And still no deposit

S got a load of firewood delivered to our Warrandyte house. The wood supply was getting low and the weather becoming colder. The truck driver got panicked on how get up the drive, but it worked out. He must have been a new driver. It is an awful driveway, with the truck having to do a three-point turn in the wide section at the top (I should have said nine-point turn, on a slope).

I got into a pickle with that driveway once that had me frustrated. After a long drive from Adelaide with the ute loaded to capacity and a heavy trailer on the back we got to Melbourne at about 2.00am. I was concerned about the weight of everything, and was worried about being able to get the car and trailer up driveway, being as steep as it was.

I asked S to hop out before I attempted it. She was really tired and went to bed leaving me to park the car. The drive is almost impossible to drive into from the centre of the road, but is angled and is a breeze when making a left off the road. So, I drove down the street, made a u-turn, kept it in 2nd gear, and pulled into the drive doing about 40km/hr, or thereabouts. A speed I thought I was guaranteed to get me to the top of the hill.

The driveway is particularly steep as it comes off the road, and curves in a sweeping bend all the way up. My plan was simply to get the car to the top where the surface was relatively flat, park it and go to bed, and leave the unpacking until the next day. Approaching the drive at 40k was not a problem. I’d done this many times before, but I hadn’t realised how heavy my load was that night.

The car got about two-thirds the driveway and stopped. It got past the steepest section okay, but I could feel the power dropping, despite the throttle being wide open. I thought my initial speed might have compensated for the lack of power, but the engine was going to stall unless I stopped. I attempted to get it going again, putting it into 1st gear, but all that happened was that the clutch slipped.

My next plan was to pull the handbrake on, leave the car in gear, perhaps put a few chocks under the wheels, and go to bed. I’d deal with the problem in the morning. That didn’t work.

With the engine off, and the hand brake fully on, the weight of the car and trailer was pulling me down the hill. Of course, anyone familiar with the delights of driving with a trailer will know that reversing with a trailer takes some care. I was familiar with this experience. My problem was that with the car loaded as it was I couldn’t really see the trailer, plus the fact that the drive was curved. Curved drives and trailers aren’t a good mix; particularly when driving forward isn’t possible. A jack-knife situation would be inevitable.

I was stuck. I did not have a solution. If I had a mobile phone I could have rang for help. S was in bed. And I was sitting here with my foot on the brake, not knowing what to do. Bugger.

I began looking around. Not that there was much to see at night. There were a few large rocks nearby. Perhaps I could leap out the car, grab a rock and wedge it under one of the wheels before the car started to roll backwards. I doubted my changes, and had visions of being crushed. I remained where I was, and began to fret. My only option was to sit there and wait until S got up in the morning. But what if I fell asleep? I was thinking, let it jack knife. That would take some of the load of the car, but it would get damaged. I’d just have to sit and wait.

Then out of the shadows I saw S walking down the drive. The feeling of relief that came over me almost brought tears of joy to my eyes. I had to ask why she had come down. Oh, just to see how you were going, she said. Is there ESP between us? I explained my experience, but I don’t think she was interested. I got her to place some chocks under each wheel, which worked a treat and in addition to the handbrake the car was secure. I spent about half an hour unloading the heaviest items from the trailer, wheeled it aside to park it, and drove the ute up the hill. This was one very scary episode.

Squeak our cat had the cheek to use Elsa’s poo box, but left her bum hanging over the edge, peeing on the floor. Elsa was indignant. And then Squeak rolled on her back with feet in the air, and then darted to the door to get out. It’ll be tricky getting these naughty cats to Canberra. Though Elsa is a seasoned traveller; I used to drive between Launceston and Hobart and she came with me in the car, and she had to put up with a few Bass Strait crossings on the ferry.

The Melbourne real estate agent rang. He’s expecting the funds for our deposit to be paid into the office trust account, but the money isn’t through yet. He contacted the buyer’s solicitor in the UK again. At least he’s doing things on his own initiative now. He said they’ve sent the money, or some of it. He also said they would email him some documentation relating to the transaction. The document will be scanned and emailed to him. I asked him to forward it to me.