We really hope we can be the sort of parents that take our child everywhere, and to that end, we’ve gone and purchased a really kick-ass set of wheels for the little ankle-biter.

While in Australia this past winter, we browsed through a local baby store where Yolanda’s parents had pretty much outfitted every one of their kids through all their years. The store was small but quaint and the owner knew Mum and Yolanda like the back of her hand. While there, we looked at their selection of strollers (prams) to see what they had available.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen strollers from just about any country but the USA, but they build them way differently; namely, solid. These strollers aren’t built to last for one kid, they’re constructed to hold the entire neighborhood and then some. You are in for the long term on any of these, and you pay around $400AUD for the privilege.

We found one we really loved, but to ship it back to the States was going to cost $OMG so we looked online and found we could get it much cheaper in the States, so put it off. Finally, after slaving for a week picking up garbage at the Franklin County Fair, we were able to afford it.

$285 later, we have a Bertini TS Shuttle stroller in the “Sport” colors, which translates to black and dark blue that photographs very light. It is an Australian-made, Australian-designed stroller with an aluminum tubing frame, nylon structure, and solid plastic handles and levers. The switchable all-wheel steer system sits on four huge 25psi 8″ pneumatic tires and the stroller will hold anywhere from a complete newborn baby up to a toddler of 37lbs. It comes with the air pump, three places to put stuff for the parents (underseat storage, canopy storage, and handle storage — includes a cellphone holder!), a winter quilted boot, and a full-covering rain cover.

It is, in short, sweet as hell.

With this stroller, we can take it anywhere — like I told my wife, it would plow through a foot of snow if you wanted it to, and a few inches will matter not in this sucker. We’ll bundle the kid up so it can’t move and take it out for a stroll in the winter wonderland, haul it out to any park and push it around with ease on the trails, or take it into town and forget that curbs even exist. For all I know, the tires probably double as flotation devices.

So, we have our new car and now our new stroller. All we need is a baby, and that’s still cooking. Then — the 4×4 Nationals!