Like many of you, the ROADBOSS crew had to weather the devastating impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred to deliver the latest magazine, which is out now!
While the cyclone – and subsequent loss of power, internet and mobile phone reception – forced us to delay several stories in Queensland and northern NSW, we’ve still managed to produce what we reckon is arguably our best and most rounded issue yet. We hope you agree!
Leading this edition is our epic journey to the dried-out salt flats of Lake Gairdner in a remote corner of South Australia for Speed Week.
At 160 kilometres long and nearly 50 kilometres wide, the lake’s dried-out salt flats create the perfect opportunity to go fast, luring in the adrenaline-crazed racing teams of the world – including Rob Waters and his 2,000hp W-Series Kenworth known as ‘The Prospector’.
It’s an incredible story marvellously told by Harrison Hunkin and beautifully illustrated by Thomas Wielecki’s captivating photography. Watch out for what promises to be an equally impressive video, shot by Jake Ashe, coming soon!
From super trucks to super cars, ROADBOSS’s resident rev head Cobey Bartels takes you on the journey of a lifetime to deliver two rare classic supercars – a Lamborghini Urraco and a Porsche 356 – to the prestigious Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance car show on Cockatoo Island.
Phil Charlton – owner of renowned classic and supercar transport specialist, Vehicle Transport Group (VTG) – has been gunning to show us how it’s done for a while now, so what better reason than Australia’s most prestigious car show!
Check out Cobey’s wonderfully crafted story in the next issue – accompanied by Alastair Brook’s magic imagery of these incredibly rare and stunning supercars transported by a schmick-looking IVECO Stralis featuring a unique European-style two-car hoist setup.
Jumping from fine cars to fine wines, Harrison Hunkin indulges his love of wine to unearth how South Australian grapes are plucked, transported, squashed, and crafted to end up in his glass.
For ‘The Grape Escape’ he and photographer Alastair Brook travelled to CMV Farms’ vineyard in Langhorne Creek to capture the harvest of 138 tonnes of Pinot Gris grapes before following more than 55 boxes of the lightish-purple grapes loaded onto Freighter flat decks on the back of a beaming blue 2023 Kenworth T909 to a major Barossa production facility.
Their resultant story gives us all an appreciation of the blood, sweat and tears that goes into producing our favourite bottle of plonk!
From fine wines to fine fillies, Steve Brooks and snapper Thomas Wielecki travel to the beautiful town of Tumbarumba in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains to hitch a ride with horse transporter Ultimate Horse Transport, owned by Katrina O’Brien and partner Jack Holstein.
There they hitch a ride with Jack’s new Volvo FM six-wheeler for the weekly run north loaded with up to 10 horses ranging from thoroughbred broodmares and high-end polo ponies and showjumpers to pony club hacks and adored horses of any shape or size.
Armed with a deep-seated passion and love for horses of all kinds, the business’s success, the way Jack sees it, boils down to one word: “Smooth! Rough doesn’t work. Not in this business. And definitely not in our business.”
Rounding on this issue ROADBOSS heads north to Queensland’s Fraser Coast to capture a heart-warming story on the role a new Hino FE 1426 is playing in ‘Closing the Gap’ for First Nations communities around Hervey Bay and Maryborough.
Commissioned in April 2024, the superbly equipped and purposefully designed medical clinic on wheels is fitted with all the equipment and features of a modern general practitioner’s service.
More importantly, it is the latest extension of the Galangoor Duwalami (meaning ‘good meeting place’) Primary Health Care Service established in 2006 by two remarkable, tireless and obviously tenacious indigenous women intent on improving the lives of their people.
The moving story is superbly told by Steve Brooks and strikingly illustrated by photographer Sam Thies.
The ROADBOSS team hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together! If you’re not a subscriber, sign up for a complementary subscription here.
