We finally left Airlie beach at around midday and drove for a couple of hours to a town called Mackay before we pulled over and had a spot of lunch. While we were eating a rather drunk Australian man approached Matt to ask if he could hitch a lift a couple of kilometres up the road. Despite probably being able to just squeeze him in, we said no and what happened next may have been due to karma for that decision!

We drove for another few hours on our way to Marlborough, which is where we had decided to camp for the night . We stopped briefly just past a tiny town called Carmila to switch drivers and Gareth took over. We were only about 45 minutes away from Marlborough when disaster struck! At about 5:45pm, what we can only imagine was a very depressed or in a rush kangaroo leapt out from the other side of the road, bounced across the oncoming lane, timing his bounces just right to collide with Sonic's bumper and commit suicide, killing Sonic in the process as we were doing 110km/h. Thankfully Gareth is an extremely calm driver and kept Sonic under control as Matt had his feet up on the dashboard playing on his phone and I had my head in a book so neither of us saw it happen! If it hadn't been for the big bang, the smoke pouring out of the bonnet & the twitching kangaroo by the side of the road you'd be forgiven for thinking Gareth had just fancied a rest and had pulled up in the road, it was that straight of a skid. Two truckers had been coming towards us when the accident happened and, having seen the damage caused, pulled over to help us! They, along with the boys, very quickly pushed Sonic right off the road as the road trains come hurtling down the road at night and would simply crash straight into us as they'd have no chance of stopping! We went to call Spaceships for some assistance only to discover we had no phone signal (Vodafone Australia are useless!!!!) . Fortunately the truckers were on Telstra who have better coverage so we were able to arrange a tow truck to come and fetch us, again!

The whole of Australia is divided into sections with an RACQ base in each. The RACQ base covering the place we had crashed was an hour and an half away, back the way we came in Carmila! So we were forced to stand next to the van as it very quickly got darker and the sounds of wildlife got louder! Matt asked how long the RACQ man would be, to which he quite grumpily replied "Well how long does it take to get a tow truck there?" With us now expecting the recovery was going to be a couple of hours and not knowing how long the battery would last, we didn't want to leave the hazard lights on continuously so every time a vehicle approached we ran and switched them on, jumping back into the bush as they passed in case they still hit Sonic, then dashed back to switch them off again! At least it kept us entertained & made the time go quicker! This sheer size and speed of the road trains meant they were rocking everything, including us even though we were stood out of the way . Although I have to say I found it very hard to think about anything other than what might be able to smell the kangaroo and decide that it might make a good meal tonight! Also with it now being cooler the snakes were a worry as we'd never be able to see them in the long grass as by now it was pitch black. It was very eerie stood in the dark trying not to worry about what the hell we do next!

It was about 8pm when Jeff finally arrived and hauled Sonic up onto his truck. We all jumped in and by 9:30pm we were back in Carmila, parked up next to his workshop and preparing for our final night camping in Sonic! After chatting to Jeff for a while, it seemed he wasn't quite as grumpy as he first appeared, he just had a very dry sense of humour! There was literally nothing in Carmila other than the RACQ workshop and a petrol station so we were in for a quiet night! We were pleased, however, to discover we had protection for the evening in the shape of 2 gorgeous (but pretty scary looking) Rottweilers! We decided to name them Daisy & Fluffy to make them seem less threatening! After the dramas of the evening we were all keen to get to bed and put today behind us, Gareth in particular as he had been extremely quiet since the crash and just wanted to sleep it off! It was quite amusing though setting up the good half of the van under the close and watchful eye of Daisy and Fluffy . We were expecting them to bark continuously throughout the night but to give them their due they kept quiet and only barked at the occasional road train going down the highway on the other side of the garage.

We were up bright and early again on Friday morning as Jeff had said he was coming back to get started on Sonic at 7:30am. True to his word, he was there at 7:30 but other than saying good morning and letting the dogs out he didn't seem interested in us or Sonic! We very quickly had a visit from Daisy and Fluffy who had a good look round and almost got in the van at one point, not that we'd of stop them as they weighed about as much as me probably. They actually seemed very soppy and quickly leaned on our legs for a cuddle and stroke causing us to nearly fall over from their weight. Helpfully Spaceships didn't open until 9am so we were left with no choice but to sit and wait. When they did eventually open their office, a lady named Kat answered who turned out to be just as helpful as when the office was closed as she really was not interested in helping us in the slightest! She was more than happy to arrange a new van for us (having just informed us they would be automatically taking our $3000 bond it's no wonder!) but we had to get to Brisbane to fetch it! To put that into perspective, Brisbane is a 10 hour car journey from Carmila! Oh and as if that wasn't bad enough, we had to get there before they closed at 1pm on Saturday or they wouldn't be open again until 9am Monday! Bearing in mind we had to be at Rainbow Beach for our Fraser Island briefing at 4:30pm on Monday it was turning into Mission Impossible 2!

Spaceships were not willing to help get us to the new van or get the van any closer to us . The only options we had were getting a Greyhound bus, taxi, flight, train, hiring a car or hitchhiking! The nearest Greyhound stop was 30km back towards Mackay & Jeff refused to give us a lift despite Matt's offer to pay him! A taxi would cost $400 as it would have to come from Mackay then take us back, which we would have to pay! The nearest airport & hire cars was either Mackay ( 110k/ 1hour 30 away) or Rockhampton (about 230km or 2 hours 30 away). The next train left the area on Sunday! Things really weren't looking good!

