The road to South Australia
To drive an unregistered vehicle across the state one needs an 'unregistered vehicle permit' from the RTA. I forget all the bits of paper I had to collect for an 'unregistered vehicle permit' but I do remember it includes a pink slip from the local mechanic.
I completed the form and took my bulging dossier of permits, certificates and correspondence to the local Motor Registry. A permit was issued and I'm off to South Australia.
The main road south out of Sydney is probably the best piece of tarmac in Australia, two lanes in each direction (with emergency hard shoulders) and divided by a very wide median strip. Once I drove this road from Canberra to Sydney and used the brakes just twice. Unfortunately it is the main north-south truck route so it is quite busy and well policed.
I have an aversion to police. In most countries police are involved in law and order issues, indeed this is probably the case in most Australian states. In New South Wales the world's largest police force boasts four hundred unsolved murders, the world's worst car theft statistics and more radars than the RAAF. Whilst serious crimes are met with a shrug of the shoulders and a "what can we do ?" attitude, policing road laws are an obsession for New South Wales Police. Shots fired will get a patrol car to call by in an hour or so but a minor traffic infringement will see a high speed pursuit until the trangressor runs out of fuel or dies in an accident.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Police-Pursuits/Exposed-tragic-toll-of-police-chases/2004/11/05/1099547388770.html?oneclick=true
I have been booked many times for 'speeding' when I wasn't, the most recent about two years ago. I saw the police car so when the lights changed I idled away at about twenty kilometres an hour. The Police car turned around and booked me for doing 80km/h in a 60km/h zone. Apparently 80km/h was what their radar read and I was the only car in sight. Three court dates later the judge finally accepted that a train was passing at 80km/h at the time the police radar read 80km/h. It was their own words that condemned them, during the time taken to switch on the radar, take a reading for three second then turn their car around and pull me over my car had only traveled three hundred metres. If I was doing 80km/h I would have been in the next suburb.
So I avoid NSW Police. They are interested in making their road booking quota and things like violence, theft and drugs are just too hard for them.
Anyway I stopped at a nice motel in Hay (it looked like your typical movie cliche motel but I say 'nice' because the manager was welcoming) and set off across the Hay plain the next morning.
Driving the Hay plain is quite surreal.
It is flat and vegetation sparse so you can see miles ahead. Trucks loom out of the heat shimmer and I pass the grey nomads (retirees with caravans) like they are standing still.
Roadkill litters the sides of the bitumen. Birds, lizards, marsupials, each a beautiful creature with a sad story. Tears well in my eyes. I believe in the sanctity of life, to kill a human is a serious matter. Other life forms form a hierarchy of morality, mammals then other vertebrates carry varying degrees of concern. I will not swerve to avoid a dog if it puts a human in danger. I will kill rats in experiments to save a sick human. I'll shoot feral vermin.
There are those who would argue that any life I take, even a mosquito, places some stain on my soul. They may be right.
Hundreds of insects splatter on the sculpted metal and glass. I will not cry for them.
The road crosses onto the Victorian side of the state border before I reach South Australia and I am in the 'Riverland' district. The beautiful countryside and frequent roadside rest stops tempt you to stop and have a picnic. The flies ensure your rest is brief.
It is closing time at the Regency Park Motor Registry. I make an appointment for the next day and set off for an ancient beachside hotel and a $15.oo three course dinner at a seaside restaurant. Excellent value.
I completed the form and took my bulging dossier of permits, certificates and correspondence to the local Motor Registry. A permit was issued and I'm off to South Australia.
The main road south out of Sydney is probably the best piece of tarmac in Australia, two lanes in each direction (with emergency hard shoulders) and divided by a very wide median strip. Once I drove this road from Canberra to Sydney and used the brakes just twice. Unfortunately it is the main north-south truck route so it is quite busy and well policed.
I have an aversion to police. In most countries police are involved in law and order issues, indeed this is probably the case in most Australian states. In New South Wales the world's largest police force boasts four hundred unsolved murders, the world's worst car theft statistics and more radars than the RAAF. Whilst serious crimes are met with a shrug of the shoulders and a "what can we do ?" attitude, policing road laws are an obsession for New South Wales Police. Shots fired will get a patrol car to call by in an hour or so but a minor traffic infringement will see a high speed pursuit until the trangressor runs out of fuel or dies in an accident.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Police-Pursuits/Exposed-tragic-toll-of-police-chases/2004/11/05/1099547388770.html?oneclick=true
I have been booked many times for 'speeding' when I wasn't, the most recent about two years ago. I saw the police car so when the lights changed I idled away at about twenty kilometres an hour. The Police car turned around and booked me for doing 80km/h in a 60km/h zone. Apparently 80km/h was what their radar read and I was the only car in sight. Three court dates later the judge finally accepted that a train was passing at 80km/h at the time the police radar read 80km/h. It was their own words that condemned them, during the time taken to switch on the radar, take a reading for three second then turn their car around and pull me over my car had only traveled three hundred metres. If I was doing 80km/h I would have been in the next suburb.
So I avoid NSW Police. They are interested in making their road booking quota and things like violence, theft and drugs are just too hard for them.
Anyway I stopped at a nice motel in Hay (it looked like your typical movie cliche motel but I say 'nice' because the manager was welcoming) and set off across the Hay plain the next morning.
Driving the Hay plain is quite surreal.
It is flat and vegetation sparse so you can see miles ahead. Trucks loom out of the heat shimmer and I pass the grey nomads (retirees with caravans) like they are standing still.
Roadkill litters the sides of the bitumen. Birds, lizards, marsupials, each a beautiful creature with a sad story. Tears well in my eyes. I believe in the sanctity of life, to kill a human is a serious matter. Other life forms form a hierarchy of morality, mammals then other vertebrates carry varying degrees of concern. I will not swerve to avoid a dog if it puts a human in danger. I will kill rats in experiments to save a sick human. I'll shoot feral vermin.
There are those who would argue that any life I take, even a mosquito, places some stain on my soul. They may be right.
Hundreds of insects splatter on the sculpted metal and glass. I will not cry for them.
The road crosses onto the Victorian side of the state border before I reach South Australia and I am in the 'Riverland' district. The beautiful countryside and frequent roadside rest stops tempt you to stop and have a picnic. The flies ensure your rest is brief.
It is closing time at the Regency Park Motor Registry. I make an appointment for the next day and set off for an ancient beachside hotel and a $15.oo three course dinner at a seaside restaurant. Excellent value.