NB New Direction - 18. NB NS Chapter 18

The following morning, after having breakfast on the ship, since that is where Sebastian and the twins stayed last night, we all returned to the island, and prepared for a day out exploring. “Any more news on the incident that happened here a few weeks ago?” I asked casually, as I helped the guests to load up into the buggy, with Annette driving one, and Kyle driving the other, and the twins sitting in the buggy with Kyle and Mrs Cooper. Annette would be taking just herself and Captain Kingsley who decided to tag along.

“Yes, that mysterious media leak, caused a huge uproar in Canberra and within the Navy, the Sub captain was severely disciplined, as were the sailors who fired the guns at us, and it has been decided by Canberra, to accept Deepdale as part of an Independent Territory of Australia, meaning we are responsible for our own governance, security and finances” Sebastian replied.

“Well, I am glad that it has all been sorted, and what happens with the defence force in the future?” I replied, “They have to receive written permission from us, at least 30 days before there intended arrival time” Sebastian replied, and I just smiled, knowing that was good news, as we put on out backpacks, loaded with snacks and drinking water, before we set off on the first track just out of the village.

While we were hiking, Sebastian informed me that he had brought along a larger medical centre, with two examination rooms, a store, and a treatment theatre, capable of minor surgeries, and a lot more medical equipment and supplies, so as to deal with almost any kind of medical emergency. He has also included a small hyperbaric chamber, for any cases of decompression sickness, which will be placed in the existing medical building, which will be attached to the new building.

Seb also mentioned that he had been doing a lot of research into sub-tropical plants, and brought over a huge variety of plants in seed and seedling form, with enough to cover the majority of the island, hopefully to create a wonderful jungle within ten years of so. Suddenly, without warning grey clouds covered the skies, and a slow warm rain began to fall, and it didn’t take us long to get fully soaked through, but we kept going, as we approached the lighthouse, and just past that was the main track, where we found a quad bike waiting for us.

We decided to abandoned the rest of the hike for now, and we started up the quad bike, with Seb driving, and we set off to follow the two buggies, which we found parked at the new site for the hamlet. The other quad bike was there also, with Judy and the ship’s chief engineer chatting, when we arrived.

“The others are down on the beach, we are just waiting for the first lot of buildings to arrive, so we can connect them all up” Judy explained, and we could hear the large helicopter coming closer, as we set off down to the beach. “We need to get a better access to the beach, that was fairly rough and dangerous” Sebastian said to me once we had finally reached the beach, “I agree, we just have to work out a way of doing that” I responded.

“How about a work crew and a few crowbars, to dislodge some of the bigger rocks out of the way, then we can use the very small rocks to create a footpath with steps, down to the beach” Sebastian suggested, and I thought about that for a moment, as I looked up towards the top of the steep slope, “Yes, I thing that will be possible, but made now we have had our first seasonal rains, maybe we should concentrate on the planting first” I said.

After a bit of a chat and look around, we all climbed back up to the top, where there was the first building in place, for the new hamlet, and we climbed into the buggies, and headed back towards the main village, with Seb going in a buggy, leaving me to take the quad bike back.

When we arrived back, I saw that the new medical centre was in place, and looked like everything was connected up, and Jai looked very happy with the new facilities and all the extra equipment and supplies, when we stepped inside to take a look. “Do you have a name picked for the Village and Hamlet?” Sebastian asked me as we stepped out of the medical centre.

“No, I hadn’t thought of that actually” I replied, “How about Joachim Bay for the village and Louis Valley for the Hamlet” Kyle suggested, and I chuckled at his suggestions, “You know, I quite like those ideas, and if the Administrator doesn’t object, I would like to make those names official” Sebastian responded, glancing at me to see my reaction.

“Ok, I accept the names, knowing full well, that any protests I make will be ignored” I replied, looking over at my cousin for a moment, and Kyle just laughed. “Right you too, kiss and make up, no more fighting, I won’t allow it” Kyle said.

