Jess Wishart and her two children came home early from their long weekend camping trip at Lake Liddell.
Wishart said it “just didn’t feel right” staying any longer after waking up to the news that 10 people had died in a wedding bus crash near their home town of Branxton.
Wishart said so far she hadn’t heard of any friends being on the bus, “and I hope it stays that way”.
The Hunter is a region in grief, but details about those who were swept up in the tragedy are still emerging.
The newlyweds, Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell, were both keen footballers and belonged to the Singleton men’s and women’s teams, the Roosters and Roosterettes, but the club’s secretary, Melanie Sunderland, said “we are still very uncertain of the details ourselves”.
Another local, Georgia Bainbridge, was up late on Sunday night watching a movie when she heard “all the sirens and all the commotion going on”.
It wasn’t until morning that she found out the cause. She also said people did not initially know who had been injured or killed.
“We don’t know who was involved in the accident, who’s hurt, who’s not, you know – but so many people are already reaching out to everyone, sending their love, sending condolences,” Bainbridge said at the time.
Bainbridge and Wishart came to lay flowers on Monday afternoon at the roundabout where the crash occurred.
A little more than 10km away, amid the vineyards cascading down rolling hills, functions continued on the bright winter public holiday in wine country, except at Wandin Estate, where the gates remained shut.
Beyond the sandstone pillar gates, the sun shone on the lake behind the empty wedding pontoon.
Only a laminated sign hinted at the tragedy which unfolded for the guests who left Sunday night’s celebrations: “Out of respect Wandin Valley Estate will be closed today.”
Dan Repacholi, the federal MP for Hunter, said the entire community was devastated.
“You don’t expect to hear this anywhere in Australia, let alone here in the Hunter Valley, which is the one of the most picturesque places in the world.”
A local woman who declined to be named said she was still “rattled” from the news. In her house two streets away from the expressway where the accident unfolded, she was woken at 12.45am by helicopters trying to land nearby.
She could not go back to sleep knowing that fatalities were involved after hearing the announcement on the emergency services channel that a chaplain had been called.
Joanna Towers, a teacher at Singleton’s local high school, said she often drove through the roundabout where the crash occurred, but was at a loss to see how it had happened.
“Since the expressway was built, it’s [been] an outstanding road. There’s rarely been any accidents on that road. I can’t think of any serious ones.
“Because my parents lived down in East Maitland, I use it regularly coming back from their place to get back home to Singleton. I just I don’t understand how on earth that could happen. Doesn’t make sense. It’s not a dangerous road. It’s got lots of visibility.”
Towers said many in town would be affected by the news because of the groom’s connection to the Roosters, which were “a big part of our town”.
“Being a teacher, we have a lot of students that play for the Roosters, a lot of parents and community members that are members of the Roosters.
“It will impact our town quite hard.
“It’s just too horrific to … contemplate.
“That accident just seems to be without reason. And, you know, that young man and his wife, you’ve taken something that’s a beautiful occasion and it’ll forever be – it won’t be that any more, will it?”
