Simba - 4. Simba Ch 4

It turned out that I have outgrown my uniform, so I had to wear my best suit, which was just a good as my Army Dress Uniform. “Hey where are you off to in such a hurry?” Chris asked when he stepped out of the pantry as I came down the stairs, and dress to kill too, may I add,” Will said from the meals area, where he was eating breakfast and reading the paper.

“Sorry guys, all I know is that it’s to do with Army Business and uncle Nat wants me along for consulting purposes,” I replied, “Right are you ready?” Uncle Nat asked me as he appeared from his room in his dress uniform, and I nodded my head that I was, as I followed him out the front door and into the vehicle.

“So can you tell me any more about what this special project is about?” I asked, “Grab my I-pad from out of my brief case and you can read what I have written up so far,” Uncle Nat replied. Once I had opened the I-pad, I saw a Document titled Birds Nest, which I clicked on, and I spent the next twenty minutes reading the brief that Uncle Nat had written.

Once I had read the brief, I closed it and opened the link to the Ten Fold Website, and I looked through the different designs again, and I save a few of them before opening a new document, and I started writing my own brief, and along with the saved video clips I made up a presentation.

I was just finishing it all, when we turned into the front gate of RAAF Edinburgh. “Major Nathaniel Blackwood and Mr Jacob Blackwood to see the CO,” Uncle Nat said to the security guard at the gate. “Yes sir, you are both expected, do you know where to go?” the guard responded.

“Yes thankyou Staff Sergeant,” Uncle Nat replied, and we were permitted to enter the base. A few minutes later, we entered the administration building, and a Sergeant approached us, and said to follow her and we were led into a conference room, where a senior officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel was already there and he stood as we entered.

“Good to see you again Nathaniel, and this must be your nephew,” the officer said, “Yes sir, may I present Jacob Simba Blackwood,” Uncle Nat said in response, “I bet there is an interesting story to your middle name,” the Colonel said to me, and I smiled as Uncle Nat chuckled.

“Yes sir there is in a way, it is the nickname that my nanny gave me, and although I was born in Australia, I spent the first five years of my life on our family property, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,” I replied. “Well, I did not expect that, and I am sure there is a lot more too,” the Colonel responded.

“If I may start this meeting; Sir, I have just completed my second year of studying a Double degree in Science at university, along with two of my best mates, and together we cover a wide area of animal and marine biology & conservation and veterinary sciences.

During a recent trip to a private island not far from Port Lincoln, I have been thinking about and looking into ways where we could have a base that is easily transportable, multi use and fast to set up, so that we can work in remote regions of Australia or the world for that matter.

So we can research and conserve the animal and marine environment,” I said starting the meeting. “Sir, when my nephew told me about this company that he had been researching, I guessed that it that it is the same UK Company that I had started to look into, and I was correct.

I am not sure if you are aware of it, but we were both involved in a series of incidences a few years back, Where Brigadier Purnell, gave Jacob here the honourary rank of Corporal.

He also has a level 3 AG security clearance from the DIO, as shown on his ID, so this project is within his security clearance, and I have allowed him to view the brief that I have written,” Uncle Nat.

“Sir, during the trip to the base, I reviewed the brief as well as write my own brief and put together a short presentation on all the research that I have done with this UK company called Ten Fold Engineering,” I said, and Uncle Nat handed over his I-Pad which I connected to the television in the room.

“… Sir, in conclusion, I have shown you a number of their designs that are suitable for defence purposes as well as for my own science research purposes, and I hope that this helps you to better understand this companies Engineering designs that could be of great benefit to the Defence Force,” I said.

“I would like to add, that I brought my nephew along, not only because he had a better understanding of this companies talents, but I also have an idea that may be beneficial to both the defence force and to my nephews research team,” Uncle Nat added which surprised me.

“Go on, I am listening,” the Colonel said to Uncle Nat.

“Sir, I am thinking that if we are to look into the possibilities of investing in this technology, then we need it to be tested in various types of conditions, and I think I know the best team to be able to do just that,” Uncle Nat said as he looked to me and smiled.

