Oceanbank - 1. OB Chapter 1

Christmas celebrations were a huge success at the Watch Tower with family and friends, although Banjo had to leave mid-afternoon on a call out with work. I invited him to return if it was a short callout, which it wasn’t. He did say on leaving that he had enjoyed the Christmas celebrations very much. He thanked me for inviting him there, as he gave me a big, long hug in appreciation before leaving, which caught me by surprise, and made me wonder if he was Gay or Bi, too.

On Boxing Day morning, my mobile rang with Andrew’s number. “Good morning, officer. How may I assist you today?” I said, answering the call, “Firstly, you can knock off the official stuff. It’s just Banjo, like you have always called me. Can I invite myself over for the day and maybe stay overnight, as I have still got days off owing?” Andrew responded. “Yes, of course, mate, when can I expect you to arrive so that I can unlock the gate for you?” I replied happily, “How about now? I am at the gate as we speak.” Andrew answered.

Without responding, I ended the call, grabbed my keys and dashed out the door, calling out to Kristian to let him know I was heading to the front gate to let Andrew onto the property. Once I had let Banjo on the property and locked the gate behind him, Andrew stepped out of his vehicle and wrapped me in a hug, which once again surprised me, but I smiled and returned the embrace. “Thank you for this. I really do need this break, I even turned my mobile off and left it at home, so I can truly get two days off work,” Andrew said to me.

“Well, if it comes with a lot more of these, I am happy to have you stay over,” I responded, and Andrew chuckled as he released me and stepped back. “Just leave your cuffs at work,” I added, and Andrew roared with laughter. “I may be Bi, but I am not into kinky stuff,” he informed me, and I smiled. “So, does that mean you are hopeful of more than the occasional hug?” I asked, “Most definitely, I am hopeful, if you are agreeable too?” Andrew said to me. I smiled and nodded my head yes, which made Andrew smile broadly. Back at the Watch Tower, Kristian was busy in the kitchen when we entered.

“Would you like roast lamb and veggies for lunch, since we have a guest?” Kristian asked me, “Sure mate, that sounds awesome, but don’t make the meal too big, I am still partially full of Christmas dinner from yesterday.” I replied, “Same here, thanks, Kristian.” Andrew replied before he turned to face me. “By the way, I spotted a For Sale sign on the property just east of your Riverside block. It says it is 16.05 acres in area, and it has a small two-bedroom cottage, a garage and an old shed. Thought you may be interested in buying it since it adjoins your other property.” Andrew informed me. “After lunch, let us all drive around there and check it out, and when the real estate agency is open, we can make an offer,” I suggested.

“No need for that, I know the realtor and her contact details, so we can let her know as soon as we have a drive past so we can have a proper inspection,” Andrew suggested. After a delicious lunch and cleaning up, we headed towards town and around to Cobbler Pool Road to check out this other property, and we parked on the side of the road opposite the old shed, and we walked along the road towards the cottage and main access to the property.

“If we do go ahead with purchasing this property, I was thinking maybe we should put the accommodation cottages and camping huts on this block, as the shed would make a great additional recreation space for the guests,” I commented, as we reached the front gate to the property, where there was a vehicle parked just inside the gate on the other side of the railway line. “Good afternoon, my name is Cooper Hudson. I own the small property next door to yours, which was used as an emergency location for the Avon Descent in August this year,” I said as we crossed over the railway line and stopped at the gate.

“G’day, so you may be interested in purchasing this property?” the gentleman asked me as we shook hands. “Yes, indeed, maybe expand the guest accommodation, if the local council will allow it,” I responded. After a brief discussion, the owner, Michael, invited us to inspect the property, which we happily accepted. We spent the next hour thoroughly examining the property and its exterior.

Once back at the vehicle, I stated that I was very interested in purchasing the property, and so Andrew gave his realtor friend a call, and I made an offer to buy it. Once back in town, we stopped off at the pub for a soft drink and snack before heading back to the main property, where we found two vehicles parked at the front gate, one being my parents and the other being the Wright family's, and I handed Andrew the keys so he could unlock the gates so we could all enter the property.

