KARLEE McCullough loved nothing more than reeling in a fish, so her new life in the Northern Territory seemed just perfect.
Sadly it all came to a tragic end on Saturday night when the 20-year-old trainee dental nurse from Terang was wiped out by a road train at Coolalinga, 30 kilometres south of Darwin.
Minutes later a good Samaritan who was directing traffic around the scene was struck and killed by a passing car.
Ms McCullough's shattered mother Jakki, who lives in Terang, paid tribute to her beloved daughter yesterday.
From what Jakki and her relatives have pieced together since the tragedy, Karlee and her partner Kane Zeromski had enjoyed a day with Karlee's father Tony Morris on Saturday.
"They had been out to a special lunch with Tony," Ms McCullough said.
"She was dressed up really beautiful."
Just before 7pm Karlee was about to have dinner with her father and partner, but she decided to make a quick trip to the shop to pick up some chips to go with their steak, her mum said.
It is believed the smash happened as Karlee left a shopping centre and passed through a notorious intersection into the path of the cattle-laden road train.
According to local reports, the road train - driven by a 23-year-old man - crushed Karlee's car and dragged it 500 metres along the highway.
Darwin construction worker and father of two Dale Stanton, 47, died at the scene as he tried to divert traffic.
Karlee's grandmother Lois Williamson, who lives in Geelong, said Karlee moved to Darwin in December after her father told her about the warm weather and good fishing.
"When they caught fish, they were ecstatic," Mrs Williamson said of the pair, who lived in Geelong before heading north.
Karlee sent her grandparents a cheerful text message at 5.06pm on Saturday, before one of her typical farewells - "love yous". "It's not meant to happen this way," Mrs Williamson said.
"All we know is we loved her and she was a beautiful person."
Karlee's mother said Karlee, the second-eldest of her four children, attended Terang Primary School and Terang P-12 College.
Her new job in a Darwin dental clinic allowed her to combine her artistic talents, by moulding dental fittings, with her urge to help people, her aunt Sarah Bodey, of Ballarat, said.
Mrs Bodey had her birthday on Sunday, just hours after her niece was killed.
Karlee called Mrs Bodey on Friday night to wish her happy birthday and the pair talked for 40 minutes.
Jakki McCullough said the good Samaritan who stopped to divert traffic around the accident scene "would always be a hero in our eyes".
The image Ms McCullough will keep of her daughter was when she was in Terang last month for her paternal grandmother's funeral.
"We held onto balloons together and we let the pink balloons go at the funeral."
Northern Territory police were continuing to investigate the incident.
Ms McCullough will be buried at Tower Hill Cemetery after a service at the Wannon Rooms on a date to be set.
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