A Swan Hill man, his 1950s tractor and what has been dubbed a ‘gypsy wagon’ passed through Echuca on Friday, December 13.
Setting off from Torrumbarry that morning, Greg, who is a little shy and didn’t want his surname or picture used, plodded into town on the sixth day of his maiden voyage with the cart.
“I’ve always been a gypsy,” Greg said.
“Years and years ago, my wife and I, when she was alive, we wanted to have a couple of draft horses and a gypsy wagon.”
Greg, now 80, said he had led a nomadic lifestyle and currently lived in a houseboat on the Murray River.
He only recently completed the wagon, constructed of plywood, corrugated iron and repurposed clothes dryer windows, to sit on a trailer he made in 1989.
“I built a wagon on top of it, just big enough for one person and a dog,” Greg said.
“I had an idea, I don’t have plans. I knew roughly what shape it would be, so I drew it out on the floor of a shed and got the framework rolled up.”
The frame was bowed by an engineer, but all other materials were sourced and put together by Greg, including a raised basket behind the driver’s seat for Kelly, his dog.
Solar panels provide electricity, and inside is an environmentally friendly toilet that’s commonly used in caravans.
Greg set off on his first trip from Swan Hill, plodding down a river track over five days before arriving at Torrumbarry to visit his friend, Tuesday Browell.
With a top speed of around 30km/h, the going is slow on his British-made 1953 TEA 20 Harry Ferguson tractor.
“On the dirt tracks up the river, you can’t go fast. I only travel at 10km/h or 15km/h,” Greg said.
He is now making the five-day journey back home on the Perricoota Trail via Koondrook, with a possible stop in Moulamein.
Despite the leisurely pace, he said future trips may include a journey into South Australia, possibly with an electric bike strapped to the tractor’s front.
“I’m 80 years old, who knows how long I’ve got. I had a heart attack, double bypass, so I’m probably on borrowed time,” Greg said.
“I’ve travelled all my life, and I thought I had to go out doing what I like, not what everybody else thinks I should do.”