After grabbing early showers we drove over to the caretakers to find out if they’d heard any news about the roads. Fortunately they had and it seemed that the creek had started dropping late yesterday afternoon and they were letting cars through about midnight.

Grasping the opportunity we hitched the van back on and sped towards Clermont as quick as we could. To our surprise not only was the bridge exposed but the water level in the creek now looked like a creek instead of the raging torrent we saw the day before. The banks were a mess with the grass lying on its side as it succumbed to the strength and voracity of yesterday’s flood.

Regardless, we were out of Clermont and now heading towards Mackay.

As we drove along we noticed that where every creek that intercepted the road a flooding had occurred. This would have happened almost every few kilometres and had we successfully crossed Sandy Creek yesterday one of these would have stopped us in our tracks soon enough.

Still, it was good to be driving again and with our sense of freedom restored we joked and laughed as we rolled down the very bumpy roads.

Then it happened. As if yesterday’s inconvenience hadn’t been enough we felt a large bump from behind. Confused, I looked in my rear-view mirror to see that the side of the van had been opened up like a tin of sardines and the caravan was tilting to the right.

I pulled over, as quick as one can with a damage-stricken van after enjoying 100km/hr speeds, and hastily jumped out of the car to assess the damage. It didn’t look good! The wheel had come off completely as the studs that held it in place had sheered off.

In a state of shock, I began walking up the road trying to find the wheel and retrace where the accident had initially happened. Alas, in the long grass, the wheel was never to be found.

As I walked back, cars had begun pulling over to offer some assistance, and this is where we met Russell. While he obviously had heaps to do he was more than happy to give up his time to help us get back on the road – including driving back to Clermont, with Deb, to get some new hub screws.

While they were gone I used the time to start patching the panels while the kids entertained themselves on the side of a busy highway. Not the safest working environment.

By about 5:30, five hours after our initial accident, we had finally remedied the wheel and were back on the road. Having said goodbye to Russell and thanking him for his kindness and generosity we intended to continue driving onto Mackay – a further 230kms.

However, with rain pouring thicker than thieves and visibility reducing with each minute, it wasn’t long before Moranbah, a mining town, became suddenly appealing. So, rather than take any more risks today, we pulled into this town, found a caravan park for the night and fed on some greasy KFC. At least we were safe.