JAPANESE WOMAN, COMPANION TO DRIVE FROM HONG KONG TO CAPE TOWN (854).

HONG KONG, Aug 9 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Living in a simple and crude house by a beach in Lantau, an outlying Hong Kong island, Midori Hiraga has worked hard to prepare for a 40,000-kilometer journey to realize her childhood dream of working for both developing countries and in journalism.

Hiraga keeps practicing and refining her mechanical knowledge and skills on how to fix her aging all-terrain vehicle, a 21-year-old land rover, which will take her on the adventure through more than 20 countries in Asia and Africa.

A freelance journalist from Hiroshima, Hiraga is also learning techniques such as how to grow organic vegetables in a garden built on a cement patio and to produce biodiesel fuel with waste cooking oil.

At the same …