In the islands, as in country areas of Oz, employers have difficulty finding good staff. Many have sourced a hotshot from the city, but had then not last very long, when mum didn't like the place, or the kids didn't like country life/schools etc.

Thus I found myself minding the spare parts department of Tutt Bryant in Rabaul, New Guinea, while they searched for a suitable manager. That had some interesting sidelights.

I have driven many things, from go karts to formula 1, a pre-war Morris 8/40 to 10 ton trucks. Some have been impressive, but my most memorable drive was entirely different. I was the only senior person available to bring a Komatsu D120, very large bulldozer, sent to Tutts for repair, to the workshop from the barge ramp, a couple of miles away, right through the centre of town. I had done some work on Komatsu bull dozers in remote logging camps for them, so had some experience driving them. The dozer was perfect except someone had destroyed the winch, by winching a 6Ft diameter log right into it. I was dropped at the wharf with a team of 10 boys, [local labourer], each with a 10" by 2" hardwood plank about 20 Ft long. These were laid on the road for the dozer to walk over, to avoid destroying the bitumen road. No thought of requiring a permit, or having lollypop people to stop the traffic, besides it really is easier to see a huge bulldozer than a stop sign on a stick. Sitting up there, looking down on everything gave a huge feeling of power. Walking in first gear was a bit slow, so I snuck it into second. Rather than walking, the boys were now trotting along dragging their planks from behind the dozer to the front of the laid walkway to keep up. A few gave me big grins, as if to say, this was more fun than walking slowly through town.

I have never before or since had such a feeling of power & invincibility. Ever had a crazy experience yourself?

Dear Hassie,

We lived and worked in Los Angeles for
close to ten years and I learned to drive
a pontiac Le Mans. I loved that car but
I was a very nervous driver. Anyway, early
one week night hubbie and I drove to pick
up our other car from repairs and when
my husband waved me on, I thought he meant
for me to pass him which I did and kept on
driving. He had wanted me to pass him
but he had wanted me to stop in front of
him. I didn't. I kept on driving.

It finally dawned on me that hubbie was nowhere
to be seen. I found myself on the side of this
steep hill and finally got pulled up by a police
officer who "Lady what's wrong with you, you've
driven past me several times now. Have you been
drinking?" "I'm lost," and I began to cry.

The police officer asked me where I lived and
when I told him, he laughed. "That's just at
the bottom of this hill you should have kept on
going."

Anyway, he escorted me home but when we got home
the officer made me get out of the car, and he parked
the car for me in-between the two enormous columns
that stood in front of the building. I wonder why he
didn't trust me to park the car?
The experience was a bit embarrassing, but fun.

Has been my most interesting drive was when we hired a large boat, it was a 40 footer with twin screws. Not large in your terms I know.

Anyway, unbeknown to me I had been nominated as skipper, as I was the only one with a speed boast licence so I sh1t myself when the owner came on board and wanted me to prove I had the goods.

Well my only experience was watching the guys operating the Capricorn and I had figured out if they engaged forward on the starboard and reverse on the port engines the boat would turn anti clockwise on its own axes.

So, with a bit of Bs and heaps of confidence, not to mention my wife and baby daughter as well as friends relying on me, I set off and managed to pull off what was an amazing test drive. Talk about getting thrown in the deep end.

Anyway, it proves that observing and asking plenty of questions can get you by, well in those days (late 80's) it did.

As for large machines, I have a 5 ton excavator and got to operate a 37 tonner. It was amazing and made mine look more like a crowbar in comparison.

Hi rehctub. Yes twin screw boats can be a lot of fun. I have driven a lot of boats, but mostly they had a pointy end & a blunt end. This makes approaching jetties much easier.

The big cats at South Mole didn't have a real pointy front, so required a bit of difference in technique, but Sarasin, the 90 Ft barge I'm sure you will remember, was really a square boat, & required a totally different technique again.

I had to run her a few times, & made a study of the best skipper. He could walk that box of a thing more than 10 Ft sideways to get along side of a wharf. I never developed that kind of skill with her, but was good enough to not disgrace myself with her.

Hi there HASBEEN...

You're a typical Naval aviator type, boasting about all those remarkable vehicles you've driven - but it's us Army blokes that can always surmount you seafarer's...

That 'Komatsu' D120 bulldozer to which you so proudly refer, well my friend, I used to 'race' the damn things ! Known as the 'Bulldozer' 1000 (mm?) at Mount Panorama, Bathurst! I held the race record - 0 to 10 in 30 minutes?