- 3 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00I can't go quick up.
00:05Even if it was dry now, we couldn't go anywhere.
00:10And now I'll just go up like Bob's uncle.
00:14It's pissing out freakin' a little.
00:19Well, here we go, Brodie boy.
00:21Oh, there's some holes down there.
00:26The wind's blowing hard.
00:27The thing with lightning is make one mistake with it and he'll kill you.
00:31Brodie!
00:36Because we're oversized, we've got to have two pilots.
00:41Are you warning trucks or are my warning trucks?
00:43Are you supposed to be behind you, you dumbass?
00:46Please don't talk in the CV to me.
00:48Like that.
00:51Ah, Mr Rilkel.
00:53Righto, Wallace.
00:57I've got to get out of here, eh?
01:02I've got to go.
01:08I just want to get out and I can't go quicker.
01:11I've got a job I've got to do tomorrow, so I've got to get this done today.
01:14It is just sliding, eh? We don't want to slide off the edge.
01:25If the truck starts off, we're gone, eh? I can't stop it.
01:29No, I'm not going anywhere, eh? This is f***ing.
01:41On a treacherous, muddy mountain track, log trucking specialist Mel Michelson has a vital 28-ton load to deliver.
01:49We've got an urgent order just came in down New South Wales.
01:54They need some boards.
01:59So that's flexor and you just slide on it.
02:02The truck's doing this.
02:04Can't stop it, eh?
02:05Can't stop it, eh?
02:08My job's on the line and this is my name and I need as much work as I can get.
02:15If she can get out of the logging site at Knapp Creek, Mel must wind her way through the Queensland Highlands to a mill 323km away in Kogan, where the logs will be cut into floorboards for a brewery.
02:31This load is the second of two 28-ton loads, which she was hoping to deliver today.
02:41I might as well turn the truck off. It's not gone anyway.
02:56This is really bad. I'm wondering why I can't get traction.
02:59I don't want to take that off now.
03:07I don't want to change it in the mud.
03:09I'm going to have to come back, get it off, run into town in a ute, fix it, put it back on.
03:15For **** sake.
03:16Even if it was dry now, we couldn't go anywhere because of the tire.
03:23Those are better getting shit out of the truck then.
03:26Could be stuck here for a day or two, but depends on how long it takes to dry out.
03:30Mel's only option is to wait out the bad weather, returning to her newly purchased dream home, which she's trying to pay off by hauling timber.
03:42I've fallen in love with this beautiful old, grand Queenslander. She's 130 years old.
03:49It's going to cost a lot of money to renovate.
03:51I pulled off the boards and discovered this beautiful pine, so I'm going to bring all this back to life and sand it and polish it all and stain it.
04:01It's every load of logs I do now, I go towards this place.
04:07Looks like I've got to keep trucking on to get these red eyes done, so I just need to do as much work as I can when it's not raining.
04:24Thanks for picking me up.
04:26Not a problem. Too far to walk pushing the tow.
04:29I hope I can get this truck out.
04:35Mel's truck is blocking the access road to the logging site run by her friend, Gary Orton.
04:42He's come to help her get moving again, before more bad weather sets in.
04:47I just want to get this truck out. Like, days waiting on this load, it's pretty urgent.
04:52He can't cuddle up if he hasn't got it.
04:53Got that jack.
04:54There's a week's rain coming. I'm a bit worried. I've got to get it out.
05:03Not much room.
05:04Where to get my fat guts under there.
05:07It's not a friendly jack.
05:11I want to use the air of the truck to use the air jack.
05:17Wrong air.
05:18You've got the wrong fittings.
05:22That means I can't use the air jack at all, so I've got to have to manually do it.
05:27I've got the wrong hose for my air jack, so I'll just have to change it the old school way.
05:34Bloody trucks.
05:35Oh.
05:36These things happen. We didn't have air jacks in the old days, so as long as we get it done before this weather comes in.
05:42That's our main concern.
05:51Oh, God. Come on.
05:54Got a fair way to go, Mel.
05:56Oh.
05:58That's a positive sign.
05:59What's going on?
06:06It must be getting off the ground now.
06:09Give it a go.
06:11Nothing to lose.
06:18It's just a little bit of a go.
06:21For sake.
06:26Oh, shit.
06:27The inside tyre is rooted.
06:31Oh.
