Country Retreat - 33. Grandparents Move homes

Let's load up the tools and jump on so that we can be on our way,” Jake said to me, as we walked back to the ute, where there were two large crates, that we carried to the railcar and climbed on. Once Jake had given me a rundown on what to do and what to expect, we slowly started pumping the levers that gave us motion, and we were soon on our way down the track. “Keep an eye out for any damaged rail line or railway sleepers, so we can mark them with pain, and come back another time to do some work on it,” Jake said.

We were soon speeding along at a fairly good speed. Before long about twenty-five minutes later, Jake stopped pumping the handle and gently started applying pressure on the brake peddle until we came to a stop, with two lots of old railway sleepers across the track, secured in place with some steel pickets, located just a few metres away from where we stopped.

“This is my boundary fence, so I didn’t want to go any further to create any attention that I am using the track,” Jake explained. “Is there one at the other end as well?” I asked. “Yes, just 190 metres further, at the corner boundary. We will need to stop along the way back, to check on the creek crossings that we crossed over, there is Rocky Gully and also three branches of Monks Gully that need checking,” Jake answered.

Nearly two hours later we finally arrived back where we had started. “I noticed that there wasn’t much grass build up over the tracks, what did you do there?” I asked, and Jake chuckled. “Easy, I just sprayed it with Grass and Weed Killer, and also I used a petrol grass trimmer to get rid of any of the heavily built-up stuff,” Jake replied.

After we arrived back at the machinery shed, we unloaded the ute, and Jake said he had some work to do in the office, and that he would see me around, so after collecting my wallet and vehicle keys, I went for a drive to have a look around the city, stopping for some lunch on the way. I did a lap around State Circle around Capital Hill, but couldn’t see much due to the difference in height between the road and Parliament House.

When I turned right onto Melbourne Avenue and was about to turn right onto Parliament Drive, I suddenly found myself, right in front of Parliament House, and I was so amazed at what I saw, it was a car horn behind me that made me realise that I needed to keep moving. As the road does s slight deviation, I found myself at the back end of Parliament House, and on the other side, down a long wide carpet of lawn, I could see Old Parliament House, which was just as amazing to see.

Turning right onto Commonwealth Avenue, and crossing over the river heading north, until I reached Vernon Circle, where I did a lap around so I could get a good look back at Capital Hill and Parliament House, after that, I decided to just keep driving and have a look at whatever I see on the way. Two hours later I returned to my new place of residence, and I relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

The following day, I made my way to the Australian National University to check in at the office and get my lecture schedule for the first semester, with the building was a little difficult to find as it was in the middle of the campus, with parking over 400 metres away from the building. Once I had done this, I headed to the bookstore to purchase all the books I needed which were quite a few, and which cost quite a lot of money.

Once I had done that, and left all the books in my vehicle, I wandered around the campus for the next hour, to locate all the buildings where I would be attending lectures, as well as the library and the various places to get food. Once I was happy with getting familiar with the campus, I returned to the farm, where there was no sign of Jake anywhere, do I headed back to the cottage, and started looking through the books.

When the first day of the semester began, I was a little nervous, as I headed to my first lecture, located on the north side of Sullivan Creek, and I found parking 700 metres away on the same side of the creeks near the colleges. It took me a few weeks to get used to the routine of university studies so far away from home, and I made a phone call to home to talk to Gran and Gramps at least once a week, as well as texting all my friends as well.

During one of these text conversations, Rebecca asked me if I was ok, as I seemed a little down in the dumps with things here in Canberra. I explained that although I was doing well in my studies, I was not enjoying the course, and I was considering making a change to another course in the second semester, we discussed a few options on what I could do as an alternative.

By the time I was halfway through the first semester of my first year at ANU, after long discussions with my grandparents, I had decided to change course, and I went to the Student Services building to make the change to a Bachelor of Philosophy, Neuroscience & Psychology.

