lostride
New member
Growing up my dad had taken my two sisters and I on "expeditions" to a small town in the north-west of Victoria's wheat belt called Pyramid Hill, where most of our ancestors are buried apparently and a few were actually still above ground at that time.
We camped in a rather large canvas tent with stretchers; I will always remember that smell; sweet musty canvas and the chortle of the Australian magpie at dawn; a powerful and everlasting sensation that is as vivid in my mind today, almost 40 years later.
After spending the last 20 years living in Canada, I have returned to my native Australia with a very fresh perspective and an enthusiasm for all that Australia has to offer. In my time in Canada I owned 3 Jeeps (among other things!), 2 XJ's and the last was the interesting ZJ 5.9 Limited Grand Cherokee. I never really went on any expeditions so to speak in Canada, but as many will be aware, just driving in Ottawa in winter is quite the experience.
Today I am fortunate to be living and working in the Cairns area of Far North Queensland in Australia's wet tropics on the Great Barrier Reef. This region is a paradise and 'must do' on every travellers list. I am also fortunate to work for a reef tour operator with several dive boats including a liveaboard. My work is office bound however, with getaways to the reef for a few days at a time about every month or so. I am new to the sport of scuba diving and i have to say that if you haven't tried it you are missing out on one of the most incredible environments our wonderful planet has to offer!
My plan is now to fully engage myself in a life of adventure and exploration, enjoying our spectacular environment with friends new and old and with my grandsons as they grow.
I would like to share this experience and this journey and now is a good time to start, with the proverbial first step of a thousand miles, so here goes:
I live in a resort in the small village of Palm Cove in Far North Queensland about 25 minutes drive north of the main destination city of Cairns. Palm Cove is situated on a beautiful beach with two picturesque islands just off-shore. At the northern end of the beach there is the "world's most expensive fishing platform" the Palm Cove Jetty. The Jetty sees very little boat traffic as far as I can tell but is a great place to fish. Large sharks, Spanish Mackeral and Barramundi are the big boys here.
For the first 6 months I caught the bus into my office in Cairns most days and occasionally working from home. In that time I thought about the life I was creating here and of course, what type of vehicle I aspired to own. Everyday on that long 45 minute journey into the city i stared out the window at the incredible array of 4WD vehicles that dominate the roads here. Australia is the home of ARB and many equipment outfitters for off-road vehicles. Australia has also become a nation of "Grey Nomads" it seems, with all that retirement money sunk into very flashy rigs with even flashier caravans (trailers).
Australia is dominated by the ubiquitous Toyota Land Cruiser and other new ones I haven't heard of in Canada; the Prado (sounds like a ladies fashion accessory to me) and the even odder named Kluger; where do they get these names from? Anyway, the first 4WD I owned when I originally lived here back in the eighties was a 1976 SWB soft top Landcruiser 3 speed; these new fangled ones just didn't seem that, um cool. There are a few Jeeps here but they seemed to look a bit out of place and bit light for Australian conditions (ok, sorry Jeep people! my 1995 XJ flooded the cabin in the slightest rain, never mind crossing a creek here! I do love Jeeps though!)
So what has a ladder chassis, heavy construction, has "legend" status, diesel engine (petrol is $1.30 here, the 5.9 Lt GCL would be a nightmare to run here!) is extremely comfortable, can do amazing things if driven correctly and, finally, has a name that means business instead of.. well you know.. Prado? what is that?? (I am sure they are very capable machines, I just can't say "Prado" without ********
no offense intended Prado owners!...
I found the beginning bones of what I hope will be the basis of my adventures and Discovery(s) vehicle; yeah she is a Land Rover Discovery 2003 with a TD5 turbo diesel, "Platinum Edition" meaning she has some cool extra's similar to the G4 vehicles of that year. She has high miles (245,000 Km) and with that a lot of maintenance has been done and all the wobbly Land Rover bits have already fallen of and been replaced or stuck back on a little more securely, although she brought with her the "3 Amigos", Disco people will know what they are...
So my first weekend I headed straight outback, west of Palm Cove, over the Range and into the "outback" to Chillagoe a former mining town now famous for beautiful marble that rivals that from Italy and also for many caves.
