The Castaway Hotel - 9 - 26. Chapter 26 - More Time In Oz

Today, I had planned to do something the boys would consider ‘fun,’ rather than just doing more sightseeing. At first, I was going to take them to Wonderland – Sydney, because Ricky had gone there and told us many wonderful things about it. The problem was – that park had closed down about a year after he returned home. Hmmmm, I wonder if he pulled a prank that made them go out of business?

Anyway, it meant I had to change my plans, so now I was taking them to Dreamworld Australia instead. It was considerably farther away than the original destination, but I felt it would be worth the effort. I got everyone up early, so we could spend the full day enjoying ourselves at the park, and we only made one stop, for breakfast, when we were nearly halfway there. Even having done that, we still arrived at the park before it opened.

As soon as we entered, I grabbed a park map that listed all of the rides and activities on it. I wanted to see where everything was located, so the boys and I could decide what we wanted to do and in what order. After a brief discussion, we decided to begin with the ‘Thunder River Rapids Ride’ and quickly hopped aboard a rather large circular raft that held several people. Since we could not all fit on one craft, we split up into groups and hopped about different ones. Once all the seats on each raft were occupied, we set off and followed the prescribed path, which included traveling over some fairly rough water and going down a rather lengthy incline. It turned out to be a rather enjoyable ride, but nothing I’d call spectacular.

After everyone had finished up at that attraction, we went over to ‘Mick Doogan’s Motorcoaster’ ride. Now, Mick Doogan is sort of Australian hero and races motorcycles, or motorbikes if you’d prefer, on a track. This ride is more or less a roller coaster that has been adapted so that the riders are actually seated on what appears to be motorcycles, instead of riding in open cars. It is comprised of twenty-eight of these motorcycles and the riders are strapped to these devices using a state of the art restraining system, and travel over the track at 72 k.p.h., or 45 m.p.h. if you’d prefer. Even though the riders have no control over where the motorcycle goes or what it does, it is still very thrilling. The ride takes you over a track that goes up in the air and around eighteen banked turns before it is over, and has the ability to take your breath away.

After catching our breath, we left there and moved to something a little less exciting. This time, we got on the ‘Rocky Hollow Log Ride’ and rode in an artificial hollowed-out log, which traveled down a waterslide and around an oval course. The log got up to speeds of 50 k.p.h., or 31 m.p.h. but it ended up being quite relaxing ride, especially after the thrill of the previous attraction. This turned out to be a good thing and something we needed, considering what came next.

From there we moved on to ‘The Giant Drop,’ which is billed as being the closest thing you can do next to skydiving. You get in an open gondola, which seats eight, but leaves your legs dangling. Then it is lifted 39 stories (storeys for you Aussies) into the air. I was in the first group to go, with Andrew and Jesse seated on either side of me. Dustin was seated on the other side of Jesse and Jake on the opposite side of Andrew, but I’m not sure who else was with us at the time. The pair was laughing and carrying on as we were lifted skyward, and happily swinging their legs back and forth in a very carefree fashion. They were having a grand old time – until we reached the top and the gondola was released. Once that happened, we fell the entire distance in a mere five seconds, but you’d be surprised how much can happen during such a short span of time.

Jesse and Andrew each grabbed on to one of my arms and dug in, as our legs were lifted at a ninety-degree angle from our torso and we dropped toward earth. They both began to scream, like two little schoolgirls that had just been handed a snake, so I forced my head to turn so I could glance at each of them. What I saw was looks of horror that would only happen when you thought you were about to die. Their screaming volume continued to increase until it reached a level I can only describe as bloodcurdling. I’m sure they could have awakened the dead with the volume and sheer horror they emitted, which stopped shortly after we came to a somewhat jarring stop a few meters above the ground. They clung to me so tightly that my arms were beginning to turn blue and go numb from the lack of circulation, and they were still white-knuckled as I tried to pry their fingers away from my damaged limbs.

