While working as a truckie in the Northern Territory, Michael Nibbs came to Tassie for a holiday – and there he decided to stay.
Nibbs had just rolled into the truck stop driving a Chas Kelly 2021 FM 540 Volvo and towing a fridge pan, when he stopped for a chat.
He was on his return leg from Hobart back to Devonport at the time and had dropped in for a break.
Nibbs tells us he has been driving for Chas Kelly for five years and he reckons they’ve been five good years.
“Look at the Volvo I am driving for starters. I mean it’s a great job and the outfit have certainly been good to me, and I am really enjoying driving in Tasmania which we now happily call home,” he said.
“Prior to coming to Tasmania, I drove heavy rigids in the Northern Territory, then we came to Tasmania for a holiday, and decided there and then to make the move.
“Since then, I have driven for a couple of outfits including carting spud for the best part of a year. Then in the off season I started driving for Chas, and I have been here ever since. You might say I am made up with the job, with Tasmania, the great atmosphere here, the climate, the friendly people and the lifestyle.
“If I had one very small regret, it’s the food, as they have such a wide variety in Darwin of affordable food from practically every nation, but then that’s a very small price to pay.
“My wife and I reckon this is a far better place to live and more importantly, to bring up our kids: quieter, kinder and more like Australia used to be years ago.”
Time off, he told us, is mainly spent doing family stuff, combined with mucking around with a couple of Harleys and cars.