Johnny and the Yellow Hippo
A western-esque coming of age drama. Set in the remote outback of Australia
Johnny is a young man of sixteen, working for a roadtrain operation out of Alice Springs.
He talks his boss Roland into giving him a lift up to Tennant Creek to visit a sick Auntie.
But Johnny's plans were to stay on with the Bates Transport men and continue on up to Larrimah. Then his little lie hits a big snag in the shape of a derelict roadtrain
Johnny is asked to help out a friend by driving the abandoned truck up to Larrimah...
Spoiler Alert
Johnny Chapman gets a lift up the road to Tennant Creek with Roland Bates Transport.
He is asked to drive Errol Reith's, Super Hippo up to Larrimah from Wauchope. Where it has been left stranded by Tiny Anderson.
Johnny tries to use not having a drivers license as an excuse not to drive the old Leyland but Roland says he doesn't care.
Bob Montgomery encourages the boy over into the old truck.
Johnny buys the truck from Reith's with money he has managed to save for his first car.
He negotiates the truck and trailers at a bargain. There is no share associated with the Hippo as Reith's have taken the allocated freight quota that was attached to the truck.
But Johnny has a plan, planted by his Bank Manager to go to Tennant Creek and do a job just carting copper ore from Tennant to Alice.
He polishes up the yellow cabin and sprays the chassis black as he does to all the trailers.
He has met a man with a boilermaker shop, Stefan Herzog.
He uses Stefan's facilities to get the most out of the Leyland.
He is taking over from Nick Velasco which Nick doesn't know.
He gets into a fight at the weigh bridge with the low life gangster.
Johnny continues on his merry way with the man's death haunting him.
He builds up his part in the transporting of bagged copper ore from the Goliath mine.
Then one day the police pull him over on a tip off that he has no legal papers. Johnny is taken into the Tennant Creek police station without the whole handcuffs being applied bit, to be read his rights.
He thinks he has been arrested for the murder of Nick Velasco.
Victoria, Vicky Velasco, 'The Gypsy' has tipped the police off about the boy's paperless state.
She doesn't know Johnny killed Nick, just that he has taken her husband's business.
She thinks Numbers Pointer and Lofty, the Two Wells associates who were last seen in town may have whacked her Nicky.