Once the duo had calmed down a bit and began to breathe normally again, we started joking around about what had just happened. Since they seemed to be feeling better about the experience, I teasingly asked if they needed a change of underwear, which earned me nasty glares in reply. Once everyone else had a chance to go on this ride, the two little ones began to feel better about their experience. They had been pleased to see they weren’t the only ones to react so drastically to the experience and got a kick out of seeing some of the others suffer too. Along the way, Trey, Peter, Sammy, Graham, Little Ricky and Dion all had similar reactions, but to varying degrees. In fact, I think Dion may have hit his first ever high-C, as he plummeted toward earth.

At this point, I decided we needed a ride that would calm us down a bit, so I led everyone over to the ‘Rocket Powered Bumper Boats.’ Yes, they did move right along, but they certainly didn’t have jet engines and proved to be just what the doctor ordered. We spent the next twenty minutes or so having a great time, as we banged each other around in our crafts, even though I seemed to be getting bumped more than anyone else.

After we finished that ride, we went on the ‘Stingray,’ which is a mechanical device that spins, swirls and floats your body about in space. Then we tried out the ‘Reef Diver,” which is a giant, circular whirling device the park refers to as the ‘vertical whirlpool of fun.’

From there, we went to the ‘Wipeout,’ where you’re placed in restraints on a rather long seat, which is attached on either end to an mechanical arm. Each of the arms works independently of the other, so it means you are taken through an entire series of spins, twists and tumbles, as well as a body-wrenching simulation of being dumped. It’s supposed to simulate what it might be like if you were riding over the ocean on a large breaker.

After that, we made our way over to the ‘Cyclone,’ which is billed as being one of the tallest, high-speed gravity roller coasters in the Southern Hemisphere. It goes up as high as a 13-story building, travels at speeds of up to 90 k.p.h., or 56 m.p.h., and takes you through a 360-degree loop. I think we all enjoyed that little experience, before we went on our last ride, ‘The Claw.’

This ride is a pendulum swing, but the riders are seated at the bottom in a collection of seats that are fastened to a circular base. As this slowly spins around, the pendulum begins rocking its way back and forth at speeds of 75 k.p.h. (45.5 m.p.h.) and goes higher each time, until you reach the top and you body is totally upside down, nine stories above the earth. Oh, I heard plenty of screaming again and thought some of the boys might be close to losing their breakfast. In fact, as we momentarily hung upside down before starting our decent down the other side, I was actually counting my blessings for not having fed them lunch yet. After that, the ride rocked to and fro until it gradually came to a stop, and then I began to hear the boys joking around.

“Hey, Dad,” I heard the familiar voice of Ricky yell. “I think Trey pissed his pants.”

“From the smell,” Trey shot back, “I think Ricky crapped in his.” Ah, I’m so glad they love each other.

Since this was the last of the rides, I let their stomachs settle down for a while, by allowing them to try other things. I took them over to the game arcade and the rock-climbing wall, where I let them try some less stimulated activities before we ate.

Of course, there were other rides in the park, but they were mostly for the younger children and none of my boys were interested in trying them. Therefore, once my crew had finished up at these other areas and grabbed some sustenance, I left them on their own and allowed them to select which rides they wanted to go on again.

Andrew and Jesse opted to stay with Jake and me, so we allowed them to choose what activities we did. We spent the rest of the day going from ride to ride, but noticed they were staying away from a repeat performance on ‘The Giant Drop.’ As it got closer to the time for the park to close, they finally decided they wanted to try it again, but only if Jake and I would go with them. They also wanted us to find Dustin first, so they could have one of us on either side, just as we were seated the first time we went on it.

