Went to visit a mate one night after work on a Friday afternoon . I was still an apprentice so it seemed like I was always trying to make the dollars last the week and my mate took me to his Old mans where the cans were plentiful.
We rocked a few tunes after it got dark (Spiderbait was a feature) and decided to get an old Torana in the back shed going. After a battery, some oil and a bit of fuel in the carby she fired up, and managed to get it running good enough to idle. In our wisdom we decided the best way to tune it was to go for a drive.
Now I thought we'd nurse it down the main track, but my mate driving got a bit excited. Started picking up speed, then turned down a dirt road giving it a good go. Clipping along with one headlight he was busy changing gears up and down and winding our way further into the bush. I was familiar with most of the tracks, but with the poor illumination and getting nervous about the speed and erratic turning down smaller and smaller roads I was getting a bit lost.
After a couple of turns and laughing along we ended up hitting a dead end. 10 point turn later we were heading out and trying to find our way out, but by now we were both lost. When we did find a wider road my mate was covinced he knew where we were but I wasnt so sure. I was certain we were heading East and not North which would be the best way out. We stopped after about 10 mins, got out, had a smoke and discussed how to get out.
I swayed him to try and go as North as possible as we would hit a sealed road (or road sign) eventually. Picking up speed we worked toward home, and we rounded a hilly bend which was to the blind side of headlights. This huge roo jumps out, brakes slammed on, but we skid into the bush through the scrub into a stalled stop thudding into a thick sapling, toppling it over . The second we got out to check the damage I had this strange feeling come over me. I turned to say something about it to my mate but with the dim interior light shining on his face I just instantly knew he felt it too.
He said "Lets get the **** out of here" and we climbed back in. Of course the car wouldnt start, it just turned over without firing. Hes bashing on the steering wheel trying to will it to life. Slowly the battery is beginning to fade, right along with our hope of a quick exit. We got out together as agreed and he went to the rear and me to the front. I got the bonnet up while he check for any handy weapons.
He comes to the front, hands me a tire changer and gives instruction to belt anything that moves while he worked in the engine bay. I was on edge surveying the darkness and listening for anything odd. I could hear movement but nothing definitive, nor anything to justify the dread we were feeling. It was just so imminent and heavy. With fuel from the line in the carby my mate went to start it up. The engine firing up was the sweetest sound in that moment behind me, and the headlight was turned back on.
In the light of the (dull) high beam I could see this tunnel pushed through the thick scrub, like a roo track but much wider. To each side of it was not just the leaf litter but what looked like small bits of white paper on the ground either side of a pretty well worn track. Even feeling like I did I was curious and confused about what I was looking at. Calling out to my mate who had been impatiently half yelling at me to get in, and I asked him to get out and come look. I guess cause he thought I was serious as he got out and I pointed it out to him. Only being 10 feet or so from us we moved over a little closer only after relinquishing the "weapon" to him.
He knealt down and reached to pick up the paper, and with it in his hand he froze. He just said sternly "Its Bone, we need to get the **** out of here right now." I was walking towards him as he was saying it and froze up for a second too. Looking at it on the ground I knew he was right, but I was puzzled as there was hundreds of tiny pieces of it strewn on the edges for as far along as I could see which was maybe 3m before it was out of view of the available light. As my senses heightened again there was just a lingering smell of death, not rotten, just musty like the smell of a long dead rat, but in a large area instead of an enclosed space, lingering in my nostrils. I just wanted to run with everything in me telling me to go, but we just slowly and deliberately crept back to the car.
Reversed out through the scrub, and the second we hit the dirt track my mate slammed it into gear and started flooring it. About 10 seconds in and he is hollering and banging on the door with his hand with the window down, just releasing the terror trapped in him. Watching him do it made me feel better too. As we drove it became clear we werent any less lost and we scanned for anything familiar. We drove for a good hour by which time we should have hit a well made dirt road or bitumen but it just seemed like all small poorly formed tracks. Discussing it we stopped the car and thought better to start in the daylight. We werent so lost we would need rescue, but it seemed obvious we werent getting anywhere driving up and down crappy tracks in an old beater.
I was pretty restless but eventually I dropped off to a terrible sleep full of anxieties. When I woke the Sun was up bringing much relief. I woke my mate and we got on our way, eventually hitting a sealed road a long way from where we went in to the SW, and got back to his Dads.
I did try and draw a map of where it might have been from memory as I wanted to go back in the daylight. We tried together in 4wd a month later together but could not see anything that resembled where we were. Its kind of weird how compelling it was for both of us to want to go back and find it, this time prepared and to find an answer. Because we never did I found it hard to go camping by myself overnight after that for a while, even in open areas. Put the wind right up me.