The Journey - Part Three

The Challenge: To drive from Melbourne to Perth in my 1988 Rover Vitesse without any sleep or power naps. Challenge Accepted.

Part Three

BorderTown to Perth


Beautiful Women

The drive from Bordertown to Balladonia was demoralizing! I was confronted with long stretches of straight road that existed in flat plains with little plant life in existence. What made matters worse was the fact that I’d been driving for about twenty seven hours straight, and without any turns in the road or exciting scenery to keep my mind awake and my eyes open I found my mind drifting off into a place where soft beds, sheets washed in fabric softener, pure wool quilts and pillows, and beautiful ladies who offered back massages reigned supreme. It was a wonderful place and after I’ve finished this historical recording I may return there and live out my days in complete satisfaction and contentment. When I returned to reality I knew I had a fight on my hands and it was at this time that the Lord Almighty decided to test my resolve, my commitment to the challenge, and like a true Salvationist I passed. I arrived at Balladonia and decided to have some breakfast.

Sandwich or Hot Chips

I released a coat hanger from my right hand and watched it soar through the air and disappear over the boxes, and it was only when I heard Dane yell out in anger that I knew the coat hanger had accomplished its mission! Unfortunately what I didn’t know was that the coat hanger had hit him in the face and that meant the end of the game for today. It was now ten thirty in the morning and Dane and I had been at work for over two hours and therefore we thought it necessary to take our third break.

We sat down on some boxes and began to talk about life. I’d known Dane for about two years but we’d only been working together for about six months and over this time I got to know Dane really well and we’d become good friends. I told him that I was to return to Perth in the next few weeks and as a result he told me about one of his friends who had driven over from Melbourne to Perth. He told me this story so that I could avoid the mistake his friend had made and as it turned out his advice proved priceless, if only I’d listened.

I put the car into park and lean back against the head rest and yawned, I was tired, really tired. I got out of the car and stretched. I then went inside to order some breakfast. I look up the menu and was amazed by the variety that was offered by the owners in such a desolate place. I brought a sandwich and sat down to devour it! After only a few bites I realized that this sandwich was not made today, or even yesterday, the sandwich must be close to a week old! It was horrible and my stomach refused its admittance. So backup it came and it wasn’t pretty. I knew that attempting to eat healthy in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t pay off so I decided to order a large bucket of hot chips.

Dane had finished his story and I nodded in agreement. I sat there and thought through what he had said and I knew that if nothing else I had to order the hot chips over the sandwich. The reason for this is that I knew that the chips where at least to some extent fresh but the sandwich could have been there for days. Maybe next time I’ll learn to order the hot chips over of the sandwich.

Road Works

I left Balladonia and was headed for Norseman which was about two hundred kilometers up the road. I was really tired and decided that Hillsong United needed some court time. One way Jesus, you’re the only one that I could live for, one way Jesus. It seems that whenever I try and build my relationship with Jesus life gets complicated. This leg should have taken a maximum of two hours but who could guess I would come across road works in the middle of nowhere. Jesus really does have a sense of humor! Massive trucks, cranes and much more! I couldn’t help but think that this must be costing the federal government millions! My heart sank because it was about forty degrees and I didn’t have air conditioning. I’d managed to survive the heat by winding my windows down and at high speeds which would allow the breeze to cool me down but when I was told to slow down to forty kilometers an hour and had to wind up all the windows to avoid the dust from entering my car it just didn’t seem fair! Nevertheless I managed to navigate through the road works and it only added on about thirty minutes to my travel time. I arrived at Norseman and stopped only to fill up the petrol tank and then I was off on the final leg of the journey!

Race Time

In a matter of minutes I was on the road again hugging the turns and powering past the road trains that tried to block my path. I watched as the minefields were but a blur as I sped past them. I suddenly became aware of each second that past and eagerly awaited the distance markers telling me the end was near. I shot through Coolgardie and headed for the shire of Southern Cross my heart was pounding I was getting close and I knew it. The Rover had also started to feel the strain as she struggle to keep up with the constant stream of torrent I was inflicting upon her but never did she falter. I was forty kilometers outside of Northam when the sun began to disappear over the horizon and it was at this point that my mind couldn’t take it anymore. So in the darkness of night after thirty-seven hours of constant driving the enemy began his final assault against my defenses.

