After a night of next to no sleep due to rising anxiety levels, I flew up to Sydney early this morning to pick up the new truck herein to be known simply as ‘The Beast’.

Thankfully it all went off without a hitch and the great folk (John, Karen, Ben & Iva) at Trucks ‘N’ Toys made sure I was well sorted before sending me on my way. A friendlier bunch of consumate professionals you couldn’t imagine. I’ll have ‘The Rig’ page updated in the next few days with some more pics and info about ‘The Beast’.

John & Ben present me with ‘The Beast’.

Having bid them farewell, it was a nightmare getting through the afternoon traffic, and I was genuinely concerned at the rate at which the trip computer said I was using fuel in the stop start traffic. It was sucking down diesel like an alcoholic at an open bar. Once I was on the highway though, it was a different story as the fuel use dropped to within a cooee of what I was getting out of the patrol, which was half the car and half the engine. I opened her up and the road trip began. What a sweet ride. I’ve only got this afternoon and tomorrow to get it home, before I have to start sorting out the myriad of little extras that I need to do to it to get it ready for our trip.

With that in mind though, there are a few ports of call to make along the way. It just wouldn’t be a road trip if I jumped in the drivers seat and just followed the whiteline all the way back to Melbourne now would it?

So first up this evening was Goulbourn, where I was able to introduce the big Ram, to the big sheep. I think that they’re in love!

The Big Ram meets the Big Sheep.

After a bit of a feed and a bit of a rest, I pushed on into the night, finally stopping off in Gundagai. Since it was already pretty late when I pulled in, I will have to wait until tomorrow to let ‘The Beast’ meet the famous dog on the tuckerbox. For now though, I’ve found myself a truckstop, and I’m gonna test out the comfort of the back seat. It was either that or a swag in the tray, but it’s a bit noisy here right next to the highway.

Until next time, stay safe, have fun and don’t forget to write.