Three years after double bypass surgery Greg from Swan Hill is hitting the road in his rebuilt Fergie tractor and homebuilt caravan.

“I’ve been on the road for three days, I went from Swan Hill to Fish Point, then to Murrabit, and last night stopped about six kilometres out of Koondrook.” said Greg.

Joining Greg is his 12-year-old miniature Collie named Kelly, with the pair initially aiming to make it to Yarrawonga but now settling for Torrumbarry.

“I made the wagon out of a trailer I had made in 1989 in Port Lincoln, SA”

The recently built caravan’s body has an inch-thick frame, with a plywood internal lining and an insulation layer before the corrugated iron cladding. While a compact design, the Home on Wheels has everything the self-confessed Gypsie Greg could hope for.

“I’ve been a Gypsie all of my life, I had a great wife for 24 years, and when she passed away, I just kept going.”

The Fergie tractor sports an extensive canopy and creatively designed toolbox fashioned out of a 44-gallon drum that rides on the home-built carryall. Greg originally purchased the tractor from South Australia. The little Fergie had some heart surgery itself, with Greg getting the cylinder head resurfaced and having the valves renewed.

We need a few more lines for John Williamson’s Home Among the Gumtrees,

Give me a home among the gumtrees,
With lots of fun please,
A cod or two and a Kangaroo,
A Fergie out the front,
Caravan out the back,
And my old Collie Kelly…….

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 19 December 2024.