Springbank - 11. Spring Ch 11

The next morning, after a bit of a sleep-in, I listened to the news as I ate breakfast when the next news item came on and I splatted my tea when I heard what the newsreader said. “We have a report of an incident that took place yesterday morning when the Governor of Western Australia was denied access to a property where there is a suitable function area to view the Avon Descent Race. Sources claim that the WA Police Escort and the Governor’s official vehicle were denied entry into the property.

It is understood that an earlier online media article about a building close to the river just up from the first-day finish line has a very good view of the river and surrounding area, which is located on the same property, but investigations into this have failed to gain access to verify this. Attempts have been made by this news service to contact the property owners located in Julimar on the north side of the Avon River for a comment but were unable to get a response”.

“Bloody media, they can be so intrusive,” I said out loud to myself, “That they can… good morning boss,” Giles said as he entered the building, this time I heard him approaching so I didn’t get a fright from his sudden appearance. “Good morning Giles, what is on the agenda for the estate today?” I responded. “Just some stock movements, now that the race has passed by for another year and I think the worming treatment is approaching soon too,” Giles said in response.

“Yes, always important to stay on top of that. Since I don’t have my vehicle, how about I join to for a trip to the sheds,” I said, “Ready when you are boss,” Giles replied, as I cleaned up my breakfast dishes, and put everything away, before following the lad outside, where one of the estate vehicles was parked. As we were heading for the sheds, my mobile rang and I hit speaker to answer it, as it was my Dad calling.

“Good morning Dad, I am guessing you are calling about this morning’s news item,” I said, “Yes, I am. Who is with you?” Dad responded, “Giles is driving me to the sheds,” I answered. “Ok, well when I arrived at the gates yesterday and the police demanded that I open the gates, I politely told them that the estate was private property and there were to be no other people to enter for the rest of the day.

This got the police officers riled up a bit and the Senior Sergeant asked if I knew who was in that official vehicle waiting to enter. I informed the Senior Sergeant that it didn’t matter who was in that vehicle, no one was entering the estate, by strict directions of the property owner. I then produced my official ID and showed it to the police officer and said that I was here on an official basis, and no one was entering the property,” Dad said to me.

“Oh boy, that must have kicked up a stink,” I responded, “You could say that… I received a telephone call from head office in Canberra a few hours later, and my boss was not at all happy. I did inform my boss that it was my son who owned the property and that it was his instructions that no uninvited people were to enter the estate, no matter who they were, and because it was a private event. Anyway, the boss said nothing can be done about it, and that no further action would be taken on the matter, so we should be ok with this,” Dad said to me.

At the sheds, Davies and the lads were chatting by the vehicles, and I could hear some banging and cursing going on inside the shed. “It is Alex, someone tried to ram through the emergency gate that you used yesterday, and they made quite a mess of it,” Davies said to me, “So what is replacing that broken gate now?” I asked. “Thankfully we have a spare gate, and we have installed additional heavy-duty chains on each end to keep that area secure,” Davies informed me. “Does that mean another fancy gate in the making?” I asked, and Davies smiled and shrugged his shoulders, “Depends on his mood I guess,” he replied.

“We will need to keep the property on the other side secure to make sure no one enters while everyone is packing up and after everyone leaves,” I said to Davies. “I was planning to send the lads over there shortly to do just that, and they already know to not let anyone onto the property unless they have the official Avon Descent Officials sticker on their vehicle and to make sure the place is locked up tight, once every one to do with the race has gone,” Davies said in response. “Good to hear, I may go with them, as I want to see how the property looks after last night, as a few people were partying at one stage,” I said.

Sometime later, the lads and I arrived at the front gate of the Cobbler Pool property, and there we just one guard on duty with the gates wide open, and he looked very bored. “Do you call this property as being secure?” I asked from the driver’s seat of the estate vehicle. “Yeah, I am here aren’t I? What is it to you anyways,” came a gruff response, and I was not too happy.