“Err Kyle, we are just cousins, not kissing cousins, and only one of us is gay” I responded, which made Sebastian start laughing at Kyles suggestion, and my response., as he tried to kiss me on the cheek, but I stepped back away from him, just in time. We noticed that some building had been moved around, with the administration and two double cabins, being away from the rest, with the two cabins, being mine and Kyles.

While the big helicopter was still moving containers to Louis Valley, we went down to the beach, were some of the crew were finishing installing the support pillars for the back section of the jetty, which will be mostly on the beach, eventually one pillar will be pushed into the sand and rock at the end of the floating jetty, to provide a bit of stability for the jetty, with a sliding collar around the pillar, that will be attached to the jetty, to allow for the tides.

When the last of the buildings were in place at Louis Valley, the Flight Officer, changed helicopter and with four crew on the back, they began to spread the mixed tree and shrubs seeds, all over the island, at a very low altitude to prevent the seeds blowing into the ocean. While that was happening, another group of crews, used the buggies to begin to plant seedlings, along the main tracks through the middle of the island.

After a quick trip to the shop, using the patrol boat for easier transport, Sebastian returned to the island, with pots of two-metre high Pine trees, Eucalyptus trees, and some palm trees as well, which he wanted to plant in and around the main village, to provide some shade from the harsh sun.

Once the ship was unloaded of all the supplies, the crew was given half a day of shore leave, while the island staff were kept buy with planting seedlings and trees everywhere. At lunch time, Kyle asked his mum if she was doing a church service tomorrow, and she said she was planning too, as she had come prepared. “I think some of the crew have expressed an interest in attending, after the last successful service held here” Sebastian announced.

“Well it will have to me a multi faith service again then, by the way, do you know what faiths your crew members are?” Annette asked Sebastian, “Yes, there are two Lutheran, three Catholic, three Baptist, eleven Anglican, and the rest are atheists” Sebastian replied, “That means, you will get at least twenty-one that will attend, five who might come, and the rest definitely won’t be coming along, not including us” I added.

“The twins and I were brought up Swiss Reformed, but we don’t attend church very often, it is very similar to the Lutheran Church, we will attend church tomorrow thou” Sebastian replied. “Huon and I will be attending as we are the music” Kyle announced, giving me a big grin, “I will definitely be attending, I have always enjoyed Annette’s style of church service” Mrs Cooper announced.

“That will make about 22 in total that we think will be attending, not a bad number considering the permanent population of this island is only 11 people” I commented, an everyone laughed at that comment, “Where will we hold the service?” Annette asked, ‘What about down on the beach?” I suggested, “that is perfect” Annette responded, and we finished up lunch before continuing on with planting the trees and seedlings.

We had some more rain overnight, but as we gathered for breakfast in the dining hall, the skies were clear, and the sun was shining. We decided to take just plastic chairs from the two dining rooms and recreation rooms on the island, to keep dry from the damp beach sand, which totalled, 34 chairs.

The following morning, when Kyle and I made our way down to the beach, fifteen minutes before the start of the service, we were knocked over with shock, to not only find all the chairs filled, but also Sebastian, the twins and Mrs Cooper seated on a rug at the front, meaning there is was 38 people in attendance, which was the whole island population, plus every single crew member of the ship.

When Annette appeared, Kyle and I sang a hymn to start the service, with Mrs Cooper and Sebastian joining in along with Annette, as they all knew the words to the hymn, which is Psalm 43. At the end of the hymn, Annette signalled everyone to take a seat, “Well this is a nice surprise, to have such a great turn up for this unique Sunday service, welcome to you all…” Annette began, and continued with the service.

When the service was coming to a close, we were all stunned with surprise, when Annette gave the Benediction in Italian and in French, and Kyle and sang the closing hymn, “The lord is my Shepherd”. Afterwards, we all made our way to the ship, for lunch for everyone, with the patrol boat providing a taxi service for us to get to the ship.

While Sebastian and I were chatting, while waiting for lunch to be served, Annette approached, glancing around as she approached, hoping that no one would interrupt. “That was a wonderful service today Reverend Davies, and I liked the extra touch at the end to be more accommodating to our international crew members” Sebastian said, “Yes, well done Rev, I had no idea that you had learnt Italian and French so fluently” I added.