“We thought a post-Christmas BBQ dinner would be nice at the Watchtower, before I have to dash off back East,” Dad said to me. “Great idea, Dad. I have Kristian and Andrew staying here presently, to keep me company; having the rest of the family join us is an awesome idea,” I replied happily.

I decided to keep the news of the offer on the other property to ourselves for now, until the purchase is finalised and we have begun to make the changes that we are planning. My brothers had elected to go swimming in the river, where there is still a large pool of water, and afterwards we enjoyed a nice late afternoon meal on the patio of the Watch Tower. After dinner, when the guests had returned to their homes, Kristian, Andrew and I were relaxing on the outside patio, enjoying the evening view and the sounds of the river nearby, when I pulled out a small pouch from my pocket and handed it over to Andrew.

“What is this?” he asked me, staring at the cloth pouch. “Well, you won’t know unless you open it, and see?” Kristian responded, and I chuckled at this. “A key, to what?” Andrew said when he saw what was inside. “So, you can come and go on the property without me having to come and let you in all the time,” I replied. “You trust me with this?” Andrew asked, “Of course I do, just not for official business though, you will still need to get permission when working,” I answered, “That would be expected and I respect that… Thank you,” Andrew said to me, smiling.

In just four days, I had a response to my offer for the property, with the owner accepting my offer, with just two weeks for property settlement, which is unusually fast. The following week, I received notice from the shire that my application to build three cabins and camping huts was accepted, but I had to amend that application, as they would now be built on the new property that I had purchased.

I was considering using the Eastern entry onto the property, which is 700 metres East of the big shed and 1.2 kilometres from the main entry, to be the main entry for this new accommodation project, which would allow guests to stay on the property, even during the hot summer months. I was also considering widening the dates for opening and closing the property during the summer months.

After checking the local Shire Fire Restrictions and Fire Bans information, I set out a new timetable for when the property would be available for campers, as well as for the use of the huts and cabins once they are built, with an additional three cabins to be added to the new location. With the new property, I now had a fraction under 50 acres of land on Cobblers Pool Road, with Lot 472 having the two camping grounds and the new Lot 306 to have the cabins and huts, with the latter being open all year round, with just restrictions with fires during Summer, and restricted access leading up to and during the Avon Descent in August. While the two lots of campgrounds would be shut down during the Summer, from November 1^st to March 15^th, with no campfires permitted from September 15^th through to April 15^th, depending on seasonal weather conditions.

Once the amended changes to the application for the cabins and huts had been approved, we got to work with having the new accommodation area set up, with the cabins located closer to the old shed, which will be used as a meeting and recreation space, while the huts would be spaced out amongst the plentiful groves of trees to the east of the shed, with all buildings to be raised well off the ground to allow for possible floods.

I had arranged for new signage to be created to advertise the latest opening dates and made the necessary changes to the website. Enquiries soon flooded in, following the news of the additional accommodation available on the property, especially after we added new photos of the cabins and huts. I had made sure that there was a clear list of conditions for staying on the property and that all payments were to be made online 48 hours before the booking date and time. I included a minimum of two-night stay, and a maximum of five-night stay as part of the booking conditions.

Once the cabins and huts were in place, the lads and I were busy adding extra gazebo BBQ shelters in the two camping areas, and two gas BBQs near the big shed on the newer property. By the end of summer, we had everything set up and ready for the upcoming season, which would officially begin on March 1^st, on the first day of Autumn, which gave us some additional time to do some other improvements, such as sealing the gravel road from the front gate, all the way to the main shed on the main Cobbler’s property.

Also, to patch up the gravel access roads throughout the property, as well as installing solar-powered lighting to improve safety at night, with well-hidden security cameras added to improve security when things get out of hand, like what happened previously. With all the staff now back from holidays, and with Banjo announcing that he would be taking three weeks' annual leave from his job, I quietly suggested to him that we take a holiday together, which made him smile broadly, and said that he was hoping that I would be able to join him, and that he hadn’t had the chance to decide where to go, just maybe a road somewhere.

I asked Banjo if he would let me make all the arrangements and trust me with everything, which he reluctantly agreed to. I was soon on my laptop computer researching the best options for holidays, and I eventually selected Norfolk Island in the South Pacific. The tiny Australian Territory Island is located 1,460 kilometres East-Southeast of Brisbane by air, and I was hoping that we could stop over at Lord Howell Island as well, but there are no interlinking flights between the two groups of islands, so I just went with just the one location.