“This is my land, that is what I have to do with this enquiry. Now has anyone entered the property apart from Avon Descent officials?” I asked, “Yeah, a group of environment inspectors, or something like that… I just let them through,” came a response, which now had me very angry. “Lads, would you mind staying here for a while, so I can deal with this,” I said to Joe and Kurt as they exited the vehicle and I drove into the property to find the intruders, locating them a few minutes later down by the river near the Race Officials building, while on the phone to Bill, the SES Officer that I had met the day earlier to report the situation, then dialling a second number.

Walking up to them quickly, I snatched away the camera and picked up the camera bag close by, before they knew who I was. “Gentlemen and Lady, you are trespassing on private property, I suggest that you leave here instantly before I call the police,” I said frowning, with Dad listening into the conversation, via the mobile. “Not before you return our camera and the camera bag,” the lady responded. “Lady… if I can call you that, you entered this property under false pretences, and since you are on my land, I can confiscate anything that I deem to be a risk to my property. At the moment it is this camera, but it could also be your vehicle if you would like me to confiscate that too?” I responded.

“You can’t do that?” one of the men said to me, “Well let’s see about that shall we?” I asked as I revealed the mobile phone in my hand. “Inspector, what is your official response to what they just said to me?” I asked my Dad, “This is Inspector E.B Hudson of the Australian Federal Police speaking. Apart from trespassing on private property, and impersonating official government officers, you were also recording footage on camera on said private property… I would say if found guilty, you would all be facing at least two years jail time, even if you are official media staff,” my Dad said, which I could see had them looking very worried.

While they were distracted by listening to Dad’s response, I removed the memory card from the camera that I was holding, and as I knelt down on the ground, and placed it in the camera bag, I felt around and located a second camera, where I removed that memory card as well, and slipped them both into the side of my shoe, before standing again, as I now held onto the camera bag with a tight grip. “You will follow me to the front gate of this property, and while doing that I will consider your request for the return of your camera bag and its contents. Thank you for your assistance Inspector,” I said, firstly to the intruders and then to my Dad, before ending the call.

I watched in the rearview mirror as they followed me to the front gate, where we found the SES Officer, having a very stern conversation with the SES volunteer who let the intruders in. “He is no longer required thankyou sir, my staff will handle securing the property from now on,” I said as I stopped to one side of the driveway, and watched as the unwanted intruders drove off the property and stopped at the road junction.

“If I ever see you or anyone of your kind on this land again, I will be pressing charges, be thankful that you just received an official warning from the AFP inspector,” I said to them as I approached their vehicle carrying their camera bag, which I handed over, before walking back to the gate and I waited for the two SES vehicles to leave before I closed and locked the gate as Kurt and Joe arrived.

“Looks like someone has been rifling around the cupboards in the house, and I found the laundry window smashed and the back door open,” Kurt informed me, which had me furious that it had happened and I immediately dialled a number. “Dad, we have found the house has been broken into, and the place has been searched, probably our media intruders, who have just left, can you arrange for them to be picked up and charged, please... Yes, thank you, bye,” I said when the call was answered. “Not a problem, I will speak to the District superintendent right away,” Dad responded before ending the call.

“Good to know the right people,” Joe said to me smiling, and I chuckled and nodded my head yes. We did a thorough inspection of the whole property, and we found nothing else that was a problem. “What are you going to do with all of these buildings and stuff?” Kurt asked me. “Well, the Gazebos and the two expandable buildings are staying on the property, and once Winter is out of the way, I am going to set up the front paddock that was used by the SES, and between the railway line and Cobbler Pool Road into the main camping area, which will be open to the public at other times.

I am hoping you two will accept the position of permanent caretaker’s of this place, and you will have the farmhouse to live in. We will set up a more secure zipline so you guys can get across to the Watch Tower when you are needed on the main estate. I am thinking of maybe six to eight of those gazebos in a single line, spaced about twenty metres apart, and an access road on either side of them, with a total of thirty camping sites located on the outer side of the access road. Toilets will be evenly placed between each gazebo, so they are a good distance away. I may even install permanent gas BBQs in each gazebo, like the ones you see around parks that have a set timer on them for cooking,” I announced.