I opened my mouth in shock at what he had just said, and not sure what to say, I snapped my mouth shut. “I think that it would be a very good idea, and I think you have caught your nephew totally by surprise, and I will put this idea forward for consideration, but it will be our big boss, the Federal Defence Minister who will make the final decision,” the Colonel said.

“May I suggest that some one from this Defence team of yours be the Defence liaison if this does go ahead,” I said to the Colonel, “Noted, and I will let your uncle know what the final decision is when it had been made,” the Colonel said.

Once we were in the car and heading back home, I was thinking about what had just happened. “Uncle Nat, did that really happen? Did you just recommend, our science research team to test run one of the Ten Fold Buildings out in the field for the defence force?” I asked still in shock.

“Yes Simba, I did, and by the looks of his response, he seemed to be very receptive to the idea, so we will just have to wait and see what happens, when it is presented to the Defence Minister, and I suggest that we keep this just to us for now, until we know more,” Uncle Nat replied.

I was quite surprised about all of this, and I asked Uncle Nat not too say anything to Will and Chris about this until it is definite that it will go ahead. Once back home, I headed to my room to change and to relax, and I could hear from the noise that the lads were having a game of tennis out the back.

We had just two more days before we fly back to Port Lincoln, and I wanted to see if we could spend some time doing research on the animals and mammals that visit Taylor Island. I jumped on to my Lap Top computer to see what I could get as much information as possible, about previous surveys of birds and animals on the islands.

“Hey, when did you get back?” Chris asked when they entered the house, “About two hours ago, and I have been doing a bit of research on previous fauna surveys that have been done on Taylor Island,” I replied, “Did you find much?” Will asked.

“Yes I did actually, when you look up the Wikipedia page on Taylor Island, it tells you that there is the Brush Tail Possums, as well as Western Grey Kangaroos, although they have since been all removed from the island, then there is Rosenberg’s Goanna, Brown Falcon, Grey Fantail, Golden Whistler and Richards Pitpit.

But, in a survey conducted for the Department of Environment SA, as well as the birds and the goanna that I mentioned, they found a lot more than stated on the Wiki page. For reptiles, they have been recorded Carpet Pythons, Eastern Bearded Dragon, Peninsular Dragon, four species of Skinks and two species of Geckos.

For marine life, there is the Green Turtle, Bottle Nose dolphins, Western Blue Groper, Weedy Sea Dragon, Australian Sea Lion and Fur Seals.

For Birds, there is the Rock Parrot, White Bellied Sea Eagle, the Brown Quail, Cape Barren Goose, Elegant Parrot and the Purple Capped Honey Eater. For Mammals, there is the Sand Hill Dunnart, Short Beaked Echidna and three species of bats.

This survey was done nearly ten years ago, so it is way out of date, so I am suggesting that spend some of our second visit to the island doing a new survey of all the fauna on and around the island,” I replied.

“I am in for doing that, and we may need to get some of the movement sensor cameras, for night time, to catch sight of some of the more night time active fauna,” Will suggested. “I guess we had better get to work to see what we can gather to help us with this survey,” Chris said.

Three days later, with a lot of extra luggage containing fold down traps and motion camera’s we flew to Port Lincoln, and we organised ahead for a mini bus taxi to collects us and all of our supplies, to take us to Pier 1. We found the Catamaran waiting for us, but there was no sign of anyone when he climbed onboard, and I called out and still no answer, as we loaded everything onboard.

“Ah you have arrived, did you manage to get everything that you need for the survey?” Patrick asked when he exited from the engine room, “Yes thankyou Patrick; how was your Christmas and New Year?” I replied, “Busy actually, we had cruises on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day, as well as New Years Eve, which all went very well,” Patrick replied.

“Have you started the Eco Camping yet?’ Chris asked, “Yes, that is going very well too, with weekends only at the moment, and the first two weekends were fully booked, and we received great reviews from all eight couples that stayed,” Patrick replied.

