Thread: Rescuer, rescuee and other strange happenings on the road.

What a great thread. Pity I won't be posting any stories here as I never get into trouble, never see any either and recovered very early from the bug that would have seen me become an Electrical Engineer.

SWMBO & I were driving from Cairns to Doomadgee, all the way we had been playing tag with one of those hire Merc vans turned into a camper.
About 50k East of Nomanton we came across them with a flat rear left & as I slowed I noticed the bloke was trying to get the jack under the van but really struggling. I said to SWMBO we better give them a hand as he didn't seem to know what he was doing.
Turned out they were a young Dutch couple with virtually no English. He was tall & bearded, she was tall & gorgeous in the tiniest shorts I think i have ever seen.
Anyway, after a dirty look from SWMBO I turned my mind to changing the tyre, the road had a very steep drop on the left, not much room to work & my Dutch mate didn't have a clue. I'm under the van locating the jack when the young Dutch lass decides to stumble over the jack handle & go sliding down the road embankment taking a heap of bark of those long, lovely legs.
After helping her back up the embankment SWMBO got our first aid kit, water & a rug & starts cleaning up her legs while I went back to changing the tye, I did suggest to SWMBO we swap jobs but was ignored.
We both finished our allotted duties around the same time & I must say I did the better job. The tyre looked great, young ladies legs not so much, SWMBO is a bit of a rough bush nurse it seems.
Bloke tried to offer me money which amused me, I, after much waving of hands & arms, got them to follow me & directed them to the hospital in Normanton.
SWMBO went on about me being a "Pervert" all the remaining 200k home. My explanation that being at ground level while changing the tyre hardly left me any options did not cut the mustard?
Jonesfam

I'd unloaded in Townsville and needed to be back in Brisbane as soon as possible, so was returning empty. I'd run out of driving hours, but was not the slightest bit tired. I decided to get a start on the southward journey and pull up when I felt I could get to sleep. I would do some creative accounting the following day.
I was driving a truck with no speed limiter, so had to be careful not to attract unwanted attention. I settled into a leisurely 100 kay pace, behind a charter coach. After a few miles of following the charabang, he offered to back off, to let me round. I declined, explaining that I'd deployed the Denning speed limiter. A conversation ensued and I learned that he had forty scool aged girls and five coaches, on their way to Hervey Bay for a netball carnival.
Before departure the driver (Jim I think ), had checked the conveyance over, to make sure it was trip ready; he'd overlooked the loo. Cast your mind back to the passengers, there was no dunny roll!
I always keep bum fodder, in my truck, in case of emergency. I offered this to support the cause, if Jim could find somewhere we could both pull over. The transfer of treasure was completed with military precision and we continued the journey. Then the UHF lit up with a female choir, forty-five strong, reciting "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".

When I drove coaches the loo was the bane of my existence.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

I'd unloaded in Townsville and needed to be back in Brisbane as soon as possible, so was returning empty. I'd run out of driving hours, but was not the slightest bit tired. I decided to get a start on the southward journey and pull up when I felt I could get to sleep. I would do some creative accounting the following day.
I was driving a truck with no speed limiter, so had to be careful not to attract unwanted attention. I settled into a leisurely 100 kay pace, behind a charter coach. After a few miles of following the charabang, he offered to back off, to let me round. I declined, explaining that I'd deployed the Denning speed limiter. A conversation ensued and I learned that he had forty scool aged girls and five coaches, on their way to Hervey Bay for a netball carnival.
Before departure the driver (Jim I think ), had checked the conveyance over, to make sure it was trip ready; he'd overlooked the loo. Cast your mind back to the passengers, there was no dunny roll!
I always keep bum fodder, in my truck, in case of emergency. I offered this to support the cause, if Jim could find somewhere we could both pull over. The transfer of treasure was completed with military precision and we continued the journey. Then the UHF lit up with a female choir, forty-five strong, reciting "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow".

Goes to show, nothing's new. There were toilet paper desparados over twenty years ago.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

True tale.

It was about 0200 hours, 70~80 kilometres south of Wycliffe Well. I had loaded three trailers with
Opal petrol, at Birkenhead, for delivery and storage in the Queensland Gulf.
I noticed flashing, amber lights in the distance and prepared to stop, not knowing what happening, roadworks, prang, hijack??
As I approached the fiasco a saw a large Mercedes van with headlights and hazard lights ablaze and an old XD Falcon with caravan, in darkness.
Once stopped, I was asked if I would swap batteries with the Falcon, as his was flat. Apart from the physical impossibility of that, my truck was mere months old, IT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!
Making enquiries I established that the young couple and toddler were German tourists, on the way to Adelaide airport, where they intended to abandon car and caravan, to fly back to Europe. The older fellow in the van had stopped to help the broken down family.
I had jump leads and offered to jump start the Ford. Then it was revealed that the alternator had failed and the car driven until the battery died.
I explained that even with a new battery, without an alternator they wouldn't make Adelaide and the best option would be for me to tow them to Wycliffe Well, where a second hand alternator would be easily sourced.
The van man and I turned the Falcon and caravan around with the Benz and I tied it to the back of my last trailer. The German bloke seemed to be totally lacking in any practical skills.
Doing a final check to make sure everything was as safe s possible, the German chap approached me,asking if his wife and daughter could ride in the cab with me, as he had just noticed the petrol placard on the trailer and was concerned that if he crashed into the trailer, it might explode with his car. I agreed without telling him that if he took out the back trailer, the other two, the prime mover and everything for a few hundred metres would be toast.
I got him safely, to as close as possible to the workshop and had a short conversation with him, as I untied his car. He opened his wallet, revealing the biggest wad of cash I'd seen for quite some time and asked how much I wanted. Tempting as it was, I told him we didn't work like that in Australia. Just doing my bit for Australia's reputation and tourism industry.
He also revealed that he was an electrical engineer!

That started so well too - 02:00 near Wycliffe Well with orange flashing lights on the horizon
Regards,
Tote

Originally Posted by Tote

That started so well too - 02:00 near Wycliffe Well with orange flashing lights on the horizon
Regards,
Tote

Knowing the wycliff well mob, I bet they were praying to the star god and then relaying another tale of the yellow flashing lights in the night sky..
Wycliff Well , The UFO capital of Australia

Cheers Bulletman

Everyone has a different idea of what is essential when planning and packing for a trip. Mid eighties was on the Telegraph track and came across a stranded Daihatsu 4x4. Seems the rear diff had decided it had had enough and so they were not going anywhere in a hurry. Talking to the occupants they had planned the trip for 2 years and the navigator had a very detailed schedule and maps to go with it. One of the comments was that as part of the planning they had been able to keep the load to a minimum to keep the weight down. Which comes back to everyone’s idea of essential differing. On top of the vehicle was a golf trolley and clubs. Seems one of the must do events on the trip was to play the Weipa golf course