NB New Direction - 14. NB ND Chapter 14

“Well are you going to open it, so we can see” she said to me, breaking the daze I was in, ‘Err yes, sorry, let’s have a look” I said as I opened the tube and pulled out the documents, which were 600 mm high and 1800 mm wide, as I rolled them out onto the coffee table.

There are two satellite photographs, one in colour, the other in black and white, and there was a very detailed topographical map included. Looking at the colour photo first, we all studied it. “Where is the lighthouse, I don’t see it?” Kyle asked, “That’s because the photo was taken before a few weeks ago, plus this is not from Google Maps, so it wouldn’t be on there, once we have an exact coordinates location of it, we will mark it on the map” I replied.

After we had studied the photos and the map, it was decided to get the opinion of Judy, before a location of the village is decided, but there is a sizable flat plateau located on a peninsular, at the slightly above thelevel as the lip of the lakes waterfall, about 200 metres from the lake. The plateau has a wonderful view of the waterfall and the lake, on the south east side of the island, meaning that it is mostly protected from wild weather coming from the west.

At lunch time, I had invited Annette, Jai and Judy to dine with us in the executive dining room, and I mentioned to Judy about the large photographs and topographical map of the island, and she stated that she would very much like to see them, even thou she had already been on the island. After lunch we gathered in the storm lounge, and I opened up the document tube once more, and rolled them out, and this time I stepped back to let Judy and Jai to have a good look at them.

“I think this level plateau on the peninsular would be the best place for the village, especially when there is a small sandy beach below it, which would be ideal for protected swimming” Judy said eventually, and I looked at the photo closer, and smiled when I saw the beach, which I had missed seeing earlier. Yes, the plateau is where we thought it would be best too, and with it being only a few metres above the beach, I agree that it would be perfect” I said, as I realised that Kyle and I, had not gone out to explore the peninsular last time we were on the island.

Two days later, just after lunch time, we arrived at the island, and thankfully the seas had calmed down, with just a slight breeze, which was perfect for the helicopter, and it was decided that we check the location of the plateau in person, before we started moving the containers over, so we had the helicopter transport us to the plateau, before it returned to the ship to collect the first container.

The plateau was approximately 28 metres wide, with a 7-metre wide and 4-metre high raised rim on the western side, creating a wind and weather barrier, this meant that there was just 21 metres of room for the containers. After checking the distances and a bit of discussion, we decided to have two rows of buildings, with one row being five -metres away from the lower edge of the peninsula, with a 5 - metre space between the two rows of buildings, this left a 5 – metre space between the back of the second row of buildings and the raised rim.

As we worked this out, it was suggested that we order safety fencing for along the top of the peninsular, for along the back of the first row of buildings and around the end of the peninsular, to the raised rim, so as to prevent any accidental falling down the cliff, to the beach and rocks below. Using the hand-held radio that I was issued, I asked the Senior deck hand to call me with which container was being sent over each time, so we could work out its positioning, which we had roughly worked out at the last meeting earlier in the day.

By the end of the day, we had a total of five of the medium and two small containers in place, with the two smaller containers located well away from the rest of the village, so they can be disconnected, and lifted onto the ship for waste disposal on the mainland. A small flat area located 200 metres from the lake, and 420 metres from the village, was a good chopper landing pad, so once the last container for the day had been put into place, we got to work to map out and paint a giant letter “H” to signify the location of the helicopter landing pad.

Back on the ship, we enjoyed dinner in the executive dining room, enjoying a magnificent sunset as we ate and chatted about today’s activities. After dinner, I made a call to Sebastian, to give him an update on todays events, and also to request safety barrier fencing, that can be secured to the hard rock ground.

The following day, Judy, Kyle and I travelled to the island with the first container, and once the container was in position, we go to work to start connecting up the wind turbine and solar panels to the roofs of the containers, to get power started. Followed by all of the plumbing for each of the buildings. The rest of the team arrived with the second container for the day, with it being about a 45-minute turn around with each load, and by lunch time we had another 4 containers in place, with just three remaining.

