Country Retreat - 19. Canada Holiday & Graduation

One Year Later – High School Graduation Day

I couldn’t believe how fast my final year in high school went. Last December, we had a rather frosty Christmas celebration at home on the farm in Moore, which was quickly followed by a three-day stay on our Retreat property near Ledge Point, to allow me time to rest and relax after three days on the family farm.

During the mid-year holidays in late June & early July, not only I but Hugh as well, had travelled to Canada, to spend nearly two weeks in Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada, where we had an awesome time, not just at Koen’s family farm, but also exploring the amazing surroundings, where there are heaps of big mountains, forests, rivers and lakes, were we spent three amazing days hiking and camping.

The farm itself is located in a deep valley on the banks of a river, with huge mountains behind and in front of it. Mount Morrison is to the north-west directly in front of the farm and is 2,358 metres or 7,736 feet tall, and to the south-west is neighbouring Sugarloaf Mountain standing at 3,27 metres or 10,741 feet above sea level, while across the river Sun God Mountain stands at 2,431 metres or 7,943 feet due east of the farm, while nearby Goat Peak stands at 2,473 metres or 8,114 feet is just to the north of it.

I had applied for and been accepted to attend Curtin University in Perth to study for a Diploma in Agriculture Science and Technology, which is a two-year course, where I would be staying at home in Upper Swan during those two years, and I was considering continuing with more education courses once I have completed the first one.

Graduation was a fairly big event at our school, and reluctantly I sent invitations to my parents to attend, although very busy on the farm, both of them came, with my siblings at school at the time. After much discussion, it was decided to sell the two horses, as I would not have the time to keep riding them regularly, but we did make sure that they went to a good home.

The only sad part of graduating was that my good friends Koen and Hugh would be returning to their home countries, to continue further education there. For my other good friends, Rebecca will be attending Curtin University as well in the new year, where she will be studying a Bachelor in Science – Paramedical Science, to become a Paramedic at ECU Joondalup.

Jarrad will be studying for a Bachelor in Criminology & Justice at UWA in Crawley, while Giles will be attending Murdoch University where he will be studying for a Bachelor in Information Technology, which is a fancy way of saying Digital Forensics, Marcus had decided that he wasn’t up to studying at University and told us that he was doing a course at TAFE, probably in the field of Horticulture.

It was a very sad time, when three days after graduation, all seven of us gathered for one last time, not knowing if we would ever gather again together. Koen and Hugh were both due to fly out of Perth on the same day. Koen to BC Canada, and Hugh to Wellington, New Zealand.

They would be spending their last four days in Perth staying with us, and in that time we had planned a two-night camping trip to the coast north of Perth, as our last get-together, while I knew that somehow, the others would meet up with me off and on when time permits, as we would be attending different Universities for the next few years.

When Koen and Hugh were delivered to my Grandparent's place, along with their entire luggage, we soon had them settled into the spare bedroom, with the majority of their luggage being temporarily stored in the garage, until it was time to take them to the airport in four and a bit days.

“So Oscar, what have you got planned for us for the time we are here? I hope it is all good,” Koen said to me and I chuckled at this enthusiastic comment. “How would you like to go on a two-night luxury camping trip up the coast?@ I asked my friends. “Are the others coming too?” Hugh asked, “No, not this time, it will be just you two and me, oh and since I now have a driver's licence, I will be driving us up there,” I replied.

“Excellent dude!” Hugh said trying to imitate a character from a 1989 comedy movie, and Koen just rolled his eyes, while I just chuckled. “We will just need clothes for two days and two nights stay, including swimming togs as we will be close to the beach, and we leave first thing tomorrow morning,” I commented.

“Sounds like fun, and it will be nice to soak up some Aussie sun for the last time before we head to the Northern Hemisphere,” Koen said to me, as I nodded my head in agreement. “Any idea what you guys are going to do for your studies when you get back to your home countries?” I asked the guys.

“Yes, I was accepted into Wellington University to study Criminology and Criminal Justice, which I think will be a very interesting course from what I have read so far,” Hugh announced, “I am thinking of doing a degree in Arts, specialising in PPE – Philosophy, Politics and Economics, which gives me a broad range of options for a career,” Koen replied.

