New Beginings - 19. NB Chapter 19

“Hello young man, can you tell me the last thing you remember?” a doctor said to me as he walked in, “I had just come back from a trip into Perth. I was speaking to my cousin, then I went to rest as I had a headache that had been present since just before I left Perth” I replied. “Ok, well when you didn’t wake up from your rest, you were rushed to hospital here in Perth, you have been unconscious for nearly five days, it is Sunday morning now” the doctor said to me, and I frowned for a moment.

“What happened? Why did this happen? I asked, “Well, it appears that you haven’t fully recovered from your previous accident a few weeks ago, your cousin said you have done some farm work when you were released from hospital last time, and that you have been doing some physical exercise, over the past weekend, well that is to stop for now, you are to do nothing heavy duty for at least two months, we will see how you are after that time” the doctor informed me, and he left the room.’Your cousins will be back soon, they went to get something to eat” the nurse said to me with a smile before she too left.

“Hello Huon, the nurses just told us that you are finally awake” Sebastian said happily as he walked in about ten minutes later, while the twins jumped up onto my bed to give me a hug. “Gently boys, remember, he needs lots of rest from now on, and he is going to get it” Sebastian said to his brothers. “What happened yesterday, did the challenge go ahead as planned?” I asked, worried that it may have been cancelled.

“Yes, we went ahead with it, but it wasn’t the same without you. Anyway, Kyle was a great help assisting me, and the overnight camp on the farm was a huge success, All seven teams provided all of the forms filled in and signed, we had family and friends come along on Saturday to watch the event, with quite a large crowd in Northam. We had my crew as checkpoint marshall's at each bridge, to make sure every competitor was doing well.

After I had started the race, we set up a couple of gazebos in the park, and using a white board, we could record the progress of each team. Scotch had the first individual winner, at 6 hours and 21 minutes, and Trinity was the first team to cross the finish line, at six hours and 38 minutes, and happily each team member from each of the 7 schools completed the challenge” Sebastian said, and tiredly I smiled as I drifted off to sleep again.

Over the next few days, Sebastian told me some more about the challenge, that he informed the shire council of a private event that ended at the park, and also gained permission to have two portable toilets at each of the five bridges, for participants and team use. Seb said that the council was disappointed that they hadn’t been invited to participate in some way, but he had informed the council that it was a private sporting challenge, that may become an annual event, but it was only open to a specific group of participants.

“What about Tom and Margaret, did you tell them that I was in hospital?” I asked my cousin, “Only after I knew that they had returned to their farm on FI, which was on Saturday, I will give them a call tonight, to let them know that you are awake and slowly recovering” Sebastian replied. “The doctor said I have to rest for at least two months, what am I going to do now, we can’t take that trip to FI now” I said to Sebastian.

“I have spoken to the nurse about that, she said that you have to do no work for two months, so she felt that spending a month on a ship, would be one way to guarantee that you do no work” Sebastian said with a smile, “What is the date now?” I asked. “It is Wednesday 17th today, so we still have eleven days before the ship is due to leave, the crew are having a week of shore leave, before the loading begins.

We will go down to Albany a couple of days before we are due to leave, so we are not waiting around too long, we will have 18 guests leaving with us, as they are heading to new postings on sub-antarctic research stations, and we will pick up 18 guests, who have finished their time on the stations, and drop them off at Cape Town” Sebastian replied, “That will be good, to have some other people apart from the crew” I replied, remembering the last disastrous time I was on the ship.

I was in hospital till Tuesday, a total of two weeks in all, and I was glad to get back home, Mrs Cooper was there when I arrived home, and she had a delicious lunch ready for us, and as we sat down to eat, Sebastian reminded me that today is the 23rd, with the ship due to leave on Sunday, the 28th, so we had just a few days to get ready and travel down to Albany. Mrs Cooper helped me to pack most of my clothes, since I would be away for nearly five months, returning by plane, when it is time for me to return to university studies, if I am well enough to do so.

Sebastian let me know that we were booked to fly to Albany on Friday afternoon, less than two days before we sail out of Albany. I was getting more anxious as the day was approaching for us to Fly to Albany, and Sebastian tried to re-assure me that everything will be ok, and that he will be with me all the time to get through this.

