Travelling Vets - 16. TV Chapter 16

When we arrived there, about two hours later than planned, due to having two tyre punctures, we saw that the station has a well laid out caravan park, and we booked in for one night and were shown where to set up our camp for our stay. We stayed at our camp that evening, deciding to explore a little before we leave in the morning, and a few people passed by our camp to look at the bus, but we remained inside, with the door closed, so as not to be disturbed by anyone.

In the middle of the night, at around 3 am, my mobile began to vibrate with an alarm, I was about to reach over and shut it off and go back to sleep when I saw all the lights on the outside and realised that the alarm on my mobile was the silent alarm for the trailer, and I jumped out of bed, and grabbing the jeans I wore the day before, I shucked them on and raced down the passage and downstairs.

Flicking on light switches on the way, including the external lights for outside the main door of the bus, before grabbing the high beam torch and cautiously opening the door, as I heard Marcus come down the stairs. “What is the problem? Was that the trailer alarm going off?” my husband asked me. “Yes, it appears that maybe our bus and trailer are a little too well known,” as we heard a distant vehicle starting up ad racing away into the darkness.

With the trailer still attached to the bus, we cautiously checked the surroundings before having a closer look at the trailer, where we saw some damage caused by attempts to jimmy open the large back door of the trailer. Opening up the side door to the trailer, I punched in the code to reset the alarm, before checking that nothing inside was damaged, and everything was in place.

“With the trailer closed up, locked and the alarm reset, we were discussing the issue, when we heard approaching footsteps. “Good Evening, is there a problem here?” the caravan park caretaker asked us. “Yes, someone attempted to break into our trailer. Luckily we have a silent alarm system installed, as we sometimes carry veterinary drugs in the fridge inside, which is not the case at the moment,” I replied, stretching the truth a little, as the vet drugs are stored in a bar fridge in the upstairs office, and we did have some in the fridge.

“Oh, you are those travelling vets, who worked at the station across the border with that recent outbreak,” the caretaker asked, “That is correct, but all remaining drugs and vaccinations remained at that station when we left, as they were specially flown in for that, and we are on holidays,” Marcus responded. “Oh, I see, well has there been any damage? Do I need to call the station managers in?” the caretaker asked.

“No, we have checked everything and relocked up and set the alarm again, so all is fine and we are heading back to bed,” I replied. Once the caretaker had left, we shut off the external lights and headed back into the bus and locked up. “I don’t like that bloke, he seems a bit dodgy for my liking,” Marcus said to me. “I agree with that, I think we should have a very early start in the morning. I am going to stay up for an hour and make sure nothing else happens, you go and get some sleep,” I replied.

After a quick kiss on the lips, Marcus headed upstairs, while I settled on the lounge and began to read a book, with a small light on to be able to read, but not enough to be seen from outside, and I was still reading when Marcus came downstairs, and put on the kettle for a cuppa, and looking up I realised that daylight was only just visible. “Good morning, sweetness.

It appears that I stayed up for the whole… three hours remaining of the night,” I said, as Marcus chuckled, kissed me, before heading back upstairs, and I soon heard the shower running. Standing up, I stretched and opened the door to let in some cool morning air, and I stepped down, and walked around the bus and trailer to have a closer look at how bad the damage was.

Although there was some bending of the door frame, I knew that they would not have been able to open the rear door that way, as there are two bolts on the inside as well as the lock on the outside, that need to be released to get the rear door open. Back inside, I made a pot of tea and put on some toast, which was ready when Marcus reappeared, showered and dressed, ready for a new day.

Luckily we had refuelled the bus and dumped out sewage waste before we had settled into our campsite, so once we had our light breakfast, I went out and checked the oil and water in the engine compartment, and Marcus had gone to check on the boys before he came down and warmed up the bus engine, so we could get going.

I was pleased that we were back on the road again, and for the next eight hours, Marcus and I took two-hour shifts of driving, stopping only to change over drivers, and also once for a lunch break, and to all four of us to stretch our legs for a while. We had earlier decided to travel as long as possible today, and we selected a river crossing to set up camp for the night, on a dirt track well away from the highway and hidden behind a grove of trees, so no one would be able to spot us from the highway.

Keeping our light levels down to a bare minimum, so we wouldn’t be seen, we were all very tired by the time we had stopped, and after some dinner and showers, we all retired to bed early, especially since we wanted another early start in the morning. Our next stop would be at the next river crossing, which is where Jervois Station homestead is located, where we would be refuelling again, which was only a three-hour drive from our overnight stop, so we would be arriving mid-morning there.

While I was refuelling, the boys were taking a walk and looking around, I was checking the oil and water on the bus, and all of the tyres for the bus and trailer, as the last two days we had been travelling on a very rough section of the highway. We were just about to all load up and head off again, when a lady came running up t the bus from the direction of the homestead.

“Hello Dr Kendrik and Dr Sanderson, I am glad that I caught you. I am Sheila Anderson, the station co-owner, I have an urgent message from our neighbours down the road a little way. They are asking if you can call in there and check on some stock for them, please. We have all heard about the wonderful work that you did at Glenormiston Station across the border, and we are all so thankful that you were able to put a stop to that outbreak so quickly.

Anyway, the owners of Huckitta Station, which is about four hours down the road on your right, and just 1.5 kilometres off the highway, would like you to stop and visit them please,” the lady said to us, and I heard Marcus quietly groan, while I smiled to the lady. “Sure, just let them know that we are on our way and that we will be there no later than 2 pm this afternoon,” I replied before the lady handed us $100 in cash.

“Let’s just call this a district discount on your fuel for what you have done with our thanks, and we are sorry to hear that you had an attempted break into your trailer at your last overnight stop,” she said to me as I accepted the money and smiled before thanking her for their hospitality and service. “Well, that was a nice surprise,” Marcus said as I handed him the money, while I climbed into the driver’s seat and we set off for our next destination.

The visit to Huckitta Station was short and required just a consultation about the livestock, and a quick health check of the station work dogs, and they all seemed to be good and healthy, apart from needing a good dose of Worming medicine, and we were given a $175 payment for our short work. We stayed there overnight, and were treated to a home-cooked meal, roast beef with all the trimmings, which everyone enjoyed.

We were asked to call into Mount Riddock Station, which is a further 85 kilometres down the highway, and just three kilometres from the homestead to the highway, where once again we were asked to do health checks on the station work dogs, and once again we were given $175 for the work, plus given free fuel for the bus.

Five hours later, as it neared sunset, with the sun in our eyes as we drove west, we arrived at the corner of the Stuart Highway, and finally sealed roads again, which meant no more corrugated gravel roads to deal with, which we were all pleased about, having travelled over 750 kilometres since leaving the sealed roads at Boulia, and 1,745 kilometres since leaving Tambourine, Queensland.

Turning right to head north, we decided to keep driving for a while longer, since we were now on a bitumen road, and can travel at a much faster speed of 100 km/h, compared to the average 70 km/h that we had been travelling for the past two weeks. We continued for over two hours, and now starting to feel tired, we began to look for a place to camp for the night, when we spotted a sign saying WW11 Barrow Creek in the Ochre Brown colour, which signified that it was a historical site, and we slowed down and turned right down the gravel track and through an open gateway.