Himalayan Home - 10. HH Chapter 10

Anyway, we went to a café to chat and we learnt that he is dying of Leukemia, and that he has been desperately trying to locate us, as he has a twelve-year old son, who he wants my parents to take over custody of him as soon as possible. I got to know my cousin a little bit yesterday, and we are meeting again later today at our family farm, which I had no idea about until yesterday,” I replied.

“Wow, you are full of dramas in your life. So, was there some kind of falling out between your dad and his younger brother? Is that why you didn’t know much about him?” Lenn asked me, “Yes, you could say that, anyway it is all fairly personal, so I can’t go into any details about it. Before you rush off to school for the day, can you fill me in on what the plans are for our trip?” I responded.

“Well, as you know, we are going to be based at Maydena, which is west north west of Hobart, and 50 kilometres West of New Norfolk. My Dad will be taking us and our bikes to the town, and will help us to set up camp there, before heading back home.

We have also organised a bit of fun, as there is a Railtrack Riders group based there, which is a pedal powered tourist rail car, that has a number of options of taking a rail car East or west along the railway line,” Lenn announced.

“Wow, that’s cool, I look forward to that. Umm, I have to tell you guys, that I have already been to Maydena before… Maydena is actually my home town, where I spent my first two years, before we went off to Bhutan,” I informed Lenn.

“Holy cow, now that is a real coincidence, and believe me I had no idea about that before we looked at making Maydena our base for our holiday,” Lenn replied in surprise, and I chucked at this. “Yes, I figured as much, but hey that is ok. Our family is actually going there later today, so I will get to check out the place before our camping adventure next week. What is the name of the place that we are staying?” I asked.

“Giant’s Table and Cottages, it’s a strange name, but they have excellent facilities, from what we have seen online, and we have a whole cottage to share, which has two bedrooms, one with a queen size bed, the other bedroom has three single beds,” Lenn informed me.

“That is good to hear, as I was thinking that we should invite my cousin to join us, although he is only twelve years old, it would be good to hang out with him, to get to know him and to help him out since his dad, my Uncle Jake, is terminally ill,” I suggested.

“That is fine with me mate, I will mention it to Giles on the way to school this morning, speaking of school, I had better get a move on or I will be late,” Lenn replied, and we soon ended the call and I went to speak to Aunty Grace about the idea of taking Palden on the camping trip with us.

At first Aunty Grace was not sure that Palden would enjoy a camping trip, let alone be away from his father, when Jake is so ill, but after a telephone conversation with Uncle Jake a short while later, it was decided that Palden would be joining me and my two friends for the trip.

After lunch, after I had a nice relaxing morning, spending most of the time reading and meditating, Aunty Grace and I began our journey west to my home town of Maydena, and when we passed the road sign stating that we were approaching the town, my stomach went into tight knots, and I groaned.

“Are you ok Dechen?” my aunty asked me, “Yes, my stomach just went all weird on me as soon as I saw the sign that we are approaching Maydena,” I replied, “Not to worry dear, it is a beautiful little town, not really much there actually, there is a small community hall, a café, a service station, a couple of small businesses, including the Railtrack Riders, and plenty of guest accommodation, and that is about it.

There is no primary school, no medical facilities, or anything like that, as they are located in the town of New Norfolk which he passed about half an hour ago. Apart from the Railtrack Riders, there is as you know, the Mountain Bike Tracks, hiking tracks and also the river, although most of the time the water level is too low for even canoes to paddle on it,” Aunty Grace responded.

“How big is this farm that our family owns?” I asked, “The original farm was not that big really, only 350 acres, but your grandfather and father both expanded on the size of the farm with the purchase of two neighbouring farms, so now it is 1270 acres in size, and includes a number of fresh water lakes, with the Tyenna River along the northern border, and also there is a successful guest accommodation business as well,” Aunty Grace informed me.

“What is the business called?” I asked my aunt, “Giant’s Table & Cabins,” Aunty Grace replied and I chuckled when I heard this. “That is where Lenn has us booked into staying, for our holiday trip next week,” I responded, and Aunty Grace smiled.

“I will make a phone call later and organise for you boys to get a family discount, so it saves a bit of money for you all,” my Aunt announced, “Wow, that would be great, thanks Aunty,” I replied happily, as we entered the town of Maydena, for me the second time in my life, and I got this strange feeling of familiarity right away, which made me smile.

It is definitely a very sleepy little town as we turned right off the main road, and going downwards into what looked like a valley, and we crossed over a narrow railway line and turned right onto a gravel road. “Is this the Railway line that is used for the Railtrack Riders?” I asked my aunt.

“Yes, indeed it is, are you boys planning to experience it while you are here?” Aunty Grace asked, “Yes, I think Lenn has already arranged it,” I replied, as we slowed right down. “This is the Giant’s Table & Cabins on your left, and that large old barn is what your grandfather built, and it was used as a place of social gatherings before the community hall was built,” Aunty Grace informed me.

