Country Retreat - 21. More Coastal Reserve

The day after Koen and Hugh had flown back to their home countries, Gran and Gramps announced that the three of us would be spending Christmas and New Year in Tasmania, as a graduation present to me, and that we would be leaving eight days before Christmas, which was just over two days away, and that it would be an organised coach tour for 12 days.

With so little time, I had to organise what I would be taking with me on this trip, while Gran told me what the trip was going to be like, with all the incredible places that we would be seeing during the trip. The day before we left, I let Jarrad know that I would be in Tasmania for Christmas and New Year and that I was leaving the next day. I could tell in Jarrad’s voice that he was a little disappointed with this news, so I promised to bring back a stuffed toy Tassie Devil, which made him laugh.

After a wonderful holiday in Tasmania, where I came back with a few extra stuffed toys, sending one each to my siblings at the farm, I settled into preparing for university studies for the next two years. With my two overseas friends spread out everywhere, we worked out the best time to stay in contact with a weekly Video Conference at 8 am on Saturday mornings Perth time, which was 5 pm Friday in West Coast Canada and noon on Saturday in New Zealand, where we chatted about what was happening in our lives for just 30 minutes before we had to dash off to do what we all needed to do, which for me, was to have breakfast and start studying.

Now that I owned a vehicle, I was able to drive to the university each day to attend lectures and study groups, which was a 40-kilometre drive each way and would take between 35 to 55 minutes of travelling time, depending on the traffic each day, and I listened to classical music, which I found helped me to stay relaxed.

The first semester ended in mid-June, with a four-week holiday break, which I was looking forward to, as I had been studying hard to ensure that I received good grades, and I remained home in Upper Swan even during the public long weekends, with weekends mostly spent with my nose in the books or taking a hike in the nearby National Park, which I always enjoyed especially when one or all of my local mates could join me.

On the Saturday morning of my first day of holidays, I was enjoying my sleep-in, when I heard the doorbell, and a few moments later I heard Gran chatting to someone. “He is still in bed I believe, he was up late doing some reading, so I am not sure if he is awake,” I heard Gran say down the hallway, and I groaned, as I climbed out of bed. “Yes, I am awake, give me a few minutes to get organised,” I called out, as I started to get dressed.

“Good morning sunshine… oops,” Jarrad said when he burst into my room unannounced, as I stood there just in my underwear, and he turned around and walked out, closing the door behind him. Once dressed and gone to the bathroom, I headed to the kitchen, where Jarrad was chatting to Gran and Gramps.

“Good morning all,” I said cheerfully as I entered and sat down at the breakfast bar next to Jarrad, purposely giving him a should bump as I did, making him nearly fall off his stool, which made me smile broadly. “Selena is bringing the little ones down for a few hours, leaving them here for us to mind, while she does some shopping. What are your plans for the day boys?” Gran informed me.

“I think we might go for a drive and a hike in the national park, and maybe a bit of kayaking too,” I responded, “That sounds great. Anything to get me outdoors and enjoy the fresh air, after a painful first semester at University,” Jarrad responded, which made me chuckle. “In that case, just a cup of tea and toast will do for breakfast, and we will stop off somewhere for lunch,” I said to Gran.

Less than half an hour later, we set off with both kayaks loaded onto the roof rack of my vehicle, and we headed for the top car park at Walyunga National Park, where the river is quite wide and free of any rapids for nearly two kilometres upstream, which is perfect for kayaking, with the slow river flow giving us a bit of a workout as we went upstream.

When we arrived back at our starting point about 90 minutes later, after a fifteen-minute break at the rapids which put a halt to us progressing any further upstream, we decided to see how far we could go downstream, and unfortunately, that was as far as the lower car park which was as distance of about 700 metres.

Once back at the top car park, we loaded up the kayaks again and drove back to my Grandparent's place, where I was feeling anxious knowing that my siblings would be there, as well as my mother. We managed to put the kayaks away in the shed before I heard my siblings calling out my name, and soon they wrapped me in a hug.

