Country Retreat - 46. Another degree completed.

Once I was back home in Adelaide, with Giles coming to pick me up, I had a few days to relax before the start of the second semester of Uni. Antonio was currently away at home on the other side of the gulf, so the place was a little messy, and with a bit of encouragement, I helped Giles get the house back in order again. Once that was done, I went to the study and checked on my emails, which I had not done since leaving to go on my holiday to the ACT, and as expected there was an email from Marcus, with an attachment that looked like a report.

“Hey mate, I have done two lots of six-day observations of the beach, and I have attached the results for you. The beach barriers are now in place, and yes I got the Loader a little bogged… twice and the shire loader had to pull me out of the wet beach sand, but at least we now have a barrier that stops all large vehicles from entering the beach area near the shipwrecks.

We installed a low-level barrier from the rocks on the beach up to the property boundary, using railway iron of all things. Short upright lengths are cemented deep into the ground, with cross lengths welded to the top at a height of 800 mm above the ground, making it impossible for any vehicle to cross over. The local council has also declared the area between the property and 500 metres out from the beach, a coastal reserve, and that has been sign posted at each end of the beach and every 100 metres along the barrier at each end.

We have also installed six high poles with monitoring cameras with alert sensors on top, along our western boundary at 200-metre intervals with rangers from the local shire having access to these cameras, to keep an eye out on any vehicles that may somehow manage to get through. We have made some adjustments to the internal fencing, with a laneway now established, from the front gate along the northern boundary to the top west gate, so that the rangers can gain access to the beach, without going anywhere else on the farm and discovering the complex, and the gate to the rest of the farm is always kept locked. Have fun at Uni, and see you when you eventually come home at the end of the year. Marcus.”

In September, I received word that I had not been successful in gaining a scholarship at Oxford University, which I was very disappointed about, and I forwarded the email to my grandparents to let them know, as I began looking at other options for next year. After a lot of searching and many enquiry phone calls, I applied for and was accepted to do a three-semester online Master's Degree in Education at my current University, where I would have to do one study block for three weeks each semester on campus, and the rest would be online.

I liked the idea of doing most of the course online, as it meant that I could also do some additional studies in Adelaide as well, as I had been thinking about doing a Cert 4 in Agriculture Business, which would also be an online course, which I knew I could handle, but for now, I had to concentrate on completing my current studies in Neuro Science & Psychology, which I have found to be quite a challenge.

I continued to regularly sign chat with my new friends at Uni, who helped me to keep fluent with my Auslan sign. As the year was coming to an end, I managed to get through my final examinations without too many problems, and Giles was struggling a bit. I kept him motivated and on track so that he could graduate from his course in Information Technology, and he was having second thoughts about doing his honours next year, and I suggested that maybe he should consider doing some courses at TAFE instead, where there wouldn’t be so much pressure and he would gain more qualifications.

When Giles had finished his final examination just six days after I had completed mine, we began to pack our luggage for the holiday break home in WA, having decided to fly home instead of driving across the Nullabor, as we had made arrangements with Marcus to collect us from the airport at Perth and take us directly to the property, so we could just relax in peace for a few days, as well as checking out this new reef created by the two sunken barges.

Marcus had been keeping us updated on what was happening with the property, as well as the artificial reef, which now has a lot of marine life growing on and around it, with sea lions being regular visitors to the location, as are the many tourists who come to check out the site, many of them bringing scuba diving equipment, and Marcus would keep the Shire Rangers informed of any activity on the beach.

One group of hoons had attempted to get their vehicle across the low barrier, by bringing car ramps, which ended up resulting in the vehicle’s chassis getting stuck on top of the barrier, when one of the ramps slipped out of position, and they ended up having to call a tow truck to lift them off the barrier, with the Shire Rangers also making an appearance and issuing a hefty fine, which was very entertaining for Marcus and Gramps who happened to be on the property at the time.

There had been quite a large increase in beach traffic since the media had reported about the barges running aground and sinking in the area, and this included a lot of beach camping north and south of the barrier as well, with it being 11 kilometres from the town of Seabird up to the south end barrier, and 7-kilometres from the town of Ledge Point down to the north end barrier, and this was becoming a concern for the shire.

