- 4 months ago
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00:00This time on Outback Truckers.
00:03Bring that truck up!
00:04Haven't driven a truck in like five years.
00:07I hope it all comes flooding back.
00:10Same as or hook it left.
00:14Go centre and stay in the centre.
00:17Stop going that way.
00:19Stop!
00:22What do you know about the roads that we've got to come across?
00:25I'm dead set reckon we're heading for drama, mate.
00:27What's going on here?
00:31I'm going down here.
00:33We don't want to roll one going down there.
00:38We've got a million things all happening here.
00:41It's like trying to muster feral cats at the moment.
00:45Punch it into it as hard as we can.
00:47On a 13% grade, you just can't stop.
00:52Jesus.
00:55F*** me.
00:57We're getting into a bad set of corrugations here now,
01:13so we're just going to have to walk through it pretty steady.
01:17Seem to be dragging heavy.
01:21I'm just going to go and have a quick walk.
01:23See the hose pop out?
01:29The air hose will come out.
01:31I think the brakes have been jamming up.
01:33That's where you've got a lot of smoke.
01:34Doesn't smell nice.
01:36As soon as that comes out,
01:38it locks the brakes on this trailer.
01:40For the last 200 or 300 metres,
01:42I've been dragging the brakes down here.
01:45Not supposed to be able to do that,
01:47but this one has.
01:49I've got to get him back in his little hole here.
01:54We've driven eight hours from Townsville
01:57without incident at all,
01:59and now as soon as we hit the dirt,
02:01we get something like that.
02:03But anyway, we'll get going again.
02:05Jim Foodie and his young off-sider Q
02:12have just started a challenging five-day trucking mission.
02:17We left Townsville at 7am this morning.
02:20We're now heading on our way back to Mareeba
02:23with two cement powders.
02:24We have to drop one trailer into Lakeland.
02:30After leaving Townsville,
02:32Foodie is now halfway to Lakeland,
02:34where he'll park one of his trailers.
02:36He'll then return to Cairns tomorrow for more cargo.
02:40A lot of freight coming into our yard at Cairns.
02:43We've got to try and get it all up for Christmas there.
02:45There's just...
02:46There isn't any other option.
02:49After loading two trailers in Cairns,
02:51Foodie will pick up the trailer he left in Lakeland
02:54and drag a 130-tonne triple road train
02:58all the way up Cape York to Bamaga
03:01in a last-ditch attempt to deliver
03:03before the tropical wet season hits.
03:07The monsoon kicks in.
03:09Cape York typically gets around three metres of rain.
03:14The roads are cut, the rivers are flooded.
03:18Bridges could be six or seven metres underwater.
03:21There's just no hope of getting a truck in there.
03:24We've got to get up there.
03:25This will be our last run before Christmas.
03:29The last run always has a great number
03:32of Christmas presents on it.
03:35Last thing we want to do is disappoint families.
03:38We've got a million things all happening here.
03:47It's like trying to muster feral cats at the moment.
03:50We're trying to get everybody in the same page
03:52and it's not working real well.
03:54We've got to remember how to drive this bloody thing.
03:58We've got our trailer to unload here.
04:01You can see a pretty heavy object sitting up there.
04:04I'm guessing it's probably about 14 or 15 tonne.
04:07I need to have it off and have the trailer loaded.
04:10What I'm going to do here is I'm just going to come right through
04:13and I'm just going to very carefully just try to take the weight.
04:17Now, we'll see what we get.
04:19Can we actually pick it up?
04:27Nope.
04:28Don't get lift that.
04:30Let me call Warren.
04:33Yeah, mate, the orange one.
04:35Nurse doesn't quite lift it.
04:37It's close.
04:38Do you want to try the Omega, the smaller one?
04:41Oh, just one in each side
04:44and then we can drive out from underneath it.
04:47G'day, mate. How are you?
04:48I reckon if I go in and just make a bit of weight,
04:52we sort of...
04:53Once we get the truck out from underneath it,
04:56then you just give us the signal
04:57and we'll just very carefully go back down to the ground.
05:01Hey, Q!
05:03You're driving the truck out from underneath this mess.
05:06So we give you the signal.
05:07Watch for it, eh?
05:11It's just a bit technical how we're going to have to do it.
05:13We're going to...
05:14We've got to coordinate.
05:17Oh, I think just go in the centre, mate.
