Day 7

We are camped in Coffs Harbour near the Pacific Motorway which will lull us to sleep.  Whilst cruising here from Kempsey and reflecting on what a great road the Pac H/way is these days – smooth, dual carriageway all the way – my mind wandered back and forth and the “Kempsey Bus Crash” popped into it. I remembered it as a head-on between two loaded buses but I’ve looked it up to refresh my memory. 

It happened a few days before Christmas in 1989. Some of us will remember driving that road in those bad old days. It was single lane, undulating, windy and well renowned as a death trap. Head-ons between cars and trucks happened all the time but then on the 22nd December came the big one. The driver of a Southbound McCafferty’s coach fell asleep, went straight through a corner and collided head on with a Northbound Trans-City Express coach. The McCaffertys coach penetrated right into the first 5 rows of the other bus and there were 35 people killed and 41 injured.

The Coroner noted that the McCafferty’s bus had not had the brakes applied and had not dimmed his lights. He understandably made a big fuss. The public was appalled and the Government of the day said they’d get right onto it and fix the road immediately. It was supposed to have been dual carriage way by 2006. It was eventually completed by 2020.

We stopped at Nambucca Heads for morning tea today and marvelled at these huge and beautiful rivers which flow off the Great Divide and ultimately into the sea.