All Alone - 24. Alo Chapter 24

I was put on hold, and instantly, I could hear the current on air programme, with the music fading, “You are listening to ABC Radio in the Mid-West, as many of you know, we have experienced a strong 4.8 earthquake less than two hours ago, with the epicentre being 23 kms offshore, 160 kms North-North-West of Carnarvon, and 60 kms South West of Coral Bay

With me today via telephone, is Mr Lloyd Templeton, owner of Coral Coast Station, which is due East of the epicentre, good morning Mr Templeton, and thank you for your time” the announcer said.

“Good morning” I responded.

“Firstly before we talk about the earthquake, you have had a number of major events on your station, in just the past month” the announcer said.

“That is correct, we were in direct line of the category 5 cyclone, that crossed the coast a few weeks ago, resulting in the total destruction of all but three main station buildings, and while the shearing shed and the old homestead kitchen lost all of its roof, and with five staff on the station at the time, no one was injured” I replied.

“Some would say, that is quite a miracle to get out of that alive, let alone uninjured, and just this week, you had a fire emergency on the station, can you tell us some more about that” the announcer said.

“Well, all I can say is that it is an alleged arson attack, which is still under investigation, so I can’t say too much about it, only that it resulted in the evacuation of the township of Coral Bay.

Also, the closing down of the Minilya Exmouth Road to all traffic, and on the station, the destruction of the Generator and Desalination shed, two of the main fresh water storage tanks, and over 2,400 acres of land burnt” I replied.

“That is quite a lot of land. Can you tell us any more about the cause of the fire?” the announcer asked.

“No, you will need to speak to WA Police or Emergency Services for that” I replied, “Ok, so how close exactly is the epicentre of today’s Earthquake from you station?” the announcer asked.

“Very close, to the epicentre according to Geoscience Australia, it was 23 kms out to sea, and in an almost straight line from our southern boundary” I replied, “Did you receive much damage from the earthquake?” the announcer asked.

“Yes I am afraid so, the main house on the hill, that overlooks the Indian Ocean, and was very close to where the fire started, and had managed to survive the cyclone, has one collapsed wall, and other structural damage, that is yet to be inspected fully, until it is rendered safe, other than that, there had been one cracked window, in a staff cottage and that is all” I replied.

“Well I do hope things improve for you, thank you for your time Mr Templeton… That was Lloyd Templeton, owner of the Coral Coast Station, located south of Coral Bay, in our Gascoyne region, lets now have some music” the announcer said, and I was about to hang up when her voice returned.

“Are you still there? We are off air, I just wanted to thank you again for your time, and I do hope that this third event will be the last for you, have a good day” the announcer said, “Thankyou” I responded and the line went dead. The door opened, and Chris, Anne, Rebecca and Sue all came in, smiling broadly.

“We have a famous person on the station, can I have your autograph? Sue said, and we all laughed, “Right that is the only interview I am going to do, any calls about what has happened on the station are to be answered with ‘No Comment” and end the call, is that understood” I said to the staff present, “Yes Boss” everyone chorused at once, and I smiled.

“Right we have the Easter long weekend approaching, let’s get to work” I said, and we all filed out of the conference room, and an hour later while out checking fences, my mobile rang with Matt’s ID showing on the screen.

“Hi Matt, how are things going?” I asked, “Good, we heard your radio interview, very professional” Matt replied.

“Yea, Sue even asked for my autograph after it was over” I responded, and I heard both men laughing.

“We have already done most of the shopping, so we will be leaving early, tomorrow, and be there by morning tea time” Dave said, “Ok guys, thanks for doing this, see you when you get back, oh andregarding your now wrecked home Dave, I am organising a replacement as we speak” I said, “Yes I wondered about that when we heard the interview” Dave replied.

After speaking to Dave and Matt, I called the building company in Geraldton back. “Hello Lloyd, we heard your interview on ABC radio” the building company director said, and I groaned in annoyance, which resulted in chuckles from the other end of the line.

“Now back to what we were discussing earlier, before being interrupted by the earthquake, I believe you were asking if we have any buildings already constructed here in Geraldton, We don’t have any of the Norway design built at the moment, but we do have two other designs, and on hearing the interview, I anticipated that you would need a new house as soon as possible, we have two already built homes, and both are currently being loaded, and will be leaving here at 12 noon” the building director stated.

“Two, well that may be one to many, but I guess we could always have an extra house just in case, what designs are they” I replied.

“I am sure you will like them, firstly there is the Madrid, a three bedroom, two bathroom home, and the second one is the Grass tree, a two bedroom and one bathroom home” the building director said, as I searched online to look at the layout of the two homes.

“Oh I love the Grass Tree, I will be making that my new home, and I like the Madrid, that will be perfect for my senior station hands new home, to replace the one badly damaged in the earthquake” I said, “ I am pleased that you are happy with them, let me know how they go with putting them in place, bye for now” the building director said before ending the call.

I looked at the two designs some more, before searching for an email, with a phone number and making the call. “Jack Langley?” I asked when the call was answered, “Yes, can I help you” came the response.

“My name is Lloyd Templeton, from Coral Coast Station, are you still interested in the job here?” I asked, “Yes sir, most definitely, let me resend my resume to you” Jack said eagerly.

“No need Jack, I have your resume in front of me now, it says that you are a trained and experienced diesel mechanic, and that you also have auto electric qualifications?” I stated.

