Aptly Named Highway, Tassie Rest Areas, And More

Truckin Around Oz

26 Jun

Truckin Around Oz

Aptly Named Highway

THE Remembrance Driveway in NSW has 17 rest areas named in honour of 24 Australian heroes who won Victoria Cross medals in conflicts since World War II.

It is a real pleasure to stop off at one of these, located between Sydney and Canberra, and to read about their military service.

Some of the rest areas have vans which sell fruit, vegetables and food and coffee.

A sign to one of the rest areas honouring Victoria Cross heroes

Tassie Rest Areas

WHILST on the subject of rest areas, we hear that some big news regarding Tasmanian rest areas will be forthcoming soon.

A committee has been liaising with the Government about gaining more rest areas - especially ones which are truckie friendly with toilets and shaded areas.

Smell Irritates

A truckie who lives in a big country town was overcome by a stench coming from the yard of a vacant house next door. This went on for days and the smell only got worse.

A quick search of the yard revealed the reason. There were the remains of a dead possum in an overgrown garden at the house, which hadn’t been occupied for months.

It appeared the possum had fallen from a tree. Its remains were buried much to the relief of the driver.

Log trucks at a pull off area near Deloraine in northern Tasmania

4. Log truck at Deloraine in Nthrn Tasmania.JPG

Island Lockdown

When north Queensland’s Palm Island was in lockdown due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, trucks continued to keep it supplied, travelling there by barge from Lucinda on the mainland.

Palm Island was in lockdown from late March until June 12 when the 3,000 local permanent residents were allowed to leave the island to travel to the mainland.

They were not even allowed to go fishing in outboard motor power dinghies until late May and that had only been on weekends. This was all due to Covid-19, although not a single case was found there.

The Palm Island barge company operates a 24 metre landing barge the "MV Olympic" and 30 metre barge "Lady Fraser" from the home Port of Lucinda providing a daily return vehicle, passenger and cargo freight service to Palm Island Monday to Friday.

The Lady Fraser barge, replete with trucks, arrives at Palm Island

Many truckies from around the country have travelled across the ocean to a beautiful island which is amongst the Great Barrier Reef. As a fringe benefit you may get to see a whale or two on the three hour cruise across the briny.

There are some well-known truckies on the island, mostly working for the Shire Council.

One famous resident is veteran boxing trainer Ray Dennis who is a caretaker at the barge building near the Reel Women Jetty.

Ray and his boxers have appeared on numerous national television programs.

Fluid Overload

One well known road transport identity felt violently ill. His wife phoned 000 and the ambulance tore up his street with siren on and lights blazing.

He was placed on a stretcher in his front yard and this was seen by many curious neighbours.

The lad had many medical tests at the hospital and was diagnosed with having an excess of fluid in his body. After being given three doses of another fluid which made him do many piddles during a day and night in hospital, he returned home.

“So many neighbours wanted to know what was wrong with me and some of the gossip that spread was unbelievable,” he said.

He told us the fluid was on his lungs, around the ankles, thighs and several other body parts.

The Doctor’s advice: give up the booze when off duty.

But will this be a mission impossible? “Jeez, he’s asking a lot. I’ve already given up the booze when I’m ON duty!”

Variety Of Truckies

Back up north, and one of the most interesting places to meet a variety of truck drivers would have to be the Townsville Port Access Road.

There is access to it from the western Flinders Highway and south from the Bruce Highway.

Trucks travelling from the north usually negotiate the Townsville Ring Road and cruise past Lavarack Army Barracks and the BP Cluden, before making a left turn to the busy Port.

On numerous visits there this year I have met up with drivers hauling cattle, minerals, machinery, fertilizer and other things too numerous to mention.

Drivers come from many parts of Queensland, and there are plenty from NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory. They even see the odd few from SA, WA or Tasmania.

WARNING: The cops often set up a sneaky radar near the entrance. An officer will hide and come out from behind a tree and fine a driver for speeding, often for only a kilometre over the limit.

Town With A Difference

It is doubtful if truckies who travel around Australia would deliver to a more interesting town than Nimbin in NSW.

Nimbin is located 766 km north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway, Summerland Way, Casino and Lismore, and 179 km south of Brisbane via Murwillumbah.

I recently interviewed a truckie from Nimbin who was delivering interstate and he was proud of his home town. Then, a few days later he phoned me to ask that I not mention Nimbin. Well, sorry chum. I’ve mentioned the town but not your good self – which is no doubt what you meant.

Then I visited Nimbin and could hear various people yelling out the word “taxi” and there was no cab in sight. Some locals told me it was a “code word” for police being in the vicinity.

Nimbin is a tourist destination and is famous for the number of “Hippy style” people who lived there. When I was there lots of light trucks were delivering food and goods to local businesses. It is a thriving place with a personality all its own.

Look For Australia’s Biggest Kookaburra

A giant kookaburra will attract plenty of attention when it travels on a trailer behind a truck from Brisbane to Townsville in late July or early August. It was be on display at the 26th annual Cultural Fest at Townsville’s James Cook University campus grounds from August 14 to 16.

The 4.5m tall and 8.5k long Kookaburra statue was built by Festival organiser, Dr. Farvardin Daliri in Brisbane during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Dr. Daliri has created other famous statues for previous Festivals including Slim Dusty, former champion rugby league player Johnathan Thurston and an Aboriginal warrior.

Dr. Daliri is planning to drive the Kookaburra north to Townsville in the last week of July as restrictions ease. Along the way the Kookaburra will stop of at schools and local Council events and we’re certain it will prove a hit.