I hope to be able to document the transformation of my vehicle and the adventures along the way! thanks for reading this if you got this far!
Good luck to you all and travel safely!
Tony (Lostride)
We camped in a rather large canvas tent with stretchers; I will always remember that smell; sweet musty canvas and the chortle of the Australian magpie at dawn; a powerful and everlasting sensation that is as vivid in my mind today, almost 40 years later.
After spending the last 20 years living in Canada, I have returned to my native Australia with a very fresh perspective and an enthusiasm for all that Australia has to offer. In my time in Canada I owned 3 Jeeps (among other things!), 2 XJ's and the last was the interesting ZJ 5.9 Limited Grand Cherokee. I never really went on any expeditions so to speak in Canada, but as many will be aware, just driving in Ottawa in winter is quite the experience.
Today I am fortunate to be living and working in the Cairns area of Far North Queensland in Australia's wet tropics on the Great Barrier Reef. This region is a paradise and 'must do' on every travellers list. I am also fortunate to work for a reef tour operator with several dive boats including a liveaboard. My work is office bound however, with getaways to the reef for a few days at a time about every month or so. I am new to the sport of scuba diving and i have to say that if you haven't tried it you are missing out on one of the most incredible environments our wonderful planet has to offer!
My plan is now to fully engage myself in a life of adventure and exploration, enjoying our spectacular environment with friends new and old and with my grandsons as they grow.
I would like to share this experience and this journey and now is a good time to start, with the proverbial first step of a thousand miles, so here goes:
I live in a resort in the small village of Palm Cove in Far North Queensland about 25 minutes drive north of the main destination city of Cairns. Palm Cove is situated on a beautiful beach with two picturesque islands just off-shore. At the northern end of the beach there is the "world's most expensive fishing platform" the Palm Cove Jetty. The Jetty sees very little boat traffic as far as I can tell but is a great place to fish. Large sharks, Spanish Mackeral and Barramundi are the big boys here.
For the first 6 months I caught the bus into my office in Cairns most days and occasionally working from home. In that time I thought about the life I was creating here and of course, what type of vehicle I aspired to own. Everyday on that long 45 minute journey into the city i stared out the window at the incredible array of 4WD vehicles that dominate the roads here. Australia is the home of ARB and many equipment outfitters for off-road vehicles. Australia has also become a nation of "Grey Nomads" it seems, with all that retirement money sunk into very flashy rigs with even flashier caravans (trailers).
Australia is dominated by the ubiquitous Toyota Land Cruiser and other new ones I haven't heard of in Canada; the Prado (sounds like a ladies fashion accessory to me) and the even odder named Kluger; where do they get these names from? Anyway, the first 4WD I owned when I originally lived here back in the eighties was a 1976 SWB soft top Landcruiser 3 speed; these new fangled ones just didn't seem that, um cool. There are a few Jeeps here but they seemed to look a bit out of place and bit light for Australian conditions (ok, sorry Jeep people! my 1995 XJ flooded the cabin in the slightest rain, never mind crossing a creek here! I do love Jeeps though!)
So what has a ladder chassis, heavy construction, has "legend" status, diesel engine (petrol is $1.30 here, the 5.9 Lt GCL would be a nightmare to run here!) is extremely comfortable, can do amazing things if driven correctly and, finally, has a name that means business instead of.. well you know.. Prado? what is that?? (I am sure they are very capable machines, I just can't say "Prado" without ********
no offense intended Prado owners!...I found the beginning bones of what I hope will be the basis of my adventures and Discovery(s) vehicle; yeah she is a Land Rover Discovery 2003 with a TD5 turbo diesel, "Platinum Edition" meaning she has some cool extra's similar to the G4 vehicles of that year. She has high miles (245,000 Km) and with that a lot of maintenance has been done and all the wobbly Land Rover bits have already fallen of and been replaced or stuck back on a little more securely, although she brought with her the "3 Amigos", Disco people will know what they are...
So my first weekend I headed straight outback, west of Palm Cove, over the Range and into the "outback" to Chillagoe a former mining town now famous for beautiful marble that rivals that from Italy and also for many caves.
I hope to be able to document the transformation of my vehicle and the adventures along the way! thanks for reading this if you got this far!
Good luck to you all and travel safely!
Tony (Lostride)
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