Country Retreat - 58. Surprising News

Once we arrived home in Adelaide, we unpacked and settled in, with Hunter going for a swim in the pool for a while, and I just did some reading in my lounge. The following day we all headed off to our university campuses and for the remainder of the semester, we all kept busy with our studies, I also had a few visits to the doctors regarding my injuries that needed additional physiotherapy sessions, to get full movement back into the arm, and I had two practical learning sessions at the local TAFE College.

Gran and Gramps went ahead with suing the Mount Gambier Police Department for the injuries that I had sustained, and surprisingly they had decided to pay the full amount, which would cover all our legal fees, my medical bills, as well as a tidy sum for the pain and stress that I had sustained by the police officer’s actions.

Once we had all completed our final exams, and with 11 days until Christmas, we decided to do a road trip south to allow Hunter to check out his two inheritances, Hunter had already been in contact with the farmer who is leasing his property, and the agency that is looking after the holiday property, which much to our surprise is on Kangaroo Island, with it being a 67 km drive, and 18 km – 45 min ferry trip and a further 20 km drive to reach the holiday property from the Hindmarsh Valley farm.

We had booked to stay at the holiday cottage for two nights after we had visited the main farm first. We left Adelaide at 9 am for the one-hour drive south to the farm, which we had no problems locating, as it was only 3.5 kilometres off the main A13 highway, which we were on for most of the trip from Adelaide. There was a vehicle waiting for us at the front gate, the farmer who was leasing the property, and for the next two hours, we were given a detailed tour of the farm.

After a delicious lunch at a café in Victor Harbour, we drove the 60 kilometres to Cape Jervis to catch a ferry over to Kangaroo Island, but we had to wait for a few hours until the next ferry service departing at 4 pm, so we spent that time exploring the area around Cape Jervis, before boarding the ferry fort he crossing over to Kangaroo Island, and once again using the navigator on the car, we drove southeast for twenty minutes until we found the front gate to the holiday property, were we saw quite a few kangaroos grazing on the paddock grasses.

“Wow, what a beautiful cottage,” Giles said when we arrived at the cottage, that’s set back about 120 metres from the road, behind a grove of healthy coastal eucalypts. Hunter unlocked the front door of the cottage for the first time, and we followed him down the hallway and into the lounge area and kitchen, where we found a folder on the bench.

“Welcome to the Sanctuary Cottage, please make yourself at home during your stay. Please look through this folder to familiarise yourself with everything available during your stay” the front of the folder stated, and on the first page inside was a layout plan of the cottage. “Hunter, you can have the master bedroom suite, Giles and I will have a bedroom each and I will have the front bedroom,” I said when I had a quick look at the layout.

Once we had quickly settled in, we went for a walk around the property, which included going down the track to the beach. “Wow, this is a spectacular beach, you are so lucky to have this place,” Giels said to Hunter. “Yeah it all seems very unreal that I now own all of this,” Hunter replied.

We ended up having a very relaxing two-night stay at the cottage on Kangaroo Island, and as we were driving back to Adelaide, I could see that Hunter was thinking a lot about his life. “Dollar for your thoughts?” I asked Hunter after Giles had taken over the driving after we stopped at Aldinga for a short break. “A dollar? What happened to a Penny?” Hunter asked sounding shocked, before he smiled broadly and we all laughed.

“Inflation is a bitch eh,” I commented, and the others nodded in agreement before I continued. “So what are you in serious thought about, that is making you frown like that?” I asked Hunter. It was a while before Hunter replied to my question. “I guess I am thinking how much has changed in my life since I met you, Oscar. Without your support and care who knows where I could have ended up, maybe in a ditch dead,” Hunter replied.

“It was nothing mate I just wanted to help a young man with a boost to get your life started again,” I responded, “Yeah, and look at me now, owner of two properties in South Australia, some money, on my way to completing my degree and two awesome mates too, even if it is the result of my Mum’s passing,” Hunter replied sadly, and we didn’t say anything in reply so as not to upset Hunter any more.

“Hey Oscar, are we heading home to WA for Christmas, and are we bringing our manservant along with us?” Giles asked in a serious tone, “Manservant? Really?” Hunter asked in shock.

