Log Book

Judith Bishop

Log Entry 20/03/2009 - 22:43:08

Hi all, a last (and last-minute) entry before the launch day arrives... First, though, not having written since the Victorian bushfires, I want to send wishes and thoughts out to those affected, including Mick from this site and his wife Kim. On the same sombre note, a recent article about Dust Poets Dave Delaney and Mick O'Brien noted that 275 people died in truck accidents up to March 2008. This reminded me of a web site I came across while researching for this project, called Lights on the Hill , which is the official website for a Queensland memorial to truckies and coach drivers who have died on the roads. The site says: "The name originated from the famous Slim Dusty trucking song "Lights On The Hill". Before the late Slim Dusty passed away, he and his wife Joy agreed to use the name "Lights On The Hill" and to be patrons of the memorial, along with John "The Ferret" Moran." The other discovery I made while googling about was a story about the Bicentennial Mack Super-Liner trucks , complete with a commemorative poem and a truck named Henry Lawson (after the poet and writer, pictured on the right)... The trucks are beautiful (were? not sure how they're looking twenty years down the track!) and the poetry connection was too good to pass up mentioning on this site!

Judith Bishop

Log Entry 01/02/2009 - 21:48:38

Hi again,

I have to say, I’m awestruck by Mick’s details on the economics and day to day work of trucking – and the fact that you still have time for poetry, Mick! My partner poet Olivia and I linked up at last by phone and email last week (hopefully there’ll be a visit to her family property – and the trucks -- at some stage). I’ve loved reading Olivia’s poetry and I’m sure you will too. Meanwhile, with a view to my own poem, I’d been meditating on a few months I spent many years ago in the Northern Territory close to Katherine, country of the road train. I've been learning all about the different configurations of these trucks, and which ones are allowed in which states, and discovering the awe in which these giants of the truck world are held, both here and overseas – especially in the U.S. They seem to be one of the most photographed tourist sights in the N.T., judging by all the photos I’ve come across online, and the enormous dust clouds they kick up figure prominently in many of these pics…

Judith Bishop

Log Entry 05/01/2009 - 17:07:14

Hi Dave, hi everyone,

Good to meet you! I’m sneaking in a quick post while my baby daughter sleeps… So excited to be part of this project – and especially looking forward to meeting my truck poet partner and learning a lot more about life on the road, beyond the glimpses I’ve had of it – the distant roaring of gear changes on the M2 in Sydney, cattle trucks with their swaying cows rumbling up the Monash freeway, when I used to live near Gippsland… Here’s a neat idea I came across on a US website – “trucker buddy” pen pals for school kids – kind of like our own pairings-up for this project. Wonder if there’s an Australian version of this?: http://www.truckerbuddy.org/ … Judith