Outback Exodus (13 page)

I look up towards the paddock and see Paul and Sandra carrying steaming metal buckets of water towards the ambulance. Paul is also carrying a large bowl and towels in his other hand. Water slops from the buckets as they walk, but there will be plenty for what is needed.

As they approach there is a loud cry from Wendy and then silence for a few short seconds. Then the cries of a new born baby echo from the back of the ambulance and the smiles on the faces of the anxious watchers grow wider.

“Oh well done Wendy, what a little beauty.” I hear James talking softly to Wendy and praising her efforts.

“Can you hold the baby while we clean up Mum?” I hear Faith ask James.

“Sure will, just pop a pillow on the side nearest the wall and then we can snuggle down together. That way the little one won’t fall either.” James excited voice comes from the back of the ambulance as he contemplates having the first cuddle with the new baby. “Don’t forget a towel for around the bum end though or I might just get wet.” James laughs as he says this.

“James you have been such a help to me.” I hear the weak voice of Wendy say. “You deserve first cuddle and I am also going to name the baby after you.”  She continued. “His name is James William Watson.” She finished.

Those of us gathered outside the ambulance heard the words and now knew that we had a small baby boy to join our ranks and that he would carry the name of his mother’s dying friend and also the name of his dead father into the future. There were smiles all round and Sandra and Paul returned to the camp to share the wonderful news with the rest of the group.

“Well that is good news Jenn; we now have a very special little person to protect and to love. We also have six new members in our group since last night.” Gavin rumbles from close behind me.

I turn towards
Gavin and see the big smile on his face. The birth has brought much needed joy to our group of travellers and that joy is shining from every face I can see. I have a feeling that young James is going to be a much loved and celebrated member of our community.

Soon loud cheers are echoing up into the clear blue sky of the outback as the news of our new arrival is celebrated by so many people.

Once Wendy and little James are washed and clean Grant gently drives the ambulance through the gate and parks it under a tarpaulin that has been erected to provide shade for the occupants while the tents are prepared. There is to be a second hospital tent tonight for Wendy and little James to enable them to bond as a family and to make sure that the other patients are not kept awake by little James insistence on eating at odd hours.

The sound of a shot echoes across the paddocks and I jump to my feet and quickly turn in that direction, only to hear Sandra laughing at me. She has sent a couple of the boys off to hunt some fresh meat. Gavin has issued two of the older boys with .22 rifles to enable them to bring back food
for everyone. I laugh along with Sandra, while she apologises for not telling me about the hunting party. I tell Sandra that I am glad that they have gone out to hunt as fresh meat is something that we all need as part of our diets.

The cooking fires are already burning and camp ovens hang over the flames on the tripods that Raymond made before we left Smithtown.
Frypans are balanced on flat stones at the edges of the fires and the smell of cooking onions hovers amid the vehicles and tents.

There is a conga line of young teenagers walking back from the creek with buckets of water and the camp showers have been hung behind tarpaulin screens. Today we are setting up camp early and there will be chance for the water to warm in the shower bags and over the fires so that we can shower properly, eat a good meal and rest and relax for a while.

The bustle of setting up camp is slowing and the children have pulled a ball from Jasmine’s trailer and are playing a loose game of football, there are no sides and all the children have joined in from the older teens to the younger toddlers.  In the cleared area there is a mass of heaving children, mixed with yapping dogs and laughing adults. The birth of little James has lifted the spirits of all of the party.

Across the paddock comes the sound of motorbikes and there are the two older boys riding back with meat for everyone. Slung across the petrol tanks are two grey kangaroos
and slung between the bikes is a young steer, both the kangaroos are of reasonable size and they should make a nice stew for the dinner tonight, the steer will also go into the stew pots and will be eaten by those that do not like kangaroo. Cheers greet their arrival and the bustle begins again as the meat is skinned and butchered for the pots. Soon the smell of cooking stew is causing human and dog noses to twitch and the party mood is heightened by hunger.