06:43So, delaying this job for after Christmas, did that cost you all the client money?
06:49Our customer had some people who were going to be in the yard in Alice Springs.
06:52Oh, you bugger, look at that.
06:55Another friggin' rock through my windscreen.
07:01The delay over Christmas means I got a rock through my windscreen, which I didn't get last bloody time I went through here.
07:08Yep.
07:09And because we didn't get the freight through, I haven't been paid for the job.
07:12Over a month after having to abandon a trucking job because of road closures in the Central Desert, Steve Graham and his grandson Brodie have returned to Laverton to collect the load they left with Steve's mate, Rex Riles.
07:28Hello, mate.
07:29How are you, Rex?
07:30How are you?
07:31How are you, Rex?
07:32Have a good Christmas.
07:33Yeah, mate.
07:34Very good to see you, mate.
07:35You?
07:36I hope you had a good one.
07:37Last year we had to park the gear up.
07:40Now we've come back to get it.
07:42This is round two.
07:44Now we've got 1,600 kilometres to go to get it to Alice Springs.
07:49From Laverton, Steve and Brodie will take on the infamous Great Central Road, over 1,000 kilometres of brutal dirt, which has only just been reopened after being savaged by summer storms, before hitting the bitumen to finish their delivery in Alice Springs.
08:06You're good, Brodie boy?
08:07Yep.
08:08Let's go.
08:14What we've got is structural steel on this trailer, and the other two trailers are the frames and the trusses and all the bits that make up the framework of the house.
08:26Well, here we go, Brodie boy.
08:30Now the truth will come out.
08:36The road hasn't been too rough, but it's keeping me on my toes.
08:46The bog holes where people got bogged just before Christmas, I can see quite clearly where they were bogged.
08:54So I've got to treat every one of those spots with real care.
09:02We're going to pull up here, just have a little break.
09:05Brodie?
09:06Yeah?
09:07Just have a quick walk around and check it, and I mean check everything.
09:11Brodie gets paid for the trip when he comes with me, and it's all part of learning about life.
09:16How did you go with the check, mate?
09:19Oh, they all look good.
09:20I'm good to go for a walk.
09:22Keep me in sight.
09:23Yeah.
09:24Just looking around for reptilians and what-nots.
09:28Brodie is a dead keen naturalist, and he just loves reptiles.
09:33Oh, look.
09:34There's a bearded.
09:35He's sitting on the spinifex.
09:36That's a painted bearded, that one.
09:38So that'd be his home just there.
09:39So he's going to make a run for it.
09:41Probably going straight across.
09:42Or not.
09:47So, yeah, look.
09:48And there he goes.
09:50The one thing I'd want Brodie to learn on a trip like this is when he tells me he's checked these, mind as he's checked them.
09:56Constantly forget how to talk to the modern young people.
10:00You've got to be very literal.
10:02They've been brought up all their life looking at an area this big.
10:05So this big place out here, it's not quite so much in their awareness.
10:10But coming on a trip with Grandad might expand the horizons from a little screen like that to the great big panorama through which we're travelling.
10:21Brodie?
10:22Yeah.
10:23Are we ready?
10:24Yep.
10:30Rain, Brodie, rain.
10:31We don't need rain this early, mate.
10:32This is bloody scary.
10:33You can see out there, either side, big falls.
10:34Big, big amounts of rain falling.
10:35There's some big holes in the road that have got water in them already. I know that.
10:39And if they get any more rain on them, we aren't getting around them.
10:49Oh, which puddle, which puddle, mate? Which puddle? I think I might go in this one.
10:56Looks like it's a straighter approach. That one's on a big angle.
11:00Shit, this looks like slop, look.
11:03We're either going to get through it or are they gonna get up here, boy.
11:05There's some holes down that roadie bike.
11:06Oh, there's a pole down that roadie bike.
11:23Oh, there's a pole down that roadie bike.
11:26Oh, there's a pole down that roadie bike.
11:30We've got our first bridge coming up, Paul's going to shut it for us to go across.
11:41We've got a 3.8m wide, every transporter on the tow bridge.
11:46Call her up there please.
11:49Aye mate.
11:50Bridge is clear.
11:51I'm all right.
11:53Get her down to 40 and idled across.
12:03Stop!
12:06Stop!
12:07What's on the bridge?
12:10What's that say?
