Survival - 3. Surv Chapter 3

At lunch time the following day, I went to the local post office, where I had my photo taken and the application form submitted with the fee included, and my Identification verified, and returned to the school before the end of the lunch break, a happy teenager. A few days later on the Saturday morning, Uncle Nat picked me up and we went shopping for alpine clothing, as it was going to be cool where we were going, plus a new back pack to carry it all in.

Once everything was washed later that day, it was packed into the backpack and weighed to see how heavy it is, and it was 12 kilograms in total, not including the hiking shoes. The next day, Uncle Nat and I went for a hike around the city with our loaded backpacks, to get use to the weight on our backs, and I was tired and sore by the time we had returned.

Every late afternoon from then on, I would walk around two blocks from home with the backpack on, to get use to the weight, and slowly I began to build stronger shoulder muscles, to cope with the extra weight.With just a week to go before we leave, my new passport arrived in the mail, and I was not too happy with the photo in it, Mum had given me a Debit Mastercard, with $1000 already in the account, which was my total spending money for the two-week long journey.

Mum had also gained permission from the school, for me to miss my last day of the term, since our flight leaves at 1.50 pm, with a 1 hour and 45 - minute break to change flights, including going through Customs and Quarantine in Sydney, which was a bit of a rush. It was 11 pm local time, when we arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand, and well after midnight by the time we passed through customs and quarantine, before we made our way to our hotel accommodation.

It was while we were having a late breakfast, when Uncle Nat sprung a huge surprise on me. “I kept some information away from you, as I didn’t want to get your parents worried and not let you come, we are not exactly hiking around the National Park, we are booked in for a five day training course in Basic Mountaineering on the lower slopes of the mountains” Uncle Nat announced to me, which made me choke on my cup of tea that I was sipping at the time.

Once I had recovered, Uncle Nat explained that we would be learning the basics of Mountaineering, including Rope and knot skills, climbing on snow and ice, rock climbing and using all the right equipment” my uncle announced, and this really surprised me, and what am I going to do with these new skills? Climb Mt Everest? I asked as I began to eat some bacon.

“Maybe not just yet, but if all goes well, we are booked into a 6 - day return summit climb to the top of Mt Cook” my Uncle announced, smiling broadly, causing me to choke on my food again, “Wow, you really know how to choke a guy don’t you” I said once I had recovered, and Uncle Nat smiled and chuckled at my comment.

We spent the rest of the day looking around Christ Church city, and having a relaxing early dinner, before retiring early, since we would be starting our training course the next day. Having already learn a lot of ropes and abseiling skills in the Army cadets, I managed to get through most of the course easily, especially with all the extra physical training that I had been doing, leading up to the trip.

After 6 days, on the Saturday afternoon, when we arrived back at Mt Cook Village, we were issued certificates, stating that we had successfully completed the Mountaineering Experience Course.

Had we had some photos taken of us proudly holding our certificates. Returning to Christchurch that evening, we relaxed and wound down from a full-on week of learning on the lower slopes of the mountains, knowing that in two days’ time, we would be beginning our trek up towards the peak of Mt Cook. Once again, we spent Sunday just looking around the city, this time taking a few tours to different places in and around the city.

Early on Monday morning, we were collected from the hotel, and taken to our starting point of the trek, where all our packs and equipment were checked, before we set off. Including the guide, there was a total of 9 of us in the group, with me easily being the youngest, and the next youngest was two 19 - year old University buddies from Perth, Western Australia.

The tour guide was in his early 30’s like Uncle Nat, and the rest of the group were in their mid to late 20’s, Uncle Nat was the only Defence person in the whole group, with the others being, mostly office workers or university students.

I kept close to Uncle Nat during the day, and especially when we stopped for meal breaks and overnight stops, and I said nothing when asked questions about my background. Uncle Nat explained to the group, that my parents work a lot, and so I spend a lot of weekends and holidays with him, whether going exploring or hiking or staying at the Army base where he works, and that is all the information that he would give about me.

Soon after lunch time on day three we finally made it to the peak of Mt Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand, and the skies were crystal clear, with magnificent views all around us. The guide took some photos for us, using our phones, and unaware to us he took some with his phone too, after about twenty minutes on the summit, we began the journey back down, to our overnight stop at the nearest hut.

The journey down was just as difficult as it was climbing up, and it took us nearly the full three days to get back down to our starting point, on Saturday afternoon, and we immediately travelled to Christchurch, as we had a flight to catch early the next morning, to get back to Adelaide.

Neither Uncle Nat or I were aware, that the Summit climbing guide had posted the photo of Uncle Nat and me standing at the summit of Mt Cook online, with a short message under it – “Australian Army Major and 15 year old Army Cadet nephew reach the summit of Mt Cook – Wednesday, April 24th at 1535 hours”, and that the posting had gone viral since it was posted.

I had not realised this, as I had my mobile turned off most of the time, only sending a quick text message to Mum on the Sunday afternoon. “Had a wonderful time in New Zealand, we leave Christchurch early tomorrow morning our time, arrive in Adelaide at 2.15pm local time, Flight QF 753 from Sydney, where we stop for just over 4 hours, Love your son, Jacob”.

When we had cleared Customs and Quarantine, we headed to the departure lounge for our next flight, where we just sat down and relaxed a little, until we saw the 11am news on the television. “We bring you now, a good news story from New Zealand, where a Major in the Australian Army based in Adelaide, and his 15-year old nephew, an Army Cadet also from Adelaide, have just completed the 3,724 - metre climb to the summit of Mt Cook, on the South Island, which is around 1,500 metres higher than Australia’s highest peak of Mt Kosciuszko.