05:20We're truing a bit of a complicated thing.
05:22We're doing a double lift.
05:23We're going to bring a forklift in either side
05:25and then carefully go up.
05:40Boom!
05:41Oh, for f***ing sake.
05:50Up!
05:51Yeah, we're up!
05:57OK, around a bit, Corey.
06:00Hey!
06:02No!
06:03It's a fourth cut, eh?
06:04Yeah, I can see it, eh?
06:05Dylan McCarthy and his team are hard at it,
06:09cutting another beautiful wooden house
06:12into pieces for transporting.
06:14Today we're loading the house.
06:16This side will be the bigger beast.
06:17It's about 7.5 metres wide.
06:19The little bit's only small.
06:21It's only about 3.7.
06:22These big beams are what we use to support the house
06:24while it's travelling.
06:26The trailer's only 3 metres wide
06:27and the house is 7.5.
06:30Essential for the job are the $1.2 million trailers.
06:36Operated by remote control,
06:38they can lift to 2.85 metres,
06:41tilt and have independent steering.
06:44I'm going to get it all picked up now,
06:46push the rest of the walls out
06:48so I can get it split.
06:50We've already cut the floors here.
06:52So it's going to continue that through here
06:54and up the walls at the front and back.
06:56So I'm going to split it straight apart.
07:00Real open everywhere.
07:02It's just that top plate still jammed right up.
07:04It's tighter than it was before.
07:05Back at it?
07:11Righto.
07:12That's it, she's all sweat open.
07:14It's Robbie and Jack's turn now to move her up to Mackay.
07:16Good luck to her, I reckon.
07:23Take straight as long as you can.
07:25Chuck it on the second axle.
07:26Yep.
07:28Driving this up to Cinch Haddon tonight.
07:31Hopefully get halfway tomorrow night to finish her off.
07:33I've got the bigger bit,
07:35so pretty much I make the line
07:38and then Robbie will just follow me through.
07:40Joining senior driver Jack McRae for the job
07:43is his boss, company owner Robbie Mackay.
07:47It's definitely a race against the clock.
07:49There's a cyclone that's going to hit Mackay on Wednesday,
07:52so we're pushing to get up there.
07:55If we didn't move this house tonight,
07:56it gets demolished next week.
07:57The owner was like,
07:59I don't care about the rain, just bring it,
08:01otherwise I'm going to lose my house.
08:03In the urgent race to beat the oncoming cyclone,
08:07the team must first navigate their extreme loads
08:10out of the tight city streets of Brisbane,
08:13onto the A1,
08:14and then travel almost 600 kilometres
08:17to their first rest stop at Marmore,
08:19before sunrise.
08:21The following night,
08:23they complete the journey
08:24along narrow country lanes and creek crossings
08:27to their destination at Finch Hatton.
08:31To pull off the extreme mission,
08:33Robbie needs all the help he can get.
08:36I'm Rob's little sister.
08:38Rob rang me.
08:39We had a big job.
08:40Said he needed a hand,
08:42so here I am.
08:44Long story is,
08:45I quit my job,
08:46brought up with my boyfriend
08:47and had to move into his pool house,
08:48and no-one lives for free,
08:50so here I am.
08:51We've got to be off the road before daybreak,
08:53which is honestly cutting it pretty fine.
08:56Haven't driven a truck in, like, five years.
08:58Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong.
09:01It's a pain where we are now.
09:04We're in suburbia.
09:05It is tight coming through here with the trees,
09:07and that branch is getting snapped off.
09:11We still have a bit of stuffing around
09:13with these cars down here,
09:14so if everyone listens and does what they're meant to,
09:17it'll go good.
09:18Just a couple of cars on the way,
09:19but just lift up and open.
09:25All good.
09:26All right.
09:27You're coming out now, Robbie.
09:29Nice and easy.
09:30Yeah.
09:33Come on.
09:34Yeah.
09:34Nice and easy.
09:38It should be right, Robbie.
09:48Might pass them wires, Jack.
09:50The back ones, yeah.
09:52I am.
09:54Hold on.
09:55Put your foot on the brake.
09:55Go.
09:56Stop.
09:57Stop!
10:02Do you like that?
10:03Yeah.
10:03I'd put the other one just the other side of that rope.
10:05Put them back through each other and pull them.
10:08That way you're getting the same length either side, right?
