On Tuesday morning  we were towing our caravan along Peabody Road when one of the van's rear springs broke.  We were stopped on the road just opposite a farm driveway waiting for the NRMA to arrive. 

 The farmer - Gordon - was so accommodating.  He allowed us to drag the van up his driveway to get it off the road. We were there for many hours waiting for the tray truck to arrive from Bathurst.  

When Grant from A1 Towing arrived, Gordon also helped to get the van on the truck and even lent us a jockey wheel to be returned - in his words - ‘whenever’. In the interim, Grant from the NRMA had arranged for the van to go directly to Orange Spring and Suspension Repairs where Ray stayed open an extra hour until we arrived.

Ray and his staff bent over backwards to get us back on the road as quickly as possible. They were just one of many local businesses that went out of their way for us.

 From the staff at the Town Square Motel who were happy to accommodate us on a day-by-day (sometimes hour-by-hour) basis, to Bridgestone who were able to put a new tyre on immediately, and Cath at the Visitor Information Centre who gladly highlighted numerous maps of recommended walks, parks, places of interest etc.  

The professionalism of all these people, the pride they took in their town and their generosity of spirit towards strangers was truly heartwarming. It made our enforced two-night stay in Orange truly memorable, for all the right reasons.  

I'd like to think that our regional town in Victoria would do just the same for travellers who need a hand.

So thank you to all those people who helped us out - you have done Orange proud!

Vicki and Bruce Williams, Wy Yung, Victoria