12:12Stop!
12:13Get out of the way!
12:17Clear out of the bridge.
12:22That lady got my blood pressure up, Sludge, I tell you.
12:26Why's that?
12:27Well I had the car stopped and this woman drove straight towards me and I was on her lane with
12:33a stop paddle up and she went to drive round me to go on the bridge.
12:36And I says, what has stopped me?
12:39It must be her hewis, eh?
12:42I think she had an Aussie accent.
12:45Yeah, good one.
12:47Legendary outback trucker Sludge has come back to the land of his birth, New Zealand, working
12:55as an oversized load driver.
12:58Doing a few jobs for Paul Clark, mate of mine from Dunedin.
13:02We're taking up a 43 tonne Terex dozer up to Wanaka for the wheels of Wanaka.
13:09The vintage bulldozer is the first of two that Sludge has to deliver.
13:14He left Dunedin over an hour ago and is headed for the mountainous country roads and narrow
13:19bridges that lead to Wanaka, on the edge of New Zealand's southern alps.
13:24Sludge's mate Paul will exhibit both of his restored vintage bulldozers at the wheels of Wanaka's show.
13:32It's a big machinery show and everyone in New Zealand comes and people from all around the world are coming.
13:38It's a passion more than a money making venture.
13:41I don't think there's any others that are restored anywhere that I know of.
13:45Probably this side of Australia, New Zealand.
13:49I come out here just because I haven't worked for so long.
13:51We're trying to financially help Wendy a little bit.
13:55Two years ago, Sludge had a motorcycle accident near his home in Western Australia.
14:01Unable to work, he has relied on his wife Wendy to support him during his recovery.
14:07Since I had the accident, Wendy still had to live and feed me.
14:11And when you're not working, it slowly gobbles everything you've got in the bank.
14:16I want to drive a little bit, earn a few bucks.
14:21But the big thing for me is now the grandkids.
14:25Sludge's two eldest children and their families live in New Zealand.
14:30I'd like to make sure they remember me, that I'm still here and spend a bit of time with them as well as working.
14:40This is my father's gravestone.
14:43He died on the 13th of April, 1984.
14:48And this is my brother's one.
14:50When did he die?
14:521981.
14:53So every time I come to New Zealand, I normally come up here and say hello and make sure they're all clean and tidy.
15:01My father died in a truck accident.
15:06They were backing a truck into a ramp and the brakes failed, rolled back and crushed him and squashed him.
15:11That's what killed him.
15:12My brother had an early end of life as well.
15:14He was coming home to the farm and Dad found him.
15:18He had run off the road and banged his head in his car and that's what killed him.
15:22I was only young when he died.
15:24It's one of those curveballs in life where that could have been me laying there as well.
15:30I thought I'd live forever but I've had a big scare and I don't want the kids growing up without me like I did without my father.
15:41Another bridge just round the corner.
15:43Roger.
15:44Got to start watching what I'm doing and just be careful.
15:48With an oversize, you've got to be right on the money.
15:54Oh.
15:55Oh.
16:00Oh.
16:01Holy shit.
16:05Oh.
16:07Now that's narrow.
16:08Holy shit.
16:09The trailer was rubbing the edge right on it.
16:18We're just coming into Wanaka and we're going to pull up here at the wheels of Wanaka.
16:24Transport toys, helicopters, planes.
16:29My kind of place.
16:39So that's one done.
16:41So tomorrow will be the real test.
16:43The plan is now we'll head back to Dunedin and then we can load the big one.
16:48It's almost 300 kilometres back to Paul's yard in Dunedin where Sludge will take on the second dozer, a bona fide heavyweight.
16:58That's how much heavier?
17:00That's about another 15 ton heavier.
17:03Oh Jesus.
17:04Yeah right oh.
17:05So you're up around about 90 tonne.
17:06The dozer blade is pretty much, you know, that's the bit that'll cut somebody open if it hits someone.
17:15We have to get it in the right place to make sure that, you know, the trailer doesn't go overweight on the axle of all the trucks.
17:21Yep.
17:24She's all on and tied up.
17:25We're ready to go.
17:27A bit nervous.
17:28It's going to be a hard day.
17:30Toughest one I've done.
17:31This thing's pretty serious.
17:32Hey, we might have a bit of a problem.
17:37I've just seen this email come through.
