When travelling in the outback I tend to head to bed at dusk and rise a dawn. Last night everyone was talking around the campfire well into the evening but for some reason I still woke as dawn was breaking. Breakfast was an egg jaffle. I was packed and ready to go whilst other were still rising.
The campfire was rekindled and most people used it to cook their breakfast. The stated departure time was 9am. However getting everyone ready took more time and we didn't leave until 9:30.
The convoy headed east towards Kalgoorlie with Kym, the club secretary, leading. Twenty minutes into the trip there was a serious incident. If you own a caravan you may want to skip this part of the post.
Ahead of Kym was a large road train (long truck towing a long trailer) travelling at 100km/h. Close behind the road train was a dual cab Ute towing a caravan. This is Kym's explanation of the incident.
The Ute towing the caravan wanted to overtake the road train and waited until there was a suitable long empty straight. When that occurred the Ute driver indicated and pulled out starting to overtake. The manoeuvre was very slow as the Ute driver had been travelling so close to the road train he hadn't had an opportunity to pick up speed in advance.
As the Ute and caravan slowly started to pass the road train two motorbike appeared from the opposite direction. Then the Ute driver realised there was another vehicle immediately in front of the road train leaving a very small gap between the two. The Ute driver momentarily braked and then decided to fit into the gap between the front of the road train and the vehicle ahead of it.
As the Ute driver pulled into the gap the rear of the caravan clipped the front of the road train and got the "wobbles" before spinning across the road into the approaching motorbikes. The caravan then dragged the Ute with it before disintegrating onto the verge on the opposite side of the road.
The convoy immediately stopped and rendered assistance. The three occupants of the Ute were shaken but uninjured. The two motorbike riders looked ghostly white having seen the caravan appear sideways right in front of them. Two gas cylinders and a petrol generator ended up under the Ute creating a potential fire hazard. These were dragged away by one of the club members. Many of the club members own a caravan and the incident was a sobering reminder of the hazards when towing a caravan.
Unfortunately someone's easter holiday came to an abrupted and unforeseen end.
The club convoy then broke up and we drove independently to Kalgoorlie. I broke the journey stopping at the service station on the outskirts of Coolgardie to avail myself of their porcelain facilities.
I've previously written about Kalgoorlie so just a few photos.
I had assumed the convoy would take the bitumen roads to Laverton. That didn't happen! Instead, the convoy leader took us directly east and shortly thereafter we were travelling on an unsealed road.
Our destination for the day was the town of Laverton on the western edge of the desert. However it had already become apparent the convoy would not make it before dusk. At 3pm a campsite was identified in a large former gravel storage area beside the road.
A quiet night.
3 comments :
That certainly is a sobering tale, pleased there wasnt any injuries to those concerned.
Pleased to hear the motorbikers did not get injured, and the rest. You can imagine the language from the truck driver. Its always a good idea to let trucks pass as soon as you can and not hold them up, they like to keep on their 100kmph. Otherwise it causes this chain reaction, with faults from all drivers.
Got to feel for the truck driver. His routine run is from Perth to Townsville and return. Timetable thrown into disarray waiting for the police.
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