Camp Wagon 317 - our home for over 7 years
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CW317 ready for the journey to Middle Path |
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Early one crisp winter morning in July 1993 we travelled to Brisbane to witness the departure of Camp Wagon 317 which was to become our temporary home for the next 6 months or so while we worked out something more permanent.
Little did we realize it would be over 7 years before we were able to move into more permanent accommodation at Middle Path.
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CW317 was unfortunately loaded on the truck back to front and had to be unloaded and reloaded in the opposite direction half way to Maleny - this was so that we had the doors on the appropriate side of the carriage when it was finally unloaded at Middle Path.
The journey was not uneventful - first obstacle was the Gateway bridge toll gate. We were diligently following the truck so that we could help turn her around when a suitable space was found.
The driver found a space - behind a huge building - and we drove past in the belief we were still behind the truck - after all how could anyone miss a railway carriage on the back of a truck?
We eventually reached Middle Path and had to accept that, somehow, CW317 had eluded us and all we could do was wait at the top of the drive. |
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Passing through the toll at the Gateway Bridge |
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CW317s arrival - in a cortege |
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As we waited, a hearse passed on the way to Witta cemetery with a few cars following, glancing back towards Maleny, we were astounded to see CW317 in the middle of the funeral procession - and being slowly outdistanced by the hearse!
I don't know what the omen meant and we didn't ever find out just how our new home managed to be escorted to the door by a cortege accompanying someone else to their new home. |
Eventually we managed to disentangle the truck from the procession and start it down the drive towards her new berth.
Unfortunately the truck had difficulty negotiating the corner at the bottom of the drive and couldn't go forward or back! |
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Stuck on the corner |
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Sommers drott to the Rescue |
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There was nothing we could do but call for help in the form of some heavy earth-moving machinery.
After a 2 hour wait Ron Sommers arrived with his drott and pulled the truck out of the difficult patch and the journey resumed. |
Arriving at the prepared section of railway track - we'd built this by hand the day before - the unloading process went without a hitch.
Fortunately we'd built the track the correct width and CW317 rolled smoothly onto the rails and her new home. |
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Some final adjusting of her position was easily accomplished with the drott which had stayed around to watch the unloading process. |
The first job was to clean up the interior - at this point we had only 3 days to make her ready for occupation.
The shower stall (on the left) we removed to give us as much usable space as possible. |
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The day before we were due to move in it rained.
We arrived to discover the floor awash - this was when we discovered - much to our dismay - that the roof leaked!
We opted for a temporary solution and covered the roof with a layer of waterproof plastic.
The plastic remained in place for the duration of our occupancy (some 7½ years). |
Once we had established ourselves in the temple, the old faithful CW317 became in danger of neglect, however fate took a typically serendipitous course and Trijntje developed a one-day detox program which called for a restful space where people could spend time between treatments.
In 2005 we gutted the interior of our original residence and refurbished the interior to create a wonderful day space for our clients.
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During the refurbishment the wildlife were happy to have us back in that space and smokos were frequently spent sharing our time, space and refreshments with old friends.
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Here's what she looks like today - a very different space to the early days of our residence but a very restful and revitalising space for all our day guests.
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