Writers’ Rovers
Patrick has been saving the world, one Defender at a time
We don’t just write about Land Rovers, we own them. See what the team have been up to this month
Arather lengthy road trip will inevitably lead to Land Rover encounters of the memorable kind. My recent Defender dash across the Outback of Australia featured in the Winter 2017 issue of LRM, was without a doubt no exception. Now I know that this section of the magazine is supposed to be about one or all of my three Land Rovers, but I feel that there is an untold story from my recent Australian adventure that still needs to be told. Please hear me out.
How many Land Rover experiences, projects, sales, ideas or adventures have originated in a bar? Probably more than most would like to admit. This one most definitely did, the setting was the Mungerannie Hotel, situated about halfway up the 321 mile long Birdsville Track. It was around midnight when the characterful landlord, Phil Gregurke, mentioned that he too had a Defender. How did I know it was midnight? There were only about four people left in the bar and Eric Clapton was playing After Midnight on the radio.
You have a better chance of seeing a polar bear than a Defender in these parts, as this is Toyota and Nissan country so I thought Phil was pulling my leg because I had arrived here in a red Defender several hours ago. “Yes, I also have one but it has not been anywhere for about five years. You will find it behind the shed.” He was not joking. “I thought that we could put it to good use here but it actually it was of no use. It’s a 110 pick up and has a Tdi engine.” Not long after bringing it here Phil got another ‘ute’ and the Defender was relegated to back-up duties. As a protector of all things with a green oval, I asked Phil if we could try to get it going in the morning? He was in good spirits and kindly agreed. Often with
these types of conversations they don’t go further than the bar door, I was determined that this would not be the case.
As a few of the vehicles in our convoy needed a little TLC in the morning, I went in search of Phil’s Defender. It did not take long to find it at the back of the bar. I could see that it had not run for several years. Phil came walking out the house with a rum in his hand. An interesting choice of breakfast drink. “She needs a battery,” barked Phil before fetching one from the shed. The air filter was removed sprayed out with some Liquid Buffer before connecting the battery up. She started first time. It was as if she had only been parked up last night, though the cobwebs and dust told a different story. Phil told me to take her for a drive around the property which I duly did while he carried on nursing his rum.
I could barely see out of the dirty windscreen. This is what I just love about Land Rovers, you can just leave one standing for five years and there is still a good chance that it will start up again at the first turn of the key.
As I drove around the property it did feel a little rough and in need of a service and some oils and lubricants, but it plodded on. I stopped where the rest of the crew were working on our vehicles. They could not believe we had got Phil’s Defender going with so little effort.
Sadly, the time had come to take the Defender back to where it had patiently stood for the past five years. I felt a little guilty parking it. The battery was whipped out and connected back to the charger.
It was time for me to jump back into my red Defender and head up the track. I allowed myself one final look back at Phil’s Defender. There was a real chance that it would stand there for another five years before anyone asks if they can start it up again or even buy it. This was my second visit to the Mungerannie Hotel, though seven years had passed between the two visits. If Phil’s Defender is still there in 2023, then I am definitely going to make him an offer for it...