How many towns of 4000 people

[Narangga]

who are also over 1000kms by road from the nearest Land Rover dealer (on a road that is impassable 6-8 months of the year!) would have:

1 X Series 2
2 X Series 3
11 X 110 ( 1 County, 3 X 300tdi, 3 X TD5, 3 X Puma - soon to be 4 Pumas in Jan)
2 X 130
8 X D1
6 X D2
and a RR

as their Land Rover contingent?

Thought it was a decent list when I added it up!

[Bundalene]

That is an impressive list.....would almost fill the car park at the Golf Club:D

Pity Gove Motors aren't authorised Land Rover Service Centres any more...:o

Also pity the last mechanic who was at Gapuwiyak had to go back to S.A. He was a Land Rover man through & through and even had his Puma shipped up. He left in August due to unexpected family committments, but wants to return in a few years if possible. A nicer & more dedicated bloke you would hard pressed to find.

[Narangga]

That is an impressive list.....would almost fill the car park at the Golf Club:D

Pity Gove Motors aren't authorised Land Rover Service Centres any more...:o

Also pity the last mechanic who was at Gapuwiyak had to go back to S.A. He was a Land Rover man through & through and even had his Puma shipped up. He left in August due to unexpected family committments, but wants to return in a few years if possible. A nicer & more dedicated bloke you would hard pressed to find.

Gapuwiyak still has Caspa! ;)

[dmdigital]

Think you've left at least a dozen Landies of that list that I can think of.

There's at least 4 Counties in town and also at least 4 RR's, there's a D2a as well in the Disco list.

[Narangga]

Think you've left at least a dozen Landies of that list that I can think of.

There's at least 4 Counties in town and also at least 4 RR's, there's a D2a as well in the Disco list.

Was hoping you would help out :D 2a I included as a 2 if we are both thinking of the one that is new to town.

[Bundalene]

Gapuwiyak still has Caspa! ;)


Yes, well Caspa has still to prove itself....and hopefully it will do that without any problems....and fingers crossed, won't need too much help from the mechanic.

After all, this will be its first Wet season:)....

Hopefully, it will serve Sharon & Alfred for many years to come.

[dmdigital]

Was hoping you would help out :D 2a I included as a 2 if we are both thinking of the one that is new to town.

Give me some time to think on this one. Just flew back from Cairns tonight.

[PaulMac]

Not sure if I'm in the count of the 3 X 300tdi? if not +1
Pitty about the non-existance of a landy specialist!
wouldn't by any chance know anything of the quality of the panel shop?

[dmdigital]

Yes Paul is correct.

There are at least 6 white Tdi Defenders in town and one white, one green and one "unique" County as well as at least 2 Td5 130's, 2 DC Tdi's, a SIII and 2 SII (1 might be a 2a). Now I'll still have to think about the Disco's etc.

[clean32]

ok so this begs the question, what do you guys do in where ever you are??

[V8Ian]

ok so this begs the question, what do you guys do in where ever you are??
Repair their own LRs.:p

[dmdigital]

ok so this begs the question, what do you guys do in where ever you are??
Well the fishing isn't to bad, the off-roading isn't to crowded...

As for the where ever: Nhulunbuy - Google Maps (http://tinyurl.com/yk3tz8j)


Repair their own LRs.:p
Ever wondered why we are on this forum:p

[clean32]

Well the fishing isn't to bad, the off-roading isn't to crowded...

As for the where ever: Nhulunbuy - Google Maps (http://tinyurl.com/yk3tz8j)


Ever wondered why we are on this forum:p

LOL i had just googled it anyway.

i meen what suports a town up there??

and is it as dry as it seems to look on google maps??

[V8Ian]

Well the fishing isn't to bad, the off-roading isn't to crowded...

As for the where ever: Nhulunbuy - Google Maps (http://tinyurl.com/yk3tz8j)


Ever wondered why we are on this forum:p
I'm so over living remote, it's great to just go down the road and get what you want. As for the fishing, didn't do it in Cairns, Hedland or Karumba.:D

[clean32]

I'm so over living remote, it's great to just go down the road and get what you want. As for the fishing, didn't do it in Cairns, Hedland or Karumba.:D

Mate we are the opposite
2 years in Russia living on the fifth floor 48m2 apartment with the stairs smelling of urine costing 4K USD a month and you car is parked in a lock up 400 meters away and you have no control over the heating which is always to hot. And they turn the hot water off for a month every year.

