Daryl Livermore (inset) enjoying a stop in North Queensland
If compulsive traveller Daryl Livermore was ever going to be forced to stay off the road for a while, now is probably as good a time as any.
As someone who loves to hit the rough roads and get into the remotest areas of Australia, Daryl’s rig often gets a fair bit of a workout and now is the time it needs a bit of TLC. The 60-year-old has a 2007 Ford Ranger fitted out for Outback travel with bigger tyres to offer extra clearance, snorkel and diff breathers for water crossings, a dump can for cleaner more efficient running, and the vehicle has been computer mapped to give better economy and performance.
“I carry a reinforced Northstar ‘Offroada 6’ on the tray,” said Daryl. “This is a slide-on unit so I can jack the legs and leave it at camp to go exploring, run into town, or launch the boat … having a slide-on unit means you can have the van and the boat.”
As tough as the rig is, a trip to the Cape last year left it needing a bit of a rebuild, and the rear wall of the camper and associated fitting needed replacing. With the virus crisis putting paid to any immediate travel plans, Daryl has been using the time wisely.
“I am in the process of refitting my travel outfit and have had the truck serviced, the wheels and suspension all realigned, put in new shock absorbers and I have even had it detailed,” he said. “Now, having taken everything out, finding things I had lost, having everything repaired, I have to repack the truck and camper!”
Daryl has been travelling Australia all of his life, sometimes in Utes and sometimes on motorbikes with just a swag.
“I have travelled to the southernmost point of Tasmania, the northernmost point of Cape York and onto Thursday Island, the southernmost point of Victoria, and I have also travelled west to Birdsville, Bedourie, and done the Darling River Run in New South Wales,” he said. “I haven’t done the west coast of Australia but I hope to in the next few years.”
Daryl currently travels alone.
“I prefer to camp away from the crowds and I avoid caravan parks where possible … the more facilities they have the more I am inclined to avoid them,” he said. “Free camping suits me as I am self-sufficient but I do quite like basic van parks at a reasonable price for the occasional stop to refresh and do the washing.”
Daryl says travelling has changed a lot since the ’70s when you had to be very self-sufficient, but he acknowledges that today’s computerised vehicles means that the days of being ready for anything with a spare tyre, oil, water and a few tools are long gone.
“I would like to be hitting the road again now but, like so many others, I have had my wings clipped,” he said. “However, it does seem the shutdown is achieving what it was designed to do and we can’t knock that.”
Daryl hopes the borders stay shut until the government has a real handle on the problem.
“I would though like to see in-state travel opened up,” he said. “This is a lovely time to go to north Queensland while the temperature is tolerable.”
