A good question...just where is Yaamba? A very long way from its (almost) namesake, Yamba, on the mouth of the Clarence River on the NSW coast. The 'double A' version sits astride the Bruce Highway, about 40 kms north of Rockhampton. The photo of the free camp here in our Camps book showed some promise. All things being equal (read as long as it was as good as it looked!), it was to be our overnight stop for this 300 kms leg of our journey south.
And indeed this tiny hamlet does occupy a very short distance either side of 'The Bruce'. The pub is on the western side,
whilst opposite it is the local service station and roadhouse, and apart from a house or two, that's it, but the population of Yaamba does swell each afternoon.
As we pulled onto the large bitumen area which is the Yaamba free camp, we were happy that our free camping bible had provided an accurate description of this spot. This would do us.
As early birds, we were able to collar what I viewed as the pick of the camping sites with a modicum of shade and some elbow room. By the time we wandered across to the pub (which is a mere 50 metres away) later in the afternoon, most available areas here had been taken. Some vans had even pulled up side by side (there was no altercation so we assumed they knew each other!).
It was time to meet the locals. This really is a very nice little country pub. The front bar is clean and tidy, mine host and the few locals quenching their thirsts were affable, and, strangely enough, we soon found ourselves in the company of fellow travellers ensconced across the road.
Despite the understated charm of the dining room and the appeal of what appeared to be a good old country style menu, The Treasurer had declared it off limits.
Ah, well, a few beers and some lively conversation will have to do. We were all set to make our way back to our van when, from across the road, came an almighty crash. All eyes turned towards the bar windows.
The idiot driving this odd type of container truck had decided that height restrictions did not apply to him, with the inevitable result. Not only did the top of his rig collide with the roof over the fuel pumps, he then made the situation worse by trying to drive out of his predicament. Needless to say,the grinding, screeching noise of metal on metal was by now accompanied to howls of protest from the servo owner. "Stop you bloody idiot" is a sanitised version of what we heard!
Fortunately 'Mr Intelligent' behind the wheel did as he was told, just in time to prevent the complete destruction of the first of the petrol bowsers as the roof uprights were being inexorably drawn sideways.
Needless to say, the conversation in the front bar of the Yaamba pub had come to a complete standstill whilst all this unfolded, to be shortly resumed with a discussion about the truck driver's ancestry, intelligence and other such relevant and pithy matters. What a hoot...how we revel in the misfortunes of others!
Within a very short time the emergency services, presumably from Rockhampton, were on site. The 'fireies' sprayed everything down and a local version of 'The Fourth of July' was averted. It could have been nasty....apart from blazing fuel, the container on the truck was filled with large LPG cylinders!
Well, after all this excitement we all had to stay on for a few more beers....the publican was delighted. She did tell us that this was not the first time an incident like this had happened. It did occur to Liz and me that if we owned the service station we would have raised the roof (and if we owned the pub we would have made sure it wasn't!!).
As we finally made our way 'home', still chuckling, the glow of the sunset was augmented by other lights.
We had to give the unfortunate owner his due. Whether by dint of prior experience, or innate acumen, he had things well and truly organised by first light. In fact we heard the initial crane arrive as we were getting up, right on sunrise.
By the time we pulled out of what had not been a 'sleepy hollow', repairs were well under way. What an unexpected bit of fun this had been....an overnight stop with a real difference!
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