New Truck and a Mini Trip

for Dave and I

A couple of weeks back, 

Dave and I took a little trip over 

to the East Coast to look at a truck

to buy for the milk run.

The old Hino Dave has been using

has been slowly dying and was in 

bad need of replacement

(saying that, it's actually still

being used at present, as why have 

one new truck when you can have an old

one and a new one!)

Anyway, Dave and I flew from Darwin over to Brisbane,

(after catching a greyhound bus from Katherine to Darwin),

then we hired a car and drove 440km down to

the truck dealer. Praise the Lord, it was 

what Dave wanted and we were able to drive it away. 

We were quite tired after not having any sleep

since Wednesday night and it was now Friday afternoon.

(we had to catch a red eye flight to Brisbane after Dave had 

done his milk run in Katherine. Then spend 7 hours in Darwin 

airport. Yay. At least I got my youth group lists sorted out)

Well, I drove the hire car back to Coffs Harbour

and Dave picked me up from there in the truck. 

We were well and truly sick of the traffic and freeways 

etc and were glad to get out of the crazy city and head

to Oakey where we picked up some stuff for a friend in Katherine. 

We had taken a couple of sleeping bags

so we could sleep in the back of the truck. 

We had a chiller board (mattress) to sleep on

and were fairly comfortable, but hot. 

(the view from the inside in pic above)

Once we got away from the nasty

traffic and headed to Emerald to visit 

family, it was an enjoyable trip. 

Especially since we had air con, so 

we could actually hold a conversation without

shouting! Very nice for a change! 

Of course, I enjoyed snapping away

out the window and despite the windscreen

being bug splattered after the first night,

I still enjoyed myself and the scenery. 

The Lord always knows best,

and despite having a different truck

lined up for us to purchase for almost a year,

it fell through and God supplied another within

a couple of weeks and it worked that we could go

and pick it up. God is good! 

As usual, the clouds were phenomenal

in the outback skies and I just couldn't get 

enough of them. (I really could fill a whole

set of encyclopedias with the cloud photos I've taken)

Well, we were able to spend a night

in Clermont with Dave's mum and dad

and an afternoon with his sister and family in Emerald.

But, all too soon, we needed to hit the road

and head home to work again. 

Due to regulations in Qld and NSW, we had

to fill out a logbook so we were unable to cover

as much ground as we would have liked

until we crossed over into the Territory. 

What a wonderful sight  to see the 

Northern Territory sign! 

It meant we were closer to home and 

also that we could throw the logbook out the window!

Okay, so not literally. We really didn't! 

 The galahs take a drink in Toowoomba

The downside to owning a truck,

the cost of fuelling up! 

And this wasn't even full yet. 

It takes 800 litres.

And that $908 is the $$.  LOL

I have always loved the country in between 

Cloncurry and Mt Isa. Ahh. 

Pretty soon, we were home sweet home. 

We had driven 4000km.

Not counting the trip from Katherine to Darwin,

and the flight to Brisbane,

and the trip down and back to the truck dealer. 

But, it been a nice, brief little retreat 

for Dave and I. 5 and a half days. 

The open road continually calls me.

The outback skies sing me to them.

The clouds call my name. 

The dust in the air spells out my name. 

Psalm 148 

1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

² Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

³ Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

⁴ Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.

⁶ He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

⁸ Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

⁹ Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

¹⁰ Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

¹¹ Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

¹² Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

¹⁴ He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.