I was following the old Canning Stock route, pulling a cart with all my equipment. It was the type of trailer you see cyclists usually towing. I had used the basic frame only and installed a large aluminium box with long handles and a harness that fitted like a rucksack. This way I could carry far more things and was far easier to transport my few possessions as I circumvented this vast continent on foot.
This was a trip I had saved up for and planned for three years, before I felt confident to make it. I had detailed maps of all the watering places, for that is what killed most people who got lost in the outback – lack of water.
In the past month I have only been travelling early mornings and late afternoons, for it is far too hot to travel in the four hottest hours of the day. The roads aren't sealed and for some reason the dust seems to rise more during the hottest part of the day. I erect my lightweight tarpaulin and lie under the shade, usually dropping off to sleep during these hottest hours.
I had come to a section where towns were hundreds of kilometres away in any direction, but I knew that there was a well just back off the road and to this I made my way, just as the sun was on the horizon. I carried two 20 litre plastic water containers in metal carriers mounted on the sides of my cart and a water bag hanging between the two shafts. I still had a full container, but in this country you make sure you fill up all your containers at any available water. I knew there was another well 75 kilometres away and I made sure I kept my fluid levels up.
The well was covered by sheets of corrugated iron with large rocks on it to stop the tin from blowing away. It was easy to push the tin aside and with a length of rope tied to my Billy, I soon filled my containers to the brim. I then replaced the tin as I found it and rejoined the road, if that was what one wanted to call it. Really it was only a track with two ruts to show that vehicles had passed this way. The tracks looked as though no vehicle had passed this way in ages, but then the wind filled in and tracks within hours. Only aborigines who lived in the desert could read these signs, and they were few and far between now-a-days.
I had gone only about 400 metres when I saw a camper which apparently had run of the road or had been pushed off. I had seen three newish cars so far in the last 200 kilometres that looked in good condition in the same situation, but on examining them found them to be abandoned. No tow truck would ever come out here to tow a broken down vehicle. If they broke down they were left for anyone to scavenge from. I thought this camper was the same, but I had to look inside, there maybe something to scrounge.
The door was open so I walked in and saw a female figure lying on the bed. She was still breathing, for I saw her chest move ever so slightly. I went up to her and gave her a shake, "Are you ill or something," I asked.
"Water, have you water?" her croaky voice asked.
Christ I thought, she is only 400 metres from a well with plenty of water and she is lying here dying of thirst. How stupid can some people be. Good maps clearly show the wells, surely they obtained one before venturing here, one of the most desolate areas on this planet.
"Sure lady, I'll get you some," I answered and grabbed a glass from the cupboard above the camper sink and filled it from my water bag. I went back in and made her sip it and let her drink only a small quantity.
"My boyfriend is under the camper," she croaked.
I took the glass with me and placed it in the sink which wasn't level, but at least the glass stood up in the corner. I went outside and sure enough her boyfriend was under the camper. It looks as though they had got a puncture and he had tried to change the tyre. Like an idiot had tried to use the jack on the road without putting a flat board under the jack. The jack had slipped when the wheel was off and the camper had slid trapping him under it.
I looked under and he was still alive, but trapped by the weight of the camper and there was no way that I could lift the camper off him. The ground he was lying on was soft and would never bear the weight of a jack.
"Have you any water?" he pleaded. I could see he wouldn't last long without water and even if I gave him any, he would die anyway before I could get help. Anyway why help bloody idiots, he put himself into this situation by his own stupidity. I could see that his back was surely broken for the chassis was right across his lower spine and had bit in.
"No, anyway I can't help you either," I said then left him.
I went into the camper and started looking in the cupboards. "What are you doing, going through the cupboards," the woman said, now sitting up and watching me. She was quite a looker and had opened her blouse because of the heat showing her bra covered breasts.
"Wanting to see what you have, why do you think I'm looking in them?" I replied.
"You are a thief, that's what you are."
"No lady only an opportunist, it's going to lie here anyway, so just as well I make use of anything I find."
"I'll report you to the police whenever we get to the next town."
"I doubt if your boyfriend will be with you, he will be dead by morning and how are you going to get to the nearest town, walk?"
"Surely someone more helpful than you will come along and render assistance."