Mrs Cooper drove us down to Perth Airport in my vehicle, and I found it a little difficult to say goodbye to Mrs Cooper, who had been so supportive, since I came out of hospital the first time, but I knew that I would be seeing her again at Christmas time on the Falklands Island. The flight to Albany was uneventful, even with the extra expense with having extra luggage on board, and we had to use two taxis to transport Sebastian, the twins and me and all of our luggage.

At Albany’s harbour, we presented our passports at the security gate, and we had to wait there for half an hour for the arrival of the Australian Border Force officers, and once we had our suitcases searched and passports checked, we were finally able to board the ship.

“Welcome back Mr Davenport, you have been assigned the forward port VIP cabin on D deck, so the cabin next door to the one you had before” one of the senior stewards said to me, and I smiled and nodded my head in understanding, as the Stewards collected our luggage for us. “I have the cabin next to you, and the twins have a cabin each on the starboard side” Sebastian whispered to me, as we walked indoors, and main forward elevator on the main deck.

What about the owner’s suite, what do you do with that?” I asked Seb as we stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for B deck, which is the highest the elevator goes. “Well, with the twins being with me, it is not practical to be on a different level from them, so the VIP Cabins are reserved for family only, as is the lounge on that level and the VIP dining room on B Deck.

The Owners suite opposite the VIP Dining room on B Deck, is now my administration headquarters for Wagner International Investments or WII for short, where the large round bed used to be is now an oval shaped solid wood executive conference table, with a retractable video screen from the roof, and pop up projector from the middle of the table, for presentations. The study and walk in wardrobe are now just one big office, and half of the bathroom has been converted into the computer bank, and records storage area” Sebastian informed me.

Once we had reached B Deck, we headed up the stairs, to D deck, which will be our home for the next 1 ½ months, and we sat down in the large lounge area, with the twins already watching cartoons on the big screen television, which made me smile. “I think it is better with you guys being here, I was so alone and bored when I was last onboard here” I commented.

“That is good to hear, I will make it as enjoyable as possible. By the was, the outdoor deck on B Deck is also exclusively for family use only, so no guests are permitted any higher than A deck, and we changed the beds in the guest cabins to two king singles instead of queen beds, so as to accommodate more single guests.

Plus I have increased the number of crew to 26, which is an extra four crew, there are 4 larger general crew cabins, and these are the ones that have two crew per cabin, so they have almost have the same amount of living space as the single cabins” Sebastian said to me, and at that moment there was a knock on the main entry door to our VIP living space, and Sebastian smiled.

“Huon, these are my ship’s Captain, 1st Officer, Chief Engineer, Ship’s Doctor, and Helicopter Pilot” Sebastian said as five men entered, dressed in white merchant officers uniforms. “Gentlemen, this is my first cousin and good friend, Mr Huon Devonport, he has just been released from hospital a week ago, so he is to do no heavy lifting or anything very physical for two months, if he does, report it to me and I will give my cousin a good telling off” Seb said with a wicked grin on his face.

I shook the five men’s hands, and smiled as best as I could, once the introductions were done, “Captain, how are we going with cargo loading and passengers?” Seb asked. “The loading of the cargo is almost complete, the passengers are due to arrive at 1800 hours tomorrow evening, ready for our 0600 departure the next morning, Border force will be here at that time, to processes them before they board” the captain replied.

“Very good thanks Captain, thank you gentlemen, that will be all” Sebastian said dismissing the officers, and they made their way to the entry hall. “What's for dinner? Fishin chups?” I said trying to imitate a kiwi accent, and I heard a laugh come from the entry hall where the five men were exiting. “Careful now, we don’t want a mutiny on our hands” Sebastian warned me, and we heard more laughter come from the entry hall.

“The other key people on this ship, are the Chief Steward, who is responsible for ordering all food and drinks for each trip, overseeing the galley, and overseeing the steward department of the ship, the executive chef, who is responsible for all meals for crew and guests, we also have a sous chef, regular chef and two kitchen hands, and finally there is the cargo master, who is responsible for all cargo loaded, stored and unloaded during each journey, and also responsible for the deck crew, during arrival and departure procedures” Sebastian explained.

