Country Retreat - 51. Cottage

I pointed toward the small cottage located not far away, with its double garage and two water tanks, and in sign, “You see that cottage just 200 metres away… it is currently for sale. I am thinking about buying it, as a holiday and weekend retreat, not just for me but rent it out to guests too,” I announced. “That would be nice, plenty of open air to enjoy and coastline to explore too,” Hunter signed back, and I nodded my head in agreement, and I made the decision that I would go ahead with the purchase of the two-bedroom cottage, that is located on 5 acres of coastal land.

Back at Port D, we had lunch at the Shipwreck Bistro at the Victoria Hotel, where we enjoyed a three-course delicious feast, and we had to have another walk along the beach to try and work off some of the food that we just consumed. “I think we can get by on a light supper for dinner tonight,” I said when Hunter looked in my direction, and he nodded his head in agreement. “Do you have a driver’s licence?” I asked Hunter as we drove back home to Allendale East, “I have a conditional licence, that is only valid if the vehicle I am driving has some modifications to allow me to register sounds like horns and emergency services sirens,” Hunter replied.

“Well, we will have to organise that for you then, so you can drive to the shops at the least, or even down to Port D,” I responded, which had Hunter smiling. The following morning, we were both up at 7 am, as I had work and Hunter had classes to attend. After a nice cooked breakfast, we grabbed what we needed for the day, and headed out to the garage. “You look so much better in your new clothes, even if they are second-hand,” I commented, and Hunter just smiled. “Thanks to you, I now have a future to look forward to, even with my disability or ability challenge, as some might call it,” Hunter replied.

During my lunch break, I headed to the middle of the city to a technology store, where I purchased a new laptop computer and carry case, a portable printer, spare printer ink cartridges and printing paper, before going to a furniture warehouse, where I bought a desk and bookshelf in flatpack form, as well as an office chair, and finally I went to a secondhand book store, where I bought a heap of reference books, all which were stowed away in the back of my vehicle for the rest of the afternoon.

I was doing some light reading in the library when Hunter arrived, “All ready to head home?” I asked in sign, and he smiled and nodded his head yes, and not long after, we were on our way out of the city heading for Allendale East just twenty minutes away. Touching his arm to get his attention, “There are a few items in the back that I could do with some help to bring inside please,” I said to Hunter as we climbed out of the vehicle.

“Wow, awesome. Thank you for this,” Hunter said when he saw the flatpacks, the chair and the box of reference books in the back. Hunter spent the rest of the afternoon putting together his new furniture in his lounge area upstairs, before going to have a shower, and while he was, I quietly placed the other items I purchased onto his new desk and walked back downstairs.

“What the… Oscar, did you do this? Did you buy these for me?” I heard Hunter ask when he came out of his bathroom to discover the laptop computer, printer and other items, “Yes, as you need to be able to carry your work with you at home and also at Uni,” I called out, not sure if he would hear me. “Thank you, that is so generous of you… I have no idea where I would be now if it wasn’t for you,” Hunter said, as tears built up in his eyes. “You're most welcome mate,” I replied in sign.

The following two days were fairly full on for me, with work as well as attending lectures, and when I arrived home on Wednesday afternoon, with Hunter being home all day, I was pleasantly surprised to find the house smelling fresh and seeing it spotlessly clean, and something delicious cooking in the kitchen. “Hello, it looks like you have had a very productive day… did you do some studies as well as the work?” I asked when Hunter was watching me.

“Yes, I managed to get one of my assignments completed mostly thanks to the laptop and internet connection that you have provided,” Hunter replied smiling. “Good to hear mate and nice job with the house,” I replied, as I headed to my suite to shower and change, before sitting down on the outside patio to relax until dinner was ready.

I had managed to get settled in well in my new home, with a housemate helping to keep it in order, and my studies at TAFE and Uni I were going fairly smoothly, while my work at TAFE SA was keeping me extra busy, with the workload getting heavier, with students from the Uni now using my counselling services, with two of the clients being partially deaf, so my knowledge of Auslan sign was becoming very helpful.

