Well here is a story of quiting my job traveling accross the country killing a roo and meeting the nicest people on earth.

i quit my job in paradise because i could no longer accept the lowest wage in history and on friday it was my final day, i was working as a parachute aircraft pilot and lived with everyone i worked with, so i really got to know them well and will really miss hanging out. it was especially good because we just sat around at home or surfing at the beach and only had to work a few hours a day.

I packed up the car and prepared to drive accross the country to my dads house where i was going to look for a new job. I said all the goodbuys as my coleagues all rushed out the door to go and do some work and i began a heck of a long drive at 10am. i drove and drove and drove stopping occasionally for lunch or over priced fuel untill i was in the middle of no where 80km's from goondawindi at 4.30 pm and un known to me, kevin the kangaroo had just been left by his wife and decided to end his life by jumping in front of my car. Crash bang tinckle tinckle i brake hard and pull of the road. i get out of the car to have a look at the damage, the bonnet was buggered and the head light was smashed but luckily it didnt seem to bad, im glad he didnt break the windscrean when he landed on it, so i went to see how my furry freind was going. i walked up the road aout 150M and after some looking found him in the long grass at the side and he sure looked to be having a worse day than me, his stomach was opened and both legs were broken but unfortunately he was still alive. I dont own a gun and the only other weapon i had was a bird and trout knife and there was no way i was going near those giant claws to try and put him out of his missery with that so unfortunately i had to just leave him.
i returned to my car and opened the bonnet just to double check everything and thats when the real trouble started. The fan belt was shredded and i didnt have a spare, i pull out the phone and of course no reception. So its about now i realise im stuck in the middle of no where and im basically screwed, and then the greatest site ever apears, and old couple in a pajero. After they offer a hand and we asses the problem they get me in to their car and drive 30mins to their sisters place to try salvage a fan belt of an old bomb they have, unfortunately its the wrong kind, so after some ringing around the local mechanic leaves one hanging on his fence post for us and at 8.00pm we drive a 160km (100miles) round trip to pick it up, when we get back to the car we begin getting ready to fit it only to find the water pump has been knocked and is useless so we decide to turn in for the night.

at 6am on sataday i wake to find robert has been up for an hour pulling the old water pump, radiator and headlight of the old bomb they had, and after a big country breakie we head out to the car to try again, after about 3 hours of work i have a new radiator new headlight new water pump and im ready to go, the water pump is rusted in the bearings and makes a horrible noise but it should get me to the nearest town. so we say our goodbyes and i head off. Due to being a tight arse i never got a new pump and it managed to make it all the way home, just.
i left at 10am and was now a few hours behind schedule, everything was going fine untill i get diverted an hour out of my way to avoid a bush fire, while on the diversion this huge thunder storm sets in, which after a few minutes cuts my visability down to 20meters at most, i look for a place to pull over but there is no shoulder and there is a wide load truck somewhere behind me, so i soldier on and after about 10mins it clears up in to beautiful sunshine and after a few more hours i pull in to a truck stop at 7.30pm and settle in for the night. the next morning i set out at 7am and drive on untill i see a sign for the parks observitory, from the movie the dish, so i take a ten minute break and have a look around.
i then drive on untill the car in front of me starts doing weird things and then pulls over and as i pass i see her flashing her lights at me so i turn around and offer a hand,after about 20mins i have her tire changed and were both back on the way, then i drove and drove and drove untill 7 when i pull in to dads driveway and turn off the car.

on monday i call up a company i had talked to previously and they invite me in for a job interview , a few hours later dad comes in and tells me theres allot of water under my car, it seems the water pump finally gave up. a few calls around and i find mum doesnt need her car on tuesday so i borrow it for the day.

i wake up tuesday(today) and drive about an hour to the town for the interview and then get lost and drive around an extra half hour looking for the airposrt, and arive 2 minutes late. after a nice casual interview they offer me the job and once again im one of the employed masses. i think it will be a really cool job, its for australian jet adventures http://www.austjetadv.com/main_page.html as a flight instructor in the ga and raa planes and they say i might get to fly the yak 52 as well, a shame no jet though.

well there you have it a #### load of driving a kangaroo who ruined my day and my car, an old couple who are the nicest folks on earth and a new job that sure sounds promising, so, how did you spend your weekend?

Brett

Brett,

Looks like the job looks good. I can't fly but the only better job would be at the Temora(?) Air Museum getting to fly a Spitfire would be awsome, they sound great.

Country folk are helpfull.

