It seldom rains in Perth, I heard. I don't know about that. Tonight was not the first night I had a harrowing drive. It was the second. Like the first, the rain pelted mercilessly on Barry White throughout the journey. Tonight however, was something different.
I did not have an anemometer with me. I could only estimate the wind speed tonight on the highest point of Roe Highway to be at least 90km/h. It could be higher but I couldn't be sure. Very often, I had to hold the steering tight as the wind hit Barry White from the sides. Yes, sides. It could come on the left or right and the pressure on the steering wheel would switch accordingly. There was no moment to rest my laurels.
I past two cars stopping at the side of the roads. The drivers were probably waiting for the rain to stop or the wind to slacken. Naive. Not with that torrent rain. It was already 0315hrs. They could wait until daybreak then.
My windscreen began to fog considerably, taking away more of my already limited vision. I scanned around for a defogger button, almost instantly realising if there was such a function, it would not be on a 1995 Toyota Corolla anyway. I tried wiping but it was no use. The temperature was way too cold outside and the shroud returned within moments.
"What the *beep, Barry White?!" Barry blinked and gave a back pointing thumb gesture, mocking.
You could always join them
No way. I would rather make my way back than to risk being hit by drunk or blind drivers. I intended to spend my sunrise comfortably in bed. There was deep puddles of water along the rest of the journey. All of them were challenging as I couldn't anticipate them. Two of them particularly caught me by surprise. They swerved us quite effortlessly, making our drive like an plane going through heavy air turbulence. These were not times to apply the brakes however close the puddles forced you to the kerbs, or it would be kiss-the-bush time. Maintaining my foot on the accelerator paddle and a firm steer in the opposite direction negotiated these invisible puddles. With that, Barry White took everything thrown at him and we managed to make our way back using the road reflectors as our only guiding light.
Not every storm ends with a golden sky, more especially at night. At times, a makeshift warm sanctuary would do.
I got that storm when i was in gold coast driving Qlds in frd's car...but it was in highway..
ReplyDeleteA van swerve from lane 1 to lane 4...My frd's car was in lane 4....so we BANG
So lucky nth happen to us cos none of us have medical insurance
Sei
@ sei: These crazy drivers are either drunk or high. Very bad luck to encounter one..
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