“Hey guys, my word, you two have grown very quickly,” I said as I happily returned the hugs, after looking to see if my mother was around, and not seeing any sign of the family car. When we walked into the house, my stomach growled on melling something delicious, which made Jarrad chuckle. “Have you big boys eaten yet, there is plenty of stew to go around for everyone,” Gran called out from the kitchen, “That would be great please Gran, no we have not eaten anything yet,” I replied, “Yes Please Mrs K,” Jarrad added.

As we were seated and eating Gran’s delicious stew, a thought occurred to me, “Err Gramps, I thought the Kayaks were at the other place,” I said to my grandfather, and he laughed out loud. “Took you long enough to realise that, grandson. I went and picked them up the other day, in case you wanted to use them,” Gramps replied.

“What other place?” my brother Deacon asked, “Yes, what other place,” Jarrad added, and I looked at Gramps who shrugged his shoulders. “We have a storage shed on a small block near the coast, where we keep the kayaks when I want to go ocean kayaking,” I replied, which was a sort of half-truth.

Thankfully my siblings didn’t want to know where this other block of land is, and when I frowned towards Jarred, he knew not to ask any more questions for now. After lunch, I spent some time with my siblings, while Jarrad headed home on the other side of the river, and about an hour after lunch, I headed to my bedroom to do some studying, while my siblings had a short afternoon nap.

When I had been reading for about an hour, I quietly stepped out of my room, where I found Amara and Deacon still snoozing in the lounge room, with Gran reading a book nearby. “I am going to go for a short drive to the coast, I will be back in time for dinner,” I whispered to Gran, who nodded her head in understanding, and I quietly left the house.

Once I had driven out of the property, I suddenly realised that I might drive past my mother, and I didn’t want to stop and talk to her, so instead of heading towards Midland, I turned down West Swan Road, and then onto Gnangara Road, heading west towards the beach, where the same road becomes Ocean Reef Road.

Stopping at the Ocean Reef Marina, I went for a look around the area since I hadn’t been here before, and after half an hour of walking along the beach, my mobile rang, with Gramps being the caller. “Hi Gramps, what’s happening?” I replied. “Not much apart from your mother not being too happy that you were not around when she first arrived, and when she came to collect the little ones,” Gramps responded.

“Oh well, that is life, she will just have to get over it, anything else?” I replied, “Yes, Gran mentioned that you went for a drive to the coast. Are you anywhere near the northern suburb of Eglinton? It is between the suburbs of Butler and Yanchep,” Gramps asked me. “Oh ok, no. I am at Ocean Reef, I am not sure how far south that is from Eglinton, is that a new suburb?” I replied.

“Yes, it is. Ok, can you take a drive north for me, and go to Eglinton for me, I want you to check out a recent land purchase that I have made there, please. Give me a call when you arrive,” Gramps said to me before ending the call, which left me a little confused. About twenty-five minutes later, I arrived in the suburb of Eglinton, which was still being developed and I pulled over to the side into a car park just off Marmion Avenue, which is the main coastal road in this area, and dialled the number for Gramps.

“Ok, I am here, on the corner of Marmion Avenue and Cinnabar Drive,” I said when the call was answered, “Good, now continue north for another 1.5 kilometres and at the roundabout on Pipidinny Rd, turn left and I will talk to you again then,” Gramps said, once again ending the call abruptly.

I was now starting to wonder what on earth he was up to, as I continued to drive north and as instructed, at the roundabout, I turned left off Marmion Ave, and pulled over to the side of the road, and this time Gramps called me. “OK, tell me what you see there?” Gramps asked me. “Well the sealed road is narrow, with bushland close to it, and it looks like it goes nowhere,” I replied.

“Good, now drive down the road, until you come to the end. Oh! and you will see a few warning signs, just stay on the road, don’t go wandering off the road, as there are limestone rockholes about the place,” Gramps said to me, before ending the call once more.

When I did arrive at the end, about 1.5 kilometres down the road, I came across a large limestone boundary wall that was a metre high, heading North and South, with a one-metre garrison fence on top and a large steel gate similar to the one we have at the entrance to the property near Ledge Point. On the gate was a large sign – “No Entry – Restricted Coastal Reserve.”