When we arrived at the property in the late afternoon, the first thing we did was head down to the beach, since it was now early Summer and the afternoon was quite warm. After a brief swim and a walk along the beach, having kept the buggy inside the boundary, we spotted a few people looking out towards the barge wreck, which now has an orange marker buoy attached to it, that has a small solar-powered warning beacon on top, to keep vessels clear of it.

Before the people started wandering too close to us, we slipped back into the property, making sure that the gate was securely locked and we headed back to the compound, taking a longer route so we could not be seen where exactly we were heading. Once we had showered, changed and settled in, we sat out on the balcony to watch the sun setting, with no sign of those people on the beach.

On hearing a vehicle nearby and behind us, Marcus informed us that on weekends the local council rangers will often do a patrol down to the beach in the late afternoon, to check that no one was camping on the beach, and if they are to send them on their way. The next morning, the three of us did a full tour of the property, so Marcus could update me on what’s been happening on the property, and I was surprised to learn that Gramps and Marcus, along with the assistance of Lincoln and Jamison, who often visit on weekends, have been building a raised walkway through the bushland on the property, as well as planting additional trees and shrubs.

Jamison also brings the weekly shopping up to the property and spends a few hours each visit, cooking up heaps of meals to keep Marcus fed for the week, with some of the meals frozen as a backup supply when needed. During the week, Jamison works in a restaurant in Yanchep, not far from my grandparent’s place, while his brother is a paramedic based also in Yanchep, which is where the brothers share a house.

Two days later, the brothers arrived after Marcus drove to the front gate to let them in. Once they had dropped off their overnight bags, for their usual two-night stay, they came and said hello to us and sat down and chatted for a while, before Jamison headed to the main kitchen to start cooking, while Marcus and Lincoln headed down to the beach to see if any issues are happening, with it being a Saturday morning.

“Marcus to base,” I heard on the UHF radio, while Giles and I were looking around the gardens in the other complex, and selecting some vegetables as Jamison’s request. “Kitchen here boss, what’s happening down there?” we heard Jamison say in reply. “Big trouble, can you please telephone the rangers and inform them that their presence is required at the north barrier of Shipwreck Beach, and ask Oscar if he and Giles can bring the front-end-loader down please, over,” Marcus said over the radio.

“That usually means a vehicle has been bogged on the beach and caught in the tide,” I explained to Giles, as I picked up the mic of the radio in the nearby vehicle. “Oscar here, I heard the message and we will be down there shortly, over,” I said into the radio, while Giles was on his mobile. “Please hold for Mr Oscar Kingston at Marakoona,” I heard him say before handing me the mobile.

Once I had spoken to the Ranger on duty, we drove down to the machinery shed near the front gate, where we checked the fuel and oil, before starting up and heading down the northern fence laneway towards the vehicle gate that leads to the beach, where we found Marcus and Lincoln sitting on the buggy, just observing a group of men trying to dig their Ute out of the beach, which had already sunken deeper when the tide came in, which was now on its way out again.

“They will never learn will they,” I commented as we reached the buggy, parked on the very edge of the beach, well away from the water. “No, there is always one idiot who wants to push the boundaries a little too much,” Lincoln responded. “Hey Mr, can you help to pull us out with your tractor please?” one of the young men in the group of five that were trying to recover the vehicle.

Only when the Shire Rangers have arrived and the tide is further out to sea,” I replied. “Did you have to call in the Rangers?” another of the men asked, “Yes, because I can’t use my loader on the beach until I have authorisation from the shire ranger,” I replied. “Oh! Well, that sucks. I guess we will get some sort of fine or something for this?” the first young man asked.

“Probably, as well as a bill from me for the use of my loader as well,” I replied smiling. “How much are you going to charge?” the second young man asked. “Depends on how long it takes once we get started, just be lucky that I am not charging from the time we arrived here, that you get for free,” I responded, as Marcus chuckled beside me.