10:13Brilliant.
10:14Brilliant, Brody.
10:15Brilliant.
10:17We are now 15 or 16 days from Christmas.
10:21We've got three trailers of construction stuff
10:23to go to Alice Springs.
10:25They want this load in Alice Springs
10:27so that their men have got work over Christmas.
10:29There's people over there that want to work.
10:32Steve Graham is preparing for a high-stakes 2,500-kilometre run
10:38through the arid red centre of Australia
10:40to deliver house frames and construction material.
10:44My grandson, Brody, is coming along to give me a hand.
10:46He's a good helper these days.
10:48I've done salmon trips with my granddad before,
10:51but this one might be the most dangerous.
10:52Just 16 days before Christmas,
10:57Steve and Brody are gambling on getting from Perth to Laverton
11:00on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert
11:03and then taking on over 1,000 kilometres of dirt road
11:07to reach the highway into Alice Springs
11:10before a predicted storm cell hits later in the week.
11:14It takes me all of today and all of tomorrow
11:19to get to Laverton.
11:20It's 1,000 kilometres from here.
11:22Once I get to Laverton, I'm crossing my fingers.
11:24It's going to be dry.
11:26If they shut the roads, I'm going to have to shut her down
11:28and it will cost me a lot of money.
11:30Bill, we'll go and do it, Brody.
11:32Are you all right, boy?
11:33All right.
11:33Right on, mate. Let's go.
11:39Right on, Brody. We'll get down there.
11:41We'll hook up for double.
11:42We have to do this in stages
11:44because down here we're only allowed to be 36.5 metres long.
11:48Wooburn North, we're allowed to be 53.5.
11:51Local road regulations force Steve to stagger his load,
11:55only adding a second trailer just outside the city
11:58and adding his third trailer after arriving in Wooburn,
12:03265 kilometres north of Perth.
12:06Right on, so I'll pull alongside the dog trailer.
12:09We hook up a double here.
12:11He can get out.
12:12Guide me from this side
12:13and watch the traffic behind you.
12:16Do not step back onto the road.
12:20We're attaching that dolly to this trailer.
12:23My job is to guide him onto the connection point
12:27and then I'll wind the legs up
12:29and then we'll be gone.
12:30Just before you wind it, what you always do is check.
12:37See that little flap at the front?
12:39Down.
12:39See the little chain?
12:40That's safe.
12:41It's down.
12:41You don't...
12:42But you always check to make sure that's down
12:43before you wind your legs up.
12:45That means it's locked in.
12:46Can't go anywhere.
12:46Always just listen to the click.
12:48Yeah, but always check that.
12:49Don't trust the click.
12:50All right.
12:51You can hear a click
12:52and it'll still let you down sometimes.
12:55Brodie's pretty handy.
12:56He can check the load.
12:57He's done enough trips with me now
12:59that he knows what's what.
13:00He'll come and tell me
13:01if he finds something that's not as it should be.
13:03So he's saving me a bit of time there.
13:05All the time I can save is good.
13:08Right on, Brodie boy.
13:09How'd you go?
13:10A couple of them are loose, but...
13:11Have you tightened them up?
13:12Yeah, they're all tightened up.
13:13At this point in time, I'm eight hours behind.
13:16I'm heading out in peak hour traffic.
13:18And no-one likes driving road trains
13:20in peak hour traffic.
13:28So what do you know about the roads
13:29that we're going to have to come across?
13:32I'm dead set.
13:33Reckon we're heading for drama, mate.
13:36What we're doing is having a little gamble here.
13:38What we're gambling is
13:39that by the time we get to the dirt,
13:42it's dried in front of us.
13:43The only thing that'll play havoc
13:45with my little gamble is for rains.
13:55Woo!
13:57Oh, for f***ing sake.
14:00Do it again.
14:05All right, our cue!
14:09Just signal cue to get the hell out.
14:13Oh, no, I have to go down together, so...
14:23Go on down level.
14:29Oh, no.
14:30That went pretty well.
14:33Foodie is racing the oncoming tropical wet season,
14:36desperate to be the last road train into Bamaga
14:39before the monsoons turn the road into boggy streams,
14:44stopping any truck access for months.
14:47Just come in to see what's in this container
14:49that we've got to go.
14:51And, hey, look, here's a kid's Christmas presents.
14:54I don't want to repeat it.
