Category: Utes

In the vibrant city of Melbourne, young Marty McDrive’s life was as ordinary as it could get. That was, until one day, when he was asked to help his eccentric neighbour, Doc Tray, move some items in his cluttered garage. Amongst the mountains of gadgets and machinery, Marty’s eyes were drawn to a dusty old ute, shrouded in tarpaulin.

As he pulled off the tarp, he was amazed at how pristine it looked. The aluminium ute canopy, in particular, shimmered despite the layers of dust. Unable to contain his excitement, Doc Tray revealed the incredible secret that the ute’s aluminium canopy had the capability to harness energy for time travel!

Despite Doc’s stern warning about the dangers of time travel, curiosity got the better of Marty. He hopped into the ute, and before he knew it, he was catapulted back to the 1930s, where the roads of Melbourne were bustling with classic vehicles.

Marty soon learnt that he had arrived at a pivotal moment in Australian automotive history – the inception of ute trays. He met Lewis Brandt, the original inventor of the ute, who seemed disheartened. Lewis was about to give up on his innovation, as there were not many takers for ute trays.

Realising the significance of ute trays in shaping modern-day transport, Marty decided he had to act. He shared stories from the future, of how Lewis’s invention would not only be embraced but also evolve. He spoke of how there would be businesses for installing ute trays near Melbourne.

Inspired and rejuvenated, Lewis thanked Marty and promised to continue his work with renewed vigour. Marty hopped back into the ute, setting the dials to return to the present day, hoping to find a thriving market with ute trays and aluminium ute canopies for sale.

Upon his arrival, he shared the thrilling adventure with Doc Tray. Doc listened intently, and while he was glad that Marty had done something positive, he warned him of the potential consequences of meddling with time.

As Marty looked at the ute with the shimmering aluminium canopy that had taken him on this incredible journey, he made a silent vow to respect the past and the innovations that shaped the present.

“Alright, now that we are all here, we can finally go over the plan.”

Charlie stood at the corner of the room, watching the other members of the Animal Rescue Fellowship closely. Was everybody committed to this plan? They couldn’t have any weak links. Everybody was under suspicion, especially Lain, who had entered the room last, loudly slurping at a bowl of two minute noodles.

“Dennis, how did the search for 4×4 aluminium canopies go?” asked Tammy, the group’s leader. “Did you find one that will be comfortable enough for our furry little friends?”

Nodding, Dennis said, “With a little bit of work, we were able to get it ready. Don’t worry, they’ll be plenty comfortable while we transport them back home.”

Fortunately, back home wasn’t very far. The Animal Rescue Fellowship had recently gotten word that the fairy penguins of Phillip Island were being coerced into appearing on a specific beach every night, rather than their natural habitat a few kilometres away. It was their job to liberate the penguins and stop this terrible injustice. 

“So,” Tammy continued, “Dennis and Ryan will drive the ute onto the beach while the rest of us create the distraction. They’ll load the little fellas onto the ute and hightail it out of there, then we will rendezvous at the meetup. Sound good?”

It did sound like a solid plan, especially with the distraction they were going to cause. There was no chance people would be watching the fairy penguins at the beach with a bunch of ice cream trucks driving around the island. Charlie just hoped that these supposed high-quality Melbourne ute canopies turned out to be as good as everybody claimed. The last thing they needed was the penguins breaking out of their liberation cage. 

Other than that, the only real concern she had was that someone here was going to rat them out. She’d suspected they had a double agent in their midst for some time, but had never been able to figure out who it was. For now, she simply had to trust that everything would go according to plan.