3 years Beijing, 12th floor 71M2 quite nice really but a permanently blocked rubbish Shute and a pervert next door who kept on drilling holes in the walls.

3 years Shanghigh, 20th floor, hotel, very nice but staff coming in all the time, they would kick you out of the shower because they wanted to clean it etc

3 years Thailand, apartment in Supun Quai, 3 floor about 4 meters below the super motorway 24 hours pollution and noise.

We want to live some where remote LOL

[V8Ian]

Mate we are the opposite
2 years in Russia living on the fifth floor 48m2 apartment with the stairs smelling of urine costing 4K USD a month and you car is parked in a lock up 400 meters away and you have no control over the heating which is always to hot. And they turn the hot water off for a month every year.

3 years Beijing, 12th floor 71M2 quite nice really but a permanently blocked rubbish Shute and a pervert next door who kept on drilling holes in the walls.

3 years Shanghigh, 20th floor, hotel, very nice but staff coming in all the time, they would kick you out of the shower because they wanted to clean it etc

3 years Thailand, apartment in Supun Quai, 3 floor about 4 meters below the super motorway 24 hours pollution and noise.

We want to live some where remote LOL
Sounds like you're hiding.;)

[dmdigital]

LOL i had just googled it anyway.

i meen what suports a town up there??

and is it as dry as it seems to look on google maps??
Browse the area and you'll see a big refinery and a big red hole in the ground - Bauxite.

Yes, during the dry season, it is very dry and dusty. During the wet season it gets...wet and goes nice and green.

[Tank]

LOL i had just googled it anyway.

i meen what suports a town up there??

and is it as dry as it seems to look on google maps??
Lot's of Bauxite which is the Ore that Aluminium is made from.
I was the first to operate the Crusher at Gove after commissioning in the late sixties, also worked on the Conveyor, Stacker and Shiploader.
Wallaby Beach was the main camp back then, Nhulunby was only just starting to be built.
Less than a dozen Women and over 5000 blokes back then, Poon bros. food, 2 cot dongas and the Wet Canteen, what a life, I think the saying "Going Troppo" originated at Wallaby beach.
Money was good though, $2.40 to $2.70/hour, min. 60 hours a week, Zone A tax allowance, food and board all found, + $120/week severance and living away, paid in lump sum at end of contract (6 months).
I imagine it would be a bit more civillised now.
How about some pics from you Goveites, I'll see if I can find some I took while up there, Regards Frank.

[Bigbjorn]

Going back to the title of the original post, when Leyland Truck & Bus Division handled LR/RR product, there were dealers, in Qld. zone at least, in towns as small as Dirrinbandi, Thargomindah, Quilpie, and Morven. Some bigger towns did not have a dealer because the only suitable businesses were GM-H, Ford, and Toyota dealers. In those days before the trade practices legislation, these outlets were forbidden by the major companies from taking on another franchise.

Nowadays I doubt if there is an LR/RR dealer west of the Great Divide.

[Narangga]

Not sure if I'm in the count of the 3 X 300tdi? if not +1
Pitty about the non-existance of a landy specialist!
wouldn't by any chance know anything of the quality of the panel shop?

Which is yours Paul? I purposely (:angel:) left a few out for Derek to find. Now where's ....

[Narangga]

Lot's of Bauxite which is the Ore that Aluminium is made from.
I was the first to operate the Crusher at Gove after commissioning in the late sixties, also worked on the Conveyor, Stacker and Shiploader.
Wallaby Beach was the main camp back then, Nhulunby was only just starting to be built.
Less than a dozen Women and over 5000 blokes back then, Poon bros. food, 2 cot dongas and the Wet Canteen, what a life, I think the saying "Going Troppo" originated at Wallaby beach.
Money was good though, $2.40 to $2.70/hour, min. 60 hours a week, Zone A tax allowance, food and board all found, + $120/week severance and living away, paid in lump sum at end of contract (6 months).
I imagine it would be a bit more civillised now.
How about some pics from you Goveites, I'll see if I can find some I took while up there, Regards Frank.


Thanks for that Tank. How many Land Rovers back then? Probably on those at Yirrkala with the Mission I would guess.

