GORV - Digital Magazine Issue #31 | Page 37

RV FEATURE PRELUDE TO A STORM SPEARED HATCH That night, the wind howled through the van park, the trees swayed and the rain thundered onto the roof. We felt safe, and upon waking the next morning, nothing in the weather had really changed, but the van was all safe, as were we. As we watched a movie that afternoon, a series of events unfolded that would lead to unexpected trouble the next day. We heard a loud bang on the skylight above the bed and realised that a large branch had fallen and speared the hatch. A bit of damage to the hatch, but nothing a bit of 100-mile-an-hour tape couldn’t fix for the time being. We did a quick inspection of the roof. Everything else seemed fine. Facing a day of horrible weather, and being in Perth, we hit one of the big shopping centres. I always love to see the kids’ eyes when we go into one. As shopping centres are so far and few between, their bright lights, the size of the centre and all the activity spellbinds the kids for a few minutes. Upon returning home, we settled in to watch a couple of DVDs and hope that the weather would clear by the next day. We were due to move campsites and, really, no one likes hitching up, unhitching, or even driving in woolly weather. The next morning, the weather had improved. It was still raining off and on, but there was no wind. So getting a bit wet while hitching up and unhitching was going to be in the plan, and there was nothing we could do to avoid it. We drove out of the van park, on our way to our next destination along a busy highway. As we were driving, I heard a billowing sound, like something flapping in the wind. For the life of me, I could not work out what it was. I checked the mirrors, I turned the radio off, and when we stopped at traffic lights I looked all around. Nothing. I could see no reason for the noise. Then we started driving, and the noise grew louder. And there, in the passenger-side mirror, I saw it, and boy it could have been a nasty mess. The front leg had broken away from the van. There, hanging off the side of the van, was half the awning. The front leg had broken away from the van, yet the rear leg was still attached. The awning was unravelling at an odd angle and the canvas was billowing in the wind. / 37