A short video clip taken shortly after they reached the summit last Wednesday afternoon, has gone viral on the internet, we have not been able to find out who the Army Major, or his nephew are at present, but we are presuming they are currently in transit back to Australia, we will keep you posted with any updates” the news reporter on the television announced.

“Oh Shit!” I said quietly, “I heard that” Uncle Nat responded, “Sorry Uncle, did you just see that news report?” I asked, “yes I did, and your parents and my boss are going to be really pissed when they find out” Uncle Nat replied, as he fished out his mobile from his pocket and turned it on, which I did the same. Shortly after, Uncle Nat’s phone beeped several times with missed calls, and he frown at the screen.

“Too late, both your parents and my boss know, missed calls from them” Uncle Nat said to me, and I handed him my small carry on backpack, and I headed to the bathrooms, where I sat in a cubicle, and sent a text. “I’m staying locked in here, text me when it is time to board our next flight”, and I heard my Uncle chuckling from just outside the bathroom. “I don’t blame you mate, a good strategic move on your part” came a reply shortly after.

A few minutes later, there was another text message, “I have just spoken to your parents, they are not too happy, your mum will be meeting us at the airport in Adelaide” I read, and I was a little shocked at this, so I sent a text message to Mum. “I am sorry mum, we didn’t want to worry you, and I didn’t know about the mountain climb until we had arrived in NZ, we did a 6 - day training course before we started the climb up the mountain. I had no idea about the video clip, until we saw the news bulletin just a few minutes ago. See you when we arrive in Adelaide, love your son, Jacob”.

When I received a text from Uncle Nat about an hour later, to check on me, I decided to come out of hiding, so I washed my hands and went back out to the waiting lounge, and found a place to buy a snack and a novel to read, and I sat about 15 metres away from Uncle Nat, so he was close enough to see me, but not be too obvious to be travelling with my Uncle.

The plan seemed to work, as I was not disturbed for the remaining 90 minutes that we had to wait, before we were called to board our next flight, and as I approached Uncle Nat, he walked away, leaving my backpack behind, for me to grab as I walked past, and I remained a fair distance away from him, as we waited in line.

Once on the plane, I sat down next to Uncle Nat with me being at the window, and I continued to read my book, while Uncle Nat continued to read his newspaper, like we are total strangers, and we sent each other text messages before the flight took off, with Uncle Nat suggesting that I go ahead to collect my luggage, and that he would catch a taxi.

When I saw mum waiting for me at the luggage carousel, she didn’t look at all happy with me. “Hi mum, I am pretending that I am travelling alone, so we don’t get recognised, your brother will catch a taxi back to his place” I whispered to mum, and she nodded her head in understanding. Much to my surprise the plan worked, and no one recognised me, even when I quickly removed the Air New Zealand luggage tag off my large backpack, as I collected it, and swung it onto my shoulders.

We did spot a few reporters and photographers hovering around the area, but I kept my head down, and we made our way out of the building at a slow pace, so as not to be noticed. I was so pleased when we finally arrived home, and I spent the rest of the day relaxing, and sorting my dirty laundry, before getting prepared for my first day back at school tomorrow.

When Mum arrived home after spending a few hours at work, checking on patients, I told her all about the trip to New Zealand, about the six days of learning about mountaineering, followed by the climb to the summit of Mt Cook, which was an amazing experience. “I wish you had told us what was planned, as it would have been less of a shock, instead of seeing it on the news” Mum said to me after I gave her a full description of everything that we did on the trip, including me spending over an hour hiding in a toilet cubical at the airport.

“I’m sorry Mum, Uncle Nat thought it best this way, as he was unsure that you would allow me to go mountain climbing at all” I responded, “Yes that little brother of mine, has a few things to answer for. Do you like doing all of these adventure trips?” Mum replied.

“Yes, Mum I do enjoy it, I love the outdoors, and exploring new places is fantastic, I want to do a lot more, if you will allow it” I replied, “We will see, and it will depend on how extreme these trips are going to be” Mum replied.

When I arrived at school the next morning, I was suddenly swamped with students, wanting to know what it was like climbing New Zealand’s tallest peak, and had I done any other climbing, and could they have my autograph, which I refused to do, as I pushed my way through the crowd, which started to follow me indoors, and I headed for the administration building, to try and get away from the crowd.

“Here is the famous celebrity himself, congratulations on your achievement Mr Blackwood” one of the senior school teachers said as I entered, then seeing the large crowd gathered outside, he went to tell the students to go and prepare for assembly. Miss Hampton would like to speak to you before assembly starts” the teacher added, once the students had dispersed from the front door, and I was led down the hall to the Deputy Headmaster’s office.

“Jacob Blackwood is here, Miss Hampton” the teacher announced to the Deputy Headmaster, before I was shown inside the office, with it being the first time that I had been beyond the reception area of the admin building. “Good morning Jacob, please take a seat… Now as you are aware, we have assembly first thing this morning, how would you like to give a talk to the school about your adventure, and do you have any photos that we can put up on the large screen” the Deputy Headmaster said to me.

“I do Ma’am, but I haven’t had time to go through them, as we only arrived back in Adelaide yesterday afternoon” I explain, “well there is a spare computer over on that table, you have just under twenty minutes to get organised, and to write up a short talk” Mrs Hampton said pointing to the small table in the corner.

I quickly downloaded all the photos of the Mt Cook trip, including some photos that Uncle Nat had sent me via text last night, which feature me learning Mountaineering at the 6 - day course that we had completed.

I selected the twenty best photos and included two photos of each of the previous trips I had taken over the last few years, in case I was asked about any previous trips, and I decided to just talk out the trip from what I remember, starting with the Mountaineering course.