When we were approaching the turnoff to the property, I slowed down and turned down the limestone side road. “Now guys, this place that we are staying at, is top secret, only my grandparents and I know about this place, so you have to swear that you will not reveal this to anyone, not even family or close friends,” I said to my two good friends. “Well, with a comment like that, you have got me intrigued at where we are going,” Koen commented, “Me too, and yes I agree not to reveal this mystery to anyone,” Hugh added.

“Not a peep from me either,” Koen said, as we soon turned on a bend and came to a stop at the gate. “Wow, what an entrance, very impressive gate you have here, and what a solid boundary fence you have, what exactly do you have at this place of yours? I presume this is your family’s property?” Hugh asked, “Yes, this belongs to my grandparents and me, not even the rest of the family knows about this place, and the builders all signed a non-disclosure agreement too,” I said as I pressed the remote control button for the gate.

“So what gives with this secrecy and high security?” Koen asked me, “My Grandparents wanted me to have a retreat, not too far away from the city, where I can feel safe and secure from anything and anyone, but I think my Grandparents have gone a little overboard with the building side of things, but I am sure you guys can come up with some ideas, on what I can do with the place,” I commented, as we drove through the gate and stopped, while waiting for the gate to fully close and lock behind us, before continuing down now smooth limestone gravel road.

When I came to a stop, I let the guys look around the place, “Ok, all I see is a whole heap of solar panels, a miniature solar farm of sorts,” Koen commented, “Yes, and that powers the complex that you are about to see, as I continued onwards down the road, which circled a round the side of the hill until we came to a stop at a large single gate, that has a similar design pattern as the front gate, and once again, I pressed the remote to open it.

“A tunnel? Where does this take us?” Hugh asked as I chuckled at this comment, before driving forward and entering the forty-metre-long tunnel, that opened up to reveal the shed and maintenance complex, I stopped in the centre of the complex and turned off the engine of my vehicle, which is a Toyota Fortuner. “Welcome to my Country Retreat,” I announced as we climbed out of the vehicle.

“Wow, what are all these sheds in here?” Hugh asked me, “Garages for all the property vehicles, some are occupied, some are reserved for the family vehicles,” I replied, “What about those smaller ones?” Koen asked, “Well, those two longer ones, are the maintenance workshops, while the medium-sized ones contain the motorbikes and quad bikes, and the smaller ones, contain the watersports gear, including kayaks, surfboards and wave boards,” I answered.

“What’s in that tunnel?” Koen asked, “Follow me and I will show you,” I responded, as we headed in that direction, as I unlocked the gate and with the sensors detecting motion, lights turned on, to reveal the pedestrian tunnel. “Holy moley, this place is like an underground city,” Hugh said when we entered the main complex.

“Yes, it is in a way, a fully self-contained complex, that has its own water and power supplies, and accommodation for quite a few people. This is where I say that Gran and Gramps went a bit overboard with building this place. There is accommodation for a total of 2 executives, 4 senior and 4 junior staff, as well as accommodation for a total of eight families, in 4 four-bedroom pods, as well as 8 single persons in 4 two-bedroom pods,” I explained.

“Wow, that is a lot of people. What are all these other buildings?” Hugh asked, “All of the space is for recreation, living and socialising for those living here, I am guessing it is a shelter of sorts for emergencies. Those shutters, that you see on the roof, are adjustable, to allow sunlight in but also can be closed to protect from weather, fire, and anything else.

They are quite thick for insulation purposes, to keep out the heat or cold depending on the season, and the shutters are coloured to provide camouflage from any prying eyes above, with the only visible thing being the solar farm above. If you look over there, you can see a large window and double doors, which is the front of the complex, and behind the windows, are angled steel slats, that hide the complex from the ocean side, with no risk of reflection of the windows when the sun is going down to the west,” I explained.

For the next hour, I showed my friends around the back half of the complex, before retrieving our luggage and settling into the executive and senior staff accommodations in the complex, before meeting back at the vehicle to retrieve all of our food supplies for the two days stay at the complex.