100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

Ashley's day goes from bad to better as he crashes his car and gets a lift home in a chopper

Do you have a news tip? Click here to send to our news team.

Lease pressures mount as small businesses navigate rising costs

Small business owners in some of Noosa’s most popular commercial precincts are facing mounting financial pressure, with typical leases along Gympie Terrace and Noosa More

Residents help shape plan for multi-faceted park

A concept plan for a new district park with four distinct areas is being refined after strong community input, with almost 160 submissions helping More

Cyclists take on gruelling challenge for kids in care

Cyclists are set to take on some of the region’s toughest hills in the 76km Buderim9 Challenge on November 23, raising money for The More

Ashley Robinson: the dogged pursuit of the truth

There is an old saying: “Men occasionally trip over the truth. They quickly get up, dust themselves off and pretend it never happened.” I reckon More

Photo of the day: heavenly rays

Lesley Evans snapped this photo of sunlight penetrating clouds over Kings Beach, Caloundra. If you have a photo of the day offering, email photo@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. Photos More

Teen charged after e-bike crash kills eight-year-old

A teenager has been charged over an e-bike crash that killed an eight-year-old boy and sparked calls for law reforms. The 15-year-old boy was arrested More

A car crash, a tow truck and a ride in a chopper … that’s what happened to me before Christmas.

Now, I have changed the names of all involved to spare me any type of litigation so I can share this bizarre chain of events.

I was down the coast at a sporting event and had a bingle.

I got a hell of a fright but at first I thought the damage wasn’t that bad.

It turned out I needed a tow truck.

So I rang roadside assistance and was on hold for about 30 minutes.

I eventually got through and explained my situation, which took about another 20 minutes while they found everything on the system.

They then told me they had to put it through to another department.

I was put on hold again and eventually got through.

Then I heard: “This queue is unattended… beep beep.”

I called the main line back and after another 30 minutes, I got through to another operator where I explained myself again and she told me there was no record of me in the system.

In fact, I hadn’t called them for two weeks? What the?

That was my initial reaction, as before this particular day, I had never called them and actually hadn’t had a car accident since I rolled my VW five times through a cane field at Bli Bli in 1977, when my insurer was my dad.

Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article.

Eventually I got it sorted and had a date with a tow truck, which was a couple of hours later, so then I started thinking about how I was going to get home.

I arrived at the event I was initially heading to and ran into two mates.

I asked them for a lift back.

Ashley ended up in a helicopter. Picture: Shutterstock.

“Sure,” they said. “We are in the chopper.”

Now, I don’t normally mix in these circles and these two blokes are best described as Dennis and Jeffery; the former named after the bumbling lawyer Dennis Denuto in the famous Australian movie The Castle, and Jeffery, a wealthy fruiterer.

It was a bright spot on a rotten day and the flight home was outstanding over Moreton Bay.

We did have a bit of a laugh, as we were flying along and I said the way my day was going, we would probably crash.

The headline would read: “Tragic chopper crash, a massive loss to the community of Dennis, Jeffery and one other.”

Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.

Subscribe to SCN’s free daily news email

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
This field is hidden when viewing the form
[scn_go_back_button] Return Home
Share