Simba - 9. Simba Ch 9

“Itinerary for Cpl J.S Blackwood; Air Flight - Depart Adelaide @ 0700, Arr Sydney @ 0925, 2hr 50m layover. Depart Sydney @ 1215, Arr Vancouver @ 0730, 10hr 30m layover. Depart Vancouver @ 1800, Arr Heathrow @ 1120.

Bus – Depart Heathrow @ 1305, Arr Oxford @ 1425. Accommodation @ Oxford YHA Hostel, 2 Botley Road, Oxford. Private Room booked for 3 nights. Appointment; with Ten Fold Engineering @ 1100 following day”. Attached to the back of the itinerary was a separate itinerary for a fourteen-day tour of England, Scotland and Wales.

The English and Scottish tour starts with three days and two nights looking around the western side of England, while the following four days and four nights is in Scotland, followed by two days and one night of more looking around England.

A third page is the final stage of my stay in the UK, “Accommodation @ Oxford YHA Hostel, 2 Botley Road, Oxford. Private Room booked for 3 nights. Return Journey; Air Flight – Depart Heathrow @ 1845, Arr Singapore @ 1550, 7hr 50m layover. Depart Singapore @ 2340, Arr @ Adelaide @ 0905.

“Are you ready to go on your adventure?” Uncle Nat asked me when he entered the house, “Yes, all packed and ready. Uncle, how did you get this itinerary done so fast?” I responded, “Easy, I have a very efficient travel manager, who can make things happen real fast,” Uncle Nat replied smiling.

“Why am I going the long way to London?” I asked, “Because your parents will be meeting you at Vancouver, to check on you, and keep you occupied for your long layover there, and I thought you might like to go the reverse direction, which is actually cheaper,” Uncle Nat replied.

Early the next morning, I was dressed and ready to go, and after a final check that I had everything for the trip, we headed to the car, and drove to the Airport, where I checked in, and this is when I learnt that I was travelling business class the whole way there and back. “Since this is an Army business trip, we are splashing out a bit to make sure that you have a comfortable trip,” Uncle Nat explained.

After saying goodbye, I walked through to the secure area to go through Customs and Passport control. “The reason for your trip to the UK?” the Customs officer asked me, “Business,” I replied, “What kind of business?” the Customs officer asked me, as I retrieved my wallet and took out my Army ID card.

“Australian Army Business,” I replied as I showed my Army ID card to him. “All I see is that you are a Corporal in the Australian Army, now I ask again, what is your business?” the Customs officer asked.

“Sir I respectfully refuse to answer, because it is beyond your security clearance, if you look at my ID card again, you will see that I have an AG SC3 clearance, if you want an answer, I suggest that you page a Major Nathaniel Blackwood, who may still be in the terminal.” I replied.

Moving over to a desk, the customs officer made a phone call, before heading back to where I was standing, and shortly after a PA announcement was made, calling for Major Blackwood to report to the administration office.

About ten minutes later, Uncle Nat appeared with a Federal Police escort. “Ok nephew, what is all of this about?” Uncle Nat asked me, “This officer asked me what business am I on with my trip to the UK, and I responded that I can not answer him as it is beyond his security grade,” I replied.

“I am afraid that my nephew is correct in what he has told you, he is on Army business, and that is all that we can say,” Uncle Nat said, when the Federal Officer answered his mobile, and took a few steps away then turned and he looked at me and Uncle Nat, then walked towards us again.

“Yes sir, that is correct… yes sir, I will make it happen right now,” we heard the officer say before ending the call and turning to face the customs officer. “That was my boss, Mr Jacob Blackwood is to be allowed to continue his journey to the UK, as he is on important Army business that we are not to know about,” the Federal officer stated.

“But, I have a duty to…” “No buts, let him continue his journey, unless you wish to become unemployed,” the Federal officer said cutting off the Customs officers protest. “See you Jacob, have a good flight,” Uncle Nat said as I gathered my luggage and continued on to the departure waiting lounge.

The flights to England were very comfortable, but having the long stop in Canada made it a little tiring, but it was nice to see Mum and Dad again, who had the long drive down to Vancouver to be with me. When I finally arrived at Heathrow, I was pleased that I had no issues passing through customs, and after some directions, I managed to find the bus that goes to Oxford.

