It wasn’t surprising when driver Allan Sullivan nominated fishing as one of his main recreations when not working, as he lives at Karumba which is a Gulf of Carpentaria town renowned for its waterways abounding with seafood.
Karumba is 71km by road from Normanton and is situated at the mouth of the Norman River.
“I catch barramundi, sweetlip, mud crabs and prawns,” he said.
Visions came to me of the famous television promotion in which Paul Hogan promoted lifestyle by cooking some prawns on a barbecue.
“I cast a net at the point back home and be wary of saltwater crocodiles,” he said.
Sullivan is 53 and drives a Mack for Greg Campbell Engineering.
He was parked at the BP Cluden Roadhouse when he stopped for a chat.
“I have come down with empty fuel tanks and will fill them and go back to Karumba,” he said.
When on the road Sullivan likes stopping at the Croydon Roadhouse near Normanton and BP Cluden. “The people at Croydon are friendly and the food is great. Here at BP Cluden there is lots of parking and facilities such as showers,” he said.
Whilst overall he said more rest areas were needed for truckies, he was impressed with one. “It is the pad at the top of Hervey’s Range Road,” he said.
Sullivan barracks for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL but also follows local north Queensland team, the Cowboys.