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Cracking along
Quick weather
THE NT plumber’s crack has made
a speedy appearance at full
throttle. A fella was spotted
showing off his best side on the
back of a motorbike on the Stuart
Highway, near Noonamah.
MAX
DARWIN
Afternoon shower or storm
ALICE SPRINGS
Partly cloudy. Light to
moderate easterly winds
34
39
MAX
FULL WEATHER REPORT: PAGE 53
CONFIDENTIAL: PAGE 23
$4900 cab ride in undies
By DANIEL BATEMAN
A TOWNSVILLE taxi driver
accepted the fare of a lifetime
after taking a half-naked
passenger 1500km home to
Tennant Creek.
The young passenger in
his 20s — who wore nothing
more than a pair of silken
boxer shorts and thongs for
most of the 17-hour trip —
hailed a cab outside Tom’s
Tavern on Nathan St on
Thursday about midday.
Veteran taxi driver Mike
Caldwell, 68, who has been
driving taxis in Townsville
for 30 years, was more than
happy to oblige after his passenger paid the $4900 fare as
a cash advance for the long
drive to the Territory.
Mr Caldwell said there was
nothing suspicious about his
half-naked passenger carrying the large amount of cash
in a small bag.
The money was understood to have been with-
drawn from the man’s personal account at the NAB in
Aitkenvale. ‘‘He said I want
to go to the BP in Wulguru to
buy a phone, and then I want
you to take me to Tennant
Creek,’’ Mr Caldwell said.
‘‘I said, ‘OK. It will have to
be whatever the fare is, and
you have to pay in cash before we leave’. He said,
‘That’s all right. I’ve got six
grand in my bag here’.’’
The pair made two twohour long stops in Mount Isa
and Barkly Homestead, before arriving in Tennant
Creek about 9.30am the
following morning.
The man was dropped off
at the Westpac bank in Paterson Street.
It is understood the man,
who is a well-known local,
then withdrew more cash to
take another taxi adventure.
It is not known where he
went, nor what he was doing
in Townsville. Mr Caldwell
described his passenger as a
talkative bloke. ‘‘He did all
the talking,’’ he said.
‘‘He told me he was once in
a bad accident on a motorbike. Occasionally we would
stop periodically for him to
have a smoke.’’
After taking a pit stop for
breakfast at the Three Ways
Roadhouse in Tennant
Creek, the pair encountered
a pair of police officers.
The police recognised Mr
Caldwell’s passenger instantly. They told him that
a friend had feared the man
had gone missing, and was
relieved to hear that he’d
returned home.
‘‘I have no idea what he
was doing in Townsville, but
everyone seems happy he’s
back home in Tennant
Creek,’’ Mr Caldwell said.
Mr Caldwell — who will
receive 50 per cent of
the fare — described the
trip as a unique experience,
being able to drive across the
Outback and be paid for it.
Remand
for fire
A MAN spent more than
three months in jail for
lighting a bushfire in a remote Territory community
that threatened a primary
school and a police station.
Matthew Smith, 26, was
given a 12-month fully suspended sentence for lighting dry grass at Imanpa,
about 200km southwest of
Alice Springs, in August.
He had already spent
about 15 weeks in custody.
Justice Judith Kelly
heard the fire threatened
the primary school, teacher’s residence, police
station and council manager’s home.
Bushfires NT were in the
community
and
extinguished the blaze.
The court heard Mr
Smith lit the fire because
his blind uncle was telling
him about how the countryside used to be green.
‘‘He had a very misguided intention to try and
clear some dry grass to
make room for new
growth,’’ the court was told.
UFO spotter Alan Ferguson was relieved yesterday’s shaking was an earthquake — not an abduction
Picture: BRAD FLEET
Top End’s heavy rocker caused
by quake deep below Banda Sea
TERRITORIANS were woken
by a burning ring of fire early
yesterday morning.
The notorious Banda Sea —
which sits in the most
earthquake-prone area on
Earth, known as the ring of fire
— had heaved off another
heavy rocker.
Readings by Geoscience
Australia indicated the earthquake, which hit about 2.30am
NT time, measured 7.1 in magnitude — one of the biggest to
be felt in the Territory for several decades.
It happened about 150km below the surface and about
650km from Darwin, but the
www.ntnews.com.au
This is either an
earthquake, or
another abduction
jobby
tremors were felt in the Top
End’s capital, as well as anywhere from Nhulunbuy,
Goulburn Island, Katherine to
Pine Creek.
Some thought frisky partners were trying for a ‘‘midnight delight’’. Others leapt out
of bed to tackle home invaders.
Many reported alarming
swaying and rocking.
Meanwhile Territory identity Alan Ferguson — Australia’s foremost authority on
UFOs — said he woke to a crash
and bang at his Acacia home.
‘‘I was just pushing zeds all
over the bedroom, like you do,
when all of a sudden I heard
this bang, crash’’ he said.
‘‘My body’s moving backwards and forwards. I was like
this is either an earthquake, or
another abduction jobby. I
wasn’t quite sure at the time.’’
He said the tremors lasted
about two minutes.
Afterwards he figured out
what caused an unusual noise.
‘‘It was me pet galah, Pink
Bits,’’ he said. ‘‘Same thing
happened in 2007 when we had
earth tremors. Animals sense it
first. So it freaks out, jumps off
the perch, and hits the bottom
of the cage.’’
Geoscience Australia senior
seismologist Dr Mark Leonard
said the Top End was in a bit of
a sweet spot which allowed
residents to feel quakes from
unusually large distances.
‘‘The orientation of the faults
to the north of Darwin tend to
drive a lot of energy south to
Darwin and past it,’’ he said.
The quake was one of the biggest in the region for quite
some time. ‘‘It’s equivalent to
the biggest we’ve seen for several decades,’’ he said.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012. NT NEWS.
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