Truckin Around Oz - Island LockDown

Truckin Around Oz

15 July

1. The lady Fraser barge with trucks on board, arrives at Palm Island..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.

Many truckies from around the country have travelled across the ocean to the beautiful island which is in 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.

**Palm Island boxing trainer, Ray Dennis**

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.

VARIETY OF TRUCKIES

Still 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.

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