“Well, I thought that it was about time that I gave myself a new challenge, the twins have been secretly teaching me, with twice weekly Skype conferences” Annette admitted. I looked around and eventually found the twins, lurking behind a doorway, watching our conversation, and I smiled and signalled them to come over, giving them a hug when they arrived.

“Thank-you boys, that is a wonderful gift you have given us, by helping Reverend Davies with her new language skills” I said to my cousins, as they blushed a little, “I was wondering Mr Wagner, and Mr Devonport, that if there is a position open for a minister on the island, that you may consider me for the position” Annette said to us, just as I spotted Kyle approaching.

Seb and I looked at each other and smiled, “Welcome to the team,Reverend Davies, when can you commence you new ministry here?” Sebastian responded, which resulted Kyle giving a loud “Woohoo”, which made us laugh, “Well actually, I have already given my notice, as much as I love Toodyay, and the time I have spent there, it is time for a new challenge. I am using my holiday leave at the moment, so I am free to start at any time” Annette replied.

“That might explain, the extra amount of luggage that you brought with you on this trip” Sebastian said and Annette just smiled and nodded her head yes. “Huon, I have been organising some extra staff for you, now that you have the extra accommodation for staff. Two ladies from Switzerland, an environment scientist, and a computer engineer plus another woman from the UK, who is a research Scientist, will also be joining the team” Sebastian announced.

“That is good to hear, but I think we need to limit the number of permanent residents on the island, due to the limited facilities that we have” I replied. “I agree cousin, until we get some more vegetation of the island, we need to keep the numbers down, I also suggest that we start putting in some laws or rules for the island, to make sure that the environment is protected, including some very strict quarantine regulations.

I have already ensured that everything that is loaded onto the ship destined to here, are thoroughly checked and disinfected against any pests and diseases, that included the patrol boat and the two helicopters” Sebastian said to me, “That is good to hear, now I guess we will need a couple extra buildings for Joachim Valley, mainly a church of some kind” I replied, “I have a idea on that, if we use two large containers, joining them together, with doors at each end to connect them together, with the back section split into three rooms.

A vestry office at one end, a meeting room at the other end, and a bathroom in the middle, with access to both main rooms, and an external door from the meeting room. Meanwhile the front container can be the main chancel and sanctuary, with a main alter near the front, and a few seats at one side, for a choir, and a lectern pulpit at the other end, for preaching and bible readings.

My suggestion is that the open side of the front container, have two horizontal doors, one opening upwards, and the other opening downwards, to create an open covered 1.5 - metre deep veranda, with side doors on the inside, that swing out, to connect and lock the two horizontal doors into place, and the lower horizontal door, could have fixed low Communion benches, for the serving of the Eucharist, with the nave being the village square” Kyle suggested.

Annette stepped towards her son and gave Kyle a kiss on the cheek, “You are one very remarkable son, and I am very proud of you” she whispered, only loud enough for those close enough to hear. “Aw mum, enough of the sloppy stuff, I am an adult now” Kyle said as he blushed, and tried to wipe away his mum’s kiss, which made us laugh.

“So, I presume you approve of Kyle’s design for your new semi outdoor church?” Sebastian asked Annette, “You bet I do, I think it is brilliant” Annette replied, “I will get onto it right away, and you should have a new church within a few months” Sebastian replied. “Can I suggest that we establish a Council to manage the island, so the pressure isn’t put onto just one person” Kyle suggested.

“Yes, I agree on that, make the administration building the Shire Council building, Kyle and I can continue with doing the administration, it would be just nice to have direction from a wide variety of people to ensure that we are heading in the right direction” I added. “Very well, I would like to nominate Reverend Davies as the Community member of the council, also Dr Jai Chakma Patwary, and Mrs Judy Chakma Patwary, as the professional members of the council” Sebastian announced.

“I would like to add Chris, the Customs and Quarantine Officer and the new Environmental Scientist to the council, which if accepted would be five councillors and two administration staff” I added, “That sounds perfect, let’s have an island meeting later, to put these recommendations to everyone, foe approval, then we can start to getting the council established” Sebastian suggested.