It was a clear morning when I set out on a little road trip at 4.35am yesterday, having set two alarms for 4.00am, both of which went off on the dot. One was a battery clock I hadn't used for years, giving me no confidence, the other my mobile phone, again no confidence, that I'd done it right. A cup of coffee and two crumpets and I was on my way, only 5 minutes after my planned departure. I was surprised that Lib had also woken and showered and climbed into Gord's car with me for the trip to Mt. Barker, a destination about an hour from McCracken give or take five minutes depending on various road conditions. You never know what lies ahead really, but logic said I should be there close to 5.30am when Gord was scheduled to alight from the bus on his return from Victoria.
As we departed Middleton on the Strathalbyn road Lib reminded me that kangaroos would be out and about. A few minutes later a big red stood in the middle of the road, and I was glad I'd kept my speed down to 80k's and could slow further and veer out of its way. From then on, I was doubly conscious of the possibility of a roo bounding into our path especially when visibility of the roadsides was not good due to trees and shrubs and dips and rises. I kept the speed below 100kph, thinking Gord could wait a bit if I was not there on the knocker. At that hour we were the only car on the road just about, nothing behind us and only an occasional vehicle coming the other way. We went through a deserted Strathalbyn and on to the Mt Barker road.
About 10 minutes out of Mt Barker a car came up behind me, sitting a little too close, the headlights annoying me. The road was a bit up and down with a few bends. With hindsight, if I could press rewind, I'd have slowed right down and pulled over so that he went past. A few minutes later, another big roo appeared on the road. I braked and veered left, missing it. The driver behind me came very close to hitting us I think, his headlights loomed up large and he veered right as I went left to avoid the roo.
There was an ugly WOOF SPLAT sound behind as he ploughed into it. I felt very sorry for the roo. Beautiful big one it was. The car that hit it dropped back but came up again behind and sat close again. He hadn't stopped to check damage. I was thinking, I hope your vehicle is badly damaged, you fuckwit, if you had left good space behind our vehicle you wouldn't have hit it. As we made our way through Mt. Barker he was close behind again and when the road turned into double lane after a roundabout he went past us. It was a tradie ute. Unfortunately he had a big bullbar which probably prevented any damage to his vehicle. I wonder how many roos he's killed on his way to work over time.
As it turned out Gord's bus had been ahead of schedule. He'd been at the stop since 5.10am. He didn't mind us being a little after 5.30, I'd told him to wait there till 6.00 in case I was delayed then make his way down the hill to Red Rooster joint. He didn't have a mobile phone, his had packed it in on the trip to Mt Barker a week earlier when I took him to the bus to start his holiday. He'd used a phone Robbie lent him to keep us informed while he was away. He visited family at the farm and friends in Emerald and Gembrook, and went to the MCG to watch a cricket match.
On the way home we drove past the dead roo. Wildlife suffers a terrible road toll.
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