I turn slowly around and survey the campsite. Outside the hospital tents James is sitting in his wheelchair and beside him sits Wendy on a camp chair, between them is a cardboard box with little James snuggled inside. Helen stands behind them and waves to me as she catches my eye. Her smile is broad and happy as she also watches the activities around the campsite.
Adults drift over towards the hospital tent in one’s and two’s to congratulate Wendy, praising James for his help and all bend down to the cardboard box to see the new arrival. Everyone leaves with a smile and a nod to the next person. No one lingers though as they do not want to tire Wendy, James or little James too much. Helen hovers like a mother hen watching over her charges.

The days of travel start to take on sameness as we cross the flat land of the plains and head towards the mountains
in the distance. Some days travel is slowed by trees across roads, bridges down and crevasses that break the road in two. There are days where we make little progress and 10 to 15 miles in not an unusual distance. There are good days though and we manage 30 miles, these days are celebrated in the camp at night.

Our convoy has grown by one’s and two’s over the time we have travelled over the plains, survivors from families on cattle stations and farms, little villages and small towns. They hear the radio calls that Gavin and I still send out every few miles or they see the red dust created by the convoy as we travel through the outback. The dust has covered all the
vehicles, tents and our clothing. Everything feels gritty to touch and finding enough water to bathe and wash clothes is always a challenge. The teenagers on the motorbikes are doing a great job and every camp has had water at night, even if it is only enough for cooking and cleaning the dishes.

Eight days into the trip now and people are tired and in need of a rest. Gavin calls a meeting of the committee and it is decided that the next big billabong we come to is where we are going to spend two days. This will give people chance to rest, wash their clothes and themselves and it will also give the hunters chance to go out and find fresh meat and the sc
outs go to the nearest homesteads to check for survivors and to try to purchase vegetables from them. If there is no one there then the vegetables will be taken and provide much needed nutrition. We are being careful to make sure that the diet we are all eating is as nutritious as possible, but everyone is getting a little tired of dehydrated soups and stews. Gavin talks to the scouting crew and they set off to find a larger body of water and plenty of wood for the cooking fires. We are taking a break from travel and everyone is excited by the idea of a chance to rest and recover.

At lunch time the scouts return and inform us that there is a large billabong about two miles down the road, there are plenty of trees for shade there, some of the trees have died and fallen and look dry enough to burn well. They have found an ideal spot from the sound of it and the convoy sets off towards this little oasis of
tranquillity. It takes over an hour to drive the two miles, but once we get to the paddock and pull off the road we do discover a beautiful spot. Tall gum trees sprout high above and provide shade and wind breaks, the billabong is alive with birds that fly away calling to each other as the vehicles arrive and the human occupants set up camp. The children run around wildly to play ball games and with the resilience of the very young are laughing and are soon choosing sides giggling with excitement.  The adults look on with smiles on their faces, after all the hardships of the journey so far it is good to hear the children playing and to watch their antics. The dogs are soon let off their chains and happily join in the fun. There is a mass of small children, dogs and teenagers gambolling around the centre of the camp while the tents are erected and the fires started for tonight’s meal. The sound of motorbike engines heralds the return of the hunters and the smiles on their faces tell of their success. We will eat well tonight, they have brought back a cattle beast quartered and hung around each of the bikes. There are two kangaroos, small grey ones, but they will provide more protein. Dinner should be a feast. The bikes then roar off into the distance again after their riders check the maps with Gavin and ascertain the position of the nearest homestead.