The Battle Begins

Its not really there its just an illusion I told myself your mind is playing tricks on you. I believed this the first I saw it but when I saw it a second time I couldn’t so easily shrug it off. I looked in my revision mirror and I couldn’t see any car behind or in front of me I was all alone and for the first time I felt afraid. I looked in my revision mirror once more and I saw it again and I was scared. What I saw was a black figure that looked like a demon/wraith. It had no legs and long sharp fingers and it looked at me with its red eyes at when it did I felt afraid, I felt like death was coming for me. After it did this it would open its mouth to scream something and in doing so reveal rows of teeth that could devour a lion. Slowly it came closer and closer to the car and suddenly it would disappear. I looked forward only to see the trees move and on occasions come together to block the road. Numerous times I swerved to miss the blockade only to drive off the road into the darkness.

I started to feel the need to pull over and rest but then I saw the image of the demon/wraith approach from behind again and the idea of stopping quickly eluded my mind. I was nothing short of a mental breakdown when I had a brilliant idea, I would use my phone to call someone, as this would keep my mind occupied. I got out my phone and disaster struck the battery was dead. I started to panic because I knew I couldn’t take much more of this and as if things weren’t bad enough the enemy seemed intent of punishing me for trying to elude his mental torment because faces began to appeared on the tree trunks and they snarled at me in anger. They began to use their branches as arms and began to try and crush the Rover. With my mind pushing the limits of insanity I passed through Northam although I can’t remember this at all.

I felt trapped in my own mind. I felt like I would never escape this place that I found myself in. I was lost in my own insanity. I was terrified because I knew I had a home but now I felt like I would never reach it. To be honest I think the way I felt that night was closest I’ll ever come to understanding what hell must be like. With each second that passed I became more and more delusional. I found that my speed was increasing, as I desperately wanted to get home. Flying up and down hills at high speeds did cover the kilometers faster but it was also incredibly dangerous. And then it happened my mind finally gave way, as it could no longer take the punishment. My mind told me I was traveling straight ahead but the sounds of tires rolling over lose rocks told me otherwise. It was only through those noises that I found out that I’d crossed over the road and driving off the road on the other side of the road. One minute everything was fine but when I heard noises I blinked and when I opened my eyes things where not as they had first appeared.

I could feel hundreds of voices cry out for me to pull over and rest but I simply couldn’t not when I was this close. I was no more then twenty kilometers from my goal and I didn’t care about the cost anymore nobody was taking this from me. I arrived in Midland and found myself lost in my home city. I asked somebody at the lights for directions and she asked me if I was all right because she said I looked terrible and recommended that stop and rest for a minute. I became impatience with her lack of directions and drove off only to find that I driven straight through a red light. I was so determined to complete my quest that I think I crossed into the realm of insanity. For ages I drove around Midland and the surrounding suburbs turning to find my way home. I was lost and with each minute that passed I found myself on verge of madness. I drove faster and faster in desperate pea to find something that would help me gain a grasp on where I was. The car started to over heat and I was running out of fuel. The very fabrics that worked to keep my sanity intact were on the verge of being destroyed as my mind tired to devour them. I began to feel irritated by anything that occurred around me, from the noise that the indicator made to the time I had had to wait at the lights. Suddenly the car began to small and I couldn’t seem to fit inside it anymore, I needed more room and I started to feel claustrophobic. I wanted I get out, I pleaded with the Savior for this to be over, all I wanted was to find my home amid this prevailing darkness.