Check out Derek's (dm_td5) flickr page in his signature for a few photos.

[Tank]

Thanks for that Tank. How many Land Rovers back then? Probably on those at Yirrkala with the Mission I would guess.

Check out Derek's (dm_td5) flickr page in his signature for a few photos.
Dale, there were a few there, mostly private ones bought in on the barge, a mate and I were going to buy a Series II and drive out when our time was up, but some bloke who attempted to do so was never seen again. Found his car, Toyo I think, so cops closed the road, or what there was of it. Then we were going to fly out in another mates Cessna, till on it's maiden flight the engine fell out while taxiing, sort of turned me off small planes, I'm still searching for the photos, will post up if I find them, Regards Frank.

[Barra1]

who are also over 1000kms by road from the nearest Land Rover dealer (on a road that is impassable 6-8 months of the year!) would have:

1 X Series 2
2 X Series 3
11 X 110 ( 1 County, 3 X 300tdi, 3 X TD5, 3 X Puma - soon to be 4 Pumas in Jan)
2 X 130
8 X D1
6 X D2
and a RR

as their Land Rover contingent?

Thought it was a decent list when I added it up!

1000 k's from a dealer:o

Impassable roads:o

Not surprising that the Land Rover contingent is quite substantial - and growing by all accounts;)

[dmdigital]

Dale, there were a few there, mostly private ones bought in on the barge, a mate and I were going to buy a Series II and drive out when our time was up, but some bloke who attempted to do so was never seen again. Found his car, Toyo I think, so cops closed the road, or what there was of it. Then we were going to fly out in another mates Cessna, till on it's maiden flight the engine fell out while taxiing, sort of turned me off small planes, I'm still searching for the photos, will post up if I find them, Regards Frank.
Frank, I've heard the story of the guy going missing from another of the early starters here.

Have you ever been back since you left?


Not surprising that the Land Rover contingent is quite substantial - and growing by all accounts;)
It seems to have stifled a little in the last 6 months but for the last few years there was a small increase.

[kenleyfred]

This would make a better story if I could remember the Island(s). But in my sailing days I remember a few Islands where practically every vehicle was an old Land Rover. It would have been in the Caribbean or South Atlantic.
Kenley

[Narangga]

This would make a better story if I could remember the Island(s). But in my sailing days I remember a few Islands where practically every vehicle was an old Land Rover. It would have been in the Caribbean or South Atlantic.
Kenley

Thanks. You could say:

Land Rovers: once seen - never forgotten.

Carribean Islands - well they all look the same after a while :D

Hard to go past aluminium bodywork where salt water is present though.

[Tank]

Frank, I've heard the story of the guy going missing from another of the early starters here.

Have you ever been back since you left?


It seems to have stifled a little in the last 6 months but for the last few years there was a small increase.
No I haven't been back since, I always intended going back, I was offered a job by one of the high ups from Nabalco. I designed a flapper curtain for the conveyor chutes because the Bauxite was building up on the back wall of the chutes where one conveyor dropped onto the next. They (Nabalco) tried everything, even coating the back of the chutes with Teflon, that lasted about 15 minutes. My idea was simple, a pipe across the top of the chute with an old piece of conveyor belt hanging down like a curtain, when the Bauxite hit the curtain it would flap about and dislodge any Bauxite that stuck to it's surface. Worked great, we had to continually shut down the plant and get into the secondary crusher to surge bin chutes with a bloody jackhammer and unclog them, rather hot in there, anyway it saved us busting our boilers a couple of times a day and the bosses thought I was a genius.
Looking at the Google maps you can still see where the Wallaby Beach camp was, the refinery was only just starting to be built and the bosses and families lived at Nhulunby, there wasn't much there then.
I would imagine it would be a lot more comfortable up there now, that Poon bros. food was hard to handle and the accommodation wasn't much better, the outdoor movies at Wallaby were great though, any work for drillers up there at the moment, my Son is heading back over West after Christmas on another drilling job, would have to be better at Gove, still haven't found the pics I took while up there, but the Missus is going to have a look, Regards Frank.

[Sprint]

1000 k's from a dealer:o

Impassable roads:o

Not surprising that the Land Rover contingent is quite substantial - and growing by all accounts;)

am i the only one here to find this unsuprising..... i mean, you expect anything else to make its way into town under its own power?