I had also been asked to attend several video conference meetings to translate in Auslan Sign for those participating in the meetings which mostly involved all the campuses around the state, of which not every campus had Auslan sign staff available.

Three weeks later, I received three text messages within an hour of each other, the first was from Giles. “We have moved to the new home, and it’s great not to have to travel so far to Uni each day. Giles.” The second message was from the real estate agent in Adelaide informing me that there was an offer for the house in Harrow Road and that the offer was a lot more than the advertised price, for which I sent a message back to say to accept the offer.

The last message was from the real estate agent in Mount Gambier informing me that the settlement has been completed on my newest purchase located down at Racecourse Bay and there is a request for hiring the cottage for use as a holiday home during Easter long weekend, so I sent a reply to say yes that it was fine and suggested a fee for the four-day hire.

The Friday a week before Easter I headed down to the cottage near Racecourse Bay, and after doing some basic food shopping at Port Macdonnell, I arrived at the cottage to find it a little dusty which made me realise that I needed to have a regular cleaner to keep the cottage in a good order, and so before settling in, I had to do some basic cleaning, before I went for a walk down to the beach before it got dark.

After cooking just a light dinner, I relaxed on the verandah listening to the beach nearby, I enjoyed the sea air and the sounds of the beach, and feeling sleepy after a long and tiring week at Uni and TAFE, I headed to bed early as I wanted to head into Port Macdonnell to place an advert at a few places in town, to look for a cleaner to keep the cottage in good order between guests.

With seven other cottages/guest houses in the region, I knew that I probably not get many bookings for the use of the cottage, but I wanted it to get some use when I’m not staying there. While at the general store the next morning, and after posting the notice on the community notice board, I began doing a bit of shopping, some for my stay and some to take back home with me.

I was just exiting the store when my mobile phone rang with an unknown number, and I nearly didn’t answer it, to let the call go through to voicemail, but changed my mind. “Hi, I am calling about the cleaning position to clean a holiday cottage in the region,” the lady said to me over the phone. “Hello, do you have much cleaning experience?” I asked in response, as I battled to hear clearly with the background noise. “Yes, I am already cleaning 2 holiday houses in Port Macdonnell, so another one would be great for me, as I am a single Mum. Where is this new cottage located?” the lady asked.

“Out on the Eight Mile Creek Road, about one kilometre east of Racecourse Bay just before the No 1 Milstead Drain. It is a recent purchase, as a weekend and holiday cottage for me, as I live in the region and work at Mount Gambier,” I replied. “Ok, sounds like it's near that little red cottage near the outlet,” the lady said. “Yes, that is my place, I am staying there this weekend, but I’m just out at the moment,” I replied.

“OK. My name is Amanda, and I am a the pub where you posted the notice, when can I come and see you and the cottage?” the lady said to me, “Well Amanda, my name is Oscar and I am in town now, but heading out to the cottage now, so any time you are free this afternoon will be fine with me,” I replied.

Back at the cottage, I did a little bit more cleaning, especially the bathroom and kitchen area, before relaxing for the rest of the morning, after an early lunch, I headed down to the beach for another long walk which I enjoyed doing, as it helped me to relax. By the time I returned to the cottage, I found a note attached to the door.

“Called in but no one was home, call me when you return, Amanda,” I swore to myself, having forgotten that she was coming over sometime in the afternoon, and I sent a text to the number that she had left with the note. “Sorry, I was down on the beach, enjoying a long walk, I will be home for the rest of the afternoon.” About half an hour later I received a response.

“On my way there now, see you shortly,” and I just sat outside on the veranda to await her arrival. When Amanda arrived, I was a little surprised that she was a bit older than I expected, but I showed her around the cottage and stated that I would be staying in the cottage at least once a month, with the rest of the time it’s available as a holiday rental, with a real estate agent in Mount Gambier managing that side of things.

After a good look around, we sat down for a cup of tea and to discuss work payment and days to clean which mainly depended on when the cottage would be used, I agreed to give her a three-month trial basis, and I gave her the spare set of keys to the cottage. I learnt during our discussions that she was a single mother of two boys aged 6 and 8 years old who are from a bad past relationship and that she has not seen the boy's father since the birth of the youngest son, six years ago.