Home

It was when all hope had faded and everything seemed lost that I suddenly realized I knew how to get home. It was right in front me while I sat at the lights, it was a sign leading to the airport and I knew how to get home from the airport. With this revelation I found a new resolution, a new strength grew within as I drove towards the airport. When I arrived I smiled because I knew my way home from there. I drove for about ten minutes and when I arrived at my home I felt the greatest sense of accomplished mixed in with complete and uttered stupidity. It was nine thirty pm when I opened the car door and after I’d got out I gave the Rover a smile that said twice with done this lets pray we never have to do it again. As I walked towards the front door of my home I laughed as all the memories of this year seemed to run through my mind and for the first time since the sun went down my mind seemed to embrace the reality of the situation. I’d miss my friends more then I think they’ll ever know but this was the choice I’d made and the choice I must stick with. I stood before the door to my home and I put the key into the keyhole and slowly turned the handle, and as I saw the door open in front of me in my mind I saw a door close behind me.

TimothyTiger

The Journey - Part Two

The Challenge: To drive from Melbourne to Perth in my 1988 Rover Vitesse without any sleep or power naps. Challenge Accepted.

Part Two

Adelaide to Bordertown

Aussie Burger

With a smile I said goodbye to Adelaide and headed for Port Augusta. The distance between Adelaide and Port Augusta is about three hundred kilometres and I was determined to make up sometime on this leg. I was in the zone and I managed to make up about half an hour and even though I was still an hour and a half behind I knew this was a good start. The sunset was amazing and couldn’t help but take my eyes of the road at times to admire it. I arrived in Port Augusta at eight thirty and this was the first time since Horsham that I stopped to eat, and this time I spoiled myself by ordering an Aussie add mayo. It was nine o’clock when I’d finished eating and I prepared for the longest and most eventful leg of the journey, and that is, from Port Augusta to Norseman. It’s long, it’s boring, and it’s hot.

The Revelation

I left Port Augusta in high spirits and hoped to arrive at Kyancutta at eleven thirty pm. I’d been driving for about forty minutes when I started to feel that something was amiss. This feeling began when I remember something that had taken place when I drove over earlier this year, and that was, the National Freeway does not enter into Port Augusta directly there is a turnoff. As this memory became clearer and clearer so did the revelation that I hadn’t taking part in any turnoff since I left Port Augusta. Panic. I pulled over to look at my map and it was then that I realised I’d driven fifty kilometres in the wrong direction. Anger. The fact that the only remedy for the situation was to turn around and travel back to the turnoff was incredibly frustrating! This was the second time in twenty hours that I’d had to turn around and fix a problem I’d created. By the time I’d arrived at the turnoff I lost about one hour in time, rookie mistake. I did manage to makeup fifteen minutes and arrived at Kyancutta at twelve fifteen am.

Road Rage

Its seems that when life gets tough the ones you love the most are always the first to suffer because the Rover got punished when I travelled from Kyancutta to Ceduna. It was during this leg that the challenge first started to takes it toil on me. It was the earlier hours of the morning and I’d be driving for about eighteen hours straight and my eyelids felt like they were made out of reinforced concrete. It was at this time that I forgot on one occasion to turnoff my high beams when I passed a road train. In return the truck driver decided to unleash his lights full potential. I tried to speed up but he kept coming at me and the lights were blinding, and if you’ve never experienced a road trains high beams at hundred meters behind you, just imagined the MCG lights right up your backside while your driving incredibly tired. The safest option was to go faster and faster until I was out of his range but driving at high speeds while I was half asleep wasn’t safe either but I judge it to be the best option.

If you ever drive across Australia you’ll soon realise that some truck drivers are champions and the rest are pretty ordinary. For example, if you are struggling to pass a road train the champions will use their right side indicator to tell you its safe to pass, on the other hand, the cruel truck drivers will force you to overtake at night without any assistance. Another example, I make it my personal goal to wave to every vehicle that I pass on the road, and some truckies return the wave and even offer a smile, which I would humbly accept, and the others completely ignore my simple gesture of mateship. Although it’s give my great pleasure to state that most truckies are good blokes!

