Book - A Mammoth of a Time

Chapter 1 “All aboard the Mammoth!” Mum yelled, “We’re off to Tassie!”.

The Mammoth is my Mum’s favourite baby. I reckon she loves it even more than us. A huge, silver land-cruiser which I reckon can do just about anything. We’ve been driving all year as part of her new project – Mum's a travel journo to the extreme. Most recently she’s souped it up with a broadcast tower on top – she's turned it into a portable radio station! At the end of every day she sits in the boot and lets her devoted listeners know what she’s been doing for the day. She’s a classic adventurer, and she’s been everywhere you can go without running the risk of becoming a political prisoner, from deep in the Mexican jungle of Bonampak to the remote areas of eastern Russia she’s been there. Mum’s tough as nails, with nerves of steel and is capable as anything. Dad... Not so much. Dad works as a beautician and I suppose you could say opposites attract. He’s about a foot shorter than her, and he’d definitely lose to mum in a fist fight. Then there’s my twin brother Quentin. He doesn’t like to talk too much, mostly just draws. He’s really into graphic design at the moment, but that means he doesn’t look up from his iPad too often. After Mum, my favourite member of the family is Rory, our Kelpie. He has the sweetest goofy smile, loves to chase his own tail and is the best listener I’ve ever come across. Mum’s project that we’re all taking part in is a road trip around Australia. We’ve been almost the whole way around and the only place we’ve got left is the cold wet armpit of Van Diemens Land. You might ask, how do you get to Tasmania on a road trip? I wondered the same question. Turns out that it’s easy when you’ve got a boat. Even easier when you’ve got a land rover that turns into one. I think that Mammoth must be buoyant because of all the extra fat. Either way, the Tasman Strait was crossed with ease despite my lack of understanding of the Mammoth’s internal mechanisms. “She’s a beauty!” Said Mum, in sync with the steady rumbling of the Mammoth’s outboard. She stood beaming against the wind, her Akubra hat firmly fixed in place, despite the howling Southeasters winds. On the horizon, our destination slowly rolled into place, the dull yet beautiful glow of Hobart as alluring as ever. “That’ll be us soon,” she says.