“What is Davies going to say about these changes?” Joe asked me, “Not sure, we will have to wait until I tell him,” I replied smiling, which had the lads laughing. A few moments later we arrived back at the machinery shed, and I wandered around for a moment before coming to a decision. “Ok, I think I will have an extension made for this shed to have more undercover space available, and instead of having the catering vans and trucks inside the shed, I will have them around the outside of them, and with the extension, it will double the size of the area.

I think if I have the bottom half of the side walls removed, and place them as the top walls for the extension and the top half of the front of the extension, this will provide some weather protection for the catering vehicles and the customers. I can have power boxes installed at each shed support pole, to provide the required power needed for the catering vans, and the back wall of the shed can have a staging area for entertainment etc,” I said to the lads.

“That sounds very extravagant for an event that happens just one weekend a year,” Kurt said to me, “It may, but I am thinking that we can use it for festivals and such as well, we will see once I have drawn up some plans,” I replied. When we arrived back at the main machinery shed at the estate, I found Jasper was already there waiting for me, to take me back home to the city.

Once I had relaxed a little, which was easy as the family had gone over to Kings Park for a picnic, I began thinking some more about the possible layout of the permanent main camping area where we had the SES team in the front paddock between the railway line and Cobblers Pool Rd, extending it to both sides of the driveway. I was thinking of having the ASU based in the paddock directly behind the machinery shed, because of all the extra shade that is there, with the two expandable buildings ten metres from each end of the machinery shed and set well back from the driveway.

I would also look into establishing a stone wall between this camp and the railway line to create a bit of a noise dampener for the freight trains that pass by regularly. Behind the two expandable buildings, I would have several modern ablution blocks to provide toilets and showers for the ASU volunteers, as I looked at other websites that I hadn’t explored before and found some more alternatives to what we used over the weekend, which were only on hire for the weekend.

I decided to get four twin toilets and two twin showers plus five shelter gazebos for the new camping area, of which only three will have gas BBQs installed, while for the new ASU Campsite, there will be two twin shower pods and two twin toilets and two shelter gazebos. When the family arrived home, I remembered that Dad was due to fly to Tokyo tomorrow evening, and I asked if he was still going. “I am, but I think it will be best if you stay home and concentrate on your studies,” Dad responded and I agreed that it would be best too.

By the time the next weekend came around and I was back at the estate, all repairs had been completed and Kurt and Joe had moved into the now fully furnished house on Cobbler Pool Road, with all temporary buildings now been removed, and all rubbish picked up. Arriving in the late Friday afternoon, I spent an hour walking around the property, and with the two lads helping me, we marked out the area for the permanent campsite, we also decided on the slight relocation of the two expandable buildings, so they are facing towards the driveway, and inline with the shed instead of facing inwards, which would now allow for the shed extension to take place.

The lads would also install the footings for each of the gazebos, and once in place, they would lay down a concrete floor and install the gas BBQs for three of them. Work will also soon begin on the concrete footings for the toilets and shower pods, which will be raised to allow for the septic storage tanks to be located under them. Although there will be no power available for the campsites, there will be solar panels on the gazebo and bathroom roofs, to provide lighting for the gazebos and ablutions.

Using short lengths of railway iron, Alex made upright marker posts for each of the 30 camping sites, with a number clearly marked at the top of each post, which are buried two metres into the ground with concrete and the posts stand one metre out of the ground and painted bright orange. A five-metre wide access track was installed in the new campsite, using most of the crushed blue metal from the other campsite, as I didn’t plan to use that site again, making it wide enough to make it easy for caravans to reverse into the sites.

Between each pair of toilet pods, I also had a poly water tank installed on a one-metre-high raised platform, to provide water for the toilets, sinks and showers, and also drinking water where needed. After a bit of research, I decided to charge $30 per night for campers to stay on the property only from April to July, plus September to October, with all of Summer closed because of the fire risk, and all of August closed as to the leadup to the Avon Descent.