17:39You know where we went for that road work.
17:41They've got to shut the road to do that new bit of seal.
17:44So they're saying they're going to try and shut this off at 12.30 today.
17:48So how long are they shutting that for?
17:50Well, two to four hours.
17:52We've got to try and do our best to get there.
17:54Otherwise we're going to be parked on the side of the road until they've finished the job.
17:57And I don't know if we'll get there in time before they close it.
18:02It just adds to the pressure for the day.
18:27Right, now you see why they say four-wheel drive only, eh?
18:32Yeah.
18:34After failing to cross the notorious Great Central Road one month ago, Steve and his grandson Brodie have returned.
18:43Desperate to get a paying load through to Alice Springs.
18:48Still got 700 plus K of dirt to go.
18:52These storms are rolling in on us.
18:55Any serious rain out here and we're buggered.
19:00Yeah.
19:05It's just about dark, so I'll be pulling up shortly.
19:12Brodie?
19:13Yeah?
19:14Have a look at all the tyres up, please.
19:16And then you're free, Brodie, and I'll start getting tea organised and stuff.
19:20All right.
19:21I am.
19:24The wind's blowing hard.
19:26I just hope it doesn't blow one of these storms into me.
19:32This is a good spot to camp.
19:33We're up on the hill.
19:34We've got the breeze here.
19:35And we can roll off from here in the morning if there's big rain during the night.
19:38This will be dry up here.
19:39We can roll away.
19:40We've got my little gas stove cooking for Brodie and myself to keep our energy up.
19:49Brodie, don't be walking around with that aluminium pole in the hand with this lightning around.
19:54Maybe we should be down on the low ground if the lightning gets going.
20:01The thing with the lightning is make one mistake with it and it'll kill you.
20:05That rain is going to happen any minute.
20:08Seriously.
20:10Where's Brodie?
20:11Where's Brodie?
20:15Brodie!
20:23You know what I'd be doing?
20:27Yeah.
20:28Brodie, bring in the tyre service, bring out another tyre on the jack.
20:31I know it's an extra cost, but they won't get hung.
20:37Already two days behind on an urgent 28-ton timber delivery, a second-blown drive tyre has pushed log truck driver Mel Michelson to her limit.
20:50Hey Joe, Gary Orton here.
20:53Oh, we've got a real problem here, mate.
20:55Had a flat tyre, got it one spare, but on the rear drive the inside tyre is rooted.
21:04You're the only one that can do it and you can't leave the shop because no-one else is there.
21:10There's only two places in Burnham that will do it.
21:13They can't come out to do it out here on site, so we've got to take it in there.
21:19He might have a second-hand one in there.
21:21That's what he wants.
21:22Yep.
21:24Two things that cost you most money, rubber tyres and women.
21:27Yep.
21:29Tits and tyres.
21:33I've got to get out of here.
21:35It's delaying everything.
21:37So I've got a beautiful old property.
21:40I need to turn them wheels to get that coin in to do my renovations.
21:53Back safe, Mellie.
21:54Put that into the jack.
21:58We didn't try that one before.
22:00No.
22:07No way.
22:09Me and Gary tried one hose, but we didn't try the other connection on the other side.
22:13We didn't try hard enough.
22:16And now it'll just go up like f***ing Bob's uncle.
22:20And we'll be out of here.
22:21Get out of here.
22:31Phil?
22:33It's not bailing anywhere.
22:37It's pissing out frickin' oil.
22:39And why has it decided to leak out oil today?
22:45Mmm.
22:46I've had it for four years and haven't had no drama with it.
22:52It's only gone up that mark.
22:54Oh, they're moving now.
23:00Can't take a trick.
23:01Brodie!
23:11The thing with the lightning is make one mistake with it and it'll kill you.
23:16Brodie!
23:20There he is.
23:21You found him.
23:22You're a good girl.
23:23You're a good girl.
23:24Thanks for finding Brodie for me, Bill.
23:31Well, there you go, Brodie.
23:32There's your teammate.
23:34You're out of the rain.
23:36I'm gonna go and eat mine.
23:38Can you fit any more potato in your mouth, Brodie?
23:39Boy, you hungry or what?
23:41Starving.
23:42This is a good meal to have at the end of the day.
23:51Well, think about going, Brodie.
23:52If you're good, we'll go.
23:56So what was your tally last night?
