Thanks for all your kind comments and offers of help
The last couple of weeks we've been sorting out the vehicle to get it ready to be shipped back to the UK. The chassis needs replacing as it folded up on the O/S and both front rails are bent, not to mention all the body damage you can see in the photographs, so the cost and time involved to get it repaired in Australia would unfortunately be too much. However, never fear, we'll get the vehicle back to its former glory and are already in the process of arranging things back in the UK for the repairs.
We have the vehicle back on its wheels, pushable and steerable, and our shipping agent in Sydney has said that we can use their yard to load the Land Rover into the container ourselves, saving on the costs normally associated with the process. The engine mounts have detached from the chassis and the engine is pushed back and upwards, in addition the radiator and intercooler are crushed, so we're not in a position to get it mobile under its own steam.
We've been in contact with City Wreckers to move the vehicle to Shaw's Darwin depot, who have quoted us a good price to transport it down to Sydney next week (thanks for the information Bundalene and Stuuu). We'll then fly to Sydney and meet the Land Rover so that we can load it. We were on our way down to Sydney, via Cape York and the east coast, to visit my brother and family when the accident happened, although those plans obviously changed somewhat. The couple in the Discovery 3 were remarkably philosophical about the accident and the fact that their vehicle and trailer have both been written off by their insurance company (they had agreed value policies, so are already thinking about a Defender 130 as a possible replacement). The main thing was that nobody was hurt, which is testament to the strength of Land Rovers and the fact that neither vehicle was travelling that fast.
Australia is such a great country to travel by 4WD, with a freedom to explore which we just don't have in the UK, and we are obviously disappointed to have to cut our trip short. However, we'd already been planning to come back in the future to see the parts we hadn't had time to visit, so we'll just have to make it a longer trip next time. We've also got some amazing memories of the places we've seen and especially the people we've met.
Thanks again,
Mike & Anne