Part Two of our long drive home...

Part One



So when I last left our tale we were all in the car and ready to head off home! It was around 9:30am when we left.

We decided to take the 'scenic' route home which is about an hour longer then the HWY route. But we had plenty of time and thought it would be nice. Famous last words!

We drove for about an hour before our first stop to get some bottles of water. Hubby bought ones that had different coloured lids *sigh* you know what that means. Fights over who gets what colour. Soon after the rain came down quite heavy. Yes, the rain is great and we need the water, but it also meant we would not be able to get everyone out the car to see the 'scenery' lol

Not to worry we'd just slow down and try an look out the window!

Driving for about another hour and a bit and bubs wakes for a feed. Hubby pulls over on the side were there is gravel and some grass. He rolls back to be further away from the road. Bubs has a stop/start feed for about half an hour. Stop/start feeds usually happen around 5-6 months when bubs start to get interested in their surroundings during a feed. Most times it goes like this, from the babies viewpoint...

Suck Suck, mm I love breast milk, suck suck, mmmm Oooh what was that over there? (bubs drops off) I thought I heard something (back on feeding again) suck suck mmmm I might just pinch mummy to see her do that squeal thing she does he he (bubs drops off) ooh hello daddy, giggle, daddy is so funny (back on) suck suck (drops off) daddy still there, hello smile at me, giggle ha ha (back on) mmm suck suck mmmmm (drops off) did I miss something then?

You get the picture. We check the time and realise we should get back on the road. I put bubs back in her seat and just as I open my door to hop back in down comes a shower of hail.

Hubby starts the engine, in gear and off..... hmmm and off.........hmmmm shit.

'Don't tell me.." "yup" "Are you frigging kidding me??" "We're stuck" "Fuck" (last part said with gust, but quietly ;) )

Hubby tries every manoeuvre he can to get us out. However we are in a front wheel drive people mover with 7 people in it and luggage. We are not moving anywhere. Oooh is that rain again?

Hubby decides he should get it and I drive so maybe he can push as I drive and get us out.

We do this for too long. Wheels spinning car revving, the kids starting to drive me batty with their "Ar we going to be stuck here all night?" "Will we have to sleep in the car?" "Should we call roadside assistance?"

During this process quite a number of cars go by. Hmph. Hubby, who used to have a 4WD and go 4WDing pulls out all his tricks, but none work. Again people mover and not to mention the rain.

Then a man pulls over in a little white car and offers to help hubby push. He shall hence forth be known as Man A.

Hubby and Man A try to a while with me moving the wheels in different directions, rolling back a bit first then revving the engine.

Still nothing. Hubby jokes we need a FWD with a winch. We decide to try a couple more times. As we do I am looking at the cars turning the bend ahead of us. A Troopie!!! (Big ass 4WD) I try not to be too obvious looking as it drives past..... brake lights, slowing down, YAY!!!!!! He (Man B) stops, does a u-turn and pulls up in front of our car. 4WDs all have a tow bar at the back. He jumps out and says "This looks like fun" in his German accent. We are all smiling as Man B grabs a snatch strap from his car. We will NOT be camping here tonight!

He then bends down under our car to try and hook the strap. He can't quite get it. So Man B tries. He has to kneel down to reach under the car. Remember the rain? yup, quite muddy.

He hooks it on. Hubby is in the drivers seat now and I am on the sidelines silently cheering and hoping. Man B starts driving forward very slowly as the slack of the snatch strap tightens. When it is taught he revs a bit more and starts going forward, pulling our car out of the muddy grass and on to the gravel.
When we are out Man B jumps out and I step closer to our car. One of the kids yells "Are we out?" Hubby says yes and then the children all clap and cheer. Man B laughs at the cheering squad and gives a little bow.

Man B and Man A head back to their vehicles after lots of thank you's from us all.
We hop back in the car and off we go.....again.

More children's music, more whinging, sooking, laughing, playing eye spy despite only being able to see trees and the sky and children who need to eat every half hour. Oh what fun the driving can be with a handful of children.

After driving an hour or so we see a car pulled over on the road. Hubby says it's Man A. So we pull over in front of him, making sure to stay on the gravel this time!
Man A has run out of petrol. He thought he would make it to the next town, only 10 minutes away but he didn't.
Hubby tells him we would be more than happy to get him some petrol in a jerry can. How often do you get the chance to help someone who just helped you on the road?! So off we go again heading towards the next town.
Hubby gets a jerry can and fills it up. Then off we go heading back to Man A. We pull over, again, me reminding Hubby to make sure we are in the gravel, which he appreciates greatly with a wry smile. Hand over the petrol, laugh about the situation and on the road we go!!

Are you still with me?
Everyone is hungry so we stop at the next town so everyone can go to the toilet and we can eat and get some more bottles to drink.
Off we go, and this time we want to try and keep going all the way to what was meant to be our only stop at a friends place to pick up a little table and chairs for the kids.

We drive for about 45 minutes until we hear the kids start sooking about something. I turn around to see the 2 year old vomiting in his lap. Actually, in his lap would have been great, he spread his legs so it all went on his car seat. Greeeeeat!
So we try to find a spot to pull over, but it's all grass along the road. Finally a dirt road comes up so we turn down.
The next 20 minutes Hubby and I play team clean up on the car and 2 year old, in the rain.
With fresh clothes and everything cleaned up we pull onto the road again.

We manage to then drive all the way to my friends house, not without missing the turn off from the Highway first though. We get the table and chairs in the car and head off home.
We realise the time and figure we will have to stop at the supermarket first to get the few things we will need for the little party for our daughters birthday.

Do you remember what time we left? 9:30 and the length of time the trip should take if only stopping for half an hour? 5 and a half hours.
We pull in at the supermarket near our house at 5pm!!
Hubby runs in and grabs a few things, including birthday ice cream cake!
As soon as we get home it is a mad rush to get everything cleaned up (AKA shove it all in the main bedroom, lol) bubs has some booby and a nappy change and we collapse in the loungeroom. Guests to arrive within an hour, enough time for Hubby to doze off and the kids to run around like wild banshees, getting the energy out of their system!

We got to bed that night around midnight exhausted. It was a great weekend though. Full of fun, excitement, adventure and lots of laughs. Hubby and I figure we may as well see the fun side of life when it takes on a life of its own like that, it certainly makes things interesting.
Yes, we are planning another trip to the same place this summer, and looking forward to it!!