Terror Again - 5. TA Chapter 5

I had completed the strengthening and cleaned it all up before the lads returned with two large Barramundi fish, which Mark said he would be cooking for lunch, which sounded wonderful. Now that I had submitted my resignation to the Army to happen at the end of my term of service, I started to wonder what I should do once I am officially out of the Army in just over two months.

I started to do some research on a few ideas, and eventually, I found a website for a hovercraft manufacturing company located in Queensland, and I looked at it with great interest and while the lads were out, I made a phone enquiry about the Wildfire model Hovercraft, which at 7.08 metres long and 2.73 metres wide, it would be an ideal thing to have for easy access to Leaders Creek and Koolpinyah Bay, below the Vernon Islands, with it being 8 kilometres from the boat ramp to the mouth of the creek.

Later that evening, while we sat down for dinner, I announced to my brother and Mark that since I am on special leave, I was going to be making a quick trip to Brisbane the following weekend, as I had some business to take care of. This surprised them and they asked why I was going, and all I would tell them that it was to do with improvements to the property, and that is all I was prepared to tell them at this point. A few days later, I was packed, and I had my flights and accommodation sorted, and with Mark remaining on the property, Sawney drove me to Darwin to the airport.

The nearly four-hour flight was uneventful as I arrived shortly before 1700 hours, where I collected the hire car that I had arranged, and with the navigation on my phone I found my way to my hotel accommodation on the banks of the Brisbane River, in the suburb of Hamilton, which was about a 15-minute drive with all the evening peak traffic, and after a quick check-in, I had a shower and headed to the restaurant for a light dinner, before retiring for the night.

I had an appointment at the Hovercraft manufacturing plant in Alberton, for 10 am the following day, which is located 50 kilometres to the south, which would take me about an hour to drive there, depending on traffic, so just to be sure to get there on time I left an extra half an hour early. When I arrived at the factory, I was introduced to the managing director and I was shown the three main models of hovercraft that they build, and I was very impressed with the Wildfire model, now that I can see it with my own eyes.

In addition to the Wildfire, I was also shown a pre-loved Aurora Hovercraft, which is 14.5 metres long, and 5.7 metres wide, that seats a pilot and 42 passengers, including a very small galley and bathroom at the back, with an aft door with built-in fold down stairs, plus gull-wing doors on each side. I was informed that if I purchase both hovercrafts, they will reduce the price of the Aurora by 25% plus pay the freight costs to get them both to Darwin.

I must admit that it was a very tempting deal, but I was not sure that I could stretch my finances that much, especially when I am about to retire from the Army, but I also knew that the Aurora could be used as a ferry service between Darwin City and Mandorah Bay. I was offered the chance to go for a ride in both hovercrafts, and we took the bigger Aurora out first, with it taking very little time to get it down to the nearby Logan River.

After having a ride in both hovercrafts, including spending some time piloting, I decided that I would purchase both, as long as they included intensive training for me to be able to pilot both crafts, which I was informed would involve four lots of 3-hour theory lectures, totalling 12 hours, and the same amount of time for practical training, so I would be in Brisbane for almost two weeks.

While I was doing the training on both hovercrafts, I was been kept up to date on what was happening at home on the property, and I spoke to my brother every day, and after a week away, he informed me that it was time for him to return home, so I made the arrangements for him to fly back to Adelaide and over to Port Lincoln, where Euan would pick him up and take him back to his house.

Mark would be remaining at my place as my caretaker and chef, and he is enjoying the change in life, instead of the hardships of living and working on a cattle station. Once I had completed the training with the Wildfire, it was packed and sent by truck to Darwin, and just a week later, as I was preparing to leave Brisbane, I received a call from Mark.

“Hey buddy, how are things back home?” I asked. “We have a slight problem… well more of a big problem actually,” Mark replied, and I groaned and wondered what the trouble is. “Ok buddy, what is it? What is the matter?” I asked, “I went to go into town to do some shopping to get restocked before you arrived home, the road has been fully repaired but I can’t get past a solid vehicle barrier at the junction of the Saltwater Arm Road and Leaders Creek Road… There is a railway iron gate, and a low railway iron low fence at about ¾ a metre high, which is just high enough to not be able to get over it, and I walked 500 metres in each direction from the junction and it still keeps going, I am trapped with no way in or out,” Mark said to me.

I was furious and I know exactly who did this, but then I remembered that I had a special package waiting for me in Darwin, which would solve all of my problems, and I chuckled to myself. “Do you have enough food until I get home?” I asked Mark, “Yes, plenty, plus I have been getting a lot better with fishing while you have been away, so I have been eating a lot of fish, and trying out new recipes,” Mark answered.

“Ok. My friend, I have a solution to this problem so don’t stress, ok. I will be home tomorrow, and I will do a big shop for you before I leave the city, just send me a shopping list and I will get it done. One last thing, is there any signage or anything at the gate?” I replied. “Yes, a large one beside the gate, Department of Defence – Special Training Facility, No Trespassing on this Land,” Mark replied. “That’s exactly what I thought, I will see you tomorrow afternoon,” I said before ending the call.

Opening up my laptop computer, I opened the document that was my resignation from the Army, and after a quick look at it, I emailed it to my CO at the Army base at Palmerston, knowing that I had enough of their manipulative games and that I would no longer be part of it in any way.

I found a few new emails waiting to be opened, as I was about to shut down the computer, the first one was from the NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, I remembered that I had put in an application to purchase an additional 45 acres of crown land adjoining my property, as well as a request to the local shire council to lease the Boat Ramp facility, now that the Fishing Camp business at Leaders Creek was no long operational.

