Country Retreat - 18. Retreat Chapter 18

After a short stop in town to have some lunch, after a 2 ½ hour journey back down the coastal road, we finally arrived at the property, and once again Gran pushed the remote button as we approached the gate, and a few minutes later, we arrived on site, with Gramps driving around the side of the complex and driving through the access tunnel into the main Shed Complex.

“Wow!” was all that I could say, as Gramps turned towards the larger sheds, stopped and reversed towards the smaller shed, where we parked just outside it. After climbing out, I looked around me, and I was amazed at how different the place now looked.

“As you can see, there are various-sized sheds, these two for 4x4 vehicles like this one, the other shed has a Toyota Ute inside for use around the property. These two slightly smaller sheds are for two standard cars and the much smaller ones are storage sheds, for kayaks and other stuff like that, we will store this one on the car away shortly after we have finished the tour. Those two long narrow sheds are the maintenance workshops, and the sheds on either side of them are the bike sheds, one side has a two-wheeler bike and the other has two quad bikes inside.

Then as you can see we have one rather large shed, which currently houses our new Front-End Loader, and the other two sheds, will be for a small truck and maybe a smaller tractor, or whatever we will need. Now if you go and have a look down the back of those larger sheds, you will find the last few items in this complex, which is now fully completed and operational,” Gramps said to me.

I cautiously walked down the side of the shed and found some smaller buildings bunched together, and as I walked closer, I saw another large building in the centre, directly behind the larger shed. These are guest or staff quarters, with two bedrooms with private bathrooms and a shared lounge in each group, with two on this side and two on the other side of this bigger building, which is a recreation hall and lounge area,” Gramps informed me.

“What exactly are you building here Gramps? A hippy resort or something?” I asked, which had Gran and Gramps laughing. “Interesting idea there Grandson, but no, it is more of… I guess a retreat of some kind, a place where you can feel safe, have your friends stay over, work the land, and be happy,” Gran said to me. “We are having a heap of varied Acacia, Casuarina and Eucalyptus trees planted all over the areas that are not cleared, to increase the vegetation, for the wildlife, and also to reduce the risk of land erosion from the nearby coastal winds.

We have started changing all the internal fencing on all the blocks of land that we have purchased so that only the cleared land will have cattle on it, and all stock will be kept out of all vegetation paddocks, including those areas closest to the coast, which will be part of the nature reserve. We will be mostly spray seeding, by air and by ground level, to make sure that we get a good thick nature forest established, which will have to be protected from fires, by installing a desalination plant to pump water into underground tanks, that will then be used to soak the ground and trees, with large sprinklers,” Gramps said to me.

“This all sounds fantastic Gramps and Gran, but this seems to be one very monstrous project, and I expect that it is going to cost a heck of a lot of money,” I said to my grandparents. “No need to worry about that Grandson, as we said before, we have done extremely well with investments, and we have already set aside all the funds needed to restore the bushland into a healthy growing coastal forest, plus still have plenty of money to pay for the construction of our hidden retreat and pay for all of your future education,” Gramps replied.

“We did decide to put an upper level on the master accommodation pod, so that is one thing that has changed, since you were last here, plus a few extra things as well, let’s go and have a look,” Gran said to me, as we headed towards to the access tunnel to the main complex. As Gran said there are some changes to the back of the complex, but the front two-thirds was still a big open area.

There are now two Senior staff accommodation pods, located on either side of the master pod, plus there are three more buildings that have been added, as Gramps explained that the smaller one in front of the admin centre is the medical centre, in case of any mishaps on the property, that need medical attention. The slightly larger building on the right-hand side of the complex, I was told is a community activity centre, while the one on the left is an education centre.

“How many people do you expect me to accommodate in this complex, with all of these facilities?” I asked my Grandparents. “Well, we figured that since you are a caring and helpful young man, someday you may need a place like this to help other people who are less fortunate than us,” Gran responded.