23:59The ugly spider I got.
24:02Here's the little mouse.
24:03A mouse?
24:04Yeah.
24:05A mouse or a donut?
24:06Mouse.
24:08Steve is on a mission to get a long-delayed load across the red centre of Australia, while
24:14simultaneously catching up on some much-needed family time.
24:18I like to think I'm quite close to my grandkids.
24:21They're all good kids.
24:23I'm determined to spend the time with them that I didn't spend with my kids, but I'm struggling
24:27to find that time still.
24:32There's the border, mate.
24:35I will stop up here, check our gear.
24:47How is everything?
24:48Good.
24:49All right, now let's go back and start again, mate.
24:50We've got to talk to you about your eyes.
24:53See the broken strap?
24:55Oh, yeah.
24:57Oh, yeah.
24:59You young blokes, you've got to learn to see.
25:02It appears I missed this broken strap.
25:06I don't know how I missed that, too.
25:10It comes with experience, that ability to just notice things that aren't right.
25:15That's it, Brodie.
25:16I'll go around and tie it off.
25:19That rain that's coming up behind us, I do know if that rain gets out here on this road
25:28in front of me, we won't do it.
25:29Now, I have to check my fuel.
25:34There's not much fuel in that tank.
25:39It's not wood.
25:41I've got diesel in a valley tank under the front trailer.
25:43To enable long-distance hauls through the harsh Australian wilderness, Steve has set up a 1,000-litre
25:50fuel storage tank under his first trailer.
25:54He can pump fuel from there to the main tanks using a hose, as long as the truck's motor is running.
26:01But the process can take over an hour.
26:04I don't want to have to stop and run it and have the rain beaten.
26:07Brodie boy, we've got about 30 k's to go to the camp, and we're really low on fuel.
26:18I should fuel up here, but I'm going to take a punt.
26:24I'll give it a crack, 30 kilometres.
26:27I need 40 litres.
26:29This might be the worst mistake I've made in a long time.
26:37I've got to keep my wits about me today and pedal a bit.
26:41If we're running late, it's going to be a real pain in the arse.
26:44Sludge is racing the clock.
26:47He has a bigger, wider and 20-ton heavier bulldozer to haul almost 300 kilometres to Wanaka,
26:55before the road is scheduled to be closed in four hours' time.
26:58If we don't make the time to get there before they shut it, we're going to be stuck with, you know, 90 tonnes sitting on the road at four and a half metres wide, blocking the whole road up.
27:10We've got enough pressure with the wider and 20-ton heavier, so the extra pressure's just giving me the shits, really.
27:18We've got Paul out the front today, and Sarah, Paul's partner, she's coming today as well.
27:23I've been driving trucks for about six or seven years. I'm going to be driving the second pilot vehicle.
27:30To provide extra support to Sludge on this massive job, his wife Wendy has flown in from Australia.
27:37It's pretty big for him, especially, you know, getting back into it again.
27:41I'm going to jump in with the pilot, which is exciting, because I've never been in a pilot vehicle before.
27:46This is the worst bit, is getting out of this bloody town, because we've got to be on the wrong side of the road.
28:00All clear slides, just keep coming.
28:19Yeah, so f***ing go! Go!
28:23Paul, you're supposed to be in front of me?
28:28I've got to get around to the sheep bridge first.
28:32For f***ing sake, give the law.
28:37Why the f***ing I'm supposed to be behind you, you dumbass?
28:41This is what pisses me off with him, is he always says...
28:45Makes his own rules.
28:47He's like, everything's got to be by the book, and then he f***ed it all up.
28:51There we go. Here we go, onto the motorway.
28:58Woohoo!
29:00You can tell we're 20 tonne heavier.
29:05This will make this old girl work today.
29:08I'm just going to pop around on the left, come around in front of you, coming around.
29:16Probably did that a bit early, actually.
29:18You should have waited to the bottom of the hill, but never mind.
29:22Yeah, righto. I'd rather do it early than too late.
29:26No, but the rules are you've got to wait to get to the bottom of the line.
29:30Mr Rulebook, who f***ing was behind me before and he was supposed to go ahead of me?
29:36Righto, Wallace.
29:37Little bit of tension there with Paul and Sarah.
29:44Trouble in paradise, it's probably just settling in and getting the distances right.
29:50You know, everyone has a different idea where they should be and what they're doing.
