In the midst of the sea of men dominating the skyline at Ilfracombe on Saturday, one person stood out.
Cowra’s Jodi Finnegan was the sole female driver volunteering to bring a road train of hay from Darlington Point in southern New South Wales to Queensland’s central west.
She’s been driving big rigs for 14 years and is normally seen behind the wheel for Langfield Haulage driving tippers for grain and fertiliser.
Jodi says truck driving is the best office window Australia has to offer, giving her a passport to some of the country’s most sought-after destinations.
“I’ll go anywhere; I’m always up for an adventure,” she said. “That’s why I’m here really.”
Western Queensland is one place she hadn’t been to on a job, and she jumped at the chance to join the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners when her boss offered it to her.
“My boss is great, and he wanted to be a part of this,” she said. “His dad has a farm and the hay run meant a lot to him.
“He donated my back trailer of hay, and his surrounding neighbours donated the front trailer.
“I could have loaded three or four trailers of hay – people were so keen to support this.”
All up, Jodi transported 84 bales of “really good” big square bales of hay to Ilfracombe, before heading home for a load of cement.
Another driver whose trip to Ilfracombe was quite an adventure was Albury’s Sam McClelland, who had political aspirant Pauline Hanson riding up in his cab the whole 1860km journey.
“I found out a lot about what it was like to be in the parliament,” Sam said. “It’s a lot different to what I imagined.”
A veteran of nine of the hay runs held to date, Sam spent his weekend taking his road train to Aramac and Jericho, which saw him getting bogged north of Longreach in a 65 point downpour that took two tractors to get him out of.
The episode meant he was able to share a meal with the family he was taking hay to.
“I missed out on the shindig on Saturday night but this type of thing is a lot better when you have personal contact with the farmer you’re helping,” he said.
“I delivered hay right to some pretty skinny horses, and might have saved their lives.”
