Country Retreat - 20. First Visitors

After our first meal at the complex, we continued the tour of the other buildings in the complex, and the guys were amazed at what they saw there. “I do agree with your statement earlier about going a bit overboard, but I also see this as a great opportunity for having it used for great things. How much land do you have here surrounding this place?” Koen asked me.

“In total, 4,794 acres, but there is a good amount of that land that is not cleared, and some of that land has been made into a private coastal reserve, to protect the land and environment from any possible development or mining,” I replied. “How far away from the coast are we?” Hugh asked, “The complex is just 950 metres from the beach, but the boundary of this section of the property is just over 200 metres from the beach, in the morning, you will see how awesome the view is from the complex, which is approximately 250 metres above sea level,” I replied.

“What do you mean this section of the property?” Koen asked me, “Well, originally, we had purchased 1,534 acres of land, of which most of it fronts Indian Ocean Drive, and only one paddock has 1 kilometre of frontage of the ocean, with between 200 to 400 metres of nature reserve between the boundary and the ocean.

More recently, with discussions with the WA Government, we have purchased an additional 1,550 acres of coastal land, of which nearly half will be Coastal Reserve, and we bought the 1,750 acres of land directly behind it, which some of it is cleared, that will be added to our farming land. At the moment, we have a small herd of beef cattle on the property, and the remainder of the cleared land is used for hay crop production, for summer feed,” I explained to my two friends.

“I am guessing you know a bit about farming then?” Hugh asked, “Yes, I was brought up on a farm northeast of here, and I have been helping Gramps on this property as well as the previous one, that we no longer own,” I replied. After the tour of the complex, we settled into the executive pod and spent the rest of the afternoon watching a movie, in the lounge area of the Executive pod, before we headed to bed, as I had a full day planned for the guys for tomorrow.

The next morning, I was up early, and I took a bike ride down to the western boundary and went for a walk along the beach for an hour before returning to the complex, where I was starting to prepare breakfast when Koen and Hugh appeared. “Where did you disappear to, I was up half an hour ago and I couldn’t find you so I went back to bed,” Koen asked me. “I went for a walk down at the beach,” I responded as I pointed towards the west-facing front windows.

“Wow, what an awesome view,” Hugh said as they gazed out at the Indian Ocean located less than a kilometre away from the complex. “Yeah, I agree with you there mate,” Koen agreed before they sat down to watch me prepare breakfast. Once we had eaten and cleaned up the kitchen, I suggested to the guys to go and get changed, as we were going to spend some time down at the beach.

I was already set, with boardshorts and singlet on, I just slapped on some sunscreen and left the bottle on the counter, for the guys to use, while I headed over to the other complex, to load up the quad bike trailer, with the two kayaks, as well as the two wave boards, an esky full of cooled water and a pop-up gazebo for shade. Once the guys were ready, we drove the two quadbikes down to the southwest boundary gate, which is wide enough for the bikes and trailers to fit through, but not vehicles.

We set up our day base at the top of the sandy beach, and once the gazebo was set up, we headed to the water for a quick swim, before coming back for the boards and kayaks, where we spent the next nearly four hours just having fun and relaxing. By the time we packed up and returned to the complex, we were tired and hungry, and also a little sun and wind burnt too, but we had enjoyed it down at the beach, only deciding to end the fun when the sea breeze arrived, and started making the water very choppy.

After lunch, we climbed into my vehicle, and I gave the guys a detailed tour of the whole property, which included checking the stock that we had, as well as cleaning the water troughs and checking the water tank. “I think this place is so awesome, and you are a lucky young man to have all of this provided for you… In a way I am jealous of what you have here, right on the beach with awesome views, and plenty of acreage,” Koen said to me.

I think your place in Canada is just as nice, you have the mountains right at your doorstep, for skiing in the winter and hiking in the summer, plus you have the river right on the edge of your farm too,” I responded, “Yeah, true I guess we both have it lucky in a way,” Koen admitted. “All I have is a lousy couple of acres, with views of the city in the distance,” Hugh said to us, and we both laughed, “Admit it mate, you like the outer suburban life, close to the city,” I said to our friend, who shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement.

