Earl - 9. Earl Chapter 9

Waiting until as late as possible, Tyler set off on the same train journey to London City Airport, where a chartered flight was waiting for him to take Tyler back to the Isle of Wight, with George driving to the airport to collect him. After two weeks back at his home on the Isle of Wight, Tyler was starting to get restless, and he was longing to return home to Australia, even if it is for a short while, and he spoke to his Uncle Charles on the telephone a number of times to discuss this with him.

The job of managing all of the Earl estates and his current properties are being looked after by a dedicated team of staff, with a good profit coming from the majority of the property businesses, with his administration still based at Bothal Castle.

The one thing that Tyler was able to do without being found out, was to have George or Mary go to the Newport post office every Wednesday, to collect the mail from Australia, which is a previous Wednesday & Saturday copy of the Western Australian newspaper, and the Australian Newspaper, which his parents sent to him by express mail each week, so he can keep track of news at home.

One of the stories that he liked to keep track of, is the family company known as Lloyd Family Corporation, which specialises in Ocean research and conservation, but with this week’s newspaper, something else caught his attention, and after reading the article, he did a web search for more information.

“Typing in the words, Darwin Port, China, he found what he was looking for. “How did a private Chinese company manage to get a 99-year lease of Darwin’s main port facilities?” was the title of the article, and Tyler read the article with interest.

The article stated that somehow, the Foreign Investment Authority managed to overlook the importance of the Northern Australian strategic port, mainly because of a former politician’s involvement as a consultant to the Chinese company, and now people in Australia are asking how was this ever possible, and can it be overturned.

After reading another article from the Australian Financial Review Newspaper, Tyler had made a decision, that he was going to do something about it. After a lengthy conversation with Uncle Charles over the telephone, it was agreed that Tyler act on this issue.

Tyler spent the newt eight days doing length research into the matter, before he felt he was ready to start taking action, with the first being to contact someone, he felt would be able to assist. After sometime of searching, Tyler managed to locate a contact email address for that someone who may be able to assist with his newest project.

“Mr H.T Lloyd, Managing Director, Lloyd Family Corporation, Wake Island, Pacific.

Dear Sir, no doubt you have read about the disastrous events of a Chinese private company being awarded a 99-year lease of the Post facilities in Darwin, Northern Australia. As an Australian citizen and also a duel British citizen, I find this atrocious that such a thing could ever happen.

It has been stated in the Australian Financial Review, that the company that won the lease contract has been losing a lot of money over the past few years, and this could put Darwin Port facilities and the Northern Territory at great risk of being more widely influenced by the Chinese Government.

I hoping that with our combined wealth and many contacts, that we may be able to overcome this situation, by building a new port facility, that will be entirely privately Australian owned. East Arm Port, which is the main port facility in Darwin, has road and rail access to transport goods in and out of the Northern Territory, and with this in mind, I have come up with a possible solution.

The site that I have in mind already has a good quality road in place, from the Stuart Highway, turning left onto Jenkins Road, just north of Noonamah, it is a 13-kilometre journey to Channel Island Road, and turning left onto that road, it is 6-kilometres to Wickham Point Road.

Turning right onto that road, it is 7.5 kilometres to the BOC Helium plant, and a further 2.25 kilometres to Wickham Point in Darwin Harbour, and that is just 2.3 kilometres south-west of East Arm Port.

In regards to rail access, the Adelaide to Darwin rail line passes very close by to the junction of Jenkins road and Channel Island road, so only an additional 15.75 kilometres of new rail, to provide access to a new port facility.

If you are agreeable to a partnership with establishing this new facility, I will present the idea to the Northern Territory Administrator and the Chief Minister, on arrival back in Australia in a week’s time. Yours Sincerely, Lord Tyler Finch, Count Bentick and Earl of Portland, UK.”

After reading the email twice to make sure there are no mistakes, I sent the email, and waited in hope for a positive reply, while I started planning for my journey home, with a deviation to Darwin, before flying to Geraldton, where it is now well into Autumn.

“Hi Mum, how are things at the station?” Tyler asked when the phone call was answered. “Why hello there, my son, we are all doing good, although we had a very hot summer down here, thankfully it has started to cool down a little, how are things in the UK?” Tyler’s Mum responded.

“All good I guess, except the media have found out my identity and plastered my photo on the front page of two newspapers, and they know that I was born and educated in Geraldton and live on a large cattle east of Geraldton, but they haven’t found my hidden home yet, touch wood,” Tyler said.

“I see, Dad is out doing water checks at the moment, it is almost dark here, so he will be home soon. Have you called for a specific reason?” Tyler’s Mum asked, “Yes, everything is running smoothly business wise, so I have decided to come home for a short while. I will leaving within a week, but I have some business in Darwin first, before I can travel back home,” Tyler announced.

“Ok son, travel safely, and we will see you when you get home,” his mum replied, and after a little bit of silence, the call ended. “Is everything ok, my Lord?” Mary asked, after hearing Tyler sniff away some tears, “No, I am fine thanks, I just miss being at home in Australia, and I am looking forward to the trip back,” Tyler replied, as he continued to search for flights home.

Finally, he chose a business class flight from Heathrow to Singapore, leaving on Thursday at 2035 hours, and arriving at 1730 hours, local time the following day, with it being a 13 hour flight, and with a 14 ½ hour layover, he would fly business class from Singapore to Darwin on Saturday, departing at 0800 hours, and arriving at 1450 hours the same day, which is just a five hour flight.

Tyler also arranged for hotel accommodation in Singapore, where he would be able to rest and get refreshed for the last stage of his journey. What Tyler had neglected to notice when he flew to the UK on his British passport, is that it has the name Tyler Finch, while his Australian Passport, which he will be travelling home on, has the name Tyler Hunter on it, which means that he may be able to slip out of the UK, without being pestered by the media, as he completed the booking, using his Australian Passport as his form of Identification.