29:55And after this black car, you're all clear to come over to the right-hand lane.
30:00So he just sits in the middle now?
30:02No, he's got to be able to go on.
30:04Oh, because he's charming.
30:05He's got to go under this bridge.
30:07And it comes down on an angle.
30:09But if he went in there, he literally would have hit it.
30:16Shit! Yeah! Wow!
30:19Yeah, you're all clear.
30:27He's not even warning tracks.
30:29Are you warning tracks or are my warning tracks?
30:334.3, guys. I couldn't get on the CB's here.
30:41So this next bridge is at 10km an hour and central.
30:46Roger that.
30:49You need the pilots to shut the bridge off.
30:52You've got to have two pilots.
30:56One's got to be further up to shut the road and the other one guides us across.
31:02One's got to be further up to shut the bridge off.
31:05Go!
31:06Go!
31:07Go!
31:08I'm right behind you!
31:21Once I get there, you need to move forwards!
31:27Please don't talk on the CB to me like that.
31:32It's always hard when you're a couple working together,
31:36because you're probably saying more than you should.
31:39If we learn to shut up, it'll probably be a lot easier.
31:41Keeping around the guard, Mel.
31:42It's only going up that mark.
31:43It's hardly moving now, isn't it?
31:44Mel Michelson is racing the fading afternoon light.
31:46She needs to replace two drive tyres with a faulty jack and get her 28-tonne load over 300km to a timber mill to finally get paid for the job.
31:47Can you jack up a little bit by hand?
31:48We really need this loading.
31:49I just want to get out of here.
31:50Before the frickin' rain gets hit.
31:51Yeah.
31:52It's only going up that mark.
31:53It's only going up that mark.
31:54It's hardly moving now, isn't it?
31:55Mel Michelson is racing the fading afternoon light.
31:58She needs to replace two drive tyres with a faulty jack and get her 28-tonne load over 300km to a timber mill to finally get paid for the job.
32:09Can you jack up a little bit by hand?
32:14We really need this loading.
32:16I just want to get out of here before the frickin' rain gets here.
32:20I don't even know if it's going up, though.
32:26Yeah, it is.
32:29Yeah, you're winning.
32:32Yep, it's high enough, Mally.
32:38Right.
32:39Cool.
32:40It's just stuck there, eh?
32:41Look, that is completely off the ground.
32:42F***.
32:43F***.
32:44F***.
32:45F***.
32:46Find me.
32:47Now I've got to get it over that.
32:48Oops.
32:49Good.
32:50Good.
32:51Good.
32:52Good.
32:53Good.
32:54Good.
32:56Good.
32:57Good.
32:58Good.
32:59Good.
33:00Good.
33:01Good.
33:02Good.
33:03Good.
33:04Good.
33:05Good.
33:06Good.
33:07Good.
33:08Good.
33:13Good girl.
33:14Now, this tire can go f*** itself.
33:15Get off, bitch.
33:16Oh, yeah.
33:17Whew.
33:18All good to go.
33:28Thank you for all your help.
33:32Not a problem.
33:34I better get out.
33:38The heaven clouds are coming.
