Flying stew

We made the most of the camp kitchen at Taupo by boiling up a huge stew that would last us at least 3 days. We enjoyed the meal that evening and managed to squeeze the rest of the stew (but only just) into the larger of our two pans. When leaving the camp site we did the usual check that everything was secure, surfboards strapped on, cupboards locked and the full stew pan securely wedged into the sink (as it has no way of sliding around anywhere in there). We enjoyed the 20 mile hike up to the Dam and back (mentioned before). Afterwards we continued on our journey north but before leaving the town we stopped off at the supermarket for a few essentials (including face wash, as I (Ruth) had run out that morning). On returning to the van we stored the food away and John started up the engine, but I remembered I'd bought the face wash and wanted to use it before we carried on so I carefully removed the stew pan out of the sink and put it on the side in order to use the sink to wash my face. (Can you see where this is going?)
I quickly finished, shut the side door and jumped in the front so not to hold us up any longer as the dark was fast approaching and we weren't sure where we were going to spend the night.
We drove for nearly an hour before we heard an almighty crash behind our seats. Instantly I knew what it was. John was puzzled and ask “What's that?”.
I turned around to look at sink, hoping I was wrong and that I had in fact remembered to return the stew pan to the sink. But no such luck.
John was still confused, guessing what possibly could have fallen.
“Oh no, the stew!” I cried, It's the stew.”
“No, it can't be, it's in the sink, I saw it when we left Taupo” John replied, reassuringly.
I explained that I'd taken it out to use the sink. John found this quietly amusing.
By this point it was dark outside. We found a place to pull over and jumped out to assess the damage. When I opened the door chunks of pumpkin, carrots and swede spilled out onto the road. It really looked like someone had been ill. Maybe sometimes when we think we see vomit on the floor it's just that someone has spilt stew.) Anyway this very unappealing sight was all over the van, the floor, the cupboards. John's flip flops were well and truly hidden beneath it. The height that it it reached was also impressive. After much cleaning of the van, we continued on our journey and finally found a rest area to stop for the night with no yummy stew for tea (although I think we've been put off it for a while).