effort. In this most remote northern corner of Australia, traffic is not a problem for Matt and his co-driver, Mick Webster. ‘Some days we don’t see another vehicle on the run to Bing Bong, but when we do, we try to be as courteous as possible,’ says Matt. ‘ x4xx xx In any case, some are too scared to try. Others think this is just a normal-sized vehicle with two or three trailers attached. When they see it’s six, they either back off or go by us with their mouths wide open.’ The truck is breaking new ground in technology. The Northern Territory government had to change the regulations to legalise the Centipede for road use. ‘ x5xx x They’re sealed with covers to prevent ore dust from polluting the environment, and they have a special loading and off-loading device.’ It took just under two hours, in a temperature of 40 degrees, to crawl at no more than 64 kph from McArthur Mine to Bing Bong. x6xx xx On arrival at his destination Matt punched a button to unload the zinc onto the floor of the huge cyclone-proof warehouse where it is kept before being shipped to Europe and Asia. It didn’t look like much. ‘When you see how small a full load looks when it’s unloaded onto the floor of the warehouse, it’s very frustrating,’ he says. ‘ x7xxx x ’ I asked him how he enjoyed the job. ‘I wouldn’t do anything else, mate,’ was his reply.