AN EPIC ADVENTURE ACROSS THE SIMPSON DESERT IN THE NEW DEFENDER

We love sharing the adventures from fellow Land Rover owners, especially when their vehicles deliver on our promise to go above and beyond. The New Defender is no different. Capable of great things. A vehicle that has been created with the toughest materials for optimum durability, and the ability to tackle extreme terrains with ease.

New Defender owner Peter Vickery was excited to put his vehicle to the test in a Simpson desert crossing organised by Great Divide Tours, and unsurprisingly he was not disappointed.

The adventure started in Broken Hill as Peter and his wife Pip headed west into South Australia, and traversed iconic Australian destinations like the Oodnadatta Track, Lake Eyre, Birdsville and Tibooburra, before finishing the trip in White Cliffs, NSW. All up their epic journey from Canberra covered almost 5000km, with the New Defender barely breaking a sweat.

With plenty of rain in the months leading up to their departure, Peter and Pip found the outback bursting with greenery and amazing wildlife, with breathtaking blue skies and a sense of peace and solitude. Whatever the driving conditions - from miles of flat gravel and salt pans through to creeks flowing with water and sand dunes - Peter says the Defender “ate the conditions up”. Behind the wheel, he always felt in complete control and there was never a situation the car wasn’t able to handle.

One of the highlights for Peter was driving the Defender across parallel sand dunes, which he said felt like being on the sea as the car smoothly went up and down. The Defender never missed a beat, performing “magnificently”. Pip shared the driving, and although she wasn’t familiar with the Defender, she sailed effortlessly over the dunes and commented “it was like the car was enjoying itself”.

At the big Red sand dune near Birdsville - the biggest and most notorious in the desert - all drivers initially took the easier route to the top. Once there however, people were given the option of returning to the base of the climb to try the more difficult steeper and softer track. A number decided to take up the challenge. As the lone Land Rover in a fleet of Toyotas the pressure was on Peter and the Defender to make an attempt, with Peter keen to test the Defender’s capabilities. Any doubts from those waiting atop the dune soon disappeared as the Defender “glided over Big Red the first time”.

Back out on the open road, Peter found travelling in the Defender very smooth, quiet and easy to drive, with a refined feeling of space and comfort. After their desert adventure, Peter concluded that the Defender was more than capable of tackling any obstacle in its path, giving him assurance and confidence wherever the journey took him. And although he can’t be completely sure, Peter would like to claim the title of ‘First New Defender to cross the Simpson Desert’, which sounds fair to us!

Learn more about the New Defender and why Peter is such a fan.