Aquaria - 8. Aqu Chapter 8

“Just collecting some research data for my report, which I began writing this morning” I replied, “How did it go?” Dr Sherika asked me, “Fairly well, I started at Centenary Park this time, and I went up as far as a small bridge, past the railway bridges, up from the Roe Highway” I replied. “Jeepers, that is Spring Road bridge, in Thornlie, you did very well to get that far up” Dr Sherika responded.

“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure, I think the river could benefit a lot, if trees were cleared off the river as far as Spring street at least” I commented, “I look forward to reading your report, have a good evening” Dr Sherika said as he waved goodbye and walked off.

When I finally reached Centenary Park, I was very tired, and looking forward to a hot bath when I get back to the cottage, as I carried the kayak across the road and over to the carpark, to where the vehicle was parked, and I took my time loading everything back inside, and did some stretches, before climbing in and making the 45-minute journey back to the cottage.

When I arrived, I left everything in the vehicle and headed inside to have a hot bath, and I was too tired to worry about the kayak, so I left the backpack on the dining table, made a light snack and headed to bed, falling asleep nearly right way.

The following morning, I was feeling sore from all the kayaking I had done over the past two days, and after having some breakfast, I retrieved my backpack, were I found my phone had a flat battery, so I plugged it in, and looked through my notes, before putting the pad next to the laptop.

Next, I made a cup of tea and scanned through the photos that I had taken, and put the camera next to the laptop, before heading out to the front veranda, to relax and finish my cuppa. As I headed indoors, I heard my phone peep a couple of times to indicate that I had some messages on my phone, and reluctantly I picked it up and opened the first message, which was from my uncle.

“I am terribly sorry, that you had to put up with our son’s atrocious behaviour. Your aunt and I have given him a good stern talk, but it appears that he is set in his ways, and we are not sure what to do about it. I will be talking to your father again later, to discuss it some more, and we will let you know what is decided.

The students, parents and teachers are having a ball on the vessel, and we arrive in the Falklands in a day’s time, which everyone onboard is looking forward to. We are sorry that you won’t be with us for Christmas. Regards Uncle Jonah and Aunt Natalia”.

The second message was from Mitchell, “Hey buddy, we are having a great time on the sub, I am amazed at what it has here, the lesson plans and activities that you and I set out are working well, and no changes have been made to them. I miss you heaps, and I hate that cousin of yours, for making you leave. See you in just over a week’s time, Mitch”.

After reading the messages, I sat down and opened my lap top, and continued writing the report, adding information that I had collected yesterday, and inserting some of the photographs that I had taken. I managed to finish the report before lunch time, which was 24 pages long, once I had reread it, to check for any errors, I sent it to the Canning River Eco centre, so they can forward it onto whoever.

While making lunch, my laptop indicated a new email received, and I walked over to the table to read it. “Thank you for your report, having a quick scan, I see it is quite detailed. I look forward to reading it tonight, before sending it off to the Environment Minister. Regards Dr Sherika”.

After eating, I decided to spend the rest of the day just relaxing, as I was still feeling a little sore from the past two days of activities, and so I found a good book, and sitting down in a chair, on the veranda, I spent the afternoon reading and dozing.

For the next few days, I did very little, apart from a bit of gardening, and reading. I was enjoying the peace and quiet, and not having to do much. On the afternoon of my 7th day at the cottage, I received a text message from my father. “Trent, a decision has been made regarding your cousin’s behaviour, we learnt from Mitchell, that Wallace actually pushed you hard, and you hit the wall heavily, which made the decision a lot easier for me.

For breaching company guidelines for appropriate behaviour and physical violence, Wallace has been banned from working or visiting on Aquaria, for a period of five years, and after that time, a review will be held to decide if that ban should be extended, depending on his behaviour during that time.

He was sent back to Australia, the day after we arrived at the Falklands, with his mother escorting him the whole distance, to ensure that he gets there. When you are ready, you can return to the Aquaria, to continue your valuable work with the corporation.

Once the students, teachers and parents have flown back to Australia next week, and Christmas celebrations have been completed, the Aquaria will be setting sail for Western Australia, with a 3 day stop in Cape Town, so it should arrive in Fremantle at or around the 14th of January.

A temporary Captain will take over at Fremantle, to allow your Uncle and Aunt to spend some time with their son, and try and get him working or attending university, so you are welcome to join the Aquaria at that time. I have sent an express post parcel to you, at the address of the cottage, you are staying at in Darlington, so keep an eye out for it. Regards, your Father”.

Pleased that I would not have to deal with my cousin again for at least five years, I felt relieved and in some way a bit sorry for his attitude, but all I could do now was think positive, and get on with my life. The following morning, after an early breakfast, I packed a backpack, with a spare change of clothes, my boardshorts and snorkelling gear, before jumping into the vehicle and setting off to Fremantle, as I was planning to spend most of the day relaxing on the beaches of Rottnest Island.