By 11am Matt decided that we were getting nowhere and that hitch hiking to Mackay to get a hire car was the only option. This was the moment that I cracked as up until then I had somehow managed to remain calm and positive and there had been no tears but the thought of Matt going off and getting in a stranger's car was too much and so the sobbing started! Nevertheless, I understood that Matt had to go and was pleased when he suggested I went with him too leaving just Gareth behind . This wasn't ideal but it seemed a better idea. So Matt & I went over to the petrol station to see if we could find anybody who would give us a lift. Matt went all over asking everyone inside and out if they would and we were lucky enough to find a group of 3 German lads (Robin, Marney and Don) who were driving to Tasmania via Rockhampton and were happy to offer a lift. It wasn't ideal as Rockhampton is double the distance of Mackay but no one going that way was willing and it would at least get us on the way to getting sorted! The only problem was their car was packed full of bags so they could only fit one of us in, so I had to be brave and let Matt go on his own! The lads were really kind and drove around Rockhampton a bit looking for car rental places, eventually dropping Matt at the airport and refusing to take any petrol money saying, "We're all backpackers, that makes us part of the same family!".

Things didn't get much better at the airport as almost none of the companies had cars available and if they did they were either expensive 4x4s or you couldn't do one way journeys in them. The last desk was Budget car rental, luckily they had 1 car left and the girl on duty, Shelley, couldn't believe the journey Matt had just made and went out of her way to try and help us! It was only a small car but with the time now being gone 2pm he had no choice. She was very sad to tell him it was going to cost $600 to hire a car and drive back to Carmila then all the way to Brisbane and leave the car there. This is because of the extra milage and a $300 one way fee. Luckily, the car had only just been returned so Matt had to wait 30 minutes for it to be serviced. In this time every other option was running through his head as he tried to make this big decision on his own. Then, trying to get rid of the one way charge, he asked about if he just went to Carmila to fetch us then back to Rockhampton as there might be the possibility of getting the midnight bus or he could at least discuss it more with me and Gareth. I think he could of almost kissed her when she said to do that would only cost $38 plus petrol, finally a bit of luck! We decided to go for that option as at least that would get us & all our belongings back together, closer to our destination and back into a more populated area! Matt also took out the $25 insurance, just in case! It was now just gone 3pm so in total it had taken 1 and a half hours to sort out the car! Matt massively thanked Shelley and jumped in the car but it turned out the brake warning light was on and he could hardly drive it, so feeling very frustrated back into the airport he went. Someone came out and drove it round the car park and then it was fine, so it must have just had a sensitive brake light not helped by the fact the handbrake was a little sticky! After getting lost finding his way out of Rockhampton it then took nearly 3 hours in total to get back to fetch me and Gaz, so it was about 6pm by the time Matt arrived back in Carmila which meant it was now starting to get dark again! We somehow crammed all of our stuff and us in and Matt drove us back to Rockhampton, as understandably Gareth wasn't keen to drive at night and I was still bleary eyed from all the crying! On the way, we worked out (with a bit of help from Mum & Dad via What's App!) that our best option was for one of us to fly to Brisbane in the morning on the flight that left at 9am and landed at 10:45am as that would allow time to pick up our new van from the Spaceships depot before 1pm and drive it the 7 hours back to Rockhampton! Gareth was really keen to do this, I think he felt he needed to do it to put to rest the crash even though it wasn't his fault at all and would have happened whoever was driving! Either way, he was booked on the flight and it seemed we had everything back on track! The next task was organising somewhere to stay for the night! All the hotels were pretty expensive so to save a little bit of cash we decided on using the tent still. We finally pulled into a campsite at around 9pm where we rearranged the car so Gaz could sleep on the back seat, figuring he had a big day ahead so needed a good night's sleep, and Matt & I had an uncomfortable night in the tent, using towels as pillows and the duvet!

The following morning we were all up bright and early to get Gareth to the airport in time for his flight! Once he had gone through to the gate, Matt & I went back to the Budget Car Rental stand as we had decided it made sense to keep the car for a second day, that way at least we could explore the city a bit, keep all the stuff in it and it wouldn't be a completely wasted couple of days! Fortunately, Shelley was back on shift so I was able to thank her in person for everything she had done. It turned out she had been even kinder than we thought as although she had put on the system that we had taken out the insurance, she had actually only charged our card for the rental and then cancelled the insurance on hearing that we had had a safe trip! So saving us another $25. So kind! She was also pleased to hear the ending to our story and know it was going well.

Gareth let us know when he had landed and was in a taxi to the office. It turns out they have closed their Brisbane office but not updated the website so the address Gareth went to was deserted! Eventually he arrived at the depot only to be told that they weren't expecting him until Monday or Tuesday so they hadn't got a van ready. With this news Matt almost exploded with anger after the effort we'd made and as he'd specifically told the very helpful Kat (cough!) we would do what it took to be there Saturday and that he would let her know if we we couldn't as we desperately needed it. With this turn of events, it was a blessing that Gareth was in the depot and not Matt, Kat was then minutes away from an ear ringing phone call. Fortunately Gareth had some luck with a very helpful man and even though it was 12:30 and with the depot closing at 1pm they would still sort him a van. They weren't very keen though as they are supposed to do final checks which take 2-3 hours! What exactly happened next I guess we will never know but at 13:23 Gareth phoned back to say our new van, called Keo, was ready and he was setting off back to Rockhampton! Just as well really as Kat got spared the phone call and this saved us most probably falling out with Spaceships even more.

Gareth kept us posted along the way and made the sensible decision to stop for the night at a rest area and do the last part of the journey in the morning as he would never get all the way back before dark, which meant we were finally reunited at about 8:30 on Sunday morning! What a long couple of days it had been but what an adventure too! Along the way we met some wonderful people who really helped us out when we needed it most, they will probably never realise just what a vital role they played in keeping us safe but we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and, as a strong believer in karma, Jeff & Kat you better watch your backs!