Deception - 30. Dec Chapter 30

Bryce smiled at me, “I think we will need to set some procedures for those radios, when we are all together tonight” he suggested, and I agreed with him, “Good job on the presentation in the Eco tents today, I was very impressed when I saw them today, well done” I said to Bryce cheerfully, “Thanks boss” he replied with a cheeky grin. Half an hour later, Tom, Ethan and Jacob appeared still in uniform, “We are going to do the sunset check on guests now” Tom said to me as they headed towards the door to the tunnel.

“Hold on a moment, take the esky of food packs for each guest eco tent, plus we have the UHF radios operational now, so take one each, remember to hold down the receiver button for at least two seconds before you start to speak clearly, say your name and who you are calling, for example, Mobile Tom calling Base, oh and mention to the guests of the location of the base radio at the shed for emergencies” I instructed, “Ok, got it” Tom said as he handed a radio each to Ethan and Jacob and grabbing one for himself and heading off, with Jacob following last with the esky in hand.

About twenty minutes later the radio crackled to life, “Mobile Ethan to Base, over”, and walking to the office I grabbed a radio, “Base to Ethan, receiving you” I replied, “Guests in Eco Tents Alpha and Beta are happy and settled for the night, over” came the response from Ethan, “Tom to Base, over” came Toms voice straight away, “Base to Tom, receiving, over” I responded, “Guests in Eco Tents Charlie and Delta are also happy and settled for the night, over”, “Very well boys, return to base over and out” I replied and I place the mic back in its place.

Jack and his two boys entered the house soon after, and they returned the radios to the charger bases, and the boys went to shower and change, while Jack sat down to relax a bit. “Sounds like those radios are going to get a good work out” Jack commented after a few moments of silence, and Bryce chuckled, “I was thinking the same thing” he added, and we were chatting about how the day went, when we heard an almighty yelp coming from the top of the stairs, and lots of shouting followed, I sprung up to go and investigate when something dashed under my legs and disappeared into the central garden.

“What on earth was that all about?” I asked as soon as the three boys appeared, looking a bit disheveled, “I’m sad to say, that one pair of ring tail possums now live in the house, it sprung onto me as I opened the gate and raced down the stairs” Tom announced as he brushed down his uniform shirt. “Scared the bejesus out of me, when Tom first shouted” Ethan announced, “Me too” Jacob added. “Well it dashed under my feet and headed straight for the trees, so I guess there is no chance of catching them” I said as Amos and Lloyd appeared wondering what all the commotion is about.

While the boys went to shower and change, I began to make dinner, and Lloyd came to assist, while Amos laid the table setting, and Bryce and Jack also disappeared. Sometime later when everyone had returned, Bryce began to instruct everyone on the correct protocols for using the UHF radios, and when he had finished I added my bit of information, “Bryce and Jack when you leave the house each day, can you grab a radio, Tom, Ethan and Caleb, when you are together outside, you will only need one radio, maybe two if you split up, but no more than two.

I have decided that the Island call sign be Lima Indigo Base, that’s Lima for Louth and Indigo for Island, I will be Lima one, Bryce is Lima two, Jack is Lima three, Tom you are Lima four and Jacob you are Lima Five, or Ethan is Lima six when an extra radio is needed, when not needed, all radios should be returned to the office for recharging, and can someone do a daily check to make sure that the base radio at the shed is on low volume, so it can be heard only when standing right next to it, so the whole island doesn’t hear our conversations.

Oh, and when I request staff to change to the alternate channel, that is channel 6, with channel 12 as the main channel, those are the only two channels we are to use ok” I said and every nodded in agreement and understanding, and I served up the evening meal.

During dinner, Bryce went through a list of duties to be carried out in the morning, including setting up the pop-up gazebos, one on the north-east beach, one on the north beach, and one on the east beach. He also asked for two double and two single Kayaks to be placed on the east beach, near the gazebo stairs, and two double and two single kayaks to be placed in the north beach, along with the PFD’s and paddles. After dinner and clean up, we all headed to bed early, as we had a busy day ahead with guests being on the island.

The next morning, we were all up early, and straight after breakfast, Jack, Amos & Lloyd went to continue work on the board walk extensions, Bryce and I helped the 3 boys to load up the trailers, and together we set off to the north end of the island to set up the gazebos and put the kayaks on the beach. “You know, we probably need to get one of those golf buggies, so we can transport the passengers to their Eco Tents” I said to Bryce who was sitting on the other trailer like I was.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea, we may need to make the shed bigger, so we can fit everything into it, it’s a tight squeeze as it is with all the kayaks and pop up gazebos” Bryce replied. Within an hour, we had all the gazebos set up, and the kayaks on the beach with PFD’s and paddles, “I think we need to get some beach furniture for each of the gazebos” I commented and Bryce nodded in agreement, as we headed back to the shed.

The boys began to load up some more wood for the boardwalk, while Bryce and I walked down to the main gazebo to help Jack and his sons with the construction work. When the boys arrived with a second load of wood, it was close to 10 am, so I suggested that the boys go and shower and get into uniform, and collect the cleaning equipment that I had left in the laundry, and fresh linen from Linen Cupboard. Bryce said he would come and help, as he had to make up the fresh breakfast baskets for each tent.

