Simba - 20. Simba Ch 20

“That it is mate, and why we enjoy doing the work. Our organisation is very new, and we are not all qualified scientist just yet, I am in the Army and I recently had a work accident, which has put a hold on my University studies, which is in the field of Biodiversity and Conservation plus Wildlife Conservation Biology.

Our other two colleagues are also studying at the same university, which is Flinders, Chris is studying Veterinary Science and Surgery, while Will is studying Science in the field of Oceans and Coasts plus Marine Biology, so we all have different areas of Science research which compliment each other,” I explained.

“What about you Aaron, what do you do?” Jacky asked my cousin, “Not much at the moment, as you can tell from my accent, I am from England, although I was born here in South Australia, but grew up in England all of my life until just over a month ago.

Just by pure chance, Jacob here discovered me huddled under a tree one night, cold, wet, hungry and homeless, while he was in England on a working holiday. I had been kicked out of home when I was seventeen, and I had been living on the streets ever since then, and when Jacob called his uncle and mentioned me, Jacob learnt that we are actually second cousins.

Without hesitation, Jacob and Uncle Nathaniel arranged for me to get an emergency passport, and I flew back to Australia with Jacob, where I now call South Australia home. I am thinking of doing something like Computer Science or something like that, but Jacob and Uncle Nat want me to do Engineering, as they know that I was top of my year, in my final year at school,” Aaron said.

“Wow, that is quite amazing that you met by chance and that you are related too, so where are your parents Jacob?” Jacky asked. “Working overseas in Canada, Mum is a specialist doctor, and Dad is an engineer.

They are loving the work and lifestyle up there, and making very good money as well, so since I was twelve I have been living with Uncle Nathaniel, who is also in the Army, and who you will meet when we get back to Flagstaff,” I said to Jacky.

“Hey, now I know why your name is familiar, you are that famous kid who has been climbing all those mountains around the world,” Jacky said suddenly, “See, even the locals know who you are now,” Aaron commented, and I groaned.

“Yes, I am that mountain climbing kid, Uncle Nat and I did a lot of climbing and hiking and it was great to do them all, but now…” I said, stopping when I started to get a little upset.

“Now my cousin just does easy hikes and that is all, as he had an accident when hiking in Tasmania, and he lost his left foot, so he now has an artificial one. I must admit, it is hard to tell with all the walking he does, and also the swimming today too,” Aaron said filling in what I could not say.

I just nodded to indicate that what Aaron said is true. “Now in regards to your position with our organisation, it is not a very high paying position, as we are still new, and have been running on funds provided by two sponsors, which isn’t much, plus I will returning to University at the start of next semester, so most of our activities will be on the weekends and holidays.

We own what used to be a Scout hall, in Flagstaff Hill, on the edge of Sturt Gorge Reserve, and we have a house right next to our front gate, which will be your residence. For the moment, you duties will include being caretaker of the property, making sure that the buildings remain secure, and other duties will include consulting with us in regards to places that we will be doing our surveys.

Next weekend we will be going to Taylor Island and nearby Grindal Island to do some surveying of the fauna and marine life around the islands, and we will be there for a week. The owner of the islands is a friend of ours and is also a sponsor, as he provides us with transport to the islands and free accommodation,” I informed Jacky.

“Sounds good, I look forward to being involved, and I am happy with what ever you can afford, just being part of this project is far better than being stuck in an office most of the time,” Jacky replied. “We live just two kilometres or five minutes away, so we can be at the project base quickly if need be,” Aaron added.

Jacky elected to set up his swag outside near the back door ramp, which was fine with us, and for the rest of the afternoon, we chatted and filled Jacky in with more information about the project and us. We learnt Jacky Wimmera, has a Diploma in Conservation and Land Management, and that he is single, although he and his former partner have a three-year old son, who he rarely sees.

The next morning, straight after breakfast, we headed out to do some more snorkelling, this time taking the two kayaks with us, which has sea anchors on them.

Once they were in place we began snorkelling near the south west end of the harbour, a lot further out than we went yesterday, and we saw a lot more marine life this time, and with my underwater camera, I was able to record it all. When we sat on the kayaks to take a breather, Jacky told us the aboriginal names of some of the marine life that we saw, which was great to know.