“I see, and that is why you are hoping that I continue with a higher education so that I will be trained enough to deal with any situation that I may come across?” I asked. “Yes, we just want you to be happy with whatever you choose to do, and we were thinking that maybe one day, you will bring your good friends out here to have a look at the place and see what ideas you can come up with to help other people,” Gran said to me.

“What we want to do is to build this place, then put it into caretaker mode, until such time that you decide on what to do with it. On other news, we have been given first choice to purchase the additional 1,550 acres of land close to the coast, which we have gone ahead and done, and that will be added to the private coastal reserve as promised,” Gramps added.

“That all sounds good, but that could be a very long time down the track, goodness knows how long it will be until a decision is made,” I replied. “That is fine, it will be here waiting for you when you are ready,” Gran replied, as she gave me a sideways hug. Once back at home, I spent an hour with Jarrad and the horses, which I found relaxing, and once he headed home, I had a shower before having dinner and going to bed early as I had a new school term starting tomorrow.

For me, life had finally settled down a little, although things were still not so happy regarding my parents, who felt that I should be home on the farm with my parents and siblings, I insisted that I was happy where I was, attending a great school and I had some great friends who are supportive and always around to help me on days when I am struggling.

I still had to attend counselling every fortnight, which was a real drag, but it is helping me to be more confident in myself, and also I was learning ways to overcome my anxiety and panic attacks, which were now a lot less frequent, which was great. When it came to the end of the year, which was approaching a lot faster now that I was doing better at school, and not having as many hassles, I was hanging out with all of my friends on the last weekend before our end-of-year exams in late November.

This time, after attending to the horses earlier than usual, I met with my friends, and we had planned to spend the day travelling over to Rottnest Island for some fun exploring the island, and soaking up the sun. “Hey Oscar, do you have any plans for the End of year holidays? Or will you be staying at home most of the time?” Koen asked me, as we sat down on the upper deck seating for the ferry trip over to the island.

“Nothing is set in concrete, there have been some discussions, but things are not too good between my parents, and my grandparents and me. It was a real disaster last time, we tried to have some family time on the farm, and in the end, my Grandparents took me on a short holiday up the coast. Why do you ask?” I replied to Koen, as I watched Jarrad, Rebecca, Giles and Marcus, who has become part of my group of friends, on the deck below all feeling rather ‘green in the gills’ and ready to lose their breakfast, as the crossing to the island was quite rough today.

“Well, I was wondering if you would be interested, that is if you can pay for the travel side of things, to come home to Canada with me for part of the holidays?” Koen said to me, I was a little stunned at what Koen had asked, and it took me a few moments for it to sink in what he was asking me. “You are asking me to travel to Canada for the holidays? Where exactly do you live in Canada?” I asked responded, and he just chuckled.

“On a farm just 24 kilometres north of the small town called Pemberton, which is just 33 kilometres north of Whistler, and 156 kilometres north of Vancouver, British Columbia,” Koen replied smiling, “Sounds like a heck of a long way to get there,” I responded, “Yes, in a way it is. But there are good roads to get to it, plus there is a train line to get as far as Whistler,” Koen replied. “I think that would be awesome thank you, but I will have to ask my grandparents, as they are my current guardians, I responded.

We had an awesome day on Rottnest Island, and it was on the ferry journey back, that I realised something, “Hey Koen, what season is it at your home during Christmas break?” I asked, “Winter of course, so plenty of snow for skiing and boarding,” Koen replied smiling, “How cold does it get there?” I asked, “Oh, on average, about one degree Celsius during the day, and about minus five at night,” Koen replied, “Oh man, that is very cold, I am not sure about going to a place that cold,” I responded.

When I arrived home, I mentioned to Gran and Gramps the offer to travel to British Columbia, Canada, and I was informed that I didn’t have a current passport, so this trip would not be possible as it takes a few weeks to have a new passport processed, and with it approaching Christmas, that the waiting time could be longer. In a way, I was glad that I wouldn’t be going, as I was still not sure how I would cope with the long-distance travel and being so far away from home.