After we located Dustin and he agreed to go with us, we took the long 39-story ride to the top again. This time there wasn’t as much laughing and joking around as there had been on the earlier trip, and when we came to a stop at the top, the pair braced themselves for what was going to happen next. Seeing they knew what was coming this time, they reached out and grabbed our hands instead. They squeezed them tightly, just before the gondola broke free. They did scream again, but it was far from the bone chilling and ear shattering howls from before, and after we came to a stop, they smiled. It indicated to me that they felt they had proven themselves and were proud of the way they had conquered their fears.

In fact, once we got off the ride, Dustin congratulated both boys on how they had sucked it up and got tougher this time, and I think each of them appreciated his praise. Jake and I also told them how impressed we were at how they handled the ride this time, although we didn’t play it up as much as Dustin had. Regardless, the pair strutted around after that, as if they had just conquered some vicious foe or returned from a successful landing on the moon.

Once the park closed, we drove back to the cabins, but I did make a stop about halfway there for dinner. During the meal, the boys talked about the park, commented on the rides, teased some of their brothers for their ‘girly’ reactions to some of the experiences and laughed and joked about what a great time they’d had.

Once we got back, everyone took a quick shower, and I believe they all turned in after that. It had been an exhausting day, since I had gotten them up quite early and we had done a great deal of walking too, so now it was time to rest. Tomorrow would be another, although much more relaxing, day.

Saturday morning, after I took the family out for breakfast, we took it easy for a while. The boys did go outside and walked around the area for a bit, before kicking the soccer ball around with Peter. However, for the most part, we just laid-about and waited to go to visit Peter’s parents. They were going to have a barbie, or barbeque, in our honor and had invited some of Peter’s mates over to meet us. I thought it was odd they were willing to do this, since it was technically winter there, but Mr. Dennis had told me earlier that Peter wanted his friends to join us and this would be easier than anything else. I think we were all looking forward to it, especially Peter and Ricky, regardless of the season. That pair had been anxious for us to meet some of their other friends and excited it was finally about to happen. It wasn’t a bad day either, since it was about 15 degrees Celsius, or 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool, but it could have been far worse.

We drove over to the Dennis’ house before noon and they greeted us warmly. “Would you boys like some lemon squash?” Mrs. Dennis offered, but my boys looked confused.

“That’s lemonade,” Ricky whispered, in explanation. Once they understood, the boys agreed.

“Not you blokes,” Mr. Dennis added, indicating Jake and me. “I dropped round the bottle shop and got us something a bit stronger.” He immediately whipped up drinks for us and then led us out back.

Peter’s friends were already there; including an attractive young lady that I instantly knew was Kylie. Peter quickly called everyone over and introduced us, but I must say I had trouble keeping the guys’ names straight. Therefore, I’ll just refer to them by their description. There were two more blonds, in addition to Peter, so I’ll just refer to them as the shorter blond and taller blond. There were also two young men with brown hair, which I’ll refer to the same way, as the shorter and the taller. There were two other young men, one with black, or raven, hair and the other a redhead. Peter’s mates often referred to the redhead as blue or bluey. I guess that is an Aussie thing. I hope you can keep the others straight as I relate what happened next.

Once we had met all of the guys, Peter introduced us to Kylie. She seemed quite shy, but did speak to Ricky and broke the ice.

“G’day,” she offered, simply.

“G’day to you too,” Ricky answered. “How have you been?’

“Fine and you?” she replied, more formally than I would have expected. It was evident these two weren’t exactly feeling at ease or carefree around each other, and possibly there were some residual effects remaining from their strained parting. I think everyone else was sensing this too and I suspect that’s why one of the others jumped in and took Ricky off the hook.

“So the dag has returned, has he?” the taller brown haired youth asked. This prompted Peter to whisper to me.

“A dag is a goof or a loser,” he clarified. “I guess you blokes call them nerds too.” I thanked him for the explanation.

“Well, I told you wankers I’d be back,” Ricky joked in reply.

“Peter told us about his time in the States and came back sounding more like a dinky-di American,” the shorter blond said next. This meant he thought Peter was sounding more like a real American than a ‘Strine,’ or Australian.