“What are you smiling about?” George asked as he walked into the house, just as Tyler exited the study, after just completing his travel plans. “Oh, nothing really, I had failed to notice that my British passport has my official Aristocracy name, while my Australian passport has my birth name, so I am hoping that I won’t have any issues with the media,” Tyler replied, and both George and Mary laughed, “We hope so, my Lord,” Mary said.

With a night time departure from Heathrow, Tyler decided to leave it as late as possible to travel from the Isle of Wight to the mainland, and travel by train to Heathrow airport, so he caught the 3 pm ferry over, caught a taxi cab to the Lymington train station, and the first train to Heathrow, hoping that the busy peak hour would be enough to disguise who Tyler is.

After the ferry journey, taxi ride, the short train trip to Brockenhurst, a short walk to change platforms, he boarded his second train for Basingstoke, which is a 50 minute journey, followed by a 200 metre walk to the other train line, for his third train ride to Heathrow’s terminal two train station, which takes another 45 minutes, arriving at 1705 hours, leaving him 3 hours before his flight departs.

Once Tyler had check in his luggage, and had his ticket in hand, he headed for the duty-free shops, as he wanted to buy some duty-free gifts for his parents and his good friend Lucas.

After a lot of searching, Tyler decided on four duffle coats, one for himself, one each for his parents and one for Lucas, all with different designs and colours, which set him back nearly £900, but he was happy with his selection, and he headed to the secure area of Customs control, where he had just his recent purchases to declare, as well as about £200 left in cash as spending money.

As Tyler boarded the aircraft for the first leg of his journey, he was pleasantly surprised at how spacious the seating is in Business Class, as he stowed away his hand luggage, and made himself comfortable. “Excuse me for disturbing you, but are you not Lord Finch?” a lady across the aisle asked Tyler, “No ma’am, the name is T.M Hunter, I have been on a four month holiday, before I begin university studies next semester, back home in Perth,” Tyler replied.

“Oh, I am sorry, you look so much like him, from the photos in the papers,” the lady said, looking at Tyler carefully, as if she didn’t believe him. “Yes, I have been told that a lot since that news article has been published,” Tyler responded. “Can I assist you with anything Mr Hunter?” the air steward asked me, “No thanks, I am fine,” Tyler replied as he closed his eyes rest, as it had been a long afternoon and evening.

With the air steward addressing me by my birth name, the lady across the aisle lost interest in who Tyler is, which he was glad of, and after a light snack, Tyler slept for the first six hours of the flight. After a trip to the bathroom to freshen up, I retrieved my laptop from my hand luggage, and I spent the next few hours looking at all the research information that I had saved about the port of Darwin.

Although Tyler had not received a reply from Mr Lloyd by just before boarding the flight, he was hoping that there will be one when he arrives at the hotel in Singapore, when he will check the emails again. With his checked in luggage, remaining out of reach until he arrives in Darwin, Tyler had spare clothes for the second half of his journey, as he checked into the hotel, on Sentosa Island, in West Singapore, where the hotel is overlooking the ocean and the clean white beaches.

Although it was humid, there was a slight breeze for the short while he was outdoors, transiting to the hotel, and with a lot more time in Singapore than the last visit, he hoped to do some sight-seeing in the early morning, with it getting daylight early, due to Singapore being so close to the equator.

After a long hot shower and a change of clothes, Tyler checked his emails, and as he hoped there was an email from Mr Lloyd waiting for him. “Lord Finch, Earl of Portland. My Lord, thankyou for your email, and I apologise for the delay in replying, but I needed to do some research of my own before responding.

Thankyou for your interest in the situation in Darwin, I have been watching all media reports with interest over the past two years, but I was not sure if it was possible to even consider building a new port facility. Sir, I would be honoured to be able to partner with you on this special and most important venture, and I am very happy to contribute the majority of the funding for the construction of the facility.

At the time of writing this email, I have just arrived in Brisbane from my home base on Wake island, and I will arrive in Darwin tomorrow evening, where I will await your arrival. I will be staying at the Mindil Beach Resort and I will do some more research while I am waiting. Looking forward to meeting you, sir. Kind Regards, Hamysh Lloyd.”

Tyler looked at the date of the email, which was dated today, with the time stamp of 1600 hours, which would have been Brisbane time, so he would be arriving on the same afternoon as he was, but Tyler was booked into the Novatel Hotel, that overlooks the Esplanade on the West end of the city.

After making enquiries with the Resort at Mindil Beach, Tyler was able to secure an executive suite, at the resort, and after doing that, he cancelled his booking for the other hotel. Rising at 5 am the next morning, Tyler showered and changed, before meeting the arranged private hire car at 5.30 am, and he was given a tour of the city of Singapore, including passing by the famous Raffles hotel, before heading to the airport.

Once Tyler had checked in, Tyler checked out the duty free stores, but didn’t find anything of interest to buy, so he headed for the departure lounge, before Tyler checked his email’s again, but there was nothing from Mr Lloyd, but there was an email from Uncle Charles.

“Hello Tyler, just a quick note to let you know that I released a statement to the press, announcing that you had left the UK last night, for a visit home to Australia, with a return date yet to be decided.

This will hopefully give you some breathing space, as they try and work out when you left and where you would be arriving in Australia, by then you will have been arrived in Australia and slipped out of sight. Say hello to your parents for me. Regards, Uncle Charles.”

Tyler gave a short laugh when he read this, which didn’t attract any attention, before closing down his computer and packing it away in his bag. When he settled into his Business class seat on the second flight, deciding not to sleep, as he was not in the right time zone, and he needed to stay awake until bed time tonight, in Darwin.