I arrived on the island, a little after 9am, and it was a perfect summer’s day to be out on the beaches, the problem was that so was everyone else, as I had totally forgotten that the school holidays have started, so it was very busy. I decided to walk the 400 metres towards Kingstown Barracks and the Bickley Battery, where there are small pockets of beaches on the eastern side of the island, but sadly there was already a small group on that beach.

After having a look at the WW2 historical sites, I looked out to the small island that was not that far out, and decided to go and check it out, so I sealed everything into a plastic bag, and put it back into my backpack, and with my flippers, mask and snorkel on, I set off towards the island, watching the different types of fish swim past me.

When I reached the island, I opened the bag, to make sure there was no leaks, before putting my shirt back on, and putting some more sunblock on my face, back of my neck, arms and legs, to prevent sunburn, as it was already getting quite warm. After a good drink of water and a snack bar, I took a little hike around the small island, which I learnt is called Dyer Island.

After the short hike, I put my snorkelling gear on again, and spent the next hour exploring around the island, often swimming amongst some playful sea lions, and found an old shipwreck, that looks like it has been there for a hundred years or more.

Feeling a little tired from all the snorkelling, I grabbed my backpack, and made my way back to the main island, where I dried off, and put my shirt and hat back on, before moving further along Bickley Bay, where there is a nice beach, with hardly anyone there, so I settled down on the beach to get a bit of a sun tan for a while.

Once I felt that I had enough sun on me for one day, I packed up and started the walk back to the settlement, arriving back just before noon, and I headed to the bakery to get myself some lunch, and after lunch I went into the general store to buy some extra bottles of water and some snack bars, as I was planning to do some long distance hiking around parts of the island.

Three hours later, I arrived back at the settlement, feeling tired, but having enjoyed every moment of the hike, which included a hike up to the lighthouse in the centre of the island. When I arrived back on the mainland, I drove back to the cottage, and after a quick snack and a hot shower, I headed to bed.

The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of my mobile ringing, and I lazily answered it, “Hello, Dr Who speaking” I said in a croaky voice, and straight away there was laughter at the other end of the line. “Good morning, I am guessing that I woke you up” I heard Mitchell say.

“Yes, you did, so what is the call about, so I can go back to sleep” I replied, and I heard Mitchell chuckle, it is 11pm where I am, sorry I got the time differences wrong” Mitchell said to me, “Well it is just after… 9am here, and I had a long day yesterday, so I want a sleep in” I grumbled.

“Sorry buddy, the reason I am calling is that I managed to catch a ride with a private charter back to Santiago, this morning my time, and I am about to board a flight to Melbourne via Auckland in an hour, and I wanted to let you know” Mitchell said to me.

“So, when and at what time do you get in here in Perth?” I asked as I sat up in bed and tried to wake up some more. “The flight gets into Melbourne at 9.25am tomorrow morning, and I catch a 3.15pm Qantas flight, QF9, that lands at 5.15pm Perth time” Mitchell informed me.

“Ok, QF9 at 5.15pm, got it, I will pick you up, now can I go back to sleep please” I replied, and Mitchell chuckled, “Goodnight sweet prince” Mitchell said before ending the call. After a quick dash to the bathroom, I managed to get another two hours sleep, before getting up and having a hot shower and a shave, since I hadn’t shaved in like almost a week.

While I was eating brunch, I wondered what to do once Mitchell has returned, since it will be Christmas in 8 days’ time, and the Aquaria won’t be arriving in Fremantle for another 3 weeks, and with school summer holidays now on, I had no class lessons to prepare. When I heard the squeak of motorbike brakes, then hear the bike race off again, I guessed that it was the mail, so I headed outside to check the mail box.

Inside, I found a local community newspaper, lots of junk mail, and one small parcel, once back inside, I checked through the mail again, before dumping all the junk mail into the rubbish bin, and placing the newspaper on the table, where I sat down with the parcel in my hand. It was addressed to me, and on the back the sender information said – H.T Lloyd, Lloyd Family Corp.

I carefully unwrapped the parcel, and inside I found an envelope, which contained a letter and a Business credit card, which had “Trenton Blackthorn – Lloyd Family Corporation” on it. When I opened the letter, I saw that it was from my father, “My dear son, Trent, please accept this company credit card for your use, it has a $10,000 Australian per month limit on it, for whatever you need to buy.

We never got the chance to tell you, but you are a major shareholder in the company, up until last week it was 24% of the whole company, with your two Aunts having 8% and I have 34%, the remaining 26% of shares is owned by foreign investment companies, but the family has the controlling shares, which cannot be sold to anyone except to direct family members.

Last week, with everything that happened on the Aquaria, your Aunt Natalia and Uncle Jonah, have asked to sell half of their shares so as to be able to spend time with their son, and not have to worry about finances, so of the 4% shares they sold, 2% was added to your shares and the remaining 2% was added to mine. I will see you very soon. Regards, your father”.