we realised they were just doing some litter-picking; 'Isn't that nice,' we thought. 'What a show of community spirit; Jeez, they're very methodical.'

"It was only as they walked towards us that we realised they were in fact sweeping for landmines with metal detectors and not litter-picking.

"Sure enough, as we made a hasty retreat, we saw the 'Danger – Landmines' sign."

Since then, the couple has continued on to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, before arriving in Iran (where the below picture was taken) before Christmas.

Lisa added: "We've been here for two months and absolutely love it. Any preconceptions you might have about Iran disappear within 24 hours of arriving.

"The people are some of the friendliest, kindest and most hospitable that we have encountered."

Readers can follow their journey on Facebook by searching Overland Armstrongs.