33:43out the heaven clouds over there and they're coming in quite fast so
33:53just want to get out of here and down the mountain
33:59i'm worried about this part the most it's still quite wet it's first gear material
34:06the ground feels okay like it's still a bit slippery but it's okay
34:19yeehaw finally made it to the gate and i'm just pulled out on the road so i'm pretty happy
34:27clouds are pretty black that's raining over there definitely looks like just got out of there in
34:33time being down down and out for three or four days like i've missed two jobs that have come in
34:42there's missed money and letting people down like i don't like that but um they understood so
34:49that's looking for you now i've got to get back to the mill and get this unloaded
34:54just hit the warrigo highway got some pretty good roads until i get near dully and head off into the
35:06night
35:21the load from hell
35:24when these logs come off
35:31i'll have a happy customer who luckily understands why i'm late
35:37but we can't help the weather so that makes me happy when they're happy
35:45oh my god i'm so proud to say i'm finally unloaded so after this i'll go back to the farm and have a
35:53rest and then tomorrow go and get a beat up a load of firewoods i've got to keep them wheels turning
35:58i reckon i've got about 30k to go there i need 40 liters i've got diesel into the front trailer
36:13i don't have to stop and have the rain beat me this might be the worst mistake i've made in a long
36:18time maybe i'm being a stupid old fool taking a punt on it but that's the gamble i'm about to take
36:26we might do it brodie we've got about a size k to go
36:35we made it brodie we made it boy we made it brodie
36:51this is it we're going to camp here tonight we've made it to the bitumen touch wood we're laughing
37:01can you do a quick walk around please mate because i'm going to run fuel from the belly tank
37:06into the front tank right that'll give us enough fuel to get into ala springs tomorrow sounds good
37:20we're on the bitumen now we've got 468 kilometers to go from here i'm on a tight time schedule
37:29we've got people who will be starting work a half for me on time or it costs big money
37:40well roadie boy here we go there's the yard over there we've just about pulled it up
37:47here we are mate here we are
37:53we'll go and see matt and uh find out what's going on all right
37:59how are you mate you're joking all right
38:05it's the old story in this business once again we've
38:11gone hard to get here and we're not going to unload today we're going to unload tomorrow
38:19it does frustrate you in that if i had of known this earlier maybe i would have gone a little bit
38:25slower and kept the truck a little bit cooler so nothing's going to happen today finally it's in
38:32the yard after five weeks it's all here and we're not unloading until tomorrow
38:42hi hello come through this way if you want brodie you go this is your all right this is yours
38:48in some ways i'm sort of happy that we're not unloading until tomorrow now i can relax a bit
38:54and take brodie in to see a surprise did you guys want to have a hold of a snake brodie is a dead
39:00keen naturalist he just loves reptiles she's going to come over your shoulders well i'm taking him into
39:07the reptile center you can't feel that weight it's a lot heavier than most little pythons and now comes
39:13a bit where she strangles you
39:17reptiles always a cool thing to see oh look at him he's a beauty this is frank he's a spencer's goanna
39:25oh wow they do get big well brodie i hope you enjoyed that yeah that was awesome
39:31coming into milton and built is where they've got all the main street of milton ripped up
39:44i'm going to move these cones around this milk tanker here because um you ain't going to get past
39:51oh my god he's actually moving clones i can't believe it normally he'd just be like
39:56oh yeah he should get around there now hauling an oversized combined mass of almost 90 tons
40:10in a 30 year old truck he's only driven once before sludge is relying on his problematic pilots
40:18paul and sarah when you've got your partner with you they have different ideas it's not a bed of roses
40:27have you heard any more about these roadworks and fruitlands paul i've just heard that they're
40:34uh closing the road at one o'clock we're going to be really really pushing it hard to get there
40:41like that the team have less than two hours to get through a scheduled road closure ahead
40:49or risk being forced to stop overnight after six o'clock we're not allowed to drive oversize
40:55so if they hold us up too long we're not going to make wanaka tonight here we go it's uh into the
41:02hills and the windy stuff and and this is where i've got to be super vigilant we're coming into the
41:08gorge now and i've got to be central in the middle of the road so they've got to stop all the cars
41:14well i don't know if you can hear me but there's two cars after the petrol tanker after that the road is closed
41:21pull right over just pull in as far as you can go yep
41:38you got to put the power dividers in now because the road's wet so that locks the
41:43arse end up giving us more drive hell shit
41:51whoop it's just starting to skid a little bit and light the tires up
41:57i'm just fighting trying to keep out on the dry bits of the road just to keep the traction
42:04otherwise we wouldn't have made it over that
42:06coming up to where the road closure is it's touch and go i don't know if we're going to get this
42:18hi you guys are starting sailing haven't you so it'll be fine if we get through okay
42:26we've got a large transporter 4.3 coming through it's about 90 tonne we'll just go along quietly is
42:33it okay copy yeah that's all right yeah copy sludge yep no they're giving us the okay to come
42:44through we need to get authority just in time so we're cutting off here in four minutes time beautiful
42:51thank you it's a pretty straight run home now
43:03good job done to see him back here pretty much close to his old self it's fantastic i'm wrapped
43:23actually for him i was struggling after the accident am i good enough to to drive trucks again and
43:31to have done what i've done it's huge i'm probably lucky enough to have a second chance of life
43:38my father he wasn't lucky enough but i think he'd be proud of what i've done over the years
43:43sludge is back this time we've crossed the threshold and we're going to do it again
Be the first to comment