JIMINY THE PAJERO

Jiminy is the machine that will be trucking us around Australia and he has been christened Jiminy. Whilst we will be visiting all the big cities, we are keen to explore the remoter areas of Australia and a 4WD (SUV) is the best compromise for what we are wanting to do.

We looked at what vehicle would fulfil our purpose and thanks to Mitsubishi being stuck with a heap of large wagons following the oil price rise in 2005, they were happy to swap it for the gas-guzzling green machine.

Jiminy has a turbo diesel engine which is very fuel efficient for its size and surprisingly quick. It is very comfortable to drive and gets along very well. Jiminy has been down to the off-road store to get accessorised for long distance touring and remote exploring. A UHF radio was installed and CDMA/satellite phone is on its way for all communication requirements. The highway tyres were swapped for some All Terrain tyres for better durability in off road situations as well has making Jiminy a little 'tougher' looking.

The suspension has been upgraded with new 'King' lift springs to give Jiminy an extra 2 inches (where it counts) to handle the rough stuff and upgraded 'Bilstein' shocks for added comfort. A second battery has been installed in the engine bay which runs a new car fridge, so cold beer and Champagne is always on hand. A big bullbar was added up front to sort out 'Skippy' when he decides take on Jiminy and a snorkel to keep the water out of the engine air intake when we tackle river crossings. A long range fuel tank goes in soon, to make sure we don't run short of diesel. We have also invested in a GPS, with every map of Australia loaded onto it so we know where we are when we get lost.

Jiminy is ready to get us there and back in comfort and style and I am sure he won't let us down (touch wood).