14:55A couple of years ago,
14:56and we were all loaded with presents for kids
14:58and the road was closed and we had to turn back.
15:01Those kids didn't get Christmas till April that year.
15:04We've got one trailer loaded,
15:07fully loaded in Lakeland.
15:09We took up the other day.
15:10We're now going to load two trailers here.
15:13We've got a hell of amount of freight.
15:14Yeah, it's going to get a bit funny, this load,
15:23because we're going to be stacking things on top of things.
15:26Trying to get these third pipes up.
15:32All right, just please stay there for a minute.
15:36We're going to be maximum weight,
15:38maximum width and maximum height.
15:41Five metres and 50 millimetres.
15:43It's absolutely on our linden.
15:46Yeah, grab that out of the way, for Christ's sake.
15:48I'm running over it.
15:55Why don't they make pallets all the same size?
16:00These idiot suppliers, they make weird-sized pallets.
16:03We've got to try and get it in a container.
16:13That's not good.
16:16Oh, me.
16:17I'm supposed to be able to drive in these things.
16:19Heavy pallets, a bit of a bad floor.
16:21It's all part of the exciting.
16:23It's hard to strap down, everything moves.
16:32It's hard to watch.
16:35That goal had a bloody load of puss.
16:37And that's pretty well described what we've got.
16:41We're right up on our maximum height limits.
16:47You know, on a start, damage at the top of the pipes and things there with tree branches.
16:54If we scrape one off or drop it on the car behind us, that'll be way up to all.
17:11Once we get to Lakeland, we're going to have a team and we'll assemble a triple road train early in the morning and then the real business starts.
17:41We are now a triple.
17:48We can actually start the trip now.
17:54We're coming right down to the wire.
17:55There's no time left in anything.
18:05Really don't need this shit.
18:11Hold up for you from the brake.
18:12Go.
18:13Stop.
18:17Come past that Ferrado now.
18:19Go forward slowly.
18:24I've only just come past that car at that.
18:33Yep, that's it.
18:35I'll give Jack a hand with this next one.
18:36Robbie Mackay and his team have just two nights to get a massive house more than 1,000 kilometres north.
18:46I'll get round, man.
18:47You're on the side.
18:48We've got a triple gable Queenslander that we're taking here.
18:52One section is on eight metres.
18:55Moving that size down any road, let alone hundreds of kilometres, is difficult.
19:01Jump in, Ash.
19:02All right, let's get the f*** out of your rod behind me.
19:09Yeah, I'm good?
19:10Yeah, you're good.
19:14I'm going in these three turning lanes to make me u-y.
19:18Anxious to make their deadline, the team have hit their first obstacle.
19:22The access road to the highway is too tight for the nine metre wide load.
19:27They're forced to find an alternative route, closing lanes and crossing the median strip.
19:35You going to give me a hand to air, Robbie?
19:38You want me to steer it or you got me wrong?
19:40No, you just spot for me.
19:41I can steer it in here pretty better.
19:43When we get going, I'll get you to jump in and just follow us along.
19:46You want to stay up to this post and then f***ing look it across.
19:57That's high enough?
19:58Yeah.
19:58120?
19:59Yep.
20:00First axle coming up.
20:02You're all right.
20:05Then just tug that gutter.
20:07You're all right.
20:08You're all right.
20:10You're good, man.
20:10You'll have heaps.
20:12Hey, Ash!
20:13Bring that truck up!
20:14Robbie's little sister, Ashley, hasn't driven a truck in over five years.
20:21It's definitely been a while.
20:23Let's hope I'm not the reason something goes wrong.
20:25Start off the ground.
20:27Yeah.
20:27Start.
20:40Yeah.
20:41Stop.
20:42I'll down, babe.
20:44You guys got a copy on the police cars?
20:46Yeah, they're coming up, Jack.
20:48Two of them coming past you now.
20:52Sweet.
20:52Rolling.
21:02Coming out.
21:03Oh, my God.
21:23Hold up.
21:25Harder, God.
21:26All right, well, it's nearly dark roadie, boys, so we're only just starting the trip, really,
21:43and it's the end of the day.
21:45I've had enough.
21:46I've been on the go since six o'clock this morning.
21:48We'll get up in the morning, put the road train together and get into it from there, fresh.
21:56I think we'll call it quits here, copper.