“I am sure he is kidding about that title, in regards to travelling to WA, I hadn’t thought about it, as I wanted to get the studies out of the way first and I haven’t spoken to Gran and Gramps about it yet,” I replied. “Is that because of the situation on the family farm?” Giles asked, and I sighed when he asked me that. “Yes, I guess you are right about that, Christmas with the family is always a stressful time for me,” I answered.

“You can always just go to Manakoora and stay there for most of it,” Giles suggested to me, “Yes, I usually do anyway, I find it relaxing there,” I replied, “Mara… what?” Hunter asked, “Manakoora, it is a property that my Grandparents own on the coast about an hour north of Perth,” I explained to Hunter. “Sounds very mysterious,” Hunter said to me and Giles laughed.

“I think it is time that we introduce a new member to the fold,” Giles said to me, “Yes, I guess you are right there, I will make the arrangements as soon as we get back to the townhouse,” I replied. Half an hour later, we were back at my home in Adelaide, and retreating to my suite upstairs, I dialled a number that I knew by heart, and I spent the next half an hour chatting to Gran and Gramp.

Unable to secure three plane tickets back home at such short notice and so close to Christmas, we only had one other option… a four-day drive across the nullabor. “Were you able to get one flight ticket?” Hunter asked me when I appeared in the lounge room and told them the bad news, that it would be a long road trip. “Yes, but only in Business class,” I replied. “I have an idea, and it is something I have always wanted to try,” Hunter said, as he went downstairs to look up something on his laptop computer.

“Woo hoo, I got it,” we heard Hunter called out from downstairs, as we waited for him to return upstairs. “Got what exactly?” I asked when he appeared. “Firstly, you need to book that flight ticket for one, once that is secured, then I will tell you my news,” Hunter said to us, and on my iPad, I quickly secured that ticket for one, flying from Adelaide to Perth on Friday departing at 7.35 pm, and arriving at 9.30 pm Perth time.

“Ok, done. But I have made the booking with flexible changes, so I can change the name of the passenger, now tell us what is it that you have done?” I said once I received a confirmation email with electronic tickets sent. “Well one of you and me are doing a two-night rail journey west, leaving on Thursday evening, and arriving mid-afternoon on Saturday,” Hunter announced, and we were a bit stunned by this announcement.

“Ok. Giles, you can go with Hunter, I think I would prefer taking the faster journey home, and I can collect you guys at the East Perth Terminal when you arrive,” I said, “Are you sure?” Giles asked me, “Yes, I am positive, you go on the Indian Pacific, you will enjoy it,” I responded. With just two days until the train left Adelaide, and me leaving the following evening, we started getting organised for our travels west.

I also checked and secured seats for a flight back to Adelaide for 2 weeks after Christmas, which I told Giles and Hunter when we sat down for dinner that evening, where Hunter mentioned that he had never been out of South Australia before, so I made a mental note to give him a great holiday while we are out west, before returning to Adelaide, so that I could complete my final year of studies at University, as would Hunter, while Giles had now completed his honours degree in Information Technology, and he had several job offers that he was considering in Adelaide.

Once I had seen Hunter and Giles off at the Parklands Train Terminal, where the Indian Pacific leaves from, I returned home to a very empty house, and after changing, I went and soaked in the pool for about half an hour to relax and think about the approaching Christmas stress I was about to experience… again. While thinking about this, I also thought about my other friends and decided that I needed to organise a gathering, maybe before the train arrived on Saturday.

“Good evening to you,” I said when Marcus answered his phone, “Hush you lot, it is the boss on the phone,” I heard him whisper. “Who are you telling off and where are you?” I asked. “At the Seabird Tavern, having dinner with the rest of the gang. Linc, Jamie, Becca and Jarhead,” Marcus responded, “Hey, I am not Jarhead thank you very much,” I heard Jarrad complain in the background, as the call was switched to speaker. “You are on speaker now,” Marcus informed me.

“Hey guys, how were your last few weeks of studies and work?” I said to everyone on the other end of the line, and they all decided to talk at once, which made me groan. “We heard that,” Rebecca said once they were all quiet which made me smile. “Due to the lateness of getting organised, I will be flying out tomorrow evening arriving at 9.30, while Hunter and Giles are taking the luxury longer route by train and will be arriving on Saturday late morning,” I announced to the gang.