Enthusiast III
, ’ ,
We’re driving overland from the UK to our homeland, New Zealand. What started as a dream adventure through diverse landscapes and cultures took a chilling turn as we crossed into the Middle East.
While navigating the challenging route toward Malaysia, we faced every traveller’s worst nightmare: we were stopped and held in Iran. For over 50 harrowing hours, we were detained with no contact with the outside world. No phone calls, no updates, no way to let loved ones know we were alive.
The uncertainty was suffocating. The walls seemed to close in with every passing second, and the air felt heavy with fear. We didn’t know if we’d ever leave. Every sound outside the door sent a shiver down our spines—was it help, or something worse?
Nobody knew where we were or what was happening to us. It was a situation drenched in fear, and we wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Thankfully, we made it out. But we’ve been told in no uncertain terms: we cannot re-enter Iran.
This warning has cut off a critical part of our planned route. Without the ability to drive across Iranian territory, our journey has hit a massive roadblock. The only viable path forward is to ship both ourselves and our vehicle to India—a logistical and financial hurdle we hadn’t anticipated.
And this is where we need your help.
Shipping the vehicle isn’t just costly—it’s a race against time to keep our dream alive. Every contribution you make will help us bridge this unexpected gap and continue the journey that means everything to us.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
The ordeal in Iran is a saga in itself—42 pages of fear, resilience, and the incredible stroke of luck that allowed us to get a message to the outside world. While we can’t share it all here, know this: it was a life-altering experience, and it’s left us more determined than ever to see this journey through.
We’re asking you to take this step with us, to help us move forward after such a terrifying setback. Your support isn’t just about logistics—it’s about showing that even in the darkest moments, people care.
Together, we can make it home. Will you help us?
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
Below is the synopsis of what happened - (the full story is 42 pages long.) and how we managed to get a message to the outside world.
+ ….!!
Once you read it you’ll understand why there are no photos that accompany the text.
- !!
Possibly one of the happiest we will ever have.
This is the sequence of events that started at , .
Prior to starting our trip, Pete and I had worked through, written down, and role-played potential scenarios that could befall us on our trip. This was a saving grace for us.
We were detained in Iran, incommunicado for over 50+ hrs. An Iranian Army patrol popped out and set up a vehicle checkpoint on the road and stopped us, as we were heading to the Iraqi border.
Apparently, they alleged we had entered a forbidden zone on the Iran-Iraq border. Funnily enough other vehicles were coming and going, and we were behind two other vehicles, one other car behind us, and two vehicles coming the other way.
We were held there some 50 minutes and one plain clothes person with the army patrol said to Pete, ‘Tourism,- Terrorism.’ He said this twice and Pete let him know ‘Tourism.’
Then an army jeep came screaming up to the checkpoint. We were told in no uncertain terms to follow them, into the alleged forbidden zone and to an Army base.
, , , , .
, , .
The Army I imagine sent for the Police who arrived, and these people Pete was not allowed to see. So they blindfolded him.
Pete was at this army base by these people. (I’m picking secret police). He was blind folded for possibly 5 hours as they interrogated me.
They were concerned the Rav 4 we were driving had surveillance cameras on it. Pete told them the front and back camera were driving aids with no SIM cards. Two soldiers stood for over an hour with their fingers over these 2 cameras before thy came and put black tape over them.
The GPS they wanted the SIM card from - which doesn’t have one and they wanted the SIM card from the inbuilt Toyota display on the dashboard. They refused to believe it didn’t have one.
Then they got all uptight over the ‘nextbase’ dash cam. Pete retrieved the SIM card for this and gave it to them. He told them it just recorded every 3 minutes, and wiped the previous 3 minutes as the next 3 minutes came up, and it was used if we were involved in a crash.
One of the plain clothes people, who alleged he was army got in Pete’s face and told him he was ‘bullshit and didn’t know my camera’. He did this twice. Quietly Pete said to him that he knew the trick he was trying to play on him as I had used the same ploy himself in his Policing days (they knew Pete was an ex-cop at this stage) he smiled, and he said something to his boss.
Funnily enough we had an Insta360 camera in the front, but they didn’t take too much interest in that.
After about 24 hours we were then bundled into our car with them telling us they would take us to Shesh (a town about an hour away) and set us free. We were relieved. This DID NOT happen.
