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.
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