Most folk are aware of the dangers of camping under a gumtree. For those who aren’t, a gumtree can fall or drop a limb anytime. High rain or wind can expedite that fall. Perfect weather conditions can also still see a hunk of that good ol’ Aussie hardwood drop faster than a blink of an eye. They don’t call them widow-makers for no reason! Let’s backtrack a little, but yes, a gumtree did fall and hit our Hiace campervan. And yes, one of us was standing right next to it and could have been buried by the weight of the tree trunk.
PERFECT WEATHER
We were camped on the banks of a New South Wales inland river. The stinking hot, still, humid conditions presented the perfect opportunity for swimming and lazing under the shade of our awning and the nearby trees.
We’d spent a few hours under our Hiace campervan’s awning and decided to manhandle our chairs, table and a few drinks down to the riverbank, which was not more than 50m away.
As we wandered down the bare earth track, I noticed the stark, deep blue sky starting to turn a little grey.
Unusual, but hey, nothing to worry about, right?
Then, the wind picked up a little.
Still, nothing to be concerned about, or so I thought.
Within another 10 to 20 minutes, the sky darkened, and the winds picked up to a slight howl.
Gee. That changed fast and we weren’t even in Melbourne!
The next thing we knew, it started pelting down, and as luck would have it, we had left all of our Hiace’s windows open.
Sharyn figured she’d bolt back and close everything while I kept stock of all our gear in the wind, taking cover under a couple of weeping willow trees.
A few minutes later, I heard an almighty crash that, as I was to discover, was a gigantic gumtree that had fallen near our van. I hightailed it up to the van to witness the remaining gum leaves being blown clear to the other side of the river… and no Sharyn!
No amount of calling could raise a response from my precious other half. My mind went into overload, looking for her limbs jutting out from under the multi-tonne gum tree lying next to the van. Surely, she wasn’t under the tree. Surely, she was alive – somewhere!
After what seemed to be half an hour, but was more likely a couple of minutes, of yelling and searching, Sharyn appeared from a secondary track from the riverbank where we’d last seen each other. Initially, my brain couldn’t comprehend how she was still walking, talking and breathing after my frantic search for her body had failed.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? I thought you were dead.”
My questions probably expelled more wind than the freak storm that had ripped the surrounding vegetation apart and left little time for her answers until we both calmed down.
I hadn’t noticed the van’s damage at that stage, just that an almighty gumtree was lying beside it, with small branches and leaves scattered everywhere.
At least the windows were closed so the rain didn’t get in!
DAMAGE TO THE HIACE
Once my heart rate halved, then halved again, we finished holding each other in disbelief and realised the wind and rain had stopped. With the skies gradually clearing to a brilliant blue again, it was time to put on my sensible hat and assess the damage to our campervan.
First, the awning was okay, given I had set all the guy ropes the day before. I still can’t understand how it wasn’t flipped, mangled, and ready for the bin.
The tree’s main trunk had missed the van by a couple of meters. That is the only saving grace in all of this. If the fall had been just a couple of degrees different, our van would have been squashed, as would have Sharyn. Ya see, she was standing next to the van when the tree fell, leaving a foot-deep furrow along its length in the sandy, grassed surface of our campsite. She had escaped back down to the riverbank while I headed up a different way.
Unfortunately, some of the smaller branches, still quite hefty, mind you, clipped the front end of the van, causing a fair amount of minor damage.
A smashed windscreen, a bent snorkel, dented mudguards and bonnet, a twisted bullbar and and busted driving lights presented me with clear evidence that we had camped in the wrong place at the wrong time.
CAMPED UNDER A GUMTREE?
No, we hadn’t camped under the gumtree. I was careful not to do that a couple of days prior when we arrived. On pacing everything out after the freak storm had passed and our hearts, nerves and minds were functioning somewhat normally, we were about 25m away from the base of the tree.
The problem was that a 35m-tall tree snapped off near the base and fell just metres to the side of our van. That seemingly healthy tree was found to be partially rotten inside, not visible at all until after it had snapped and fallen.
Could we have avoided this situation?
Sure, given my previous life as a surveyor, I could have reasonably accurately guesstimated how tall the tree was, made generous strides to ensure the van was set-up in a safe position, and even turned the van to capture the sun’s rays on the roof-mounted solar panels a little better than the river view we’d chosen.
Yes, as soon as we noted the change in weather, we could have tried to move the van well away from the unknown danger. Unfortunately, given that we had the awning set-up, an extra pop-up tent set-up for the dogs to sleep in, extra solar panels laid out to help recharge our onboard battery system, and all our gear strewn around the ground like a teenager’s bedroom, we would have missed the boat, and the tree would still have landed just as close.
At the end of all this, plus being told that a mini cyclone had ripped through the area causing a corridor of destruction, I put it down to the fact that we were just unlucky. Nothing more and nothing less could have been done to avoid the almost disastrous results of a squashed life partner, other than stay at home and watch the idiot box – and that’s not going to happen!
I like to turn it around and say that we were both very lucky to escape with our lives and that the van is easily repairable.
THE AFTERMATH
Unfortunately, the van wasn’t drivable on the open road due to the smashed windscreen and unknown damage, but we could move it to a safe place to spend the night before organising help the next day.
We decided to call our insurance company and have the Hiace loaded onto a flatbed towie to return to a smash repair joint near our hometown. Given that we were in a rural setting, not near a township, it took most of the following day to organise the transport of the van, the two dogs and us home.
Now, we wait for parts to be delivered and the smash repair shop to make its repairs, all while we plan our next adventure to the wide open, perhaps treeless plains of somewhere warm, non-windy and maybe we’ll search for a stable environment.
Given that all those prerequisites don’t exist, let’s get out there and enjoy what we have while we can, safe in the knowledge that we still have each other!
MARK’S WISE WORDS
Don’t camp under gumtrees; that’s just asking for trouble. Even a small falling branch could pierce your tent or your skull.
Be aware of the weather as much as possible, but relax in the knowledge that some weather events can’t be predicted.
If the wind does start howling and the rains start hammering down, it’s best to take refuge away from anything that may fall – gumtrees included.
