Eight months I have taken to cross this vast land. I had no conception of the vastness of this continent. Looking at a map of Australia one never realises the vast distances there is between towns, well a few houses clustered together in this land is called a town. Now here I was standing on the escapement looking down at the City of Perth. In the east I was told it was just a hick town, no night life and the kangaroos run all over the streets.
In the distance I could see the outline of tall modern buildings and as far as I could see was houses, not the hick town as the Sydneysiders said. This is a country whish only ever mentions the three eastern states, as I have found out in my travels. This state is the largest state accounting for one third of the continent, yet some people I have met in the east couldn't even tell me the name of the capital. This is also the state which the rest of Australia depends on for its natural resources, without this state there would be very little national wealth, but it was treated as a poor relative by the people of the three eastern states.
I had arrived a fit eighteen year old and now I was even fitter, my muscles had hardened and I think nothing now of walking fifty kilometres a day. I'm a bit taller as well, when I left I was six feet five but I am sure I've put on at least another two inches. My backpack used to feel heavy on my back and I leant forward to take the weight. Now I am walking upright and hardly feel the weight at all. I took the advice of two Royal Marine Commando friends of the family and packed my pack on their instructions and found that their advice has meant I have never been in a situation I couldn't handle.
A curved pruning saw, small axe, ex-army entrenching tool to bury my waste both human and other. A good sized light tent, a good ground sheet cum poncho and an extra large sleeping bag, only one change of outer clothing, three changes of underwear and socks, a woolly pullover, two one day ration packs (which I have never touched) a compass, and a good wind-up waterproof watch, plus toilet ware, was all one actually needed. I had a few extra small items such as my camera and notepad.
I tried every week to send home any film I had used and a letter telling my parents what I had been up to and also to let them know I was alright.
I eventually got into the centre of the city by rail and was amazed at the cleanliness, everything looked clean, maybe it was the bright sunlight, but there was no litter lying on the streets unlike British and eastern state cities.
I booked into a backpacker's hotel and met Frank who had just returned from a two year trek of Europe and Britain. He told me he was waiting for his father to pick him up and take him home. I was shocked to find that his home was in the north of this state and was about as far away from Perth as I had travelled in the past eight months. He persuaded me to come and see the Kimberley; also we would be flying over the famous Bungle Bungle ranges.
His father came to Perth on business at least four times a year and usually stocked up with items that was hard to come-bye. He was sure his father wouldn't mind an additional passenger.
The next day we taxied to the busiest light plane airport in Australia to meet his father. Not only was his father there but his grandmother.
"So you would like to trek the Kimberley?" this smiling, tall, weather-beaten man in a battered wide brimmed hat asked me.
"I've just trekked across from Sydney and I would like to see more of this vast country sir."
"God we don't call people sir here, I'm Bill and this is Gran, everyone calls her Gran. Now let's get you seated, sorry you will have to sit at the back with Gran. We have all the other seats out to get the things we bought stowed. Anyway Gran always sits at the back; she says she feels safer there. Frank will sit up front with me, since he is also a pilot and I want to have a chat with him. We'll be landing at Newman for a meal and I have to see someone there. So make yourself comfy we have a long flight ahead of us."
The view from the small window was lovely and clear and I was surprised by the sudden disappearance of any habitation after about twenty minutes of flying. Now there was only brown bush below us, that went on and on, with very little change in the scenery at all. Occasionally I saw a road but even on that I could see no transport. To say the land was vacant would be how one had to describe it. Four hours later we arrived at Newman, I was glad the town was pointed out to me when we were in the air for there was no sign of it when we landed.
Gran, Frank and I sat in the waiting room and ate a prepared meal, whilst his father went and saw the person he was meeting. We were there only about an hour and a half before we took off again once more heading north. Gran pointed out items of interest but once again it was a barren wasteland. Over the Great Sandy Desert and then we hit turbulence and Gran said we had reached the Bungle Bungles and I saw as far in the distance these well known small mounds reaching for the sky.
Then the plane lurched and where the pilot sat was a great gapping hole, what had caused it I had no idea. The cockpit was now vacant with wires flapping in the wind. The engines had stopped and we were on a slow glide to earth. Slow, well we weren't spiralling, gliding more like it but at a slow angle. Then there was this tearing noise as the light suddenly changed and the last I could remember was us plunging into this deep canyon, then oblivion.
I came too being held in my seat by the seat belt, I was bent in half looking at the ground a good six feet below me. The other part of the fuselage I could see belly down about ten to twelve feet away and my pack still tied to the bundle of whatever goods Bill had been transporting through the torn off rear section of the plane. There were no wings to be seen but the smell of avgas was strong in the air.
Then I suddenly thought of Gran who had been sitting in the seat on the opposite side of the isle from me. I looked sidewise and I could see she was hanging exactly like I was. I prepared myself, hit the seat belt lock and I dropped down to the earth and landed on my feet, but I felt real dizzy. The tail section I saw was snagged on a tree and dropped about two feet when I dropped. I am glad it didn't drop all the way for it would have landed on top of me as it was I was head and shoulders inside the broken tail section.
I reached up and released Gran's seat belt and caught her as she fell and carried her out of harms way and laid her down on the ground. I had just done that when the tail section landed on the ground and fell back onto the tree which had snagged it.
I looked up and saw only a sliver of sky. Somehow we had passed through that gap and landed in this canyon with the overhanging sides. At least it was nice and cool in the shade.
I was kneeling all this time by Gran's side and wondering what I was going to do, when she opened her eyes and looked right at me.
"Oh I'm still alive, what happened?"
"It looks as if we crashed inside a deep canyon with overhanging sides. Its going to be difficult for a search party to spot us down here, I only hope the wings and engines are up top so they could spot us."
"My boys are dead, aren't they?"
"I think they were dead before we even hit the ground. We seemed to have been struck with something which totally tore away the cockpit area with Bill and Frank. How do you feel, are you hurt anywhere?"
"My stomach is very sore; I think the seatbelt cut into me quite bad."
"Come on Gran lets have a look at it. We'll have to look after one another until the rescue party gets here."
"I am wearing a dress and it would mean me taking it off to look."
"Ok Gran I'll turn my back and you check, will that do?"
"Yes, that will do fine."
I turned and heard her struggling with her dress.
"Young man, I do need your help, I can't lift the dress I am that sore. I will have to ask you to do it for me."