Because we had another 8 containers arriving in about a week, I made sure to leave some spaces free, in case some of the containers will have accommodation, or similar facilities as existing ones. Judy had used spray paint to mark the corner positions of each container, so were knew where each container would go, and a code indicated which type of container it would be. After lunch, the team moved their luggage over to the island, and once our allocated accommodation was in position and secured, we moved in.

For the time being, Huon and I would be sharing a twin bed cabin, as will Annette and Michelle Andrews. Jai and Judy would have the only double bed cabin, with Levi and Trent also sharing a cabin. As soon as the last of the containers and all of the supplies had been transferred to the island, the helicopter returned to the ship, and after a short radio message from the captain, the Ocean Explorer set off heading back to Fremantle.

The next few days was spent getting settled in, Annette had decided to stay on for a week on the island, before she would return to the mainland, and we were all kept busy with getting everything connected up and working properly, before, we started to do some more detailed exploring, and recording of flora and fauna on the island.

Three days after the ship left was a Sunday, so we all gathered in the recreation room for a multi faith church service, with Kyle and I providing most of the singing music. At lunch time that day, we received a call from Sebastian, and I was summoned to the communications centre to talk to him.

“Hi mate, sorry it took me so long, I was down on the beach, how are things on the mainland?” I said when I finally arrived. “Yes, all is good here, we have the signs made up plus the safety barrier fencing for you. I wanted to let you know that the extra containers will consist of and administration centre, which you can attach to the back of the weather and com’s station, if you have enough room for it to be linked together” Sebastian said to me.

“Yes, we do luckily, with a bit over a metre to spare, what else are you sending?” I replied, “An extension, to make your galley and dining room bigger, also a separate lounge room, which you can attach to the recreation room and gym if you like, also a double size research centre, that has 4 separate laboratories, 3 offices and a large workroom, there is also two extra twin cabins and two extra double cabins, which means you and Kyle can have a double cabin each.

This will also mean there will be two vacant twin cabins, once Annette returns to the mainland, as well as the two triple cabins for emergency accommodation. I am also sending you in flatpack form, two 6x 6 metre storage sheds, one to house the two four-wheeler bikes I am sending, the other is to store fuel and oils for the bikes, plus a flatpack three - metre diameter gazebo as a shade shelter for the beach, oh and also a 4-metre high spiral staircase for easy access to the beach.

We are ready to make the official announcement to the world on the existence of the new island, we won’t reveal the exact coordinates, just that the new island is in the Indian ocean, and less than 800 nautical miles from the west coast of Australia. We will include the video clip of the aerial fly around the island, that you recorded after the lighthouse was built, and with the Australian flag flying, but not the bit of you making the declaration, just that the island was discovered in the past two years, and that it has been claimed as a private wildlife sanctuary and research station, as part of the Australian Territory” Sebastian said to me.

“That is fine by me, I would like to keep my ugly face out of it if possible, so what do you think the response will be?” I replied, “Well we will be sending notice to the Australian government first, once the ship is heading back in your area, with a note attached that notification will be sent to the United Nations a week later” Sebastian announced, “That sounds perfect, we will have all the buildings in place by then, and fully operational, I would like to have at least two more staff if possible, a maintenance engineer, and a person experienced with Australian Customs & Quarantine procedures” I mentioned.

“I will get right onto it cousin, the twins said to say hello, I will talk again soon” Sebastian said and he ended the call. I turned to Kyle who was still in the room, “It looks like we will be known to Australia, and a week later the world, as soon as the ship is on its way back here with it’s next load. We will have extra cabins, so we can have a double cabin each, plus an administration building, a large lounge room, research labs, a bigger galley and dining room, a gazebo for the beach, a spiral staircase to get to the beach, and two storage sheds” I announced, leaving the two bikes to be a surprise for everyone.

“That sounds good, it will be nice to have my own space, theses cabins are not exactly spacious for two people are they” Kyle said with a big grin, and I just chuckled at his last comment. “I believe your mum is returning to the mainland when the ship arrives?” I asked, “Yes that is right, she has work duties back home” Kyle replied.