While the lads were busy with getting the campsite established, I had Davies, Giles and Alex working on building new post and rail fences and gates, with a fence built along the railway line at the back of the campsite, and on the north side of the railway line too. With another post and rail fence separating the camping area and the rest of the property, from the railway line fence down to the river, just 100 metres past the railway crossing, a new gate, would be installed to stop vehicles from going further onto the property towards the shed and house, plus a narrow pedestrian gate nearby, to allow people to get to the shed during the Avon Descent event, which would remain locked at other times, and on the western side of this fenceline, a footpath had been established leading down to the river.

I only travelled up to the estate every fortnight, so that I could continue to concentrate on my studies, and after six weeks of continuous work, the new public campsite at Cobbler Pool was almost ready to officially open, which was perfect timing for the Spring School holidays. I had arranged for a website to be established to promote and manage the campsite, which Leah had offered to manage for me, so the lads could concentrate on keeping the campsite in good order.

They had all the water tanks filled to supply the bathrooms and showers, and three additional tanks were added to the property with one for each gazebo that has a BBQ, sink and benches installed. Once the website was operational, it showed several photographs of what the campsite and facilities look like, with caretakers onsite, as well as stating that all 30 sites are non-powered, how much per night to camp, and just a few rules…

1; No noise from the hours of 9 pm and 7 am. 2; Respect the campsite and the other guests. 3; No entry into other areas of the property beyond the fence. 4; There is a maximum of three nights of camping at the campsite per month. 5; No permanent, semi-permanent or long-term camping is permitted. 6; ID and vehicle registration are required at the time of booking and arrival. 7; Refundable Damages Fee will be paid at the time of booking.

Finally, in large clear lettering, ‘Campfires are permitted in the designated fire rings only and only when there are no High or Extreme Fire Dangers or Total Fire Bans in place, and the campsite is open only from April to July, plus September to October. Closed all of August, and from 1^st of November to 31^st of March’. We blanket advertised in the local and outer suburban newspapers, as well as on the commercial and community radio stations in the region, advertising the campsite open from Friday the day before the start of the Spring School holidays.

I had purchased a vehicle to be used just for the campground's work and included a 7x5 caged trailer to assist with collecting rubbish and keeping the camping area clean and tidy. I also bought two utility buggies to assist with smaller jobs, and all these vehicles were stored down by the house, where a lean-to shed had been added beside the garage. By the end of the second day since advertising began, both weeks of the school holidays, the campsite was fully booked out, which was a surprise.

When I arrived home from the estate after an overnight stay there, I noticed Dad’s vehicle in the garage, and it reminded me to ask what happened with our cousins, as the trip to Tokyo was a few weeks ago now. “They are fine and being well looked after at a safe location in Canberra at the moment, and you will get to meet them soon,” Dad said to me when I asked. I wondered where this safe location could possibly be. It was while eating dinner that evening, that I realised the answer to that question.

“Dad, does Jasper’s Dad, Mr Wright have anything to do with where they are?” I asked cryptically, so my brothers wouldn’t catch on to what I was talking about… Dad smiled before he gave me a nod of the head and continued to eat, which meant I was not to say any more about it. “Are you going back to the estate this weekend, for the opening?” Dad asked me after a long period of silence, “Yes, I want to be there in case there are any issues that need to be resolved or fixed,” I replied.

After a long week of studies at university, I arrived home just after lunchtime on Friday, I had a quick snack and read some emails before I began packing for a weekend at the estate, just as my mobile rang with the ID saying it was Jasper. “Hey, you disappeared before I could catch up to you, were you in a hurry to be somewhere?” Jasper asked when I answered the call. “Yeah, I am spending the weekend at the estate,” I replied. “Does that have anything to do with the opening of the campground that I saw advertised online?” Jasper asked me.

“Wait! It is online? Whereabouts is it advertised?” I responded, “It’s on FB and Instagram and YouTube. Someone has made a short video clip promoting it, and it has gone viral,” Jasper replied, as I grabbed my iPad and typed in Cobbler Pool Campsite, where there it was a one-minute and thirty-second YouTube video recording, and I pressed play to watch the recording.