Parked outside a popular South Townsville watering hole for off-duty drivers was a white Toyota Hiace van with a sign with the words ‘old truckie’ facing outwards from the back windscreen.
Curiosity got the better of Spy so I walked inside to find out who was the owner and what the story was behind it.
After some minutes I gleaned the owner was Troy Vines who was only too happy to yarn to Spy about the sign.
“It belonged to my dad Ivan Vines who died aged 80 in March this year and I took possession of the van,” Troy said.
Ivan had been a well-known truck driver for decades and loved life on the highways and byways and the road transport industry.
“Dad drove trucks around Weipa, Mackay, Cairns, Townsville and many other places,” Troy said.
Troy opened the driver’s seat door of the 2003 model van and inside was an Akubra hat which was worn by Ivan and had been his pride and joy.
There were also a lot of his personal items stuck to the inside of the sunshade.
“A lot of his stuff is in here and it is a great memory to dad,” Troy said.
The van had 1,083,000 kilometres on the clock and will keep running for many years.
Troy said that many people who saw the sign ask him what it is all about.
“It happens all the time and Dad’s memory lives on because of it,” Troy said.