22:00Here you go.
22:00It's quarter past nine now.
22:04I'll have a feed and go to bed.
22:06It'll be six o'clock start in the morning.
22:08It's a new day for Steve and his grandson, Brodie, on their mission to cross over 1,000 kilometres of desert dirt road before oncoming storms hit.
22:24Hello, Brodie, boy.
22:25Come on, we're going.
22:25I think the road train terminal's just up there, two kilometres.
22:33My trailer's there.
22:37Yeah, wind down the legs on the front trailer, please, mate.
22:41Brodie will get the weight on the trailer legs, get clearance, and it should be the right height for the dolly to go under.
22:48Woo, that'll do.
22:55How did we go, Belle-Belle?
23:00It's hooked up to your satisfaction.
23:04Good girl.
23:07We've all got our triple road train, finally.
23:12Surprisingly, it's a bit cooler where we're going.
23:15It's 36 degrees.
23:17Where we are now will be 41 and 42.
23:21It's also a bit scary.
23:22I can see some clouds starting to build up up there.
23:28I'd like to bet that I'm going to pull this job off.
23:31What will wreck my bet is rain.
23:34If we start heading out there and there's rain out there, the road will be closer.
23:38We won't be going anywhere.
23:40It either happens now or the next couple of days, or it doesn't happen.
23:44What's going on here?
24:01Shit, Brodie, boy.
24:02It's a truck rollover up here.
24:05Roger, mate.
24:06There's people there helping and all that sort of stuff.
24:09This boat's obviously got a bit of a sway-up.
24:20Might have got a bit tired.
24:22Now what I'm doing is I'm getting a straight line, trying to get straight onto it.
24:27It's going to be a bastard getting around.
24:31Diff lock in.
24:33Hour divider lock.
24:34We don't want to roll one going down there, Brodie.
24:46We can actually start the trip now.
24:57Me.
25:01We're dragging two trailers with brakes fully on.
25:05Get off the bloody steep hill.
25:09We've still got a tap down somewhere.
25:13Curious resistance going on here.
25:16Oh, here you go.
25:17Look at this.
25:19That's the same coupling that come off on f***ing U-10 Road.
25:25It's a dodgy coupling.
25:26It's not letting air go to the other trailers,
25:28so we're basically dragging two trailers with the brakes fully on.
25:32Anyway, we'll get out of everyone's way now.
25:35Desperate to be the last road train into Bamaga before monsoon season,
25:43Foodie needs a clean run up Cape York,
25:46or risk having to turn back and wait four months for the roads to open.
25:50I just wish I was like some people and just had three trailers all for the one customer.
25:56I've got three trailers and about 30 customers.
25:59I've got Christmas presents.
26:02I've got furniture.
26:04And I've got a couple of gas cages as well.
26:07See, you couldn't get them all mixed bag of lollies, this thing.
26:10Oh, and I've got a 40-ton bloody excavator sitting back there.
26:13I've got to be at it.
26:14I've got a bit of a channel on the road train.
26:22Yeah, mate, what's the problem?
26:24I thought I was going on here to the throttle.
26:26I've got a bit of a train.
26:30Mate, I can hear you.
26:33He's calling me if he wants to come around.
26:38Yeah, mate.
26:40I'm in the road train.
26:41Can you hear me on this radio?
26:42Yeah.
26:44Mate, I reckon your radio's not working properly, eh?
26:51This thing worked for decades.
26:54Oh, mate.
26:56I've been great, right?
26:59This could be a long time.
27:03I'm thinking he's warning me about the flapping straps there
27:06and I got a bit of a fright this morning
27:09because the, uh...
27:11Whoa, mate.
27:12No, we do have a front wall.
27:14I'm just seeing a pipe rolling about up there.
27:21We might really have a problem here.
27:25Did we lose a pipe?
27:27We really, really, really don't want that to happen.
27:30That's going to our day, big time.
27:31Oh, my God.
27:37Oh, the f***ing autobots.
27:42What the hell?
27:43Do you want to see if you've got these cars around you, Jack?
27:49I'll do it up the four lanes here.
27:52We've got a copy in the middle pilot, mate.
27:54Yeah, mate, that's yeah.
27:55I'll move over to the left and get those cars around the right, please.
27:57Yeah, I'll do it there.
27:58Thanks, mate.
28:03Thanks, mate.
