The right truck

Most trucks of this type in Australia are purchased by either government "Power Authorities" or mining companies. The ones for mining companies tend to be driven to destruction - they are seldom available second hand. The power co. ones are used as service vehicles for the power transmission lines which cross the countryside. The service "roads" are the tracks left from construction and are not maintained so end up looking a bit like this :



















However with a little bit of searching a reasonable one can be found. Mine was found (via the net) on the other side of the country (and in "Aus" this can be significant) in a place called Macksville (north of Sydney and south of Coffs Harbour) on the East Coast!! So after much email with pictures a deposit was paid and a flight booked. After much trepidation an inspection proved "Suz" to be as good as hoped for. I strapped a few 200ltr drums of diesel on the back (fuel was in short supply in a few places across Aus. at the time) and headed off. Steady cruising at about 80 km(2800rpm!) and a few deviations to check on some items for the proposed camper (eg composite panels in Adelaide and Jacana Motorhomes in New South Wales) saw me arrive home in Perth just over a week later using this route: