Grantly - 4. Grant Chapter 4

The overnight stay of the two families was a big hit which included an early morning short sail down the coast to Port St Mary, where the yacht is based, which the lad’s parents enjoyed very much. Sadly my time back home had come to an end, and it was time for me to return to Tasmania, to complete my final two terms at my primary school in Kingston, but I was also looking forward to seeing my mates again and looking forward to the upcoming school trip in early December.

“Did you do anything interesting on your annual European holiday?” I was asked as soon as Nicholas and Simon found me and cornered me, and I smiled at their eagerness to get the information out of me. “Usual time and usual place lads, we have our first class of a new term to get to,” I responded, which annoyed the heck out of both of my mates, and I smiled broadly as we headed for our lockers.

Suddenly remembered something, and grabbing the lads by their arms, I dragged them to a quiet location away from the rest of the crowd. “I am not sure if you know this or not guys, but all Year 6 students are being offered the chance to go on a two-week-long end-of-school trip to the UK in early December. They will probably announce it at the assembly today, and I am hoping that both of you guys will come with me,” I whispered to my two good mates.

“How is it that you know about this and we don’t?” Nicholas asked, “I am sure your parents do know about it, as there was a notice that went out to parents some time ago. It is just because, I have one parent here in Tasmania, and another in Europe, that I was present when it was discussed recently,” I answered.

At the end of the assembly, the Vice Principal asked for just Year 6 students to remain, along with four teachers, and once we were all quiet again, the big announcement that I was expecting was announced. All 32 students except me and my two mates were shocked at this news, as more details of the two-and-a-half-week long trip were given about the trip of a lifetime for most of them before we started high school in the new year.

“…Thanks to the added suggestion from one of the parents and a kind sponsor, you will be spending four days and four nights on the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency of the UK, a small island located in the Irish Sea between Cumbria, England to the East, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland to the North and County Down, Northern Ireland to the West. We will travel by ferry for four hours from Heysham near Lancaster to Douglas on the Isle of Man, and we have accommodation booked to stay at Maughold for three nights.

While there, we will travel on the steam train from Ramsey to Port Erin, go on a bus tour of the island, including following the route of the famous Ise of Man Motorcycle race, and have an all-day sail onboard a catamaran yacht, with excursions along the way to explore historic parts of the island. The accommodation we will be staying at will fit all 32 students, plus three or four teachers and two additional adults if all of you can come along.

Information packs will be handed to you as you leave today, with everything that you need to know, so collect them as you leave, that is all for now, you can go to class,” the Vice Principal announced, and after gathering our tour information backs, we headed to our lockers to collect our books for the rest of our first class.

When the lunch break finally arrived, Nicholas, Simon and I headed for the octagonal gazebo located near a tree well away from the rest of the group, so we could talk in private. “I have this big suspicion that you know a lot more about this trip than you are saying,” Nicholas said to me once we were alone, and I sighed loudly.

“Ok, but my parents have said that only you two guys are to know this, no one else, and that includes your parents,” I began to say, changing from French to Manx, “I was born on the Isle of Man and that is where I go each Southern Winter break, to my home at Santon, 9 kilometres south-west of Douglas,” I said. “What the hell was that language, all I understood was the words Santon and Douglas,” Simon said to me.

“Wait a moment, I think I know what you are trying to say, but can you translate for us please?” Nicholas asked, and I repeated my statement in English, “The language is Gaelic Manx, the original language of the Isle of Man,” I added. “Holy cow… so you mean we are going to your home island for this trip in December?” Simon asked.

“That is correct, it was my mother who suggested we go there after discussing it with my father, and it is he who has offered the cruise on the catamaran yacht, which is awesome to sail on,” I replied. “Will we get to see your home too?” Nicholas asked. “I doubt it, as it is going to be a very fast stopover on my Island home, we will most probably drive right past the second gate to our property, but the house is hidden behind a lot of shrubs,” I replied.

