600 Horses an still whinging bout cold feet by Scott Farquhar is a truckie’s honest reality check about just how comfortable the modern road has become.

From air-ride seats and cold aircon to the dust, heat and bone-rattling bench seats endured by the old hands, Scott gives a sharp, funny nod to the drivers who had a proper go when getting there was achievement enough.

600 Horses an still whinging bout cold feet

By Scott Farquhar

I knock her back a couple as she starts to climb a rise,
And reckon that I’m doing it bloody tough.
Then I think about them old blokes and the gear they used to drive—
Back when getting there was achievement enough.

I’ve got an air-ride seat beneath me,
Cold air blowing straight in me face.
When the road opens up, I put the boot in
Six hundred horsies quicken the pace.

Them old fellas had the windows wound down,
Copping dust and flies and heat.
And every rut would send another reminder
Through the springs in that old bench seat.

Half the time there was barely a road,
Just a couple of wheel tracks heading out back.
And if something broke, you got out and fixed it
There was no one coming with a laptop, mate.

There’s plenty reckon they’re legends now,
And they don’t mind telling you so.
But they’ve got nothing on them men in Buntine Macks
And Tanami W-models, having a proper go.

They’d have thought this old girl was a palace,
With a proper bunk to stretch out and rest.
Yet here I sit with the lot at me fingertips,
Still finding something to get off me chest.

So next time I reckon I’m doing it tough,
Sitting up here in me flash air-ride seat,
I’ll remember I’m only a sook with six hundred horses
Whinging the aircon’s too cold on me feet.

Keeping The Verse Alive

600 Horses an still whinging bout cold feet is shared with permission from Scott Farquhar through Keeping The Verse Alive, Country Campfire’s bush poetry preservation project.

By preserving poems like this, we’re helping ensure the stories, humour and characters of country Australia continue to be enjoyed for generations to come.

Scott Farquhar

Cattle Trucker • Bush Poet • Storyteller

Originally from Adelaide and now based in Katherine, Scott Farquhar spent ten years behind the wheel of cattle trucks. His bush poetry draws on the places he has travelled, the people he has met and life on the road, bringing a truckie’s perspective and a natural sense of humour to Australian verse.

→ View Scott Farquhar’s Legend Page

Poems, recitals, photographs, stories and original works remain the property of their original creator and are shared by Country Campfire with permission.