Lynda and Rob Webb always planned to travel when they retired … they just hadn’t counted on doing it in Australia quite yet.
Indeed, the adventurous couple were hopping on and off trains going through Europe when the pandemic struck and the world turned on its head.
“Unfortunately, we happened to be in Milan, Italy, when it locked down due to Covid back in February, 2020,” said Lynda. “We decided to abort our trip and head home early … we won’t be travelling overseas again.”
Although they had never camped or owned a caravan before, the Webbs decided to answer the call of the open road and quickly placed an order for a motorhome.
Lynda and Rob are happy with their self-contained rig
“We felt this would be the perfect way to continue our travels as we could travel independently and be completely self-sufficient and self-catering,” said Lynda. “We took delivery of our Avan Applause 600 in February, 2021 … it’s compact and perfect for the two of us.”
Despite having to dodge various lockdowns and closed borders, Lynda and Rob say they love the lifestyle, and are glad to help the economy of country towns.
But it’s not all been plain sailing.
The Webbs were staying at the Gulgong Tourist Caravan Park in New South Wales recently when Lynda woke up at 4.30am to the sound of a noise at the motorhome door, and then the window within the door frame.
“Then the intruder tried to pull open the window at the foot of our bed without success, and went to the other side of the van to try to do the same,” said Lynda. “He moved very quickly and, before I realised what was going on, he was at the window at the head of the bed on the other side of the van.”
Lynda’s motorhome window was slightly open … but, luckily, it was also locked!
As Rob is a very heavy sleeper and didn’t know what was going on, Lynda decided to act.
“I quietly got up and went into the ensuite, turned the light on and flushed the toilet to make a bit of noise,” she said. “This moved him on!”
Lynda described the incident as ‘extremely frightening’.
“My thoughts were that he was an opportunist looking for ‘easy pickings’, hoping to get his hand/arm into the van and find a wallet or mobile phone on the bench,” she said. “We had wound the awning up and packed away the table and chairs the evening before as we were planning to head off early in the morning, so nothing was stolen.”
Although the Webbs had their windows open a few centimetres on the night in question, they were locked in that position preventing entry.
Now, the couple wants to alert other grey nomads to the potential security issues.
“We are very security conscious and always lock the doors and windows when we leave the motorhome to go out,” said Lynda. “But I realise now that open windows on a hot summer night are a very easy target.”