We had an ‘escort’ of one car behind and two cars in front. Part way to Shesh in the middle of no-where, in the middle of the night - it was pitch black, they stopped us, surrounded the car and told us we were emitting a signal from the car. Pete told them this was bullshit as they had no antennas on their vehicles to do this. We think they were trying to intimidate us - it worked!
.
This is one of the most frightening situations we have been in, out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people we don’t know, and not knowing their intentions. Remember no-one knew we were detained at this point.
They then wanted to look inside the engine, so Pete opened the bonnet.
We got to Shesh and they drove us right through there, to the other side, contrary to what they said at the Army base.
We were stopped again and 2 plain cars arrived. We were now seriously concerned - again.
Our hearts were in our mouths, we were having trouble swallowing because our mouths were so dry. Pete was really concerned for me – and looking back I have to say these were some incredibly trying circumstances for both of us – we both did.
We were then told to follow them. They refused to answer Pete as to where we were going, or allow us to call the embassy, or who these new people were. They said they were taking us to a hotel for the night.
Pete recounts the rest:
They had not searched the car properly and we still had a Personal Locator Beacon PLB from my SAR policing days. (I had it refurbed before we left on the trip!!! Great investment.)
I told Janelle to get this and to set it off, hoping like hell it would work.
However, it was unbeknown to us at this stage, that a message was transmitted to the outside world from the PLB. We were in Iran and I didn’t know if it would pick up a satellite from this location..
The satellite picked up the beacon, downloaded to NZ, and authorities who then rang our daughter Louisa.
I had briefed her prior to leaving on our trip that if this thing were to go off, then we are in serious shit, and get whatever help the NZ authorities can do.
She told the authorities this and they activated Foreign Affairs and the embassy in Tehran.
Louisa had pictures of us, the car, our intended route which she was able to forward through to them. We had given her all this information prior to leaving on our trip and what would transpire if the locator beacon was set off.
While all this was going on we were driven to a location I don’t know where, as it was pitch black.
It was a compound where they locked the car behind these huge metal doors. The huge doors slamming shut, reverberated like a gunshot going off. I backed the car in as opposed to driving in to ensure the PLB had the greatest exposure to the night sky, as it pinged away.
Again they searched the car and I was hoping the PLB had done its thing, as I was sure they would take it. Unbelievably they just left it to ping away.
During the interrogation phases I had said to Janelle that we needed ‘disruptors’ in place to stop their line of questioning. We did this by asking for toilet breaks, water and food. It seems to work because each time we came back they started on a new questioning phase, not finishing what they asked us before. The scenarios we had role played before the trip were playing out as we expected them to.
, - . .
We put another ‘disruptor’ in here, when we both asked to use the toilet and while there, planned our next sequence to counter them.
Again I said to Janelle, short answers telling them only what they already know, asking them to repeat the question several times (as if we did not understand!!!) as it gave us time to think of the answers.
Throughout all of this, Janelle did absolutely brilliantly in evading questions as much as possible and disrupting them with a completely different answer.
Prior to leaving on this trip Janelle and I had discussed scenarios such as this and how to handle it. We went into scenario mode during the 50+ hrs.
The next day, we were still held at this interrogation centre, they asked if it was OK to search the car again. I really had no choice, so asked Janelle to stand by and watch them.
They ran a ‘wand’ over the car, the next day looking for signals, cameras etc. Found nothing - because there was nothing.
I was asked what business I was doing in Iran and who I was contacting there. This went on and on, as they refused to believe I had no contacts in Iran.
Unbeknown to us, Foreign Affairs had contacted the authorities in Iran by this time - New Year’s Eve- day.
During a break in the interrogation - when they then took our computers away, we slipped out through a back door that was unlocked and did some anti-survelliance to ensure we weren’t being tailed, by the Police who were meant to be watching us.
We saw a young man in the street and explained what was going on.
, allowed us to use his phone where we made contact with Louisa, our daughter, and let her know what was happening.
We asked her to let the authorities know. This was the first contact we had had with the outside world in 48 hrs.
Just before midnight on NY eve, they came back with all our gear, and told us we could leave in the morning - not before. There demeanour and attitude had changed 180* - I think because the outside world knew where we were now.
We didn’t sleep that night either .
