Yesterday afternoon i came back in range of phone service and got a message on my phone from a friend, "Whaddya reckon about the Holden Colorado's?" I thought this was strange because he'd just spent a year and heaps on money on doing up his near-new Toyota Hilux dual cab. It was looking pretty schmick, and they'd just set off for a four week trip from Brisbane to Perth via to top end. They also had their brand new GIC black series Patron camper trailer in tow. I thought he was hinting that maybe the Hilux was struggling to pull everything he'd loaded for their adventure, but didn't think it was likely because he'd just come back from a trip to the Birdsville races.
I replied with what little i knew, and promptly received a message back that he had one on order. This was followed by a string of photo's showing the destroyed Hilux in a ditch somewhere south of Ayr. The front end with bull bar was smashed in, passenger side dinged up, and the chassis broken between the cabin and the tray. I called up to make sure they were okay and see if there was anything i could do to help. Thankfully nobody had been hurt. The story i got was they were behind a little Mazda hatch which was tail gating a back-packer van. The van missed its right hand turn off the highway and stomped on the brakes. The Mazda was able to pull up in time, but the Hilux wasn't slowing fast enough. No room to the left, so he went to the right (no oncoming traffic), just as the back packer decided to turn right. He went into the side of the van at about 60 and was deflected off the road into a culvert, getting some air as he left the road.
Lady in the Mazda stopped long enough to ask if they were okay, then she took off. Thankfully a number of other people stopped long enough for emergency services to arrive, allowing the freaked-out kids to sit in the airconditioning.
Now for the silver linings...
The car was a write-off, but the camper looks like it only needs a new hitch. Both were towed to their next stop which was the Big 4 Walkabout Palms in Townsville. They'd called ahead to let the park manager know what had happened. They arrived to find a bunch of people standing on their site. This group of legends set about helping my friends get their camper set up, fed them, and the blokes all had their tools to help strip all the bits and pieces off the Hilux that were worth keeping. Absolutely inspiring stuff.
Insured through Youi, their claim was processed and paid out within days, allowing my friends to buy a replacement car so they could continue on their trip asap. They called around to all the car dealerships and told them what had happened and they needed to buy a new car immediately. Only Mazda and Holden sent out a car to demo. Nothing from Isuzu, Toyota, Nissan, or Volkswagen (in fairness, they didn't call Ford). They bought the Holden and arranged for it to be modified with all of their touring bells and whistles fitted prior to delivery. It'll be done in a couple of days. All up they've lost a week from their trip, but they could have lost so much more.
Well done to Big 4 and Youi, as well as all of the people who helped out.
Mike