Once I had booked into the hostel, I had a shower and went straight to bed, as it had been a very long two days of travelling, and although I slept some on the two long haul flights, I was suffering from Jet lag, and fell asleep.

I slept right through until my alarm went off at 0900, and after a hot shower, I headed to the café for a late breakfast, and I took a short walk around the area, noting that the train station was just around the corner from the hostel.

I grabbed a cab to the appointment with the Engineering firm and announced who I was and that I had an appointment with the senior engineer. I was taken to a conference room, were two gentlemen where waiting for me. “Well Mr Blackwood, you are far younger than I expected, welcome to Ten Fold. I have some information that was sent to us by your defence department and the CSIRO is that correct?” the first of the men said to me.

“Yes sir, the plan is for a joint defence and science facility at a remote location, although I am not sure where that location is at present,” I replied, “I see, well the information we have here says that the location is an Island called Macquarie, located southeast of Tasmania,” the second gentleman said referring to his notes.

“Yes, that would be correct, I just wasn’t sure that the defence department had looked at my most recent submission, which recommended that island, because of its Sub-Antarctic location. The 128 square kilometre island is located 1500 kilometres from Tasmania, and is actually closer to the south tip of New Zealand, by 120 kilometres.

Since 1911, the island has had an Australian Research Station located at its north end, which recently suffered some damage from an earthquake, and more recently a severe storm, so the Federal Government is considering this proposal as an alternative, with a new location, and sturdier buildings, such as those that your company has designed,” I said.

“Yes, we have been given a bit of information about the island, like you have just said, we also have with us what the Australian Defence Force and the CSIRO requires to establish such a base, with accommodation facilities as well as work areas for a total of twenty four staff,” I was informed.

I did not know this, but I nodded my head to indicate that it was correct. “What we would like to suggest to you, as their representative, is a three wing living complex, which consists of 10 separate building pods, each wing will consist of two bedroom pods, each pod having four bedrooms with private ensuite bathrooms, and a central hallway and a lounge pod, which connects to the central foyer pod.

In addition to that, we suggest having one of our wind turbine towers to generate all of your power needs, along with our tower facility for communications and radar, and the low profile building to house your generator and communications equipment.

Next we suggest two of our Stealth buildings to house your research and defence administration facilities, and possibly the Tree House building as the Base administration,” It was suggested to me. “They all sound fine, I just want to know, and do you actually have any working examples of these buildings?” I asked.

“Only our demonstration models, as we have been concentrating on having a licensing system for engineering firms to build them, where ever they are needed,” came the reply, I see, well for me to actually recommend these proposed buildings, I need to have a look at them inside and out, and see how they unfold,” I responded.

I was taken to a light industrial park, where there is a giant shed, and inside was a heap of large shipping containers, and small packs. One by one I was shown all of the buildings as they unfold and what they look inside, and I took plenty of photos, so I could refer to them when I write up a report.

I thanked the gentlemen, for the demonstrations and informed them that I would be talking with the Australian Defence Force tomorrow morning, because of the time difference, and that they should have a response from me in a day or two. After a late lunch, in the centre of Oxford, I went for a long walk around the historic town, to see the sights, and many of the University buildings were amazing for their age.

Not sure where I would be going for the fourteen-day tour, I wondered what I should do for last day at Oxford tomorrow, as I watched Riverboats pass by on the River Thames, and I had an idea. Back at the hostel, I checked the information about the fourteen-day tour, and I looked at other options.

Finding an eight-day tour of England and Scotland, as a better option, I called the tour company, and requested a change of tour for me, from the 14-days to an 8-day tour.

After a bit of haggling, I was able to get the requested change, with the departure day being on what would have been day six of the tour, which means that I would only have one day at oxford, before heading to Heathrow for my flight home.

I adjusted my second booking at the hostel to just one night when I return from the coach tour, and I enquired about a six-day riverboat hire starting from tomorrow, and the following day after a 45 minute briefing on how to operate the riverboat and the locks, I started on my river adventure.

