Deception - 25. Dec Chapter 25

When we arrived in Sydney, we checked into the hotel and once we had settled in, I told Tom the news of Boston Island being for sale, and that Sam was going to organize for me to purchase it, I let him know that the island is 2,400 acres in area, which is just over 7 times bigger than Louth Island, and that it has a number of sheds, wells, windmills, a weatherboard cottage and some water tanks, which I had learnt about from looking it up online.

While Tom watched a movie on television, I sat down and made some notes on ideas I had for my new island purchase, I decided to have the sheds and cottage dismantled and removed, and for now I would leave the windmills and tanks in place, but all fencing would also be removed from the five paddocks, to make it one big open space, I also thought about aerial seeding the island, to increase the amount of native trees and shrubs on the island.

After dinner, Tom and I went of a night tour of Sydney, and a late-night supper, before returning to the hotel. The following day, Tom and I had a late breakfast, and we just relaxed for most of the morning, as Bryce, Ethan and Jacob would be arriving shortly after lunch time, and we caught a taxi out to the airport to meet them.

Once we had their luggage, we caught a mini bus back to the hotel and Bryce and the boys checked into their hotel rooms, on the same floor near our suite. Once they had settled in, and eaten a light lunch, we set off to go and visit Taronga Zoo on the other side of the harbor, where we spent a good three hours there, and I made note of a couple animals, that could be possibly introduced to Louth Island, as well as the 5 already selected.

Back at the hotel we just relaxed for two hours before a shower and change, and we all went out to a restaurant for dinner, which was a very enjoyable time, and back at the hotel we retired to bed, as we had some more travelling to do, with a flight to Auckland due to leave at 1pm the next day.

After breakfast, together in the hotel restaurant, we returned to our suites to pack our bags, and we checked-out just before 10am, and we caught a mini bus to the International airport to check in our luggage, and look through the duty-free shops, before making our way through customs and the departure lounge.

The three-hour flight to Auckland was mostly a smooth journey, and we arrived just as the sun was setting, because of the time difference, and we caught a taxi directly to our hotel. As we settled into our hotel suite, I received a text message from Sam, “Hi Gres, Mayor has accepted my offer to purchase Boston Island for $1.8 million, settlement will be in 4 weeks from today, enjoy your holiday, regards Sam”. After a light dinner, we retired to our hotel rooms after the long day of travels.

The following morning, we had a late breakfast together, before going on an organized three-hour tour of Auckland, as it is our spare day before the hiking tour begins. After the tour, we found a nice restaurant not far from the hotel, to have some lunch followed by a leisurely walk around the neighborhood, to see shops and we found a museum, which the boys wanted to check out.

We arrived back at the hotel in the late afternoon, and I went to have a lie down before dinner, which we decided to have at the hotel restaurant.

The next morning, we were collected at the hotel by the hiking tour group, for the start of our tour, and there was a total of 18 participants and 3 guides with the three boys being the youngest of the group, with the average age of the participants being around 28 years old, which surprised us.

We are the only Aussies in the group, with all the other participants coming from Europe, Canada and the USA, and we chatted and got to know each other as we were driven south to our first destination, the Waitomo Caves, where we saw glow worms lighting up the inside of the caves.

When we emerged from the caves, we headed on a loop trail through a limestone valley for two hours, till we reached our overnight stop at Rotorua. Tom & Ethan where allocated a room to share, as was Bryce and Jacob, while I was given my own room.

After we had settled in, we joined the rest of the group for a pre-dinner drink and soon after dinner. The boys retired to their rooms, while Bryce, Jacob and I remained to talk with the others in the group for over an hour, before retiring for the night.

The next morning, we were informed that we had approximately 8 kilometres or 5 hours of walking, starting with a hike along some lakes and towering tree ferns, and through some forests. In the afternoon, we hike along some boardwalks through the thermal pools, and we arrive at Lake Taupo for our second night, this time Jacob and I shared a hotel room, to allow Bryce to have a room to himself.

For the next two days, we hiked for 6 to 8 hours each day, seeing some amazing sights on the way, till arrived at the Alpine village of Tongariro. The following day we made the short drive into the city of Wellington, where we had a rest day to explore, and while Bryce went to explore some of the museums, I took the boys to see some more adventurous sites in the city.

The following day, we were taken to the airport for the short flight to Nelson on the South Island, were we were driven to the seaside village of Katerere, near the entry to the Abel Tasman National Park.

We spent 4 hours hiking the National Park, before returning to Nelson for our overnight stop, and I had noticed that in the past two days, the group of participants had split into a number of smaller social groups, with 4 or 5 people in each group, with Bryce, the three boys and I being one of the groups.

In a way, I didn’t mind this happening, as I had found that some of the people in the group were very snobbish, while others were loud and arrogant. Today, we stayed close together when seated in the plane, as well as in the short road coach drive, and when we are hiking and I noticed that as a group, everyone was a lot happier, especially the boys.

For the next three days, we hiked a further 23 kilometres, seeing some spectacular scenery, and when we arrived at our overnight stop on day 10, we had the incredible views of Mount Cook, which was quite a sight to see. The following day we spent hiking on the slopes of Mt Cook, with 8 kilometres of hiking which was quite a challenge, while the last two days we hiked a further 12 kilometres to complete the journey at Queenstown.

