Bumblebee resting on the side of the highway where it came to rest.
We have recently had a wonderful holiday to Emerald to visit our son and his family.
One of our three northern grandchildren is 10 months old and we hadn’t met him, so it was important to take the time.
We made the trip more of an adventure by traveling up the inland road, through Bourke, where we use to live and work.
Next stop Charleville, where our romantic relationship began over 35 years ago. Onto Longreach for Russell to go to the Qantas Museum, having worked and flown in someof the old machines in the distant past. We then spent a week with our family in Emerald- having a wonderful time.
Our trips are always an adventure with our lovely little 12-footer Viscount Caravan we named “Bumblebee”, due to its yellow markings. I travel with our bird named “Jackey bird” our dog Snoopy, oh, and my husband, Russell. We love to explore, especially the outback and sometimes go off the beaten track, but on the last day that became quite literal.
The photo above is of our little Bumblebee sitting sedately on the side of the road between Coonamble and Gilgandra after it decided to go its own way.
About 60kms out of Gilgandra we heard a loud sudden scraping noise and I said, “Russ, pull over!” He looked in the mirror and sure enough the van was sliding off the road. The caravan draw bar had broken clean off the van.
Now, it was the final day of our holidays, and some would see it as hard luck.
But the many people who stopped to help said “Wow, how lucky you were”. And this is where the perspective comes in. I must admit we were laughing a bit even when it happened. Not to discount the seriousness of the situation and knowing very disastrous outcomes could have resulted, it did seem a bit surreal and funny.
As we assessed the scene, we were so thankful. The van, as it slid off the road missed a large culvert by less than a metre. If it come off on the curve it would have landed in a large dam, which apparently has seen a few vehicles land in it over the years.
You see you could see it as hard luck, but the caravan was nearly completely undamaged and is being fixed in Gilgandra. It just slid off the road, to the left, as if it just needed a smoko break. It wasn’t raining, which was due later that day and the view from where we waited showcased the delightful Warrumbungle mountains. You could see it as bad luck, but no one got hurt the van isn’t in hundred pieces on the side of the road and we managed to get home that night to Canowindra with everything safely packed in our car.
Perspective is an amazing and powerful thing. I find there is nearly always something to be thankful for even in the worst of scenarios. I read a book once about a missionary lady in China who was paralysed by disease. At one point she could only move a couple of fingers and was thankful that this enabled her to turn the pages of a book.
I don’t know your story, or your situation but we all go through crappy times. We all experience the valley of shadows, but maybe check the perspective. I hope you enjoy the story – my husband and I are still laughing about it, and I hope it makes you laugh too.
By Sue Hodge
The culvert and dam the caravan managed to avoid when it suddenly left the road.