Although this course would also take three years to complete, it would be a much heavier study workload, which I thought I could handle, I was looking into doing a Certificate 4 course in Training and Assessment, which would allow me to work in Vocational Education & Training Colleges, in areas of my specialty, which for now is just in Agriculture, which would be done at the CIT - Canberra Institute of Technology Bruce Campus which is located at the northern end of the city, just 4.3 kilometres north-west of the ANU Campus.

During the mid-year semester break from mid-June to the third week of July, I was kept very busy with paid work at the farms in Calwell and Billilingra 72 kilometres to the south, spending three weeks down at Billilingra, with weekends spent on the home farm at Calwell, then two weeks at Calwell with weekends at the southern farm, as Jake was away with work commitments during this time.

When I started my new bachelor’s degree at ANU as well as the Certificate Course at CIT, it didn’t take me long to get settled into both courses, and I was feeling much happier with them. I learnt from a text message from Koen, that he too had changed his studies course, and we no longer studying Law at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, and he too was happy with the change.

I made sure that I concentrated on my studies as the main priority, and I found it a little easier as the weeks and months passed. By the end of the year, I had added another course to my resume, now with a Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment, which included a two-week work experience session in the Horticulture Department, assisting the lecturer with the Cert 2 course there, for which I as familiar with some of the subjects, especially in the area of Chemical Usage for Pest Control, Irrigation Systems and Work Health & Safety Processes.

I enjoyed the learning at the College, that I decided to do another course there the following year, so I enrolled to do the Diploma in Information Technology, which is a fancy way of saying all about computers, I decided to do the General Construction Induction – White Card course, and a Cert 4 in Work Health & Safety, which technically I need when operating machinery and stuff back home on the farm.

For the Christmas holiday break, I packed only what I needed, and leaving my vehicle on the farm at Calwell, I flew home to WA to be with my Grandparents, who were thrilled to hear that I would be coming home for five weeks. The late afternoon flight home was long and tiring, but I was glad to see Gran and Gramps at the Airport to collect me, to take me home.

As we drove out of the airport, I was informed that since I no longer have horses and I am now away over East at University for the next few years, they had leased their home at Upper Swan, and bought a smaller property in Yanchep, so that it is a little closer to our property near Ledge Point, so it took us an hour to get to my Grandparents home from the airport, instead of twenty minutes.

Because of the time difference, there was still over an hour of daylight by the time we arrived in Yanchep, and I was already very tired from the travelling as well as the three-hour time difference, due to Daylight Savings, and I didn’t notice anything about the house. We exited the garage and walked through an outdoor living space and the swimming pool as we headed inside, via the laundry.

“Ok, this is your room is the one on the left, the bathroom and separate toilet are located next door and the kitchen is located upstairs. Just leave the sorting of your stuff until the morning when you have rested and recovered from the trip. Sleep well and goodnight, Oscar,” Gran said to me as she steered me in the right direction.

When I woke in the morning, the sun was well up, and shielding my eyes, I slowly opened the heavy curtains to let some more daylight in. “Wow, nice swimming pool,” I said to myself out loud, before staggering out of bed and heading to the toilet and bathroom. Once I had showered, fully awake and dressed, I headed upstairs, where I could smell food.

“Good morning, Gran. That smells delicious, may I have some please,” I asked, and Gran smiled as I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Yes, you may, since you asked so nicely. What did you think of the view from here?” Gran responded. “It is stunning, and we are almost right on the beach,” I answered. “That we are, walking down there via the boardwalk it is about 100 metres from the front gate,” Gran said to me.

“I will have to check it out after breakfast, and explore the beach a bit,” I replied. “Do you want to take one of the kayaks, we brought two of them down just in case you wanted to use them,” Gran asked, “That would be fantastic, thanks,” I responded. After I had eaten, and said hello to Gramps, who had just returned from a beach walk, I went to sort out my laundry and unpack all my clothes that I had with me, before getting ready for some kayaking.