Six months ago if someone told me I would be travelling to all
the Truck stops on the coastline from Sydney to Rockhampton, to promote a Truck
magazine I would have laughed at them.
Here I am now sitting back in the office pin pointing all the
truck stops on a motoring atlas of Australia that I have recently visited.
Honeywill’s theory was that I needed to taste the dust and smell the diesel
across the country to develop my senses of the Trucking Life.
Farewelling the luxuries of home life and freshly cooked home
meals I boarded my Mercedes Van with 4 palettes of magazines and DVD’s and
jetted off across the coast to target all the truck stops. I wanted to
experience the roads the Truckies drove, the food they ate and the friendships
they developed in random Truckie’s lounges. What could you possibly talk about
to a stranger you’ve just parked your truck next to?
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| All packed up and ready to hit the road |
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| Driving on the East Coast of Australia |
Is it possible to have a good healthy eating plan while being on
the road? This is definitely a challenge for Truck Drivers across Australia and
now I can relate to it. It’s easy to make excuses to justify unhealthy choices.
While a nice crock-pot filled with vegetables, potatoes and chucks of meat
would be an ideal healthy meal, unfortunately Truckies do not have this comfort
we take for granted when we are at home.
While we have the luxury of plug in appliances at home, Truckies
patiently await whatever food happens to be at the next truck stop. I
experienced this dilemma whilst doing this promotional run from Sydney to
Rockhampton. Fast food is at every truck stop and more and more fast food
restaurants are starting to provide truck parking and facilities just to make
it a little more convenient for us to indulge in the cholesterol and fat laden,
life shortening, tasty, appetite busting menu.
The smell of hot chips awakens our taste buds as we walk through
the doors at a truck stop. While tuna, sardines, beans, vegetables, fruits and
nuts sound good in theory why did we order the extra large fries and coke with
a triple grease burger filled with extra chesse? Is it to stay alert and
control while driving?
As food choices are limited we must be very smart about food preparations on the road in order to stay healthy. That deep fried pork was my reward for a long drive but when am I going to burn it? It’s still a long drive ahead of me.
My experiences during the trip forced me into a supermarket to
pack portable snacks and to eliminate fried foods and sugars. I found eating
small frequent meals throughout the day kept my metabolism up and helped my body
to digest more efficiently. If you wait as long as possible and then eat a
large fatty meal you are definitely digging your own bed.
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| Meeting Truckies at a Truck Stop |
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| Leaving behind some magazines for drivers |
Tired? Drained? Exhausted? Food is generally our body’s fuel.
How do we fill up our personal tanks and how well do they make our engine run?
If you dig into you pocket and pull out your smart phone, I’ve pretty sure
someone’s developed an application to tell you what foods to eat and avoid to
maintain a good diet. I hear salted almonds are an excellent source of fibre
and grapefruit provides vitamins A and C. Combine both to lubricate your engine
for the road. I kept mine near me for times when I craved something other than
celery and carrots.
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| Driving up the coast |
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Spotted a tiny Cherry van |
We arrive in Port Macquarie late at night to rest up before another day on the road. The best thing in Port Macquarie is driving past an Oyster Farm.
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| Oyster Farm |
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| Fresh Oysters |
Next stop is through Coffs Harbour:
After a short visit to Coffs Harbour, it was straight up to Brisbane.
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| Sunset driving towards Brisbane |
The next morning we woke up in Sunny Brisbane:
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| River glimpses from our room |
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| Brisbanes Famous Storey Bridge |
After endless hours of driving what do we look forward to? A
place filled with friendly people, good quality food and someone who wants to
have a yarn with you? Kasey Chambers and Slim Dusty may keep you company for
the drive but I found the locals at Bororen Hotel to tell you a story or two
that you will remember for life.
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| Crossing many bridges in QLD |
Situated off the Bruce Highway in Bororen this charming timber
wooden cottage that was built in 1895 draws you in with its French doors and
welcoming wooden veranda, packed with truck drivers from all across Australia.
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| Owners Wayne & Kelly |
As you stretch your legs onto the wooden floors at Bororen Hotel
after a long drive you are guaranteed a warm welcome either by the owners Wayne
and Kelly or one of the Truckie’s scattering around the veranda looking for new
faces to swap a story or two. For a minute it feels like a family gathering during
Christmas. I’m almost certain the turkey will be served soon. Finally I found a
truck stop where I can put my feet up and catch up with colleagues I haven’t
seen in a long time.
If you’re looking for home-style meals you have definitely come
to the right place. The reality that we are about to taste something similar to
home food sets in as we meet random happy fella’s who welcome us with open arms
as we have our Truckin Life shirts and caps on. Challenges are placed for us to
hand over our shirts and caps as our meals are served. As much as I would of
loved to hand over my shirt, I think by now after 10 hours of driving my shirt
has collected enough sweat, dust and droplets of diesel at random petrol
stations.
The owners pull off daily miracles of bangers and mash, lamb
racks, salads and veggies. The menu is both good quality food and value for
money but more importantly the happy champs who share their stories with you
with a smile before heading out the back to crash for a few hours is priceless.
Rumours have it there’s a “resident ghost” wandering around the hotel at night
ringing bells. Unfortunately our stay wasn’t long enough to meet the special guest
but hopefully next time we pull our truck in, will have another story to tell.
Leaving behind the family from Bororen we head up the coast to
our next venture. For a minute I thought we had crossed into the Middle East as
I see a camel crossing sign. I’ve never seen a camel crossing sign so this is
quite new to me. What are the odds of a camel crossing on a highway in
Queensland? More importantly what if you were driving at 100 KMS per hour to
spot a group of camels on a field trip crossing the highway? What does one do?
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| Camel Crossing in QLD? |
No road trip is adventurous without the dramas you come across. We experienced
everything from an overheating van to a speeding fine to meet a deadline only
to be delayed further due to Queensland road works.
I’ve been to places I never thought I would go to on this trip.
At 10pm we drove out of a petrol station and followed a truck filled with sugar
cane back to its headquarters in Maryborough to hand out magazines at the Sugar
Factory.
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| Sugar Factory |
We met campers outside of the Bundenberg Rum Factory who was waiting for a special release bottle to be distributed in a week.
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| Bundenberg Factory |
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| 1 week Campers |
To all the fantastic people I met on this trip, I would like to
personally say a huge thank you to for making me feel welcomed, appreciated and
apart of your family. See you next time.
Denver