We made it through to Iraq the next day, still nervous that they may stop us and start again in Iran. They didn’t.
, , .
Having watched ‘SAS Who Dares Wins’ and the resistance to interrogation phase, at the end just about all the candidates cry as a result of the ordeal. I now understand why.
We then did a straight shot to Riyadh to go to the NZ embassy.
Our debrief is 42 pages long - what I have shared here is the synopsis.
Now, a very happy New Year.
We have no money, (some kind people paid for our Visas at the border crossings - unbelievable!)
I have cracked ribs,
but we’re alive,
and we have each other.
NZ Embassy staff and NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unbelievable with their help. I am proud to be a Kiwi, with them in our corner.
Louisa was unbelievable in NZ with all the information she was able to provide and help the authorities build a profile of us.
What has it taught us, about life?
Resilience, and persistence. NEVER GIVE UP - regardless of how dire the situation may look.
You can be so close to the goal without realising.
Keep thinking ahead about the next move and keep your wits about you.
Treat people with respect and build rapport - even if they are treating you badly.
Lean on someone who can help support you. Janelle and I leant on each other throughout this ordeal.
Ask your God for guidance and help. He WILL, come to the party.
Our God certainly did, as we leaned on him as well as each other.
If you have to get through the next hour, or the next minute, or the next 10 seconds - break it down into bite sized chunks. But always keep stepping forward one small step at a time.
Pre-planning in life can help in situations, dire or otherwise, as you can call on these frameworks that will get you through whatever is happening - logically: without the emotional reactions that normally accompany stressful situations.
Our pre-planning and having the right information with the right people at the right time was a game-changer and a life-saver for us.
We are now re-considering what we do now to continue the journey home. NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs have emphatically said, that we should not go back through Iran.
We are taking their advice seriously, and looking for alternative routes to get home.
It appears our only option is to ship the car to India and start the drive again. This is a seriously expensive piece of water - hence we are seeking your financial help to help restart us again, and get us home to New Zealand as quickly as possible.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
You may ask - 'why not ship the car straight to NZ?' We have considered this option but it is outside the range of our budget at this time.
Thank you so much for your generosity and help. We really do appreciate it.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
We’re driving overland from the UK to our homeland, New Zealand. What started as a dream adventure through diverse landscapes and cultures took a chilling turn as we crossed into the Middle East.
While navigating the challenging route toward Malaysia, we faced every traveller’s worst nightmare: we were stopped and held in Iran. For over 50 harrowing hours, we were detained with no contact with the outside world. No phone calls, no updates, no way to let loved ones know we were alive.
The uncertainty was suffocating. The walls seemed to close in with every passing second, and the air felt heavy with fear. We didn’t know if we’d ever leave. Every sound outside the door sent a shiver down our spines—was it help, or something worse?
Nobody knew where we were or what was happening to us. It was a situation drenched in fear, and we wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Thankfully, we made it out. But we’ve been told in no uncertain terms: we cannot re-enter Iran.
This warning has cut off a critical part of our planned route. Without the ability to drive across Iranian territory, our journey has hit a massive roadblock. The only viable path forward is to ship both ourselves and our vehicle to India—a logistical and financial hurdle we hadn’t anticipated.
And this is where we need your help.
Shipping the vehicle isn’t just costly—it’s a race against time to keep our dream alive. Every contribution you make will help us bridge this unexpected gap and continue the journey that means everything to us.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
The ordeal in Iran is a saga in itself—42 pages of fear, resilience, and the incredible stroke of luck that allowed us to get a message to the outside world. While we can’t share it all here, know this: it was a life-altering experience, and it’s left us more determined than ever to see this journey through.
We’re asking you to take this step with us, to help us move forward after such a terrifying setback. Your support isn’t just about logistics—it’s about showing that even in the darkest moments, people care.
Together, we can make it home. Will you help us?
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
Below is the synopsis of what happened - (the full story is 42 pages long.) and how we managed to get a message to the outside world.
+ ….!!
Once you read it you’ll understand why there are no photos that accompany the text.
- !!
Possibly one of the happiest we will ever have.
This is the sequence of events that started at , .
Prior to starting our trip, Pete and I had worked through, written down, and role-played potential scenarios that could befall us on our trip. This was a saving grace for us.