We came to a stop near a large weatherboard and iron house that has a large wide verandah along the front and sides, and there was another vehicle parked there already, and I lady stepped out as we approached. “Hello, you must be Grace, I am Evelyn a good friend of Jake’s, I’m also his accountant and I have been dealing with his finances since before Frank passed away,” the lady said as she held out here hand, and Aunty Grace shook her hand.

“This is my nephew – Dechen Christopher, he is Jake’s older brothers first son,” my Aunt said, and I just nodded my head in greeting. “You will find Jake and his son, somewhere looking around,” the lady said to us, just as Uncle Jake and Palden appeared around the corner on the verandah.

“Hey Grace and Dechen, the place appears to be empty, I thought you had someone leasing the farm?” Uncle Jake said, “It is, but they have their own place to live in, so this place is used as a holiday let, and a local cleaner comes in twice a week to keep it nice and clean,” Aunty Grace replied.

“Oh, I see, any chance we can have a look inside the old place?” Uncle Jake asked, and Grace smiled as she retrieved a set of keys from her pocket, as we approached the house and climbed the stairs. For the next half an hour we explored the large flour bedroom and two bathroom house, which has a large sunroom out the back leading off from the kitchen dining area.

Uncle Jake informed his son and me that the large front bedroom on the right, was his parents bedroom, and it has its own bathroom, the front bedroom opposite was my Dad’s bedroom, and his room was the next one with the main bathroom in between. He said that the other bedroom was for guests, and that the library office was often off limits to them boys, and the formal dining room was only used for special events, like when we had guests staying, or for birthdays and Christmas.

While sitting in the formal lounge room, Aunty Grace’s mobile rang, and the look of surprise caught my attention, “Hello there, we are at the house at the moment, just finished looking around,” Aunty Grace said when she answered the phone, and she listened for a response and smiled, as she looked at me. “Ok, I will let them know, bye for now,” Aunty Grace said before ending the call.

“As you may have guessed, that was my sister and brother-in-law, they have arranged emergency leave for family reasons, and they are on their way home, they were calling from Singapore, so they are already well on their way,” Aunty Grace announced.

“Oh, well that was very nice of them, I hope that it won’t affect their work in any way?” Uncle Jake replied, “I doubt it Uncle, this is the first real family holiday since Kalden was born over two years ago, and before then we had a short holiday to England when I was eight years old,” I replied.

“They have arranged to stay here at the house, and they informed me that you Jake and Palden are welcome to stay here too. Because Dechen will be on his holiday with his friends, he will only join you when he returns from that trip on Friday next week,” Aunty Grace said.

“I guess, I will be missing the start of my school semester too, if all the family is here in Australia,” I commented, “I am not sure about that, you will have to talk to your parents once they arrive the tomorrow night, where there will be spending a night in a hotel,” Aunty Grace replied.

After some discussions, Aunty Grace and Uncle Jake arranged for the family to meet in New Norfolk for lunch the day after tomorrow, where my parents and brother should be rested enough for the trip back to Maydena, and Uncle Jake and Palden set off for home in New Norfolk, while Aunty Grace took me to look at the accommodation that we would be staying at next week, before making the 90-minute journey back to Hobart.

Once back at Aunty Grace’s place, I called Lenn on his mobile. “Hey mate, I was just about to call you, I have Giles here with me,” Lenn said answering the call, “Hey guys, we have just arrived back from Maydena, it is a really nice place, very quiet and plenty of natural forests and mountains in the area, and I have seen the accommodation that we will be staying it, it is really nice,” I said to my friends.

“That is good to hear, was it good to be back in your home town?” Giles asked me, “Well, I was only two when we left there, so I don’t remember anything, but I did have a nice feeling of it being familiar, and we got to see the old family home, where my father and uncle grew up and were I spent my first two years, which is now used as holiday accommodation now.

I need to let you guys know, that there may be some changes in the plans, since my folks have learnt of my Uncles terminal illness, they have taken emergency leave and are currently on their way back to Australia, along with my little brother. They will be staying in the family home in Maydena, and depending on how my Uncles health is, we may be staying in Australia a bit longer,” I replied.

“Oh, ok then. Will there be any changes with our planned mountain bike holiday?” Giles asked, “I hope not, as I am looking forward to hanging out with you guys again, besides, Palden is now coming with us, so it should be an awesome adventure,” I replied.

“Have you bought your mountain bike yet?” Lenn asked me, “No not yet, and now that I know that my parents and brother are on their way home, I will delay it until Palden and I can get our new bikes together, as he currently just has a BMX bike which won’t be suitable for our trip,” I replied.

I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, doing some meditation and reading mostly, but I also went online to see what are the best mountain bikes to buy and where would be the best bike shop to go too.