Graham has a reputation for getting lost while going on Track Care trips, actually not even, just on trips anywhere.
David however has been very reliable in his navigation throughout all of the Track Care trips especially those into the Wandoo National Park that he knows very well.
A series of unfortunate events
But today appeared different Graham arrived on time before David arrived. He met with some of the members who volunteered to do work clearing tracks in the Wandoo National Park. In fact, there were over twenty people on this trip.
The other David, very organised, had divided the project into three groups and the members and visitors chose whom they would be guided by after it was very clear that Graham was unreliable as a navigator and really, anything called a trip ended up an adventure so all should beware!
A group and B group followed in logical order except for one visitor who had pre-emptively left before her group. She was picked up on the bitumen road along the way as the “Tail End Charlie” (TEC) for Graham’s group B.
We all used CB’s and could hear the conversations of each group, their leaders and each TEC. All was as it should be.
Then, unfortunately, we hear on the Radio that David, leader of group A and a very good navigator had missed the turn off into the National Park and several of his team had to do a U-turn and come back. Graham was ecstatic! He had not stuffed up the navigation, but David had and his team gave him Jip!
David had prepared to get Graham to follow and would indicate where Graham’s team were to diverge from the track and follow a different path where they would magically meet up later. Graham’s team were happily doing some track maintenance, looking at plants that were flowery and basically having a JOLLY OLD TIME! But then Graham asked on the radio about some ducks on a lake. David rapidly replied saying “You must be on the wrong track!”. After much conflagration it was decided that David was again WRONG and Graham’s team were on the right track after all.
It was a great day with fantastic results, so Graham did a botanical tour of a granite rock and we decided to end a very successful day. We went to a nominated spot to air up the vehicles before hitting the bitumen home. All but three of our vehicles had left with the two video vehicles further back.
Graham turned left on the bitumen and hit the road home. Confident he was ok even without phone connectivity and therefore no GPS he continued the WRONG WAY for 20 minutes and then thought… Well, many things actually!.. Connectivity reappeared and told Graham he only had 138 km to get home when the Wandoo National Park is one hour from home WHOOPS!
Thanks to those members that tried to ring Graham and tell him but the connectivity was so poor they did not get through.
Graham has safely arrived home at 6:45 tonight and has maintained his status as the world’s worst navigator!