“Well, we enjoyed having Peter with us and miss him since he returned home,” Ricky informed them.

“G’arn,” the redhead interjected, and I assumed he meant ‘Go on.’ “I thought you’d be happy to see him shootin’ through.” I think this meant he thought Ricky would be happy when Peter left.

“Nah. It was like losing one of my brothers,” Ricky confessed, and that earned him a playful punch in the arm from Peter.

“I felt the same way,” Peter confirmed, “’cept look at all the brothers I lost,” Peter added, while motioning toward the rest of my brood. Now, Peter stopped and took the time to introduce us to them.

While this was happening, I noticed Ricky moving away from the rest of us, so he could get closer to Kylie. He began speaking with her, and then after a minute or so they stepped farther away. It seems they wanted, or needed, a bit more privacy. I wasn’t sure what was being said, but the expressions on their faces told me the conversation was quite serious.

By the time everyone had been formally introduced, Mr. Dennis announced it was time to eat. “Come on, mates. It’s time to put on the dilly bag!” he yelled to us.

As we moved into position, Mrs. Dennis handed each of us a plate and told us to get some meat from her husband first. They had a wide assortment and I saw shrimp, chicken and sausages in the mix. We each made our selection and moved on and then Mrs. Dennis made sure we loaded up on the other items as well.

I was somewhat amused when the locals got what they wanted, because they asked for chook (chicken), a snag (sausage) or prawn. I guess I hadn’t realized how much Peter’s speech must have changed since Ricky had stayed here and after he spent time with us in Pennsylvania. However, now I understood why one of his friends had referred to him as a ‘dinky-di American.’

The food was very good, but my boys took it a little easy when filling their plates. They were careful to make certain there was enough to go around before they took more. I was pleased they were being so considerate, but I guess we needn’t have worried. The Dennises had plenty of food, and when I offered to chip in to cover the expense, Mr. Dennis told me not to worry about it. He said it had only cost them a small sum, compared to what I had spent on them the previous weekend and wouldn’t give in. No matter how much I insisted, he held his ground, so I figured I’d make up for it when they went back to Sydney with us, before we flew home.

Once everyone had finished eating, Mrs. Dennis returned to the house and came back carrying a collection of lollies, or sweets. She also asked who would like an icy pole, which Peter explained were Popsicles, and then returned with the appropriate quantity for those who had requested one.

While we were traveling back to his house the other day, to drop his mother off after going to the Wildlife Park, Peter had suggested some other things we might do after we ate. He said he thought it would be fun to play soccer afterward and then go swimming with his friends, so my boys talked it over and agreed this sounded like a great idea. Having gotten our approval, Peter rang up his mates and informed them of this fact, so they came prepared today. Therefore, once the meal was over and the food had a chance to settle, we got ready to go to the athletic field. Peter had informed his parents about this beforehand, and they were fine with the idea too, but decided not to join us. After we thanked them for their hospitality, we got on the minibus and took off for the athletic fields. We told them we’d be coming back, but felt it best to thank them now, as well as again later.

Once we got everyone on board, it did prove to be a bit crowded. Kylie was with us as well, since she was prepared to participate in the same activities as the others, but when we arrived, Kylie got off the bus first, so the boys, Jake and I could change. Once we finished, she hopped back onboard and changed into her kit too.

Now that everyone was dressed appropriately, we went out to the field and began to loosen up. I had warned the Aussies that Jake and I weren’t very good and would be playing goal, but they told us our ability didn’t concern them. They assured us they’d be able to score on us no matter how good we were, so I took that as a challenge.

The game was moving right along and I think Peter and Ricky’s mates were surprised at how good some of my boys were. Each team had scored a couple of goals when the raven-haired boy broke free and came at my goal. I watched him carefully, read his eyes and guessed were he was going to try to place his shot. I cheated and leapt in that direction way early and, fortunately, was in the air long enough to hit the ball with my hands and punch it away from the goal.

