We had thought that we might catch up with Pete and Allison from Holiday Road where we were staying, but they were having problems with their air hoses and were still at Home Hill near Townsville. We figured we might as well head off, and that we would cross paths somewhere near the town of Woodstock, which sounded like an ideal place to stop for lunch.
We got there right at lunchtime, and Dunc parked Bertha outside the roadhouse, where we could be clearly seen from either approach. He had just turned away from confirming this fact at the window when we heard an almighty crash. Two cars had been involved in an accident at the intersection, and we missed witnessing it by mere seconds!
I went straight into Mummy Mode and stayed with the children, while Dunc ran out to offer assistance. It looked pretty serious at first. One of the cars had been pushed right off the road and over the ditch, and one of it's wheels was later found a good 10m further in the bush! The other car was smashed and skewed all over the road. The first car had a family with 2 young children in it, and the second an older lady. She was incredibly distraught and calling for an ambulance, and at first I thought there was someone else horribly injured in her car. But she was just in shock and everyone got away with cuts and bruises.
We slipped into caretaker mode, with Dunc calling 000 and me getting on the radio to warn the approaching truckies about the blockage on the road. We laid out our hazard triangles, delivered water to everyone (thank GOD for my huge stack of IKEA cups!) and waited for the emergency services.
Duncan stood on the road for a good hour, directing traffic onto the wrong side of the road and slowing everyone down. Since there was fluid over the road, we were waiting on Police, Ambulance AND Fire services, and the first took an hour to get there! Good thing we had 2 nurses stop on their way past and confirm that no one was seriously injured!
We finally sat down to eat our lunch at 3pm, and then had to wait for the tow trucks and ambos to move as they had blocked us in. We were relieved to see the older woman taken away in an ambulance, as we were fairly sure she was suffering from shock.
After our eventful pause for lunch, we discovered that the others were still at Home Hill and decided to drive to them and stay there the night. It was only a mere 50km detour and what is that after the many thousands we have travelled so far?!
The drive from Woodstock to Home Hill was the most beautiful and picturesque we have experienced in months and months! What a contrast to the previous few days. There were mountains covered in lush green forests, palm trees and blue skys with little white clouds - how wonderful to see clouds after so long. Seems silly, but one can get sick of insanely good weather.
It was so lovely to FINALLY catch up with Pete and Alison. They were finally able to leave, right when we arrived - isn't that always the way?! They kindly delayed their departure and the kids all played for a bit. I had baked a double batch of cupcakes and the kids took each other on a tour of the buses. Lexie particularly liked their hidden dungeon and Angus was super keen on Bob the cockatoo and their 2 dogs.
Of course Pete and Dunc got to show each other their buses too. Pete was most impressed with Duncan's latest toy - the remote control blipper that opens the door automatically. Dunc really liked their full spa bath - what luxury!
I loved just being able to compare notes and ask stupid stuff like what brand of thongs last more than 2 weeks (answer: none. Just buy them 2 pairs at a time so you always have spares)
It was a lovely but brief catch up, but far too short thanks to their air hoses and our witnessing the accident. You really CAN'T make plans that are too concrete when you live on the road. Anything can happen!
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