“That is great to hear, I guess we are waiting for your crew member?’ I asked, “Members, yes we are, they are getting your supplies, and they should be back shortly. Apart from Lance, I have his younger brother Travis working on weekends, and they are actually my nephews, so it is a family business now,” Patrick replied.

Once we were on our way, Will, Chris and I headed up to the top deck, and a short while later, Lance arrived and asked if we would like a drink of any kind.

“No thanks, but you could help me understand a little bet better, I understand that Patrick is your Uncle, why does he not have any family?” I replied, “That is a bit of a touchy subject, Patrick was married, once and they had a child on the way, when his wife was involved in a nasty accident that killed her and the baby.

He went into a deep depression, and to cope, he bought the islands, and has lived here ever since, and only just recently started thinking about the future, and that is how we started building the Eco Camping tent platforms and the raised boardwalks,” Lance replied.

“Thanks for that information, that helps us to understand a bit better. You know that we will be doing a fauna survey for the next two weeks on the main island?” I said, “Yes, Uncle Patrick mentioned it to us, and we have started on building another two more platforms to increase the number of Eco tents to six in total.

We have also started doing a planting programme, with Native Juniper, Sea Box and Nitre Bush, being planted in rows as windbreaks and as a food source for the animals. With the existing trees on the island, the Coastal White Mallee and the Dryandra Tea Tree, they are being propagated at a Nursery in Port Lincoln, so that we can increase the number of trees on the islands as well,” Lance said to us.

“That is very good news, we look forward to seeing the gradual changes to the islands, and hope that it will keep the current fauna surviving on the island for the long term,” Will said and Chris and I nodded in agreement. We will also be renovating the cottage that you are currently using, to allow for holiday rentals to bring in additional income, so after these two weeks, the cottage will be out of action while the renovations are happening,” Lance informed us.

“Well, I guess that puts a stop to us making regular trip here then,” I commented, “Not from what I overheard the other day, I think Uncle Patrick likes having you guys here, and he recognises that having up and coming environmental scientists can be a big benefit to the island,” Lance replied. “That is good to know,” Chris responded, “I guess we will have to wait and see what happens then,” Will added.

Patrick’s nephews helped us to get all of our work and food supplies to the cottage, and once we had settle into our rooms, we began sorting all of the research equipment, and we laid out a laminated topographical map of the island. From that, we determined where to place the sensor cameras, with the traps to be set closer to the end of the first week, once we have seen what the cameras have picked up.

With all of us having lap top computers, we set them up around the table, with the map taped down to the middle of the table for easy reference when needed. With Will and me, both having Scuba qualifications, I had agreed to help Will with the marine surveys, and Chris would help me with the Island surveys, so we all would be kept busy.

As we had just finished setting-up, there was a knock on the door, and Will answered it, “Hello, Travis, what can we do for you?” we heard Will say. “Uncle Patrick wants to invite you all to his place for dinner tonight, as he is interested in learning more about the surveys that you will be doing over the next two weeks,” Travis replied, “We accept the invite, what time do you want us there?” I replied, “No later than 6.30, see you then,” Travis said.

“We heard the Catamaran leaving a short while ago,” Chris enquired, “That was Uncle Patrick, gone to collect some more visitors, for the Eco Camping, he will be back about an hour before dark,” Travis replied before leaving.

“We have a few hours before we need to start getting ready for dinner, so lets start getting some of these camera’s set up,” I suggested, “Where should we start?’ Will asked, “Well I was thinking of dividing the island in half long ways, then into a total of 11 sections, 5 East and 5 West and one on the south end, that way it will help us when we put together our Survey report,” I recommended.

On the map, we divided it into 11 sections, and we decided to start with the northeast section first which we named E1, which is one of the more wooded areas of the island, the other wooded areas are located in sections W1, E2, E 3 and S.

With the island being 2750-metre long, we divided each section into 250-metre wide sections, before we retrieve the small marker pegs that we had with our supplies. While I started from the centre northern point of the island, Will went ahead to the 250-metre mark, and finding the middle from that point, he pegged it, while Chris did the next one, all the way down to the end.