A bit of nostalgia

[loose cannon]

Cruising through some of my old Simpson desert files and I found this.

Lots of memories here, ye olde hilux, rambling its way across Simpson desert.

Tough truck, tough country...aaaand not so tough driver who has recently updated to luxurious 80 series with a/c, comfy seat, power steering and could not be happier.

Nostalgia ain't all it's cracked up to be

[loose cannon]

Aaaand here's the image... or maybe not. Hang in there folks, one last try!

[Toddyh]

Perfect scene Mick. Track leading away begging to be explored.
For these half car shots I usually try to get something in the side mirror. A dogs head out the window works well. Maybe a stuffed poodle for you?

[sejac]

A beautiful lesson in leading lines. The way the eye is led into what is really a fairly featureless landscape.

That better not be Dusty tied to the bull bar! I Bella see this .....

[loose cannon]

Perfect scene Mick. Track leading away begging to be explored.
For these half car shots I usually try to get something in the side mirror. A dogs head out the window works well. Maybe a stuffed poodle for you?

Cheers Todd. Only common dogs poke their head out of a window on a windy day and I think Dusty may have been in the ensuite at the time anyway.

A beautiful lesson in leading lines. The way the eye is led into what is really a fairly featureless landscape.

That better not be Dusty tied to the bull bar! I Bella see this .....

Dusty? No, frayed knot. That's actually a piece of rope holding the car together. Lost the battery holder on the Gunbarrell highway so some gaffa tape, rope, garden hose and tie wire to the rescue.

[Alan]

Wot Charles said. Looks like it could do with a slight straighten, but that may just be the lie of the land.

I don't think I'd like to be out there by myself for any length of time - well done.

[loose cannon]

Yes, it does need a straighten, well spotted good sir. I do appreciate when somebody picks up on things like that.

There is a power that comes with being alone in remote country Alan, it's like an addictive drug, and once experienced it is never forgotten. Senses are heightened listening for any strange or unwelcome sounds coming from the vehicle, one becomes acutely aware of ones surroundings, tuned in to the country, every little thing becomes important. Something as simple as rain clouds on the horizon present a risk of perhaps being stuck in a bog hole for days or even weeks. Most times nothing happens and all is good but I feel alive out there, on edge, and yet at the same time relaxed and in control.

It's addictive, inspiring and there's nothing quite like it. I find it intimidating and fear inducing at times, I'm no hero and my friends tell me I'm nuts but like a moth to a flame...

Doing some work to my new vehicle, preparation is everything, but soon it will be bush ready to a standard I'm happy with, and away I go!

[Alan]

Well said Mick and in good company..

“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

"“We need the tonic of wildness...At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods

"“Things do not change; we change.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

[loose cannon]

Another book to add to my wishlist, thank you Alan.

[LJG]

Somehow I just cannot imagine you travelling around with a stuffed poodle Mick hahaha. Agree with what you say about the draw of the bush. I'd sooner be out there instead of stuck here in an office. If you are like me and out bush you get cranky when others come along and spoil the solitude.

[Isac]

Such a lovely shot Mick. Those rich colours are great and rather exclusive to that part of Oz.