I was given a boat that can accommodate four people, and it was a good size to relax in, at 65 feet long, I would be travelling a distance of 90 miles over six days with a total of 34 locks, to open and close during that time. When I berthed for the evening, I just relaxed and worked on writing my report to the Australian Defence Force on my visit to Ten Fold Engineering.

Suring my first breakfast morning on the boat, I made a call to home, and when there was no answer I called Uncle Nat’s mobile. “Hello nephew, I was wondering when you would be calling, how has your trip been so far,” Uncle Nat said when he answered the call.

“It has been awesome thanks, I have made a few adjustments to the itinerary thou, I will be taking a eight-day coach tour in about a week, as I have hired a wide beam canal boat, and I am doing a six day cruise along the canals,” I replied, “That sounds very interesting, how are you going with the locks?” Uncle Nat asked.

“Ok, I have only had one so far, so I have 53 to go, and although it is a little difficult for one person, I am able to do it ok, and it is good exercise for my leg,” I replied. “Good, so how did the inspection go at Ten Fold?” Uncle asked me, “Interesting, I am compiling my report, which I am taking my time to do, and I will be including some photos and video footage along with it, so I will send it to you in a day or two,” I replied.

“Very well, enjoy the rest of your holiday, and we will speak to you in a few days, bye,” Uncle Nat said as we ended the call. As I looked at the information of the route that I am taking, I noticed that there is a pub near by, so I decided to go there for some dinner, and I entered the pub just as it started to drizzle with rain.

After a wonderful meal, in a nice cosy pub, I thanked them for the enjoyable night, and I set off out in the rain, and began to get soaked, but decided that It doesn’t matter as I can easily have a hot shower on the boat. As I passed through the gardens of the pub towards the canal, I heard a whimpering sound and at first, I thought it was a dog, as I headed towards a large weeping peppercorn tree, where the sound was coming from.

I was shocked when I saw a young man simular age to me, shivering and very wet sitting under the tree with his arms around his raised knees, and what looked like a small bag under his legs. I cautiously approached and crouched down near him, “Hey man, are you ok? What are you doing out here in the rain?” I said softly.

Without raising his head he barely spoke, as I strained to hear him, “Homeless, no one wants me, not family or my now ex boyfriend,” he said, “Well you can’t stay out here, come with me and you can stay overnight where I am staying. Before you ask, I am Australian and it is not a problem,” I replied giving him a smile as he looked at me carefully, as if he was trying to see if I was being just nice or trying to trick him.

I held out my hand as I stood up and cautiously he grasped hold and I gently pulled him to his feet, only to reveal a very skinny young man with clothes that looked many sizes too big and very grubby. I helped him along as he staggered finding it hard to walk, and I knew that I had to help this young man, who looked like he had not eaten in over a week, and he was in a real bad way.

I saw his eyes go wide as we approached the canal boat, “You are staying on this?” he asked. “Yes mate, I have it for six days, so you are welcome to join me for the whole time I am onboard,” I replied, as I led him onboard and showed him around.

“How about you take a shower to warm up, and I will heat up some soup for you? Drop your clothes out the door so I can wash them for you,” I suggested to him, and reluctantly he entered the bathroom. The first thing I did was grab his bag to have a look inside, and all I saw was a bunch of dirty and ragged clothes, which I loaded into the washing machine, along with his sneakers to get them all clean.

Unsure if the clothes and sneakers would last a wash, I went through my luggage, and found a tight pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a woollen jumper, and a pair of my sandshoes and socks, which I left outside the door of the bathroom. Once the washer was going I headed back to the pub, where I ordered a serve of soup, a large steak & chips and salad to takeaway.

All I had in the way of food, was what I purchased before leaving, which was a box of cereal, small bag of raw sugar, a litre of long-life milk, fruit juice, a loaf of sliced bread and some fresh fruit and nuts, and so I knew that I would need to do some more shopping, and I did some searching online while I waited for the meal.

When I saw that a major supermarket does deliveries, I wondered if they would deliver to the canal boat, and I decided to wait until morning to see. When I arrived back at the canal boat, I found the young man who I had forgotten to introduce myself to, was sitting nervously in the lounge area of the boat, and I smiled.