Within an hour the motorbikes are back followed by three people in an SUV.  The old white Toyota has a cage on the back and this is loaded with food, fuel and camping supplies. The earthquake had made the old house uninhabitable and the Aboriginal station hands had left soon after the quake. The family, an elderly couple and their granddaughter aged 13, had been living in a barn and managing to feed themselves for the last three and a half weeks, but they were tired and not coping well. The child had taken on the role of hunter gatherer and although dirty, scratched and sunburned seemed healthy and happy enough. She was having an adventure during her school holidays
a much bigger one than she normally had when she came to stay with her grandparents. It was not known if her parents had survived, but there had been no sign of them during this time so the old couple decided to join the convoy and head towards the coast in the hopes of meeting up with them. We settle the new family quickly into their tent and they are soon chatting to other members of the group, swapping stories and making new friends.

Soon there are huge pots sitting over the cooking fires and the smells of cooking food invade the camp site making mouths water, humans and dogs alike. From somewhere an old tin trunk has been found and is pressed into service as an oven and with lots of laughter and fun the fruit that the scout team have found is soon made into pies. They are a little burn
t on the bottoms, but the sweet taste will make up for that. The smaller children are coming over to check the pies frequently, hoping that they are going to be distributed soon. Sandra is good naturedly shooing them away and telling them that we will all have pies for dessert tonight. From the quantity I am pretty sure that there will be plenty to go around. Sandra and the ladies who have taken on the cooking duties have also decided to turn their hands to bread making and have sent the children who are old enough off to gather more wood to ensure that there is enough to carry them through this marathon baking effort. The tin trunk will become a bread oven as soon as the pies are finished. It is then that one of the older men in the group mentions that the oven would work better if we plastered it with wet clay from the creek bed and baked that on. It would ensure that the heat was less direct and we may be able to cook larger loaves of bread instead of the small rolls that had been planned. This is met with cheers and soon a party of children are heading down to the creek with buckets to bring back mud for the oven.

It turns out that Alex had spent many years being totally self-sufficient on a small holding near the coast before moving inland to help his daughter with her property. Alex had made the mud bricks to build his home. He had many ideas that were going to help us along the way and those ideas were being welcomed by the group. Alex was the keeper of valuable information and although he is elderly and physically frail now his knowledge will prove invaluable during this trip. Gavin and I also suspect that the knowledge of how to make mud bricks and build a home is going to be necessary when we get to the
coast.

Some of the fires have great pots of water boiling on them and then cold water and soap are added to them for folks to wash their clothes. So many people are finding that synthetic fabrics do not like boiling water and that you have to use a stick to agitate the pot. It is amazing how reliant we have become on the machines that used to do our work for us. There are many people amongst the group that have rarely washed by hand and are finding that things are much more difficult than they imagined. Long ropes have been hung between the trees around the camp and there are all sorts of garments and linen flapping in the slight breeze. Some are spotless and some are not quite as clean it all depends on the enthusiasm of the person doing the washing.

As the sunset starts to colour the sky the bustle in the camp is set around the cooking fires where we are all gathered to eat. There are folding chairs, logs turned on their ends, blankets and a few pillows, James is in his wheel chair and we are all settling down to a feast. The huge pots around the fires are soon emptied down to the last droplet of food and people are smiling widely as they contemplate the fruit pies for dessert.

Two more days of leisure and relaxation are going to do this band of w
eary travellers a lot of good. Everyone’s spirits are much higher now and with fresh food, clean bodies and clean clothes we all feel so much better. The trauma of the quake is still very clear, as when an aftershock rumbles through the ground the faces of those around me mirror my own fear and for a while after there are parents still holding tight to their children. The aftershocks are less frequent now, but we are still getting more than a few each day. Most are nothing to worry about, but now and again we get something that really shakes the ground. Those big shakes are the ones that worry us; they are the ones that cause the damage. Trees fall suddenly, roads open further and fear reigns with absolute power. We have learned some very big lessons from these aftershocks though. We no longer put the tents and vehicles under trees, it is a huge risk to do so as they can drop hours after a big aftershock, we have learned that no matter how strong the building and even if it does survive a big earthquake, you should never trust it after, it may have been weakened and can fall with a big aftershock. There is so much we have to learn as we go.

