Spirit of the Truck

The latest mod to my 'mighty tuff truck' is a TJM Roof Top Tent on the EGR  hard lid. Rhino Rack rails fitted disperse the meagre 58Kg of this tent across the tub walls and I have done several hundred K's over bitumen, dirt and tracks to see how she handled it and it was solid as a rock. Also with no wind drag that you normally get from roof top mounting. It takes about two minutes to deploy and pack up, see images below and is very sturdy. To date I have added Steel TJM Bull bar, TJM Winch, TJM Snorkel, 2" lift from ARB Dakar Rear Leaf Springs, OME Nitro Sport Shocks, Tiapan 3" Exhaust, EGR Flat top lid on tub, dual battery system with 100ah deep cycle battery for all the accessories or lights,  and now a TJM Roof Top Tent on Ute Lid and Rhino Racks. This latest mod will go well with my other camping setup which fits easily within the tray. I can still fit 4 people in th cab easily even with the Engel Fridge in the middle of the back seat. Next a set of slide out ute drawers in the tub (see - Slide out from Ironman) then maybe, when I need them a set of more aggressive tread all terrain 4x4 tyres.

Not my image :-(

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/125 sec

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  Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 720, 16mm f8, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 500, 16mm f8, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/125 sec

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  Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f8, 1/125 sec

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f8, 1/125 sec

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  Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f8, 1/125 sec

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 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 280, 16mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Home & Winter

Sunday dinner with family, chicken and pork belly from the wood fired oven. With cup cakes after another good weekend of AFL.

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 900, 50mm f1.4, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/3200 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/1600 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/4000 sec

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Mothers Day Trentham, Vic.

Trentham, Victoria where the locals look like they have a lot of fun. This ute load of locals was having a great time in the main street. Mothers Day 2012. No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you - your life. A mother made all those sacrifices for all those years and now only wants you to call every now and then. Don’t you have someone that you really should call? I live with mine and she keeps asking when I'm going home :-) See her on Facebook.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/8000 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/4000 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/4000 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 220, 50mm f8, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Red Beard Bakery

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/4000 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 800, 50mm f1.4, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 560, 50mm f1.4, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 1600, 50mm f1.4, 1/60 sec

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Mum

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 450, 50mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 400, 50mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Autumn Yard

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 560, 105mm f2.8, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 900, 50mm f16, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 200, 105mm f3, 1/400 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 560, 105mm f3, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 320, 105mm f3, 1/80 sec

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 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 220, 105mm f3, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 200, 105mm f3, 1/250 sec

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Kiewa Valley & Mt Bogong

Mount Bogong in the Alpine National Park, is the highest mountain in Victoria at 1,986 metres. We passed through the pretty Autumn colours of Bright and Mount Beauty to get to our target of Mountain Creek Road that ascends Mt Bogong. Starting out bitumen until the camping area near Moncrief Gap where for the final 12Km or so it turns to a slim muddy track for walkers and 4WD only. With several creek crossings and steep sections you can climb to 1,100 metres where the track ends at Camp Creek Gap. From here its a 4 Km walk the 800 metres or so in altitude to the summit.

Bright

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 1250, 11mm f22, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 1600, 12mm f22, 1/80 sec

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Kiewa Valley

 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 220, 11.5mm f22, 1/80 sec

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Track Log

iPad Screenshot

Mt Bogong

 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 280, 16mm f22, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 800, 11mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/125 sec

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Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/100 sec

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Camp Creek Gap

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/200 sec

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Time for a cuppa

Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 320, 11mm f8, 1/80 sec

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Anzac Day 2012

The first image is a current (2012) $5 Anzac badge and below is and older one my mother has. During World War II Australian soldiers made miniature slouch hats from half pennies. Half pennies were the lowest value coin at the time and worth about one half of one cent. The hats were made extensively sine World War II as brooches and sold by tourist shops and RSL Clubs.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 1600, 105mm f16, 1/4 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 1600, 105mm f16, 1/5 sec

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The medals below were awarded to my uncle and are two in my mothers possession that she has as mementos of her brother Stan. The Defence Medal was a campaign medal of the British Commonwealth, awarded for service in World War II. A circular, silver medal, 36mm in diameter. shows the bareheaded effigy of King George VI. On the reverse, the Royal Crown rests on the stump of an oak tree, flanked by a lion and a lioness. The ribbon is flame coloured in the centre flanked by stripes of green to symbolise enemy attacks on Britain's green and pleasant land, with narrow black stripes to represent the black-out. The Africa Star was awarded service in an operational area of North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943. Members of the Australian Imperial Force qualified for the Star for service in Syria from 8 June 1941 and 11 July 1941. The Africa Star is a six–pointed star of yellow copper zinc alloy, with a height of 44mm and a maximum width of 38mm. The central design of the Royal Cypher of King George VI, surmounted by a crown. The cypher is surrounded by a circlet containing the words ‘The Africa Star'. The reverse of Stars issued to Australian, personnel have recipient names impressed. The ribbon for this medal has sand of the desert represented by pale buff, the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force are represented by stripes of dark blue, red, and light blue respectively.

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 105mm Macro f2.8 @ ISO 1600, 105mm f16, 1/8 sec

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