28:03Thanks, mate.
28:03Thanks, mate.
28:03Thanks, mate.
28:05Sweet.
28:05We'll hold everything to a pine river now.
28:07Dawn is rapidly approaching
28:11on the first of two nights Robbie Mackay and his team have
28:14to deliver two sections of a house
28:17before their oversized road permits expire.
28:20There's been heaps of accidents lately.
28:23That's why they won't let us go during the day.
28:26We've got to get to Marmoor tonight.
28:28We're already 11 o'clock.
28:30No f***ing toilet breaks, mate.
28:31It's been spit.
28:32No, no, no.
28:43We're here.
28:47Now we'll just park up.
28:48We'll leave him here for during the day.
28:50We'll go get some sleep, get some rest,
28:52and yeah, get back here tonight.
29:01We're going out now.
29:02Are you good to go?
29:05Yeah, mate.
29:06Almost 500 kilometres of narrow single-lane highway
29:10now lies ahead of the team
29:12and their super-wide load.
29:14Nine ladies coming in here, mate.
29:16Later, home.
29:20What a f***ing f***ing f***ing that f***ing was.
29:24It's in any side of hand.
29:29Yeah, girl, you're all right?
29:30Cheers, mate, mate.
29:31Turned off, sir.
29:38The final stretch into the tiny rural community of Finch Hatton
29:44is accessed only by local farm laneways.
29:48I've had a bit of rain lately, single-lane kangaroos and wild animals.
29:55That's a rough bridge.
29:59I need a spot for my wheels through here.
30:03Driver's side's good.
30:05How much does he got on that passenger side?
30:07There's a bit.
30:08Two and a half feet in concrete areas.
30:14Hold up, Jack.
30:15Wait up.
30:16Whoa, whoa, whoa.
30:16Whoa!
30:17Diff lock in, out of outer lock.
30:30We don't want to roll one going down there, Brodie.
30:40What's he got on there?
30:41He's got some head.
30:42Good.
30:43Thought he had fuel for a second.
30:47There's no-one injured there.
30:48It's only his back trailer that's gone over Brodie.
30:51Looks like a typical dog trailer flick,
30:53which might be indicated by the fact that he's gone down,
30:56pulled her back up on the road too quick and flicked her.
31:01Could have blown a tyre.
31:04Could be a bit of inattention.
31:06Could be a bit of fatigue.
31:11Steve and his grandson Brodie are gambling on a Christmas miracle,
31:15crossing over 1,000 kilometres of desert to Alice Springs
31:19before December storms make the dirt road impassable.
31:24It'd be nice to finish this job
31:25because the triple to Alice Springs is not a bad earner.
31:33But at this time of the year with these thunderstorms around,
31:36anything can happen.
31:37I'd rather not be spending Christmas
31:39sitting out there in a mud hole somewhere.
31:40We'll either pull it off
31:43or it's going to go bad on me.
31:51Right, we're going to pull up here,
31:54check the tyres and the load.
31:58See, if they feel loose, those,
32:00just have a look at your tyres as you're going along, all right?
32:03Yeah, I check theirs and then I go back and check theirs.
32:05Good on you.
32:08It's good having Brodie with me.
32:10It broadens our experience,
32:11but I certainly wouldn't force it on him.
32:14I sort of haven't entertained that idea
32:16because Brodie's really into nature
32:19and I see him as being a ranger or a naturalist
32:22or that's always been his interests.
32:26He missed that flat tyre.
32:27I'll show him about that.
32:29Hey, Brodie!
32:31How did you go with the tyre check, mate?
32:33Oh, they all look good.
32:35Did you bang them?
32:37I didn't bang all of them.
32:37I did bang a couple and the ones I did bang felt nice.
32:41See the different colour on that inside tyre there?
32:45We've run over a nail
32:46or it's got a leaking valve or it's...
32:48We've run over a screw.
32:58Yep, we're good to go.
32:59We'll just keep on heading towards Laverton, you know.
33:07Steve's hoping to make it to Laverton,
33:09the gateway to the great central dirt road,
33:12before sundown.
33:14If I get to Laverton,
33:16I've got a bit under 1,000km to get there.
33:20Getting closer to those clouds, Brodie boy.
33:23They are forecasting severe thunderstorms.
33:26All right, Brodie, just here, mate,
33:33is the turn-off we should be taking
33:35to go out the great central road, right?
