The shovel, reimagined

THE OLD LAND ROVER DEFENDER WOULDN’T KNOW ITS GRANDCHILD. SO IS THE NEW SHORT-WHEELBASE VERSION A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO THE ORIGINAL? OR JUST ANOTHER LUXO SUV WANNABE?

- DYLAN CAMPBELL

THE BRIGHT pink truck with black flames heaves to a halt, the sun illuminating a trailing cloud of dust for a truly ethereal sight. Having heard “truck coming” crackle through the two-way radio from photographer Alastair Brook – hiding in the bushes somewhere – I’ve reversed our Land Rover Defender test car on to a grassy

verge in this remote pine plantation many miles east of Melbourne. It’s not the first logging truck to come past, but it’s the first one that’s ominously stopped. A stocky, middle-age man with forearms the size of bowling pins climbs from the cab. He’s wearing a mask (surgical, not hockey) so I can’t tell his expression, but it seems he’s not carrying a length of wood full of nails, nor an idling chainsaw. So far, so good.

See, it’s sadly an Australian thing that on a photoshoot, even though you might be breaking no law whatsoever – you might be on public property and not even bothering anybody – often someone must come and tell you to go away. (Irate farmers have even shot at us from a distance with rifles.) It’s either that, or you’ve got some interesting car and the person approaching is coming over for a friendly chat. But until they open their mouth – are they irrationally, psychotically angry? Or kind and just curious? – you can never really guess which way it’s going to go. The whole mask business has not helped.