“Bloody hell!” the raven hair boy screamed.

“Awesome,” said the taller blond on my team.

“Too right,” agreed the shorter brown-haired boy, who was also on my team.

“I was gypped!” the raven-haired boy continued.

“Spit the dummie, Brian,” the redhead, told him. “You had a fair go.” Since I knew a dummie was a baby’s pacifier, I knew he was trying to tell him to stop acting so childish, because he had his chance. The raven-haired boy stopped his griping after this happened and the game continued.

As it turned out, Kylie scored the winning goal and my team won 5 – 4. I liked to think it was my great save that did it, but my teammates did pretty well too. That save had merely proven a point and exacted a little revenge for the earlier comment that had been made.

Once we finished the game, we loaded back on the bus and I followed Peter’s directions to the pool. Everyone had some sort of duffel with him, which had contained the shorts, shirt and the athletic trainers he’d used to play soccer, as well as a bathing suit and a towel for now. Each one had also put his other clothes in there too, after he’d changed and while we played earlier, so now we took everything inside with us. We showered first, before heading to the pool, since we were sweaty and dirty from the game. I was surprised the other Aussies had donned their swimsuits before taking their shower, but it must be the way they did things here.

I was also surprised to see a couple of Speedos in the mix, which were worn by the shorter brown-haired boy and the redhead, However, that was nothing compared to the surprise I got when we went out and met up with Kylie again, because she was wearing a fairly skimpy bikini. I thought some of my straight boys might molest her right there, because she was very attractive and had a nice body. It also crossed my mind that she might be doing this to make Ricky realize what he’d missed out on. Anyway, some of the other boys ogled at her, more than a just a little.

We had a really good time in the pool and quite a bit of horseplay took place, along with the swimming. One of the Aussies, the taller blond, tried to yank down the trunks of a couple of the others, even though there were several other people in the pool that weren’t part of our group. This didn’t go over too well with them or the boys he was trying to de-suit, so he received a considerable amount of grief for his actions. This wasn’t done in a vicious way, but it did let him know his efforts weren’t appreciated.

After playing in the soccer game and spending an hour in the pool, I was really starting to feel tired. Even though we’d been very active since we’d been here, gotten a considerable amount of exercise while seeing the sights and I’d also been doing quite a bit of bike riding at home, I was still exhausted. I guess I still have a long way to go before I can consider myself ‘in shape’ again.

Once we called it a day, we got out of the pool and went back to shower again. This time we got to see ALL of Peter’s mates, and they got to see my boys, but I don’t think any of them were interested in seeing Jake or I naked. However, I must admit that even though Ricky had told us about this fact in emails when he was here, I was still mildly surprised to see about half of the Aussies were circumcised. Very interesting, my dear Watson.

After we dressed and packed our things away, we got back on the bus and returned to Peter’s house. We sat and chatted with his parents for a while longer, thanked them numerous times for the great day and then promised Peter’s mates we’d meet them the following day, Sunday, at the athletic field again. The losing team wanted a rematch, followed by another dip in the pool, which I think we were all looking forward to.

We kept our word and met them around 10:00 on Sunday, instead of going to church. It went much the same as the previous day, since we played soccer first, but the losers didn’t get the revenge they were seeking. My team won again, but this time 6 – 4.

After we finished our game, we went to the pool and spent about an hour there. We did have a great deal of fun, but our relaxing weekend had us just as worn out as the rest of the week. Go figure.

Since we did have some time constraints, we had to excuse ourselves and leave before 4:00 that afternoon. I still had to drive to the next location we were going to visit, but we had to return to the cabins and collect our things first. I also wanted to leave early enough so we wouldn’t have to rush to get there before it got too late.

After loading our things onto the bus, doing a final check of the cabins and getting the boys settled onboard, we set off again and made the long drive to Alice Springs. This is where we were going to begin our final experience – in the Outback.