Three days later, we received a call from the Southern Explorer, announcing that it would be arriving at the island just after lunch time, so after lunch we all headed to the helicopter pad to receive any mail, plus any extra food and supplies. When the chopper landed, and the cargo doors were opened, I was surprised to see four good quality kayaks, with paddles and PFD vests, which were quickly unloaded, so the chopper could go and start bringing the containers to the ship, while we carried the kayaks into the village, leaving them near where the spiral stairs will be for now.

The administration building was the first to arrive, and we had it placed directly behind the communications and weather centre. Next, we had the new lounge room, which we attached to the back of the recreation room, and the additions to the galley and dining room where brought over after that. With time for just two more loads before it gets too dark, we had the double research centre brought over, and pout into its assigned space.

This meant, that the two double cabins and two twin cabins, were the only remaining cabins to be offloaded in the morning. When the chopper returned to the ship, moored about 300 metres from the beach, we heard a different noise, and we all wondered over to the end of the peninsular, and much to our surprise, we saw a patrol boat of some kind, appearing from behind the ship, and it manoeuvred its way to the beach, stopping once the forward hull was resting on the beach.

Two people jumped off the patrol boat into the shallow water, carrying a kit bag each, and one person also held the beach anchor, which was placed deep into the sand. “Hello, I am Chris Roland, and this is Shawn Robertson, your new team members, I have a letter for the island administrator from Mr Wagner” one of the men said. “I am the administrator, Huon Devonport is my name” I responded, just as Trent arrived with a large rope, if you like, we can hoist up your luggage, and you can walk up to here via that narrow track” Kyle said as he threw one end of the rope down.

Once the luggage was up at village level, the four kayaks, and accessories were lowered down to the beach, where they were placed below the cliff, well away from the waters edge, uncertain how high the water gets at high tide. Once the men arrived at the village, introductions were made, and I was handed the letter.

“Huon, Introducing, your two new team members, Chris Roland, former Lieutenant Commander in the RAN, and Shawn Robertson, former officer with Customs and Quarantine (now known as Border-force). I have also sent you an extra piece of machinery – a 30 metre fast patrol boat, built by Austal at Henderson, which Lt Commander Roland is very familiar with. Regards Sebastian”.

“She is fully fuelled and ready to go, as we towed it here from Henderson, and there are some full fuel drums on the ship to keep her going for a while” Chris said to me, “Ok, you can give me a tour of it in the morning, welcome to Deepdale Island, Kyle here will show you to your shared quarters and a tour of the village” I replied, as I looked down at the patrol boat for a few moments, before turning and heading back to my cabin.

The next morning, the helicopter delivered the crate that contained 16 drums of diesel fuel for the patrol boat, the flat packs of four sheds and two gazebos, all which were placed on the beach. Next came another two crates, containing the two 4-wheeler bikes, and two drums of petrol fuel for them, which were placed in an open area created by gaps on each side of the village, intended for more buildings, but I decided to make it a village square.

Finally came the last 4 accommodation buildings, which were put into their new assigned places, before landing on the helipad, where the Captain and Navigator stepped out, and I went to meet them. “Welcome to Deepdale Island Gentlemen” I said to them, “A very impressive set up you have created here Mr Devonport, it looks great from the air” the Captain said to me as we shook hands, before we set off to give them a tour of the village, stopping first to look at the lighthouse, that stands at the highest point above the lake.

We had just started the tour of the village, when three quick blasts of the ships horn sounded, and the Navigator grabbed the radio from his belt, Navigator to Bridge, what is it, over” he said into the radio, “Captain, we have picked up on sonar, a large object approaching the ship from the east, and it appears too big to be a whale, over” came the reply from James, as the Captain was handed the radio.

“XO, keep an eye on the sonar and keep us posted. Flight officer, are you receiving” the captain said now calling the chopper pilot, “Yes sir, I heard the message, do you want me to get into the air and do a check, over” the chopper pilot asked, and the Captain looked at me, and I just nodded yes, before I turned and began to look around for the Patrol boat skipper. “If you are looking for Chris, he is on his way to the patrol boat, as is Shawn” Kyle said to me as he approached.