This blog.....a working concept.
It all started with me getting the shits with work about nine months ago. I just got fed up with putting up with idiots in management. Qld Health is a basket case, I could write a book about it but i won’t, I’ve let it go. At fifty-nine I needed to start living.
I came up with the concept of “one man, one truck, one tent” when I started to think about what I might do. I decided to buy an old 4x4, get my Nikon’s dusted off and go tripping around doing some fishing, camping in some remote areas, photography of course, as little work as possible and also attempt to record my travels. I wanted to get back to what I love, the bush, the feeling of isolation that raw nature gives you and most of all, away from people to help me gain my sanity and shake off the “black dog”.
When I started looking for a truck I had a Landcruiser, maybe an eighty series, in mind. I’ve been out of trucks for about ten years, since I sold my old F100 and left the old Landcruiser Ute, that was my dad’s, in Toowoomba.
I had grown up in the bush and was very comfortable with four wheel drives. Our first one was the one I learnt to drive in. It was a short wheelbase Land Rover that was used like a tractor around the farm, pulling cattle out of bogs, snigging fence posts ect. I was about ten when dad gave me the wheel. Put it in low range, first gear, go anywhere; great fun. Add a couple of good ponies, a few hundred head of cattle and a couple of thousand acres to this and you felt totally free.
After making some enquiries I came across an old Nissan Patrol (GU). As soon as I saw it I felt an immediate connection. She was white, in good nick and was in my price range, this was the one. This old truck and I would start a partnership and a new adventure.
The next thing was to get some camping gear together, scoured the op shops and papers for second hand gear. Found what I needed and then looked at the sleeping arrangements. I looked at swags and touring tents. I decided to go with a swag, light weight and compact, that would be my starting point.
After a couple of trips with the swag I could see that a tent would be a better arrangement; a better alternative in rain or bad weather. There were a couple of choices here, but in the end the Black Wolf won hands down, architecturally superior, good space, it would be a good base, a home if it did rain.
Let’s give it a go, what’s to loose – nothing - your a long time dead.