Once back in the complex, we showered and drove up to Lancelin, where we enjoyed an early evening meal at the local Endeavour Tavern, where we watched the sun sinking into the western horizon, and giving us a spectacular summer sunset. The next morning, I woke up the lads, and we all headed down to the beach for an early morning beach walk, which I was now starting to notice was helping me relax more, and I wasn’t as jumpy as much now, which I was pleased about.

After breakfast, we headed north back to Lancelin, where we experienced some dune buggy driving on the famous Lancelin Sandunes, as well as some sandboarding before we headed into town for an early lunch, and another walk along the beach, which here has a lot more seaweed on the beach. We called into Ledge Point on our journey back down, where we had a bit of a look around, before heading back to the property, where we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, with a trip down to the beach for a late afternoon swim.

We had to be back home in Upper Swan by early lunchtime tomorrow, so the lads could get a last load of washing done and packed, for their late evening flights home, so we just relaxed at the complex, and from just outside the front door, we set up the barbeque, and had a sunset dinner, which was great. “I am going to miss you guys when you fly out tomorrow evening,” I commented, as we cleaned up after our BBQ dinner.

“We will miss you too buddy, but I am sure that we will stay in touch, no matter where we end up around the world,” Koen responded to me, and I nodded my head in hope that this would be the case, as I was already feeling empty and alone, even before they have even left yet.

All three of us were silent for the drive back to Upper Swan the next day, and as soon as we arrived Gran had the lads sorting their clothes, and getting what needed washing into the machine and dryer, so it could be packed. Once that was done, we had a light lunch, and we went for a bit of a walk along the hiking trail since the lads would be sitting down for a long time on their flights.

When we returned, the lads had showers and packed the last of their stuff away, before getting everything loaded into the vehicle. By this stage, I was not in a good mood, and when I answered the door when someone knocked, I burst into tears, when I saw that it was Jarrad. On seeing this he slowly opened his arms out and let me move in close, before wrapping them around me.

When the others heard that I was crying they came rushing to see what was wrong, and when they saw Jarrad hugging me, they joined in the hug, and for once in a long time, I felt safe, but also sad that I was losing some close friends. Once I had settled a bit, we headed into the lounge room and chatted, about all the things we had done together in the past few years, and we all went quiet, when Gramps announced that it was time to go to the airport.

I had been tossing in my mind if I wanted to go with them to the airport or not, as they all stood up and I remained seated. “What is it, buddy?” Koen asked me with concern. “If… it's ok with you guys, I would prefer to say goodbye here and stay at home… I will be an embarrassing mess if I too go to the airport,” I eventually said.

“I will stay here with you, if that is what you want,” Jarrad added, and I silently nodded my head, that I would like that as I slowly stood up. “I am going to miss you guys so much, please keep in regular contact with me,” I said to Koen and Hugh, “You can count on it mate, at least once a week, maybe more, but we will let you know when we get home safely too,” Hugh responded, and Koen nodded in agreement, as I pulled them into a hug.

Once Gramps had left to take the lads to the airport, Jarrad and I went for a long walk to help keep my mind off missing the others, and somewhere along the way, Rebecca and Giles appeared and joined in the walk, and we had a good laugh when I finally realised that they had joined in.

We ended up sitting by the river, where some large rocks were creating a series of water rapids, and we chatted about how much our lives were about to change, as we entered university studies and adulthood, and we began to mould our future lives. For me, I knew that the coastal property and the compound would somehow be part of my future, what exactly, I was still to find out.

I knew exactly when the two flights were departing, both within half an hour of each other, and when I heard an aircraft flying above us, I closed my eyes and whispered – “Farewell my friend, thanks for everything and see you sometime in the future.”

I must have said it louder than I thought, as I felt my friends gather close and place a hand on my shoulders in a sign of support at my time of sorrow.