33:37And what do these signs say?
33:41Closed, closed.
33:43Closed to all traffic.
33:47By buggered him.
33:48I've just burned up $3,000 worth of diesel.
33:53I won't make anywhere near as much money.
33:55It will eat into my profit,
33:57just the time alone that I've put into it.
33:59It costs me and the customer money, Brodie.
34:02That's the frustrating thing about it.
34:07I think we've run our race here.
34:09How are you, mate?
34:14G'day.
34:14You're getting out to great central.
34:16Well, I was thinking of going out there,
34:17but I've just changed my mind.
34:19I just got out of there this morning.
34:21And the road's shutting out all traffic.
34:23That's what I've been told, yeah.
34:24These boys have just got out,
34:26and there is a truck bogged in the middle of the road.
34:29They only just got around him.
34:31They don't reckon we will.
34:33And regardless of that,
34:34the road is close to all traffic.
34:36If I stick my beak out there,
34:38it's a $400 per tyre fine.
34:40I've got 62 tyres on the road.
34:43I'm not up for that sort of a fine.
34:47So, Brodie, boy, come here.
34:48I'll explain it to you.
34:49We're not going to El Springs.
34:51We rolled the dice, Brodie.
34:53We had a bet.
34:54We had a big punt.
34:55It didn't pay off, mate.
34:57It's a bit sad.
34:59It's the first time in a long time
35:01I haven't been able to complete one.
35:03We'll come back and complete it in January.
35:05So, you're right for next year?
35:06Yep.
35:07Good on you, mate.
35:08Can't leave a job done finished.
35:10Oh, you sound like your grandad.
35:12Can't leave a job half finished.
35:18We'll camp here.
35:20Cook some tea out here.
35:22I don't lose many, Brodie.
35:24I don't lose many bets on this trucking game,
35:26but I lost this one.
35:27I'm just more happy to be out here with you.
35:30Oh, good, mate. I'm glad.
35:32I'm glad you're out here.
35:34You eat your tea?
35:34Cheers.
35:40Hold on, Jack.
35:41Hold on.
35:41Hold on.
35:41Hold on.
35:43Cheers, boys.
35:45The passengers.
35:47I'll just jump out and watch her.
35:48Wait up.
35:50Got four inches.
35:52Got four inches on the other side.
35:56Just tell him to keep going straight at that.
35:58Am I off it now?
36:09You're all good, mate.
36:10Keep it going.
36:13You driving?
36:15Am I?
36:15Racing to deliver a house before his permit expires at sunrise,
36:21Robbie has called in his little sister, Ashley, to help.
36:25Go centre and stay in the centre.
36:27I haven't driven a truck in, like, five years.
36:31I hope it all comes flooding back to me.
36:37Go this way.
36:39Not hard.
36:40Just a little bit.
36:43Stop going that way.
36:45Yeah, that's it.
36:55Go faster.
36:57We've got to catch Jack.
37:03Yeah, I'll just tickle on real easy.
37:05Let's go brush through this tree here a little bit.
37:13I gather the poor piece just passed.
37:15It's not fine.
37:16Yeah, it's just passed it on the ride.
37:21Yeah, I'm just in the water just cruising.
37:25Go to me a bit more.
37:27Yep.
37:28Stay there.
37:29Stay there.
37:33Oh, man.
37:35We're here.
37:41Woo!
37:44How you going, mate?
37:46Good, you see her?
37:47She's a bit spongy.
37:48I think if I hook onto you from the bird go,
37:51I'm better off pulling you
37:52than you get stuck with me trying to start you again.
37:55After a gruelling journey of over 1,000 kilometres,
37:58the team have finally arrived at their destination.
38:02But the toughest challenge still lies ahead.
38:05The property's driveway.
38:07As you can see, it's pretty wet.
38:09So we'll hook up this dozer,
38:12get her up the f***ing hill.
38:14Let's go.
38:17I'll just follow the trailer wheels, yeah?
38:19Yep.
38:20Here's my new tower.
38:23Here you go, master.
38:24A little bit more.
38:34Mate, my foot has been hit by under the floorboards.
38:38Keep it going, don't stop.
38:42A little bit more.
38:43Faster.
38:46Keep going with this jet.
38:48That's it.
38:50Over there, mate.
38:51We've got a little bit bogged.