Road Kill

I was stuck behind a truck about forty kilometres outside of Ceduna when it happened. I was about to overtake the road train when I saw a wombat suddenly appear from underneath the rear of the truck. The truck didn’t injure the wombat because the body of the truck was high enough off the ground to miss it completely; I on the other hand was not so luckily. Honestly, the wombat didn’t have chance, and neither did I because I simply didn’t have the time to react in a way that would’ve spared his/her life. If I’d swerved to miss the wombat there was a chance that my wheel would connect with the animal and at speeds of a hundred and ten kilometres an hour there is fair chance that the car would roll. When the wombat raised his/her head to move, I removed it, the end result, road kill. I felt terrible, and the noise it made when it’s skull connected with my chassis was bone chilling because I knew that had to hurt. Poor little bugger never stood a chance, cut down in his prime. Although in saying that the Rover didn’t leave the incident without her fair share of bruises. The wombat did some danger to her front chassis. All in all though the car came through quite well. Rover one, wombat zero.

Truckies Advice

I arrived in Ceduna at three am on Wednesday morning. I turned into a Petrol Station and after I’d inspected the damage the wombat had inflicted on the Rover I went inside to pay for petrol. As I walked back to my car I reached inside my pockets to take out my car keys only to realise that they weren’t in my pocket, and what made matters worse was that as I searched through my other pockets I couldn’t for the life of me remember taking them out of the ignition, and sure enough I looked through the window and there were my keys still in the ignition. Why? Why did I have to lock my keys in my car in the middle of nowhere? And so, I walked back inside, and as I did I hoped that one of the truckies would know how to break into a car. When inside one of the truck drivers said he could break into my car for me but I couldn’t blame him for the damage he inflicted upon the car while he did it. Damage? He said he’d smash the window for me. Bugger. I declined the offer and went over to ask the shop assistant for a coat hanger in order to jimmy open the car. After I’d acquired a coat hanger from the gentlemen behind the counter I went outside to stand before the Rover. It was as I stood there that I realised I’ve no idea how to jimmy open a car door! Then I realised the seriousness of the situation and the idea of being stranded in the middle of nowhere seemed to generate confident within me. After about ten minutes and goodness knows how much damage inflicted upon the Rover I somehow manage to open the side door. It was with great hast that I jumped into the drivers seat and drove away, far, far, away.

Turn and Face the Change

I drove throughout the night and I was about fifty kilometres short of Bordertown when the sun rose over the ocean to the east. The road upon which I travelled ran parallel to the Great Australian Bight and so I decided to turn down a gravel road and watch the sun rise across the Great Australian Bight. Even though the cliff face was only a hundred metres off the main road it turned out to be a bumpy drive. I turned the engine off and approached the cliff face, and as I looked down at the waves smashing into the cliff face below I had sudden urge to jump! Maybe it’s just me but I love diving and the thought of soaring through the air really makes me feel alive, I’d love to be able to fly! Nevertheless I sat down on the cliff face and watched the sunrise. People think I’m crazy because I decided to drive back over to Perth but to those people I’ve always said that there is nothing better then being alone in the middle of nowhere with no body or building to be seen and watching the sunrise over the Great Australian Bight while your feet dangle over a cliff face. It’s so beautiful. I’m amazed that even though isolated I never felt alone. The wind in your hair and the sun of your face, the sound of the waves crashing below, the smell of the ocean and feeling of freshness that each morning brings. I love it and I wouldn’t trade it for all the money in the world and I also wouldn’t expect people to understand unless they’ve experienced it for themselves.

While I sat and watched the sunrise I smiled as I thought about this year and all that has happened. Yet even as I thought about the year and everything that had come to pass I felt something new stir within me. This stirring did not exist independent of the past but rather amidst that which has already occurred. I felt that I’d grown and that the boy who made this journey seven months ago was gone. I felt that I’d lost my innocence because for the first time in my life I’d stepped out into the unknown and taken a risk. I knew that I was completely responsible for the choices I’d made this year and thus the consequences. The boy had long since departed and I was faced with the reality of being totally responsible for my life, and even though I was returning home to live with my parents I knew things would be different. I had mixed feelings about this revelation because it indicated that I could never go back to way things once were, in short, I’d changed. I smiled at the thought of having complete control over my life and of possessing the power to choose my own path. I slowly rose and walked back to my car and as I stood there about to open my door I laughed as I thought about how difficult the next few months would be and where I’ll be this time next year. I arrived at Bordertown forty-five minutes later and crossed into Western Australia.