I remained to help Jack, as Bryce and the boys set off towards the house on the quad bikes, and about fifteen minutes later I heard them heading off towards the eco tents. I continued to help Jack until I heard the bikes coming back towards the shed, and I walked back to the house to start organizing lunch for everyone. As I was doing this, I started realizing that I really needed to have a house keeper to help organizing the house, and I thought about how to go about it as I prepared lunch.

With lunch prepared a little early, I went into the office and started to write out a draft advertisement to put in the newspaper. “Wanted – Full time Housekeeper, to manage a large household of five plus guests, location near Port Lincoln, Above award wage plus separate accommodation, and extra benefits. Position requires management of running a busy household, including preparing meals, house cleaning, ordering weekly supplies and additional duties when required. Saturday Night and Sundays as time off. Enquire to Mr Gres Langton, C- Post Office, Port Lincoln or Email: manager@liretreat.net”, I was happy with the first draft and so I telephoned the Newspaper in Adelaide and submitted the article, to be published on Wednesday and Saturday for two weeks. During lunch, I announced to everyone that I had placed an advert in the paper for a full-time housekeeper, to help keep this house in order, and everyone commented that it was a great idea.

Bryce mentioned to me that he had helped the boys to learn how to clean each of the Eco tents and to change the bedding properly, and that fresh breakfast baskets and Food packs had been issued to each tent. He mentioned that he had received comments from two of the couples who are guests, that they are enjoying their stay, and thanked all the staff for everything that has been done so far. Bryce also commented that he had delayed accepting any more booking for at least two weeks, so we can get the island in better order.

I agreed with his decision, and we began discussing what changes needed to be done before the next lot of guests arrive, and we soon had a lengthy list of jobs to be done. One of those was the continual work on the new boardwalk, but I suggested that maybe this should be delayed a little, so as to get the next lot of Eco Tent Platforms built first, and Bryce was in full agreement with this, so I asked Jack and his boys to start on three new Eco Tent platforms overlooking the northern beach and two overlooking the north-western beach, which Jack estimated to take about two weeks to complete, with additional help.

The following day, I received news from the building company that the floor sections for both levels and the back wall for the house extensions were completed, and ready to be transported to Louth Bay, I asked them how long for them to complete the whole outer shell of both levels, plus the internal walls, and I was told three weeks at the most, so I suggested that it all be transported together when completed.

They had forwarded me a copy of the plans of the new extensions via email, and I was happy with the design layout, and I had decided that the upper level would be reserved for the housekeeper’s suite, where a person is selected. While most of the staff were busy assisting Jack and his boys, starting work on the new tent platforms, I was busy taking some photos of different parts of the house, including the central garden and the pond cave with its ledge, that will soon become the extensions to the house.

I printed out copies of the best photos of the house and some of the island, also a copy of the house and the house extension plans, and I wrote out a list of who lived in the house full time, and who are working guests, plus the VIP guest – Sam Yeoman, who will visit on occasions when he is not too busy with his work.

When I had all this information gathered in a folder, I labelled it Housekeeper information, and left it on the desk so it was ready for interviews. Shortly before 10am, Bryce, Tom, Ethan and Jacob arrived to shower and change into fresh uniforms, to go and do housekeeping duties again, and I went to help Jack, since most of the workforce had disappeared on him, with other duties.

When the boys returned, Jacob changed back into work clothes and headed up to help Jack, while Tom and Ethan headed to the school room to do some school work. When we all gathered together again at lunch time, Jack announced that the support posts and struts were in place for two more Eco tent platforms, plus the linking boardwalk to the main boardwalk.

After lunch, we all headed out to work on the next three platforms, hoping to get it all completed by the end of tomorrow. Tom, Ethan and Jacob had to go and shower and change, so as to do their sunset guest checks. When they did, I headed back to the house to start dinner preparations, and soon the house was full of activity again, as everyone came in at the end of another busy day. During dinner, I announced that I would be going to the mainland with the guests the following morning, as I had some shopping to do, and that we would be back in the afternoon.

The next morning, after the boys had completed 1 ½ hours of school work, they dressed into their uniforms, and with Jacob, they went to collect all of the guest’s luggage to get it loaded into the hovercraft, Bryce and I arrived at the Gazebo in time for the guests to arrive there to prepare for departure, and once everyone was on board, we set off for the 35-minute journey to Port Lincoln, were we landed on the beach beside the main jetty.

After unloading the guests and their luggage, we said farewell to them and once the hovercraft was locked up, Bryce and I picked up the hire car that I had arranged, and we set off shopping, mostly for linen and accessories for the new eco tents that are about to be installed, once they arrive in less than a week’s time.

We also checked out some bedroom, plus outdoor dining and lounge furniture for the new Eco tents, this time we chose a number of different styles, to give a bit of variety, and finally we found some fold up layback deck chairs and tables that would be suitable for under the popup gazebos on the beach. We arranged that everything that we chose and purchased would be collected the following day, when Bryce and the boys bring the barge to town to carry it all back to the island.

After having a late lunch, we set off back to Louth Island, and while Bryce piloted the hovercraft home, I read the paper which I had purchased earlier. When I reached the advertisement page, I found the advert that I had placed easily, and I wondered how many enquiries I would receive, and reminded myself to check the emails as soon as we arrive home.