We were detained in Iran, incommunicado for over 50+ hrs. An Iranian Army patrol popped out and set up a vehicle checkpoint on the road and stopped us, as we were heading to the Iraqi border.
Apparently, they alleged we had entered a forbidden zone on the Iran-Iraq border. Funnily enough other vehicles were coming and going, and we were behind two other vehicles, one other car behind us, and two vehicles coming the other way.
We were held there some 50 minutes and one plain clothes person with the army patrol said to Pete, ‘Tourism,- Terrorism.’ He said this twice and Pete let him know ‘Tourism.’
Then an army jeep came screaming up to the checkpoint. We were told in no uncertain terms to follow them, into the alleged forbidden zone and to an Army base.
, , , , .
, , .
The Army I imagine sent for the Police who arrived, and these people Pete was not allowed to see. So they blindfolded him.
Pete was at this army base by these people. (I’m picking secret police). He was blind folded for possibly 5 hours as they interrogated me.
They were concerned the Rav 4 we were driving had surveillance cameras on it. Pete told them the front and back camera were driving aids with no SIM cards. Two soldiers stood for over an hour with their fingers over these 2 cameras before thy came and put black tape over them.
The GPS they wanted the SIM card from - which doesn’t have one and they wanted the SIM card from the inbuilt Toyota display on the dashboard. They refused to believe it didn’t have one.
Then they got all uptight over the ‘nextbase’ dash cam. Pete retrieved the SIM card for this and gave it to them. He told them it just recorded every 3 minutes, and wiped the previous 3 minutes as the next 3 minutes came up, and it was used if we were involved in a crash.
One of the plain clothes people, who alleged he was army got in Pete’s face and told him he was ‘bullshit and didn’t know my camera’. He did this twice. Quietly Pete said to him that he knew the trick he was trying to play on him as I had used the same ploy himself in his Policing days (they knew Pete was an ex-cop at this stage) he smiled, and he said something to his boss.
Funnily enough we had an Insta360 camera in the front, but they didn’t take too much interest in that.
After about 24 hours we were then bundled into our car with them telling us they would take us to Shesh (a town about an hour away) and set us free. We were relieved. This DID NOT happen.
We had an ‘escort’ of one car behind and two cars in front. Part way to Shesh in the middle of no-where, in the middle of the night - it was pitch black, they stopped us, surrounded the car and told us we were emitting a signal from the car. Pete told them this was bullshit as they had no antennas on their vehicles to do this. We think they were trying to intimidate us - it worked!
.
This is one of the most frightening situations we have been in, out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people we don’t know, and not knowing their intentions. Remember no-one knew we were detained at this point.
They then wanted to look inside the engine, so Pete opened the bonnet.
We got to Shesh and they drove us right through there, to the other side, contrary to what they said at the Army base.
We were stopped again and 2 plain cars arrived. We were now seriously concerned - again.
Our hearts were in our mouths, we were having trouble swallowing because our mouths were so dry. Pete was really concerned for me – and looking back I have to say these were some incredibly trying circumstances for both of us – we both did.
We were then told to follow them. They refused to answer Pete as to where we were going, or allow us to call the embassy, or who these new people were. They said they were taking us to a hotel for the night.
Pete recounts the rest:
They had not searched the car properly and we still had a Personal Locator Beacon PLB from my SAR policing days. (I had it refurbed before we left on the trip!!! Great investment.)
I told Janelle to get this and to set it off, hoping like hell it would work.
However, it was unbeknown to us at this stage, that a message was transmitted to the outside world from the PLB. We were in Iran and I didn’t know if it would pick up a satellite from this location..
The satellite picked up the beacon, downloaded to NZ, and authorities who then rang our daughter Louisa.
I had briefed her prior to leaving on our trip that if this thing were to go off, then we are in serious shit, and get whatever help the NZ authorities can do.
She told the authorities this and they activated Foreign Affairs and the embassy in Tehran.
Louisa had pictures of us, the car, our intended route which she was able to forward through to them. We had given her all this information prior to leaving on our trip and what would transpire if the locator beacon was set off.
While all this was going on we were driven to a location I don’t know where, as it was pitch black.
It was a compound where they locked the car behind these huge metal doors. The huge doors slamming shut, reverberated like a gunshot going off. I backed the car in as opposed to driving in to ensure the PLB had the greatest exposure to the night sky, as it pinged away.