38:56Hey, Reece, do you want to go down there,
38:58tell them they can drive that one in?
39:00Yep.
39:00Can spin it up here.
39:04Thank you, Andrew.
39:05I hope you enjoyed the show.
39:07Trace, the owner's really happy with everything,
39:09so it's good.
39:11Watching it come up into this beautiful setting
39:13has been pretty exciting.
39:14Look, I can already see myself sitting on that front deck
39:16having a beer in a very short period of time.
39:19Now, the boys will get cracking,
39:21dig some holes,
39:22a bit of concrete tomorrow.
39:23Sun's coming out now,
39:24which it wasn't meant to the whole time we were here,
39:26so it's always a plus.
39:28Hola.
39:28Ash went really good.
39:30She was a bit nervous.
39:30It's been a while since she's been in a truck,
39:32so she took some kind words from me to motivate her.
39:38Made good time.
39:40Good shift after not doing it for five years,
39:43so Rob only yelled at me a couple of times,
39:45so that's always good.
39:46On to the next one.
39:54Whoa, back.
39:55No, we do have a problem.
39:58Did we lose a pot?
40:00But we're really, really, really
40:02don't want that to happen.
40:03That's going to f*** today, big time.
40:07What have we got happening here?
40:11I don't think we've got anything happening,
40:12but I think that's swinging around a little bit.
40:14I think what I saw was this moving.
40:16The tails and the straps have unrolled themselves,
40:20and I don't feel like climbing up there
40:23and re-rolling the bloody things.
40:25We'll just continue on our way, I think.
40:28Foodie is racing to get to the very top of Australia,
40:32hoping to fulfil his job
40:34as the planet's most unlikely Father Christmas.
40:37In the pool room back there,
40:41we've got things for Christmas dinner.
40:44We've got tables,
40:45and we've got chairs and various items in there.
40:49We've also got some Christmas presents in there,
40:51so we don't want to disappoint the kids.
40:54Christmas comes right in the hottest time of the year,
40:58and quite often Christmas Day is the hottest day of the year.
41:02And in North Queensland,
41:04it's also about when the monsoon season starts.
41:08The whole of a cape might get half a metre of rain,
41:12and the roads just turn into mud.
41:17And we can't obviously drive trucks up there when it's like that.
41:20I've just got to start concentrating here a bit,
41:28because it's the first bit of a hurdle here.
41:30We've got to get up over Hell's Gate.
41:33It's a peculiar bit of road.
41:35It's a very steep little short peak
41:37with a right angle bend at the top of it.
41:39Ahead lies the notorious Hell's Gate Pass,
41:44a massive challenge
41:46for this Aussie Santa's heavily-laden sleigh.
41:50Punch it into it as hard as we can at the moment.
41:54We're 55 metres long,
41:57around about 130 tonnes,
42:00a 13% grade.
42:04You just can't stop.
42:06You've got to reduce speed.
42:08Look at it. Look at the hell.
42:09Come on.
42:12We're done what we didn't want to do.
42:40We're slipping.
42:53We're in a world of pain now.
42:57We can't get traction on this hill.
43:01We can't reverse back down the hill.
43:06We're in a world of pain.
43:13If we don't have money coming in the next two days, then I'm going to look like a bit of an arse.
43:19We've got something going on back there.
43:22I don't see some smoke.
43:26Good to see New Zealand's no different to home.
43:32Your dipshits passing you with cars coming towards you.
43:36There's a tunnel.
43:39They don't give you much room, do they?
43:43Santa Claus is coming to town.
43:45Isn't that the song?
43:46It's going to be slippery and fog holes here and there.
43:49Come on.
43:50It's going to get dragged down.
43:52Come on.
43:53It's going to get dragged down.
43:56There's a tunnel.
43:57There's a tunnel.
43:58There's a tunnel.
43:59There's a tunnel.
44:00There's a tunnel.
44:01There's a tunnel.
44:02There's a tunnel.
44:03There's a tunnel.
44:04There's a tunnel.
44:05There's a tunnel.
44:06There's a tunnel.
44:07There's a tunnel.
44:08There's a tunnel.
44:09There's a tunnel.
44:10There's a tunnel.
44:11There's a tunnel.
44:12There's a tunnel.
44:13There's a tunnel.
44:14There's a tunnel.
44:15There's a tunnel.
44:16There's a tunnel.
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