That was until I glanced at one other option and smiled when I saw that it was possible, and began to make the arrangements. Flights from Perth to Norfolk Island, with a short stopover in Sydney, leaving Perth at 2255 hours, arriving at Sydney at 0605 hours, departing Sydney at 0955 hours and arriving at Norfolk Island at 1325 hours local time, which would be a total of 6 ½ hours of flight time, and nearly 4 hours for the stopover.

Next, I organised a seven-night package accommodation deal, which was a self-contained cottage, that is four kms from the main shops at Burnt Pine and overlooks Cascade Bay, plus several organised tours and a hire car. Once that was done, I made a few enquiries about the other part of the holiday, which would be a special surprise for Banjo, knowing that, while growing up, he would go sailing with his family on a yacht over to Rottnest Island and up the coast on holidays, and although I had not done much myself, I had enjoyed the experience.

I was hoping that I would be able to find a yacht charter on or near the Gold Coast of Queensland that may be able to sail out to Norfolk Island to collect us at the end of the holiday and sail us back to the mainland via Lord Howell Island, but I was not having much success with that option, so I kept the return flight booking for now an hoped that maybe closer to the time, there may be an opening for some sailing.

I asked Banjo if he had a passport, which he confirmed that he did have, then asked why. I just smiled and informed him that I may have an additional surprise as part of the holiday plans and said no more, which annoyed Banjo a little, but he didn’t push me for any additional information. Three weeks later, we were at Perth Airport at 8.30 pm, and I still hadn’t told Banjo where exactly we were going, except that our first stop was at Sydney for a short stopover. “Are we still going to be using our passports?” he asked me as we began check-in in the main foyer area of the domestic terminal, which is on the city side of the runway.

“Still not sure yet, it will be a last-minute addition to the plans if it does happen, but for now, it doesn’t look like it, but we are still going to have a great time at our main destination,” I responded. When Banjo entered his details into the self-serve check-in counter, he frowned at what he saw… “Err, this says Business class seat 5F and that we are going to Norfolk Island,” Banjo said to me, and I just smiled.

“Yep, that sounds correct,” I responded casually as I entered my details and received the same information as Banjo, but with seat 5E. “Business class. Isn’t that a bit extreme?” Banjo asked, “Nope, we are on holiday, so we are going to enjoy all that I have arranged,” I replied, smiling. “Ok, but you really didn’t need to go this lavish, I would have been happy in Economy. The destination is awesome. I have always wanted to check out Norfolk Island.” Banjo said to me, as we received our boarding passes, before heading upstairs to the Business Lounge to relax before we board in about 90 minutes.

Ahead of us, we had a four-hour flight to Sydney on board an A330-200 aircraft, with a two-hour layover, followed by a 2 ½ hour flight to Norfolk Island on board a 737-800 aircraft, with allocated seats 3A & 3C. When we were called to board the aircraft, I had a quick look back at the crown of passengers who would be crammed into economy, I saw that there was a large variety of passengers, from elderly, middle aged and young adults, plus a few older teens, and thankfully no children or infants, which can be stressful for them as well as all the other passengers when they get restless on a long flight.

As we boarded the aircraft, we were directed left into Business class and the first two seats on the right in the centre, with the seating configuration being one, two, one. Once we were settled, we relaxed and waited for the rest of the passengers to board, and soon we were asked if we would like a preflight drink, and we both asked for water.

We managed to leave Perth on time, and once over the Darling Ranges, the flight smoothed out as we continued towards cruising altitude, and as soon as the lights were dimmed, we settled down for some sleep, as it would be just after 6 am and daylight when we arrived in Sydney. Surprisingly, I did manage to get to sleep fairly easily, waking up once when I needed to go to the loo about halfway through our flight. Banjo was fast asleep, and he was smiling, which made me smile too. As I was settling back into my seat, I heard a woman’s voice coming from not too far back, “Henry… wake up, Henry. Help, please help, my Henry won't wake up,” she cried out, which soon had everyone awake.