The sheer scale of mobilising
more than 200 people for an extended trek across country that has changed is daunting and although we have a good working committee we still have huge challenges to face. So far there have been no major disagreements since the trek started, but that doesn’t mean that it will continue this way. People will get stressed and personalities will rub against one another causing friction. The committee are all aware of this and are watching closely to ensure that we can intervene prior to any violence. The one thing we cannot have is violence in the group and it has been decided that if that should occur then the instigators will be left with a vehicle, food and the bare necessities of survival. If we don’t do this then we risk the whole group becoming unstable and discipline will become an issue.

There is a singsong around the largest of the camp fires tonight and everyone is present. James is tired, but insists on staying and enjoying the company, music and the singing. There are many children curled asleep on their parents laps and as the darkness deepens and the moon sails onward parents drift off in one’s and two’s to put the littlest one’s to bed, then return to the fire to talk, sing and relax. James finally gives in to his tiredness and Krystal and I help him across to the medical tent. He is now the only patient and Helen is sleeping in there too, so there is no need for a nurse through the night. The only nursing duties now are getting James washed and dressed in the mornings and ready for the road and settling him down for the night. He is taking pain medication now and is doing much better and is finding strength that we never thought would be possible.
The journey seems to be the instigator for this improved state of things, that and the closeness of the group. James is feeling like he has a family around him at last. The birth of young James has also given this lovely elderly gent a reason to keep going. He wants to be around to see his namesake grow and thrive. The joy of a young life has brought something special to James and to the group as a whole.

The group by the big fire are now breaking up in earnest and are heading back to their tents to rest up for the night. Helen steps into the tent so Krystal and I head off to our own beds.
As we near the tents a shadow breaks away to stand before us.

“Hi girls, are you just finishing for the day?” He asks
.

“
Yes mate, it’s getting late.” Krystal replies.

“Jenn, can we have a bit of a chat?” Gavin asks.

“Okay, not a problem. I was not tired anyway.” I smile as I say this through a big yawn.

“I won’t keep you late Jenn, just a couple of things we need to go through before tomorrow. I’ve got a couple of ideas for change right now and need to talk to you about them.” Gavin’s voice rumbles from the dark.

“I’ll say goodnight you two, and don’t be up too late.” Krystal says and turns towards the tent.

“Night Krystal.” We echo each other’s words as Gavin and I turn to walk towards the centre fire where we will disturb no one as long as we keep our voices down.

We sit on a blanket that has been left on the ground and sit silent for a little while just listening to the sounds of people settling for the night and the night creatures waking to hunt. I hear the sonar of the fruit bats as they start their nightly patrol of the flowers on the gum trees and the fruits from the trees at the nearby homesteads. There are rustlings in the grass as creatures move, but they stay away from the fires, so we feel comfortable. The warmth is comforting too, outback nights are cool after the summer days and the temperature difference makes quite an impact on me and I shiver slightly.

Gavin quickly shrugs out of his light jacket and drapes it around my shoulders. A smile crosses his face quickly and then fades. I smile back quickly and pull the jacket around me.

“Jenn, I have been thinking that maybe it will be a good idea for the convoy to rest for a couple of days every week, I know it is going to take longer to get to the coast, but if everyone gets tired we are going to have problems with some people acting like idiots.” Gavin explains why he needed to talk to me.

“I have been thinking along those lines too, and you won’t get an argument out of me at all. I believe that we need to make sure that everyone gets chance to rest, recover and relax as we travel. The travel days are hard enough on us all and breaks are going to be necessary for those with children, the elderly and in particular James. He is doing okay, but hard travel is going to tax what little strength he has left.” I agree
explain my reasons to Gavin.

“I am so glad that we
are thinking along the same lines Jenn, even if it is for different reasons.” Gavin laughs. “We always have communicated well and I’ve often thought that we think alike and now I know. No wonder we have stayed friends over the years.”