“That’s a shame, I would have liked to have seen it,” Simon stated, “I will be staying with you for the whole trip, except for near the end at London, I will not be returning to Australia with you guys, I will be remaining in the UK for Christmas, and as of then, I will be spending my Christmas’s and the first term of school at my new college on the Isle of Man, which I have yet to have a tour of the place yet, but I have seen it from a distance.

I will be spending Terms 2, 3 & 4 in Tasmania, and the Christmas holidays and Term 1 at Castletown, on the Isle of Man” I announced to my mates. “Wow, that is going to be some juggling match, how are you going to cope with that?” Nicholas asked. “It has already been arranged, and with both schools offering the IB Diploma, that will make things a little easier for me, although at Southern Christian College the Language Class will be Indonesian, while at King William’s College, it will be French, Italian and Latin,” I replied.

“Wow, that is going to be a real challenge for you,” Simon stated, “Not really, I am already fluent in English, French and Manx, so two more won't hurt,” I replied, knowing that I had a real talent for languages, not mentioning that I already knew some basic Italian from the trips to Europe.

Nine weeks later, as another school term came to an end, I had already arranged with Nicholas and Simon to stay over at my place for a few days during the spring holidays, and after dinner, we gathered in my room upstairs, where the lads wanted to know more about my home on the Isle of Man, as I had resisted saying anything at school in case we were overheard.

Over the holidays, the lads spent both weekends staying at my place, staying in the spare rooms down the hall from my room, and during the week, we went out on long bike rides, long hikes in the nearby state reserve, and swimming at Wingara Bay, which is a small shallow bay that is part of the Northwest Bay, generally having an awesome time just having fun in the outdoors.

For the last term of the school year, I buckled down to make sure that I did very well with my studies so that it didn’t affect my entry into the new school on the Isle of Man. As the date for the Year 6 UK holiday trip approached quickly, the final numbers were in, with 28 students, two teachers and two adult parents who would be going on the trip, and I was pleased that both of my mates would be going.

“I will need you to pack everything that you will need for the three and a half months that you will be away, although in that time I am sure you will probably grow out of a lot of your clothing and footwear,” Mum said to me at the start of the last weekend that I would be in Tasmania for a while. “I expect that most of the clothes that I have at home in Santon I have grown out of too,” I responded, and Mum gave me a sad smile.

“Will I be in the same area as my class and teachers on the plane?” I asked Mum, “No son, as usual, your father has booked you a business class seat for the whole distance except the first leg from Hobart to Melbourne. I think he has also upgraded your two friends as well, you will have to check with them when they get their flight tickets,” Mum replied.

On Monday morning, just four days before we flew out of Hobart for the start of our school trip, I was met as usual by my two friends. “Dude, we got our tickets on the weekend, and we are in Business Class, are you the same?” Simon asked me, “Yep, all thanks to my Dad, I was told that you two may get an upgrade,” I replied smiling, “This is awesome, we get to travel in style,” Nicholas added, as the lads showed me a photo of their tickets, where they are seated in the door aisle like me for the short trip to Melbourne, then in the centre two seats in business class, while I am across from them in the same row for both the trip to Perth and the trip to London.

“The information says that we are staying at a hostel near Hyde Park in London, and getting there from Heathrow, we will need to take two trains, but it will take us directly to the hostel, so no long walks are required, which will be good. I have arranged for us to share a room, but there will be a delay for me arriving there,” I said to the lads.

“Why is that?” Simon asked me, “Because, I will have additional luggage with me because I am staying afterwards, so I will be catching a train to the City Airport, and flying to the Isle of Man about three hours after arriving at Heathrow.

My Dad is meeting me at Douglas Airport to collect me and all of my additional luggage and take me home for a few hours before I catch a flight back to London City Airport, and a taxi to the hostel, arriving there at about 7 pm,” I announced to the lads. “Wow, that’s a lot of travelling to just deliver some extra luggage, “ Nicholas stated.

