Recently we undertook an expedition across a large swathe of Australian Desert Country, where the skies are dark blue and the earth a parched red.
This was a trip that took us across Australia’s Great Victoria and Gibson Desert’s and some other marvellous places along the way.
You can read a little more about the expedition here…
I’ve always considered the journey is what a trip is all about, even the bits in between the good bits when you seem to be travelling no-where fast, transiting from one point to another. But having said that, touring and travelling in this great country of ours usually means “covering the miles” to get to an objective of some kind.
On our recent trip we pulled up in the small town of Peterborough, South Australia, for a cup of tea and bite to eat, doing so in a park not too far from the centre of town. Very pleasant indeed, and perhaps next time we will spend a little more time there to explore it just a little bit further.
Now Mrs Landy, Janet my wonderful partner, and I have been together for over thirty years, childhood sweethearts, almost, having lived next door to each other in our heady adolescent years.
Neither of us has experienced what it might be like to leave a lover, for another, only to run into your ex-partner at the very moment you are looking longingly at your new beau!
Crikey, not in the last thirty years anyway…
Perhaps against all odds, as we were downing a piping hot cup of tea on what was a fairly cold and wintry afternoon in downtown Peterborough, the “Old Landy” or “Old Whitey” as it is referred to these days, the somewhat trusty old vehicle that took us on many trips into Outback Australia, pulled up, right where we were sitting.
Perhaps, just like a scorned lover would.
Goading us by its mere presence; causing us to feel a twinge of guilt at the way it was discarded, for another…
Oddly, I had never met the gentlemen who had purchased “Old Whitey” as Janet took care of the sale, so I introduced myself and he said it was travelling well…
I think he was as surprised as me!
But it did leave us thinking was this “an old lover’s curse” as we headed for the deserts!
Fortunately The “New” Landy performed perfectly, and as expected…
Have you ever had a similar experience?
Um, with your vehicle, strewth I’ll stay out of your love affairs otherwise?
Xplore 
LOVE your photo of the sunset and car. AMAZING. Your already teaching me a lot!
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Quite nice isn’t it…I should sell it to Mr Toyota!
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Aww…that old Landy two-timing on you. Bad form, truck. Bad form.
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Um, well, I kind of glad she moved on… 🙂
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Two timing hussy.
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There is no way Janet is old enough to have been with you 30 years! You are a lucky man! And it is good to know the Landy is still making miles and taking someone new on adventures. You raised it well and passed it on!
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Loved this post but they only let me LIKE it 🙂
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What fun to meet the Landy (old) again. She really showed you that she’s still got what it takes. 😉
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Gulp… 😉
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A small world when you bump into your old vehicle! I owned a Land Rover Defender which had completed a few trans-Africa trips and has subsequently completed a few more since I sold her. Land Rover owners seem to be very unique and tend to keep in touch more. The owners of the Defender even met for a day sharing experiences…
I now own a Toyota and certainly miss the comradery that owning a Landy brings!
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I’ve never run into an old vehicle, but always felt funny trading them in. I’ve had Seabisquit the Subaru the longest of any car, and that one has the most miles of any vehicle I’ve ever had. Just passed 419,000 and still going strong. Only new car I ever owned. Shooting for 500,000 miles!
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Subaru’s never seem to die, that seems to be the thing about them, they’ll go forever!
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Seabisquit is a star!
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Thanks, Gallivanta!
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Great story. I agree the journey is the big part of the trip. We drive a round trip that runs us between 3000-4000 km every 4-6 weeks and we love the drive as much as the destination. People think we are crazy.
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Crikey, that is quite a drive, as much as I like driving in such a short time period. Are you doing something in particular?
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We drive to our island place and back. 1142 km one way if we don’t go off the beaten track; there is actually a 800km stretch where we just stay on the same highway without turning off. This includes going through 4 mountain passes through the Canadian Rockies plus a ferry. Spring, summer and autumn are great drives….winter not so much. Let’s just say my husband loves his snow tires. Of course we do it in the winter to escape winter; home will be -40C and the island +10C and kayaking in February. Just to make you really shudder, we sometimes drive it through the night out, stay 2 nights and then drive back after catching the “crack of dawn” ferry.
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Thanks for that Deb, you’d fit in here with us quite well…kayak’s and all!
Now how is that owl going 😉
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Hopefully the owl will soon have a beaver and a bear for company….yarn is in the dye pot as I type.
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