Again they searched the car and I was hoping the PLB had done its thing, as I was sure they would take it. Unbelievably they just left it to ping away.
During the interrogation phases I had said to Janelle that we needed ‘disruptors’ in place to stop their line of questioning. We did this by asking for toilet breaks, water and food. It seems to work because each time we came back they started on a new questioning phase, not finishing what they asked us before. The scenarios we had role played before the trip were playing out as we expected them to.
, - . .
We put another ‘disruptor’ in here, when we both asked to use the toilet and while there, planned our next sequence to counter them.
Again I said to Janelle, short answers telling them only what they already know, asking them to repeat the question several times (as if we did not understand!!!) as it gave us time to think of the answers.
Throughout all of this, Janelle did absolutely brilliantly in evading questions as much as possible and disrupting them with a completely different answer.
Prior to leaving on this trip Janelle and I had discussed scenarios such as this and how to handle it. We went into scenario mode during the 50+ hrs.
The next day, we were still held at this interrogation centre, they asked if it was OK to search the car again. I really had no choice, so asked Janelle to stand by and watch them.
They ran a ‘wand’ over the car, the next day looking for signals, cameras etc. Found nothing - because there was nothing.
I was asked what business I was doing in Iran and who I was contacting there. This went on and on, as they refused to believe I had no contacts in Iran.
Unbeknown to us, Foreign Affairs had contacted the authorities in Iran by this time - New Year’s Eve- day.
During a break in the interrogation - when they then took our computers away, we slipped out through a back door that was unlocked and did some anti-survelliance to ensure we weren’t being tailed, by the Police who were meant to be watching us.
We saw a young man in the street and explained what was going on.
, allowed us to use his phone where we made contact with Louisa, our daughter, and let her know what was happening.
We asked her to let the authorities know. This was the first contact we had had with the outside world in 48 hrs.
Just before midnight on NY eve, they came back with all our gear, and told us we could leave in the morning - not before. There demeanour and attitude had changed 180* - I think because the outside world knew where we were now.
We didn’t sleep that night either .
We made it through to Iraq the next day, still nervous that they may stop us and start again in Iran. They didn’t.
, , .
Having watched ‘SAS Who Dares Wins’ and the resistance to interrogation phase, at the end just about all the candidates cry as a result of the ordeal. I now understand why.
We then did a straight shot to Riyadh to go to the NZ embassy.
Our debrief is 42 pages long - what I have shared here is the synopsis.
Now, a very happy New Year.
We have no money, (some kind people paid for our Visas at the border crossings - unbelievable!)
I have cracked ribs,
but we’re alive,
and we have each other.
NZ Embassy staff and NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs were unbelievable with their help. I am proud to be a Kiwi, with them in our corner.
Louisa was unbelievable in NZ with all the information she was able to provide and help the authorities build a profile of us.
What has it taught us, about life?
Resilience, and persistence. NEVER GIVE UP - regardless of how dire the situation may look.
You can be so close to the goal without realising.
Keep thinking ahead about the next move and keep your wits about you.
Treat people with respect and build rapport - even if they are treating you badly.
Lean on someone who can help support you. Janelle and I leant on each other throughout this ordeal.
Ask your God for guidance and help. He WILL, come to the party.
Our God certainly did, as we leaned on him as well as each other.
If you have to get through the next hour, or the next minute, or the next 10 seconds - break it down into bite sized chunks. But always keep stepping forward one small step at a time.
Pre-planning in life can help in situations, dire or otherwise, as you can call on these frameworks that will get you through whatever is happening - logically: without the emotional reactions that normally accompany stressful situations.
Our pre-planning and having the right information with the right people at the right time was a game-changer and a life-saver for us.
We are now re-considering what we do now to continue the journey home. NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs have emphatically said, that we should not go back through Iran.
We are taking their advice seriously, and looking for alternative routes to get home.
It appears our only option is to ship the car to India and start the drive again. This is a seriously expensive piece of water - hence we are seeking your financial help to help restart us again, and get us home to New Zealand as quickly as possible.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
You may ask - 'why not ship the car straight to NZ?' We have considered this option but it is outside the range of our budget at this time.
Thank you so much for your generosity and help. We really do appreciate it.
Donate to Detained in Iran - Help us get home safely please?, organized by Janelle OKeeffe
