You might have seen this pic I posted on Facebook last week when hubby and I went to ‘rescue’ our friends who had got stuck on the tip of Fraser Island with a dead battery. After the fun and excitement of the Brisbane Show I was exhausted and looking forward to the unexpected OVERNIGHT beach camping holiday!

OF COURSE we’ll come and rescue you!!!!! Just wish we could stay longer…. 🙂

We  bought them a new battery, threw our tent and a few clothes in the back of the car, and left 2 hours later…

We had no idea that a huge storm had blown in and that in less than 24 hours things would take a terrible turn for us!

We had to wait for low tide so there would be enough hard beach to drive on and ended up driving into the night. As we drove up the beach the weather turned foul and conditions were horrendous! The wind was so strong it started lifting the wet sand creating a layer of sand about a foot off the beach which made it hard to judge distance, combined with the sea mist it felt like we had tunnel vision.

We were driving slowly trying to pick our way between the bumps, crabs, jelly fish and waves as the sea surged in with the storm… BUT suddenly as we came over a rise a wave rushed in and we swerved but skidded

…into the sea!!!

It all must have happened in a split second but to us it felt like SLOW MOTION!

Suddenly there were waves surging around us and I thought of the people who had drowned in their cars in the floods. They couldn’t push the car doors open once the car was under water because of the force of the water pressure and I panicked, thinking we would be stuck in the car as it sunk into the deep water! I opened the door and jumped into the sea, you can’t see it in this picture but I was in water up to my shoulders!

Hubby’s side wasn’t so deep so he thought he would try to reverse… while I was screaming into the wind for him to get out  – all I could only think of him being stuck inside the car and me watching as the car sunk and disappeared over the drop off.

The car was stuck fast but at least we could open the back and get our friend’s new battery out and hubby ran with it to where they were camped. They got their car started and came back to try and pull our car to safety… BUT luck was against us, and the snatch kept breaking, so we had to leave the car to the mercy of the waves… Overnight the waves had spun the car around, dented the roof, broken the windows and it was filled with water!!!!

A total write off????

We are still in a state of shock!!!!

It’s shocking how life can take a turn in a second!!! We are just so grateful we weren’t driving fast or we could have been launched into the air and ploughed into that really deep water!!! Things would have been completely different then!

So, if I’m a bit quiet… it’s because I’m still a bit shaken! I keep thinking of the people who have lost their homes and even LIVES in the huge hurricane Sandy in the US.

I know a little bit about what they are going through. Still, what we have gone through is NOTHING compared to so many whose lives will never be the same…. my heart goes out to them!!!! So forgive me if I don’t seem my usual bubbly self and don’t  feel like frivolous things like Friday Frenzy Give-aways, or toy designing! There’s plenty of time down the track to release new patterns!!!! I think , like all the millions in New York, I just need to let things settle and get over the shock.

We are alive and well, and this close shave has only made us appreciate each other MORE and appreciate the important things in life, like friends and family and loved ones…

in the greater scheme of things – what else is there, really?

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Till next time,

Keep well!
Pauline