Snake at the wheel

Caravanners give hitchhiker the flick

SNAKES ALIVE! COUPLE'S UNWELCOME PASSENGER

By Dennis Amor
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TWO caravanners found themselves with an unlikely stowaway as they cruised happily along Queensland's major highway.

The Queenslanders were enjoying their journey north on the Bruce Highway in their Hino 300 truck with a 25ft Jayco Sterling caravan in tow when suddenly a near-metre-long snake slithered onto the steering wheel.

The reptile continued its way over their knees and arms, over the dashboard and onto the passenger's lap.

The drama happened as 59-year-old Suez national disaster manager Gavin Tunstall and wife Frances, 61, were travelling through roadworks near Aussie World on the Sunshine Coast.

Caravanning News caught up with the couple in Gympie, where they plan to attend the upcoming Gympie Muster.

"We have been caravanning for most of our lives but this is the first time we have been confronted by a snake while actually driving," Frances said.

"It just kept going round and round the cab. I quickly called the local snake catcher.

"It was pretty terrifying. I yelled and my husband screamed. Gav kept going until we could find a safe place to stop. He did a great job keeping us safe on the road.

"We've certainly got a great tale to tell around the campfire."

Stuart McKenzie from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 said: "They called me and all I could do was listen and encourage them to stay calm until they could pull over.

"At this stage I had no idea what kind of snake it was ‒ which made the situation an emergency ‒ plus they were driving along the highway at 80km/hr which didn't help either. Absolutely unbelievable."

The snake had "done a few laps" of the vehicle before the travellers were able to stop safely, grab an umbrella and flick the unwelcome hitchhiker outside.

"Even though Gav and Fran were panicking big time they were able to keep their composure and not crash," Stuart said.

He later identified the intruder as a non-venomous common tree snake.

"I thought at one stage that it might be a tree snake but someone once told me that browns can look like a tree snake ... I wasn't taking any chances," Frances said.