This Big Rig takes on Australia

Tommy the Toy Truck was assembled by All Terrain Warriors (ATW) in July 2013, and is therefore just over five years old. He has travelled 80,000km, so I thought it was timely to look back over his travels, and just as importantly to consider what has made him as good as a trusted friend and companion to us – something like a well-bred rottweiler, if owning a pet puppy is your thing.

Tommy has been customised to suit our kind of travel. He has a winch front and rear; extra fuel tank; numerous storage spaces added since new; chipped motor; turbo timer; bull bar; new maintenance-free truck batteries; new tyres installed at 60,600 km in March 2018; four solar panels; full annnexe and floor; generator; beer fridge; microwave oven and top load washing machine; Isuzu sat nav (whose compass has been a saviour many times) incorporated with a radio and CD player; and seatbelts for four passengers.

Like a pet puppy there is always maintenance work to be done: tyre pressures are checked regularly; grease and oil are checked every 1,000km; oil is changed on or before 15,000km no matter where Tommy is; there’s the annual government vehicle inspection; all Isuzu warranty services; and cleaning, washing, and polishing during and after a trip. As Tommy’s first driver, I am very conscientious and conscious of maintaining my dear friend’s good health;  Ian, from ATW, can attest to that. It must be said that if one is forgetful and not tech-savvy, the ATW phone number and useful advice are invaluable.

Tommy’s second driver is not a camper but on our first trip together, which was to the tip of Cape York, he proved to driver number two that she could enjoy the confined space without foregoing personal hygiene, comfort and amenity. On this trip both drivers learnt which drawer was the fridge and which was the freezer by the time we arrived in Gympie. The solar panels did not work like the ones at home and were reconfigured in Mount Isa on our next trip, thanks to ATW, to give trouble-free constant power.

Tommy gets to experience the best views - from forest and gorges to caves.

We are free campers. Over the past five years we have slept at million dollar real estate sites, gravel/sand pits, cow paddocks, forests, outside cemeteries, behind churches and fire stations, the odd clean national park (like Lawn Hill and Eurimbula), and plainly out in the middle of nowhere, mostly.

We have needed a caravan park when we couldn’t find water for laundry, or were in a town (like Darwin). We follow CMCA’s Leave No Trace programme. The only time we have had safety concerns was when we were camping in heavy mist in a forest on the Atherton Tableland and shooters started. Powering up many exterior lights fixed the problem. Tommy has given us numerous opportunities to experience freedom and the natural environment like nothing else can.

The seatbelts come in handy when we travel longer distances with a team for lawn bowls carnivals on board.

Tommy has been used for occasional short trips, but the most memorable are the long trips to places where there are no facilities like motels, pubs and caravan parks; not in cities serviced by bitumen, airports and trains. Tommy has served us well all over the outback; along most major Australian river systems; to Tasmania; to every Australian desert; up and down the Great Dividing Range; up and down mountains; to Australian shores at every major cardinal point, he’s followed geological fault lines; and been to every notable Australian rock formation including the Bungle Bungles. He hasn’t done the Kimberley region  or Gibb River Road, and given where we have been, maybe we don’t need to do that. Boating along the Kimberley Coast from Broome to Wyndham may be a better option.

Steered by driver one, Tommy the Toy Truck has proven his safety, reliability and purpose over the last five years. Between Tommy and his first driver, they have given driver two many thousands of architecture, rock and landscape pictures, personal challenges, adrenalin rushes galore and many happy memories. Much more useful than a pet puppy...

Trees make the best Hills Hoists

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Written: Fri 01 Feb 2019
Printed: February, 2019
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