“That is correct sir, I also am a qualified volunteer paramedic, which I gained while working on the mines up north” Jack replied.

“It also states that you are a single parent?” I asked, “Yes sir, my wife died two years ago of cancer, I have a 16-year old son, Brody, who has been my apprentice for the past 3 months, until I was forced to close the business recently” Jack responded.

“That is good to know, is he interested in working here as a station hand?” I asked, “Let me ask him, I will be right back” Jack replied, and moments later he was back, “He said definitely yes, as he wants to stay close to me, and not be on his own in the city” Jack replied.

“Very good, do you have the ability to get up to the station easily?” I asked, “Yes sir, I have a Ford F100, when would you like us to start, I only need a maximum of two days to get organised, then we can be on our way” Jack said.

“I won’t hold it to you for having a Ford… how about Wednesday next week, once the Easter long weekend is over, do you know the way?” I replied, grinning to myself.

“As my son just said, that would be awesome, Wednesday it is, and my son agrees with you on the Holden, he says he wants a Holden Colorado for his first vehicle, and it is the first road on the left on the Minilya Exmouth road, near the Lyndon River rest stop” Jack replied.

“That’s it, see you then, bye” I said and ended the call.

I estimated that it would be an 8 to 9-hour journey for the trucks to deliver the new houses, so it would be around 10 am tomorrow when they arrive, so I needed to make some decisions quick. “Lloyd to Sue, over” I said into the radio mic.

“This is Sue, receiving you Lloyd, over” Sue said, eventually responding, after a long silence.

“What’s your current location, can you come to see me in my office please?” I asked.

“Yes on my way, I am at the hostel, be there soon, over” Sue replied. When she finally arrived, I indicated for her to take a seat, “Since your planned house has been condemned, I am having a replacement, that is already built and will soon be leaving Geraldton on a truck, I wanted you to see the layout plans, and to discuss possible location of the house” I said to Sue, and I swung my laptop around, so she could see the design of the house.

“Well it looks very compact, is it a transportable?” Sue commented, after having a look at the computer screen.

“No even better, it is threecontainers, joined together, with an optional centre deck” I replied, “I see, well we won’t blow away, if it is that solid” Sue commented.

“Have you seen the staff cottage yet” I asked.

“Yes, just a quick look, but I decided to stay at the hostel, till Dave returns” Sue replied.

“Well, that is made by the same company, and has two containers, but it is a bit over half the width of what yours will be.” I said.

“That is good to know, I was getting a bit worried there” Sue said, and I chuckled.

“Well the lads seem to like living in it, with the extra room as a study/computer room. The other thing I need to ask, is where do you want to put your new home?” I asked.

“Well, I would prefer to wait till Dave gets back, if we have the choice of location, but I am thinking somewhere down this way, instead of up on the hill” Sue replied.

“Ok, would you like to be away from the other staff, or somewhere close to the Visitor Centre?” I asked.

“Well, I think away from the staff, but not too far away from the Visitor Centre” Sue replied, and I stood up.

“Come with me, I think I have the ideal location” I said, as I headed out of the office and whistled for Angus to follow.

A few minutes later, just 450 metres away from the visitor centre, we arrived at an area, just passed the main machinery shed, where 5 large gum trees and two large date palms, that had survived the cyclone, were starting to grow back all the leaves that had been stripped off them.

A concrete slab path leads to a large concrete house slab, where the original homestead once stood, having been destroyed in the last cyclone. A solid old cook and laundry house was still standing to one side, although all its roof had been ripped off, and has been left open, with the roof now dismantled and stacked in the wool shed, and the shattered or cracked window panes removed.

“This is where the original homestead stood until the recent cyclone destroyed it, and part of the old cook house next door, how would you like this as the site as your new home?” I said to Sue, when we stopped in the middle of the house slab.

“I think it is perfect, thank you” Sue replied happily.

“Good, your new house will arrive at about lunch time tomorrow, so we will put it here, do you want the front of the house facing towards the sheds, like before?” I asked, and Sue slowly turned around and stopped, then did it again, before facing me again.

“The house is a U shape, with the living area at the bottom of the U, so I think, we should have that facing East, that way we can sit out in the centre courtyard in the late afternoon and enjoy the sunset” Sue replied.

Back at the office, I printed out a copy of the floor plan of her new home, so she could study it some more, and I suggested that she start looking at furnishings for the house, and she frowned. “I better call Dave” she said, and after a brief discussion, they decided to get a delivery truck to bring up all their furniture, from the storage facility, and that he would organise it.

When Sue headed back down to the hostel, Greg returned, looking a little tired. “Hey boss, I managed to get all but two of the camping site signs polished up and looking new, the other two are badly scorched from the fire, and will need replacing, both of them are at Maggie’s Beach, I have also put in 6 steel posts across the main track, at 2 metres apart, with reflector tape at two levels to close off the track, just north of the side track that leads to the tank on the hill. Greg informed me.

“Good, how about I join you and we go up to the north end of the fire and do the same there, I want to inspect the land where the fire has been” I replied.

“Ok, I will just go and load up some more steel posts and reflector tape” Greg said, and he raced off. Ten minutes later he returned, and in the back, he had 3 dozen steel posts, so rolls of reflector tape, and three signs, painted a year ago, that just say – “Stay out, No Entry” on them.