After a few more minutes of discussions, I went to my cabin, to rest for a while, and I soon fell asleep, feeling exhausted from the day of travelling, and I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door. “Enter” I called out as I sat up in my bed, and as the door opened, two boys came rushing in and jumped onto my bed, which made me laugh, and I saw Sebastian peek through the door.

“Hello boys, how are things going” I said in English on purpose, “We good thankyou” the boys chorused and I chuckled at their broken English reply. “It is almost time for dinner, when you are all ready” Sebastian said to me with a smile. “Ok, give me a few minutes to freshen up, and I will be right out” I replied.

Once the boys and Sebastian had left, I went to the bathroom and washed my face, then retrieving my toiletry bag, to help me freshen up. A few minutes later, I exited my cabin and found Seb and the twins waiting for me, and we headed downstairs to B Deck for dinner, and sat down in the formal dining room, which has an oval shaped dining table instead of the round one, that was here before.

The table was set with four places, with 8 chairs around the table, which was a beautiful piece of wood. Soon after we sat, two stewards appeared with bowls of soup, before they exited. The soup was delicious, and included fresh bread rolls. Soon after we had finished, the stewards reappeared and cleared away the bowls, and came back shortly after with main course, which I saw was roast beef and vegetables, when the plate was placed on the table in front of Sebastian.

When my plate arrived, I opened my mouth in shock, as in front of me was a plate of Fish and Chips. Sebastian laughed out loud, seeing the joke. “Well my dear cousin, you got your wish” Sebastian said to me, and hearing Seb’s words, I too laughed. “Yes very funny, remind me to thank the New Zealander officer” I replied, as I began to eat my dinner, not minding that it was different from what my cousins were eating.

“Possiamo avere pesce e patatine domani?” Louis asked us, asking for fish and chips tomorrow, and this made me laugh some more, “Sì cugino, chiederemo la chef per cucinare si pesce e patatine di domani” I replied, saying that I would ask the chef to cook them fish and chips tomorrow, and I saw Sebastian smiling broadly. Once the main course was finished, we were served deserts, for Seb and I, it was lemon cheesecake and ice cream, for the twins it was bananas and ice cream, which I learnt was their favourite.

Once dinner was over, we went to the outer deck, where it is rather cool, with a clear sky and no sign of rain. After a short while, the twins went inside. “By the way, do you know about the hot tub on the patio off the administration office” Sebastian said to me. “Yes, I noticed it last time I was on the ship, when I did some exploring on my own” I replied.

A steward appeared, “Ah good, can I have a Lemon Lime Bitters please” Seb said to the steward who then faced me, “I will have the same please” I added, and within a few minutes our drinks arrived, and we relaxed and enjoyed the evening, looking out across Princess Royal Harbour, and the outer suburbs of Albany. Surprisingly, I slept well that night, and I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door.

“Enter” I moaned, and once again the twins came racing in and jumped onto my bed, and bounced up and down, and I heard Sebastian chuckling at the doorway. “Out now boys” Sebastian said in English, and the boys stopped bouncing and headed out of my cabin, with Seb following and closing the door. I looked at my watch, which read 9am, which I was a little surprised about, as I stretched, and slowly climbed out of bed.

I had a quick shower and changed into some fresh clothes, before making my way out to the lounge area. “He is ready now thankyou” I heard Sebastian say into the phone next to his chair in the lounge, and a few minutes later, a steward appeared with a large meal tray, with a full cooked breakfast, which was placed in front of me. The twins were somewhere else on the ship, leaving just Sebastian and me in the VIP lounge.

Sebastian was reading the local newspaper, and after taking a few bites of my delicious breakfast, I looked up at Seb, and saw the headlines on the front page. “Research stations, resupply ship preparing for departure” it read, “I see you have hit the headlines again locally” I commented, as I continued to eat. Sebastian smiled and nodded his head, “obviously real news is fairly scarce around here at the moment” Seb replied, as he continued to read.

“What nationality are the passengers that are coming with us?” I asked, between mouthfuls of food. “Don’t eat with your mouth full” Sebastian commented as he continued to read, and a few moments later, “They are Australian and French, dropping them off at Grande Terre Island, the third research station we call into, and Heard Island, which is the next one after that, we collect passengers from those two locations” Seb said.