After or second snorkelling session, we headed back to the house to shower and change into fresh clothes and to have some lunch. “Could you take us for a walk around the reserve that surrounds Miranda, and give us a better understanding of the area please?” Aaron asked Jacky, who smiled, “That I will gladly do,” he replied.

After a long and very educational day, we relaxed for the last hour or so of the day, and watched the sun set to the west, while cooking some steaks on our new portable barbeque. “How about we head back to Flagstaff Hill tomorrow, that way we can get Jacky here settled into his new home, and show him around the project,” I suggested.

“That is fine with me, you are the boss, so I will go with whatever you say,” Aaron replied, “Sounds good to me too, and I can show you another good spot to go snorkelling at Port Wakefield,” Jacky added. “We called in there the other day to have a look around, plenty of mangroves around the entrance to the small river,” I said. “Yes, and plenty of Blue Crabs there too,” Jacky said.

The next morning, we packed up the vehicle with all three swags been packed between the kayaks on the roof, to allow us the extra room inside for our extra passenger and supplies, and we headed south for Adelaide, and we arrived at port Wakefield nearly two hours later.

Changing into our board shorts, and with our snorkelling gear we went for a swim in the river, looking around the mangroves, while it is still high tide, and we saw plenty of blue crabs around. “Yikes, get this thing off me, it hurts like hell,” Aaron yelped as he nearly jumped out of the water, with a crab firmly attached to his thumb.

Quickly, Jacky and I swam to Aaron and together we were able to prise open the claw, to get Aaron released, and Jacky threw the crab into the mangroves, while I helped Aaron up the boat ramp and to the vehicle, where we removed the glove and I took at his hand.

“How does it look?” Jacky asked as he approached, “Very red and swelling up fast, we better get a doctor to check on it. Jacky grab my phone and search for a doctor’s surgery in town,” I said, “No need, I know where it is, it is right next to the Ambulance Depot,” Jacky replied, and I grabbed some iodine and covered the wound with it, before wrapping the thumb in a gaze and bandage.

After a ten minute wait, the doctor was able to see Aaron, and I went in with him, and we were told that there was nothing broken and any major damage, and told to put an ice pack on it on and off for the next hour and re-bandage it, and change the bandage every day. After paying the hefty doctor’s bill, we went next door to the chemist, to get a cold pack, and some painkillers before we continued south for home.

While at the Chemist, I sent a quick text to Uncle Nat, informing him that we had our new Aboriginal staff member, Jacky Wimmera with us and that we are on our way back home, and I asked if the house is ready for him to move in too. I received a message soon after we were travelling again. “Yes, I have been working on that all morning, the furniture and white goods will be arriving this afternoon, if you can get there by 4 pm to accept the delivery. Keys are under pot on back verandah. Uncle Nat.”

I had given Jacky the portable radio, so we could keep in touch as we drive south, and I informed him that the furniture for his house would be arriving for his house at 4 pm, so we have some work to do as soon as we arrive. We stopped briefly at the small town of Dublin for some lunch, before continuing on, and we arrived at the project gates shortly after 2 pm.

“That is your home, it is three bedrooms, and one bathroom, and we can organise for our house keeper to give it a clean once a week for you,” I said to Jacky. As we walked over to the house and down the driveway to the back, while Jacky drove his car sown the drive and parked in the garage, which has no roller door.

Retrieving the keys, I unlocked the back door, and walked in, with Aaron and Jacky following, and the back door leads to a small fully enclosed area, with a laundry and toilet on one side, and the bathroom on the other and a window and door leading into the kitchen / meals area.

“I opened some windows to let some fresh air in, before walking down the central hallway, where there is three bedrooms, with the master at the front on the left, and opposite is the lounge room. Jacky looked in each of the rooms and opened windows to air out the house, which was a little stuffy.

“I like it, nice and roomy, and perfect for just me,” Jacky said happily, “I thought it is a bit small, but I guess for one person it is plenty,” I commented. Heading back to the rear of the house, I handed Jacky the keys, as we exited the house and walked around to the front.