I smiled when I saw that my request for the purchase of the 45 acres of land, that is been reclassified as Freehold, starts from the bottom Southeast corner of my existing property heading Southeast to Leaders Creek, and along the creek downstream to 50-metres past the boat ramp, which is in line with and over to the northeast boundary of my property 60-metres away, had been granted, and that with the large deposit that I had sent with the application, the purchase will be finalised once the full purchase amount has been paid.

The second email was from the Shire of Litchfield, and it stated that although the boat ramp at Leaders Creek is within the Shire boundary, it is actually under the jurisdiction of the NT Government’s Department of Water, Parks and Water Security and that my application has been forwarded to that Department for their consideration.

The third and final email was from that very NT Government Department, which informed me that my request for a long-term lease of the boat ramp has been granted for 4 years, with the option for another 4 years after a full review has been completed. I was thrilled with this news, and I now have the ability to cause a few issues for the Army, with access to the boat ramp once my term of service has been completed.

I spend the rest of the afternoon doing some research and making a few telephone calls, which included the purchase of an additional 350 metres of railway iron, to extend my heavy-duty south boundary fence for 450 metres to the creek, and 70 metres to extend the northern boundary to just north of the boat ramp, plus create my own solid gate that will cross over the road, on my southern boundary, to stop access to the boat ramp.

The following day after a long flight from Brisbane, I caught a taxi to the marine storage yard on the edge of the city, where the smaller of my newest purchases is being stored, and where my large one will be when it arrives next week. Located right next door to a boat ramp, it was the perfect location to be, to get in and drive off back home, following close to the coast, although I will need very good weather to be able to do that, which it looks like it will be for the next few days at least.

After letting the office know that I have come to collect my hovercraft, and ensuring that it is fuelled and ready to go, I headed to the government offices, to make full payment of the land that I bought, plus the lease fees for the Leader Creek boat ramp.

Once that was done, I headed to the supermarket for some major food shopping. Firstly I had to purchase two large ice boxes to store the frozen and refrigerated foods until I get home, which I had already worked out as 69 kilometres of close coastal travel from the boat ramp past Stokes Hill Wharf, past Larrakeyah Military Base, Cullen Bay and around East Point, before passing the northern suburb of Nightcliff and Lee Point.

From there the water is a little more open in the Beagle Gulf, before reaching the bottom of the Vernon Islands, turning East towards Glyde Point and finally reaching the mouth of Leaders Creek, and going upstream to the boat ramp. The nearly 80-kilometre journey would take me approximately three hours to complete depending on the wind and swells on the water, so I was hoping to leave the boat ramp no later than 1500 hours to make sure I am home before dark.

Once I had everything loaded into the back of the hovercraft, including my luggage and all the shopping, of which I purchased a lot more than Mark had on the list, I sent a quick text message. “Hey buddy, I have completed the food shopping, and I have all the perishables on ice, I just have to do a few other things before I set off from home, and I will be there before dark,” I typed and sent, before climbing into the hovercraft, and starting her up.

“Darwin Harbour Control, this is Hovercraft Wildfire. Pilot Captain Struan Kenrick, requesting clearance to travel from Darwin Harbour to the Vernon Islands, over,” I said over the VHF communications radio. “Captain Kenrick, on Wildfire, you have clearance, there is no heavy traffic in the harbour at this time, safe travels, over” came the response, which made me smile.

“Roger, and thank you, over,” I replied, glad that I would not have to worry about any large cargo vessels in the harbour, and I made my final checks before giving my hosts a wave and setting off down the boat ramp and into the harbour. Due to speed restrictions, I could only travel at 8 knots or 15 km/hr until I had passed Stokes Hill Wharf.

From there, I could increase speed to 12 knots or 22 km/hr until I passed Larrakeyah, where I can go up to 16 knots or 30 km/hr until I reach Lee Point, and out in the open waters, where I could open up to the cruising speed of 45 km/hr.

As I had expected, the open waters were a little choppy, which made it a little more challenging to steer, but once I had reached the semi-shelter of the Vernon Islands, the water settled a lot, and I was able to crank up the speed a little more. After passing the last main side branch of the creek, with just over a kilometre of distance remaining before arriving at the boat ramp, my mobile phone rang and the caller ID was Mark.

“Hey buddy, any problems?” I asked, “No, except I can hear a boat or something that sounds almost like a propeller aeroplane coming up the creek,” Mark replied. “Yes, that is my little surprise, I bought a hovercraft, and I just piloted it here from Darwin, I will see you shortly,” I replied with a chuckle before ending the call. When I arrived at the top of the boat ramp, I saw Mark standing at the open gates, and he had a surprised look on his face, as I passed him and headed for the large open shed, where the hovercraft will live.

“Wow, this is so awesome, a hovercraft, when can I have a ride? Please.” Mark said to me, as soon as he arrived on the quad bike after locking the gates. “First thing we need to do is get all this food into the kitchen and put away, especially all the frozen and refrigerated stuff,” I responded.

Quickly we transferred the two ice chests to the back of the bike and strapped them down, before driving the bike over to the main house shed. “I hope you don’t mind, but after Sawney left, I cleaned up his suite and I moved into there. Is that ok?” Mark asked me, and I smiled on hearing this, “Yes, that is perfectly fine, I am glad that you did,” I replied happily.

I could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen and noticed that the house was perfectly clean as I headed upstairs to drop off my luggage into my suite. Just as I returned to the ground floor, I received a text message, and seeing who the sender was I groaned, “Any problems?” Mark asked me, “A message from the base, I need to make a call,” I responded, as I walked outside to get a better reception. “Captain Struan Kenrick for the CO please,” I said when the call was answered, and after a very brief call, I was fuming as I stomped back inside.