Spardo:
As it’s got a blade on it Ian, I am sure that it’s a grader.
I thought that too MRM, because it reminded me of a day in northern Norway when, as a schoolboy with 5 others and our scout/physics/rugby master, Jake, in his Austin Cambridge pick-up, we came up yet again on another grader that constantly roamed those unmade gravel roads.
My grader story is about one of the grader operators employed by the West Australian Main roads department who had a large workshop and numerous machinery operating out of the Derby West Kimberly depot.
We often came across the graders as most of the main roads in those days were gravel or pin down sands and each year after the wet the roads were graded in this case I was travelling north on the Gibb River road almost at the start of the Leopold range when I realised I was catching a grader doing the middle cut on the road so rule of the thumb dolly along behind until he realises he has company behind and they would lift the blade and scoot off the road on the up wind side so he was out of the dust we tended to make a mobile cyclone of the stuff anyhow I was just toodling along and the grader operator I recognised as an old hand because when he was grading he tended to lean his head towards the high side quite a lean he generated and he had been doing it for many years so the lean had developed into a natural habit for him even when having a beer in one of the local pubs he was instantly recognised from the rear by the lean, anyhow I/m tanking along when I suddenly realised I to was developing a lean myself it became a habit I was had pushed to get rid off and the next time I bumped into Charlie he fronted me in the front bar of the pub and asked me why if I was taking the p… I apologised profusely and bought him a beer while I tried to pacify him ,he told me he had had to adapt the lean as his sight in one eye wasnt the best and by leaning he got a better level with his cuts.
A couple od days later a really drunken ringer [stockman] abused one of the barmaids because she refused to serve him due to his drunked state the fella got really abusive and then Charlie stepped in and said you can talk to me like that but you don’t talk to the female staff in that manner so apologise and if you dont behave I shall get upset.
I.m afraid the drunk decided he would teach Charlie a lesson but unfortunately he couldn’t match Charlies haymaker that propelled backwards through the plaster board wall of the Spinifex Arms front bar.
I was really pleased I wasn’t cheeky to Charlie when he challenged my reason for my lean.
Just as a footnote the graders on those days mainly Cat 12s just a sceletil cab bit of shade but definitely not air conditioned.
Dig