“Jump in and we will show you our project headquarters,” I said to Jacky, as I unlocked the gates and flung them open. “I like the sign you have on the gate,” Jacky Commented as I climbed into the vehicle. “Yes, the lads, that is Chris and Will came up with the design, also connected to my African home, as my middle name is Simba, which means Lion Cub in Swahili,” I explained, as we drove down the driveway, which now has a lot of extra new trees planted along the western side of the road.

Stopping outside the single door of the sheds, we climbed out and started to unload the vehicle, which was quite full of equipment and supplies, and we carried it all into the sheds, including the kayaks and snorkel gear, which were added to the others in a storage crate.

Once the vehicle was unloaded, we locked the vehicle and closed the single door and opened the larger roller door, and exited into the secure yard, and I unlocked the back door to the building and walked in.

“Welcome to the Kuishi Project,” I said to Jacky, as I led the way into the big hall, where the gazebos and display banners are set up. Along one wall, there was a new table and on it was a television and a DVD player, which I walked up too and turned both on, and soon the screen lit up with the video footage that I took of the Harbour in Miranda, began to play.

“Hey that is what we did the other day,” Aaron said, “Yeah, it looks great as a display item, well done to the lads,” I replied, “Maybe we can add what we took yesterday as well,” Jacky added. “Yes good thinking, I will get the lads onto it when they get home from Uni,” I responded, just as I heard a vehicle pull up out the back, a few moments later Will and Chris entered the building.

“Hey guys, what do you think of it?” Will said when he saw us, “Looks great mate. Will and Chris, this is Jacky Wimmera, our newest staff member, who will be living in the new house next to the front gate,” I said making the introductions and they shook hands.

“Come with me, and I will show you our office,” Will said to Jacky, “Chris, we have some more video footage, if you can add it to this one, it is in the same harbour but a lot further out. It will make the viewing better with two separate clips instead of just recycling the same clip all the time, and we can even add some more when we go to Grindal Island,” I suggested.

“The footage you took at Taylor Island is at the end of this, so it already goes for nearly an hour,” Chris responded, “Excellent, good work mate,” I replied as we headed to the conference lounge, where Will and Jacky were seated already.

“Since we are all here, how about we have a short meeting, before we have to go and unload all of Jacky’s new furniture which arrives at 4 pm,” I suggested. We all took a seat in the conference room, and over the next forty minutes, we discussed the plans for the trip to Port Lincoln, and onto Taylor and Grindal Islands, leaving this coming Saturday.

“We were just about to finish up the meeting when my mobile rang, and seeing who was calling, I smiled before answering it and putting the call on loud speaker. “Kuishi Project, good afternoon Patrick, you are on loud speaker with the rest of the team,” I said.

“Hello Jacob and team, just calling to confirm that you are coming down this weekend, and staying for one week do so some research on Grindal?” Patrick said, “Yes, that is correct mate. We are driving around in our new vehicles, leaving on Friday afternoon, with an overnight stop at Port Pirie,” I replied.

“Hi Patrick, this is Chris speaking, I would like to introduce our new Indigenous staff member, Jacky Wimmera, Jacky this is Patrick Carter, the owner of Taylor and Grindal Islands,” Chris said, “Hey Jacky, welcome to the group, I hope that you are settling into your new job,” Patrick responded.

“Yes thankyou, but I have only been with the project since yesterday afternoon, so I have a lot of learning ahead of me,” Jacky replied. “Now lads, just an update for you, I sold the fast catamaran, as I realised that it was a bit impractical to have for the small number of passengers.

I now have a 25-metre aluminium catamaran, which has five guest cabins and a captain’s cabin, which I use for charters in the region, and I have it named it after your project – Kuishi. I would like to promote the project when on charter, so if you are able to bring some promotional material then I will be happy to use it to make your project more known.

I now own the 126 acre Grantham Island, located just south of Port Lincoln, so you are welcome to survey that island too if you get the time,” Patrick said to us.

“Maybe another time, as we only have one week available to us this time,” I replied. “Very well, see you when you get to Port Lincoln,” Patrick said before ending the call.