“It is, but I have to travel with the luggage for the whole distance, and it's not a problem, you guys will probably get settled into the hostel and catch a bit of a sleep, I am used to all of this international travel,” I replied. “Will anyone know about your additional travels?” Simon asked me, “Yes, Mr Jackson will know, and since he is the Deputy Principal, he also knows that I will be staying on after you guys return to Tasmania,” I responded.

A few days later, after the celebrations of our last day of school were completed, we prepared to fly out of Hobart the next day, with us all meeting at the school at 6.45 am, to board the bus to travel the 45 minutes to Hobart Airport, with our flight due to leave at 10.20 am.

We had to show our plane tickets and passports before we could board the bus, to make sure that no one had left their travel documents behind, and after a bit of a delay leaving the school, we rushed to get our luggage checked in and our boarding passes issued at the airport, before arriving at the departure lounge. “I hear you three have an upgrade once we get to Melbourne, just make sure you do it discreetly so we don’t have any arguments with the other students, ok?” Mr Jackson whispered to us at the departure lounge.

“Yes sir, understood, we are sorry about this, it was my father in Europe who arranged the changes, as I am a regular traveller to Europe, and we always travel in Business Class,” I whispered back, and Mr Jackson smiled and nodded in understanding, before heading back to join the other adults, which consisted of History teacher, Ms Parks, and two Parents, Mr and Mrs Appleton.

The first flight was uneventful, as we arrived on time in the late morning, and the majority of our luggage would simply be transferred to our next flight, and all of us carried a backpack with just the essentials for our journey, with our second flight to Perth due to leave about 1½ hours after we landed in Melbourne, so we didn’t have much spare time to get to our next flight.

When the boarding call for business class passengers was made, we ignored it, so as not to cause any issues with the rest of our group, and I saw Mr Jackson look over towards me, nod and smile. When the boarding call was made for economy class passengers, we joined the others, hanging back a little to be at the end of the group, with Mr Jackson having sorted our group into two groups, as some were allocated seats near the back and some are allocated near the centre of the plane.

As the second group made their way towards the centre of the plane, we turned left and headed for our business class seats. “Wow, this is so awesome, remind me to thank your Dad for the upgrade, this is going to be great,” Simon said to me, and I just smiled, as I saw my friends take the two centre-row seats, and start looking around at what extra benefits they get, while I settled into my window seat in the same row.

The four-hour flight was just the same for me, comfortable seats, a great meal and good entertainment to pass the time, and I could see that my friends were absolutely loving the upgrade. “Everything ok up this way?” Mr Jackson asked us when he appeared about midway through the flight, and we assured him that we were fine. “By the way sir, I’m not sure if you are aware or not, but I asked my Dad to make some changes for the international leg of the flight, which I hope you will like,” I commented.

The Deputy Principal was not sure what I meant by the comment, as he headed back to his seat, and Nicholas leaned over towards me, “What did you mean by that?” he asked me, “Oh nothing special, I just had the whole group moved so that we are all in the mid-section, all the students together in the economy section, the four Adults in the back row of the Premium Economy Section, and we are in the back of Business section,” I replied.

“What’s the difference between each section, apart from the obvious for business class?” Simon asked, “Well the economy section has a three-seat by three-seat by three-seat layout, while premium economy it’s a two-seat by three-seat by two-seat layout, and here we have a one-seat by two-seat by one-seat layout, meaning the seats a little bit wider in Premium Economy,” I replied.

When we landed in Perth, we had four hours till our next flight, but in that time we had to check into our International flight and pass through customs and border control, this took up a fair amount of time to do, leaving us just under two hours before our next flight leaves.

This time we would not have a choice about boarding when we were called, and I just hoped that it would not cause any issues, so I suggested to Nicholas and Simon not to look at our classmates as we went to get our boarding passes checked and we board the plane.