While most of the group flew back to Christchurch or Auckland on the final afternoon, we had planned to stay an extra night, before flying to Auckland in the afternoon the next day, and flying to Sydney that evening. During dinner on our last night in New Zealand, just a few hours before flying out, I convinced Bryce to fly back to Adelaide with us, to spend some time on the island, where I said we have a 6-bedroom house that is just completed.

Before entering the security area of the airport, I sent a text to Jack, “Leaving Auckland Airport in a few hours, about to enter customs area now, we will be back home on the island in two-day’s time, with three guests, how are things going on the island?” and about ten minutes later I received a reply. “Hi Gres, all is good here on the island, we will have the house tidy and ready for your arrival. You also have new residents settling into their new environment on the island, with regular visits from the LMSC staff to check on them.

We have set up a dummy campsite on the western beach, to cover up the real place we have been staying over the past two weeks, Regards Jack”. I decided to give Jack a call to get some more details on the new island residents, and Jack informed me that he had met with Paul twice when he has visited the island, Paul has told Jack that more mammals have been introduced to the island than was originally planned.

I was told that there are three pairs of each breed, the main group being the Bilby, Ring Tailed Possum, Gilberts Potoroo, Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby and Quokka. Other animals introduced to the Island include the Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby, Mallee Fowl, Echidnas, and the Long-Nosed Bandicoot. I was surprised by the increase number of animals being introduced to the island, and hoped that it would not cause to much damage to the islands environment.

Once we arrived at Sydney, we checked into the hotel that I had booked us all into before leaving New Zealand, and once we had settled in, I suggested to Jacob to call his mother, to let her know that he was staying a bit longer with us in Adelaide. We stayed in Sydney overnight, and flew to Adelaide late the following morning, where I just relaxed until the late afternoon flight to Port Lincoln.

Before leaving Adelaide, I text Jack to let him know that we were on the afternoon flight from Adelaide to Port Lincoln, and I received a reply a few minutes later. “Hi Gres, we are back home now, the barge is fueled up and ready to go, I stocked up the pantry and fridge with some basics to get you through a few days, Regards Jack”.

When we arrived at the Port Lincoln airport, we caught a taxi to the storage unit, where I collected the car, and with everyone loaded in, along with all our luggage, we headed north to Louth Bay, and twenty minutes later we arrived at the boat ramp, where I found Jack there, with the barge ramp down, ready for our arrival. Jack gave me a set of keys, informing me that they were for the front gate and front door, and he headed off, leaving us to drive onto the barge and set off to the island.

“Impressed that you have your own barge” Bryce said to me with a smile, as I started up the barge, and hit the raise ramp button. “Well I try to impress if I can” I replied with a smile, as I noticed Ethan, Jacob and Tom step out of the car, and watch as we left Louth Bay.

When we arrived at the south end of the western beach, I lowered the ramp and drove the car onto the beach, I gave Tom the keys to the shed and he dashed off up the hill, taking Jacob and Ethan with him.

They returned a short time later with the two quad bikes and trailers, and we loaded up all of the luggage, I climbed onto one bike and Jacob climbed on behind me, Tom took the second bike with Ethan climbing on behind him, leaving Bryce to sit on one of the trailers amongst the luggage, and we set off up to the top of the island, following the track to the shed in the middle of the island.

“Nice boardwalk, but I see no sign of a 6 bed-room house anywhere on the island” Bryce said as he stood up on the trailer and looked around him. “Sit back down and be patient and you will find out soon” Tom said with a smile and Bryce did sit down, and we set off again heading southwards along the trail just off the east coast of the island, and a few minutes later we turned towards the centre of the island and came to a stop near the solar panels, that hide the staircase to the house.

Instead of seeing gaps between the panels, I noticed that behind the panels was a more solid wall, which hides the dome cover and the staircase, and I realized that therefore I was given the set of keys. “Ok, I see some solar panels, but I still don’t see any house” Bryce said confused, and Tom started to chuckle and I smiled, “grab your luggage and follow us” Tom said before starting to chuckle again.

“Someone is in a good mood” Ethan said as he grabbed his suitcase, and followed Tom and I, as we walked around to the other side of the solar panels, when I unlocked the gate and swung it open, Tom was the first to head down the stairs, and I saw three jaws drop in shock and surprise, and I couldn’t help but laugh, and Tom did the same from down in the staircase shaft, which echoed up the shaft.

Ethan was next to go down, followed close by Jacob. “Underground? Now that was something I was not expecting” Bryce said to me as he followed Jacob down the stairs, and I was last to head down the stairs, through the tunnel and into the house. “Welcome to our home” Tom said loudly and with a huge smile on his face as I appeared through the door from the tunnel.

“Wow, this is so awesome” Ethan said as he stepped off the verandah to look around the newly landscaped central garden and the others followed, while I went into the kitchen to check what Jack had left us in the way of food. Coming back out to the verandah, I found everyone seated in the open living area chatting, and I sat down with them.

“So, what do you think of our home so far?” Tom asked, directing the question towards Bryce, “Well, I didn’t expect it to be underground, but the central garden and skylight are amazing, and this lounge is very spacious” Bryce responded. “This our open living area, next door to the left is a conference room, and an office and a formal lounge, to the right is the laundry, dining room and the kitchen with pantry” I said indicating what is on the main level.