Top End Doctor - 33. Dr Chapter 33

“Well because our next charter is a family of six, Mr and Mrs Anders, their daughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs Doust, and their two children, Angela and Rebecca, who are aged 8 and 10 years old.

This means a cabin shuffle once again, Toby can you please move into Reid’s cabin, and Alex and Sam can you move into Toby’s old cabin, this will free up the twin guest cabin for the two girls.

Finally, for our next charter, we will be continuing south, down the west coast, with the first three days we will have overnight stops at Ningaloo Station and Lagoon Beach, which is at the bottom end of Warroora Station, with stopover for a few hours at Coral Bay, and an arrival in Carnarvon, at about 5 pm on day three.

If the guests wish to continue on down to Geraldton, then it will be another five days, with stops at Monkey Mia, to see the dolphins, False Entrance Beach, which is on the western side of the peninsular, Kalbarri and the Abrolhos islands,” Uncle James announced to us.

“Wow, action packed, and I can start earning my keep as a dive master,” Caro said smiling, “Yes, you will have plenty of time for that, and I hope to see some more great video photography too,” Uncle James responded.

When the new guests arrived just over a day later, we were ready for our next cruise, of 3 to 8 days down the west coast. With the first two days being spent on the Ningaloo Reef, Declan and Uncle James had set the itinerary so there is plenty of time to do snorkelling or scuba diving, and when we arrived in Carnarvon, for a stock up of supplies, the guests decided to continue with the additional five days of the cruise, to include the Abrolhos Islands, where there is an awesome amount of marine life.

By the time we arrived in Geraldton, in the mid-west of Western Australia, the guests were ready to continue on their adventure to new places, and we were rewarded with a slightly larger tip packet to the previous charter, and once again Uncle James gave we boys some pocket money, for all the help we gave during the charter.

When we gathered for the crew meeting and once the tip money had been handed out, we waited for news of what we will be doing next. “During the two charters, Declan and I have been putting together a set seasonal itinerary for the yacht, and with the first two charters completed, we will begin another charter in a couple of day’s time.

We will be making a total of five return trips from Broome to Exmouth and down to Geraldton and back, before we head back home to Dundee, well ahead of the Wet Season, in mid October. For the new crew that are not aware, we are based in the community of Dundee Beach, which is approximately 55 kilometres south-west of Darwin in a straight line.

There my family has our home, and the crew here, have jobs to return too in Dundee, and there will be accommodation made available for your family, Caro and boys, and a job too if you wish Caro. Once the West Season is over, we will head back to Broome in mid March, for the start of a new Sail cruising season, starting in early April,” Uncle James announced.

“With the setting up of the website, and advertising in Broome, Exmouth and Geraldton, we are hoping to have all the trips filled with charter guests. For now we have a new eight day charter from Geraldton to Exmouth, starting in four days time, so we have a few days to relax and get ready,’ Declan said.

“I never thought I would never have a chance to travel the west coast of Australia, and get to snorkel, scuba dive, in some of the best places available here, and all for free. I think the boys and I have found our new home, both onboard this wonderful yacht and at your home base of Dundee Beach,” Caro said happily, “I am glad to hear that Caro, you make an excellent addition to the crew, as do your boys,” Uncle James responded.

For the next four and a half months, we were lucky enough to have all but one trip filled with charter guests, with Geraldton to Exmouth leg, in the third week of August, being the only trip where we didn’t have guests, which was fine, as it gave us all a chance to relax a little.

When we arrived in Broome in late August, and said farewell to our last guests for the season, and we went shopping for supplies to last us the trip home to Dundee Beach. Uncle James had contacted the Community Council, to let them know that we will be home in a little over a week, and he telephoned the O’Donnell’s to also let them know that we are on our way home, with Declan suggesting that we extend the trip home by two days, to make the days a little less with sailing, which Uncle James happily agreed on.

On our last night on the yacht, with the last day of sailing to be just 57 nautical miles, which will take us a little over 5 hours, Uncle James called the house straight after dinner. “Dundee Manor, good evening,” the voice said, and Uncle James laughed.

“Hello this is James, that is what Reid said when he answered the phone there,” he said into the phone, “Good evening Doctor James, is this call to let us know that this is our last night in your beautiful house,” Irene asked, “Yes, I am afraid it is, we will be home before Lunch time, but we will call into town first, to pick up some supplies,” Uncle James replied.

“It will be nice to have you home, the community has missed your family and crew very much,” Irene said, “That is nice to know, and we have collected a few extra crew members, Carolyn and her two sons will be settling into our community as well,” Uncle James announced, “Excellent, we will see you tomorrow, I must go now as I have some packing to do,” Irene said, “Ok bye,” Uncle James said to end the call.

The following morning, we set off at 7 am, so we arrive at about noon in Dundee, and like the past few days we had some good south-westerly winds that pushed us forward at a very good pace, and as we were nearing Dundee beach, a fleet of small boats came out to meet us and escort us in.

As we neared the beach we saw over fifty people gathered and they were all waving hello to us, so Declan hit the horn in response, which resulted in cheers from the crowd, as Declan cruised close to the beach as the lads pulled down the sails, and he swung the aft around so it was nearest to the beach and reversed a little until the anchors are set.

Once the two dinghies were lowered, we made our way to the beach, where the crowd approached and all welcomed us home. “On behalf of the Community Council and the community gathered here, we wish to welcome our own Doctor Shaw and his family and crew back home, after 5 months of sail cruising, the West coast,” Bill Healy announced out loud, and he shook Uncle James hand.

“Thankyou Bill, it is a much unexpected welcome, I would like to introduce my extra crew member, Ms Carolyn Remington and her two sons, Alex and Sam,” Uncle James responded. “Welcome to you all to our little community, and the lodge is hosting a BBQ lunch for everyone, so lets all head over there for a feast,” Bill announced.

As we walked over, we saw the Land Rover parked in the car park, “What is this doing here, I gave it to Mrs Templeton to use,” Uncle James asked, “Yes, but she managed to get a job in Sydney, so she arranged for it to be returned here to you,” Gladys explained, “Oh, ok, thanks” Uncle James said, as he accepted the keys to his vehicle.

After a wonderful feast, and seeing everyone again, including all of our school mates, who I introduced Alex and Sam to, Declan and the lads sailed the yacht to the home jetty, while we climbed into the Land Rover, to give Caro and her son’s a tour of the town, so they know where everything is, including the Sports, Recreation and Education Precinct, before we headed for home.

The End