Skippy the bush kangaroo, hmmmm. Our national animal. I dare say with the dry around they would be everywhere. I had one through my bullbar once. It ended up pushing the bonnet in and just scratched the radiator, didn't break it thankfully. They get into the sides of the road where there is a little bit green pick for them. They are a menace for road users but you have too look out for them.

I have seen a car that hit a wild pig that is a mess.

Stewart

temora would be awesome! my favorite plane ever is the spit and they got australias only flying one and their gonna have a second soon. they have such an awesome line up. im hopeing i can get a ride in the strike master at some stage.

brett

Brett, what do you do for entertainment??:)

Sorry about your trouble, but it was an entertaining story.:)

Great story.

I would rather get a flight in a P-38 those things were ugly and awesome.

Tell em to get ya on their employee page Holmsy. Maybe you could make an AJA knife?

Brett,

Awesome story. That reminds me of a motivational story about working to reach your goals. Some people start something and quit at the first sign of difficulty. Others (like you) hit obstacle after obstacle and keep going until they reach their destination.

"well there you have it a #### load of driving a kangaroo who ruined my day and my car, an old couple who are the nicest folks on earth and a new job that sure sounds promising..."

Don't forget that the lady with a flat tire met the nicest guy out on the road too!!

Bill

Excelent story , excelent three days .

Life is but a journey and an adventure. That is cool Brett.

Dwane

Great story! In Texas, we call that a "No s**t, I was there!" story. It may not seemed like it at the time, but disasters like that are when you really get to have some adventure and find the best (or worst) in people. I've had one or two of them myself and can honestly say it was worth every penny it cost me!

In Texas, deer probably cause the most damage to a car. But the two most hit animals are the armadillo and the skunk. Armadillos have a brain slightly smaller than the dot over the "i". Their natural instinct when threatened is to jump straight up in the air. Unfortunately for them, that brings them directly in contact with the bumper or grill of most vehicles. During mating season, skunks like to wander down roads. Every car that runs over the carcass spreads the smell. I remember driving back from Corpus Christi late one night with a broken air conditioner and thinking there must be 2 dead skunks per mile.

Now I bring that up because I was once doing some work up in Maine. We finished up and the manager at the plant offered to buy dinner. We turned him down because if we hurried we could make an earlier flight home. He said, "Well, watch out for the moose!" We laughed, thinking it was a local joke. He pointed out that he was serious. During that time of year, they often wander on to roads. If you hit one, it's legs are so long and the body is so heavy that it generally goes right through the windshield - often killing those in the front seat. We made the flight but were pretty wired the whole way!

a p38 is pretty awesome, you gotaa love twin tail boom. whats a AJA knife?

when the old lady flagged me down i was almost happy because it was my chance to pay it forward(cool movie by the way). when i told dad he said its at least another story in the bank. Me and my mates have always said how the meaning of life is to have some cool stories to be told to the grandkids, and im always telling dad how i have none, so i guess here is another.

Brett

Brett,

How did you get such an aviation resume at the tender age of 21? I figure it's not military training since most ex-military aviators are at least 28 years old. Your folks must have started you early!

By the way, if you are not familiar with an aircraft called 'Glacier Girl', I STRONGLY recommend following this link: http://www.thelostsquadron.com/ An awesome story! The History Channel did a great show on this ten year recovery and restoration.

I just love P-38s!

Moving snow, Brett. Moving snow. Frank

andrew, i havn't actually flown a p-38 i was just saying they look pretty cool.
im just like your regular 21 year old pilot mostly cessna, with a bit in warriors and also some tailwheel and aero time in a decathalon curently the decathalon is the coolest plane ive flown and its not cool,, but if i get in the yak52 things will change because that is a cool ride.

brett

andrew, just checked out that link, what an amazing story, i cant beleive it was that far down a hole.

brett

whats a AJA knife?
An "Australian Jet Adventures" Knife.

So does this qualify as a bad week or a good one? Glad your ok, great story.

Jim

Hmmm...how's roo leather for sheaths?

You could have cooked some roo steaks on the manifold if you were stranded!:)

Usually too thin. It is used more for plaiting - plaited belts and whips.

I have seen diagrams for plaited sheaths but they use cow leather for a liner.

I have seen plaited pocket knife pouches, plaited into the belts. I just find a picture out there at the WWW. The link gives some idea. Tradionally the belts use 2 rings for a buckle.

http://www.mycountryclothing.com/product/paccess/paccess.html

Stewart

Brett,

Yea I love the whole Glacier Girl story. I just can't believe that 250+ feet of snow fell in that spot since WWII!

It's no wonder we have so much trouble finding old viking colonies up there in Gleenland. They must be a few thousand feet down in the ice by now!