Desert Air - 33. DA Ch 33 - Marooned

“Well mate, we have enough food to last us a few days at least, if we ration it a bit, in case we are here longer than two days,” I said to Auggie, “Wow, marooned on an island just before a big storm, I would not have thought it to be possible these days,” Auggie commented, and I chucked at that comment.

“This is the second time for me, I was on the island over two weeks ago, for two daily trips to the island, which ended up being an overnight stay for me, because of bad weather, and all I had was some snack bars one sandwich, plus some fruit and bottles of water, to get me by, so we are far better off than I was earlier,” I commented.

“At least we have each other to keep each other company for this stay, and you still have your sat phone with you don’t you?” Auggie said, “I do, plus when I was here last, I didn’t have any power of any kind here, just the fireplace to keep me warm and a dry hard floor to lie on,” I responded.

“At least we have extra clothes, plus our sleeping bags and swags with us,” Auggie commented, and I nodded my head in agreement on that point, just as my sat phone began to ring. “Hello sir, yes we will be fine for a few days, we have two boxes of food, plus one of the small eskies has all the breakfast food in it, so we have plenty to get us by for at least three days maybe more,” I said, when the professor asked if we would be ok to stay on the island for the duration of the storm.

As I was talking on the phone, Auggie retrieved a packet of cards from his backpack and started a game of solitaire, and when I finished on the phone, we began a game of poker, not that I was any good at the game, but it helped to pass the time, especially now that there was a full on storm outside, with the wind howling and the sound of rain beating on the corrugated iron roof.

We ended up setting up our swags in front of the fireplace, so we could stay warm through the night, and we had a good size steak and coleslaw salad for dinner, which was delicious.

After dinner we cleaned up and lay on our swags listening to the wind and rain outside, wondering how long the storm would last for, and I woke up sometime during the night and noticed that there was no rain, just some wind, which meant there was a good chance that we can return to the mainland in the morning.

When I woke in the morning, the winds where howling again and it was raining a little bit, and after stoking the fire, I went to take a leak, before stepping out onto the patio, to get a clearer view of the weather outside, and the wind was coming form the south and it was extremely cold, so I dashed inside to get warm again, accidently closing the doors a little too loudly.

“Good morning, what is the… never mind, by the looks of you it is still cold and wet outside,” Auggie said as he climbed out of his swag, “More than cold, it is bloody freezing, the wind is a southerly, coming directly from the Antarctic, by the feel of it,” I replied, as I stood in front of the fire to defrost.

After breakfast, we cleaned up our dishes and cooking gear, before we started doing a spring clean of the place, to keep us busy, sweeping every room, cleaning the inside of the windows, and mopping the floors, so the place is spotless again, after the fast departure of the rest of the research team.

“When my sat phone rang at about 8 am, we had nearly finished our cleaning duties, and we sat down in front of the fire to stay warm. “Good morning, how are the marooned students this cold morning,” the professor said when I answered the call.

“Cold is an understatement sir, it is freezing cold out here,” I replied, “I’m not surprised, it was just 2 degrees Celsius, when I got up at 6 am this morning, and even now is only 9 degrees,” the professor said. “Wow! that is very cold. I wonder what the minimum was last night.” I responded, “not quite sure, but hang on a sec the radio news has just come on, I will get closer so you can hear it,” the Professor said.

“… and now for the weather, in the state’s far south coast, they received the lowest overnight minimum of minus 2 degrees Celsius at the Breaksea Island automatic weather station, and a special hello goes out to the two university students currently stuck on nearby Eclipse Island for the duration of the storm, stay warm there lads, as a second cold front will be approaching your location later in the day…” we heard the reporter say on the radio.

“Well, how is that, you even got a mention on the radio, isn’t that good to know. Do you have enough firewood to keep warm?’ the Professor asked, “Yes sir, I made sure that the last supply delivery brought plenty to keep the place well supplied, so we will be fine,” I replied.

“Very good, I will check in with you this evening, bye for now,” the professor said before ending the call, and just a few minutes later the phone rang again. “Hello son, is it you that is stuck out on the island again?” my Dad said, and I chuckled.

“Hello Dad, yes me and a class mate August. We have plenty of food and firewood, and we still have our clothes and swags, so we will be fine for a few days at least,” I replied. “That is good to know, well stay indoors, with you being from the Pilbara, you may easily catch a cold, so stay warm,” Dad said to me.

“Yes Dad, I will, no need to worry, we will be fine. I am Army trained remember, so I should be fine. Give my love to mum and the brats, and I will call you in a few days time, bye,” I said, before ending the call. “My folks still worry about me, even though I am grown up now,” I explained to Auggie.

Just after lunch time, the drizzle had stopped but it was still quite cold and windy outside, but that was fine as we rugged up in warmer clothes, and set off on a hike around the island to get some exercise, not sure when we will get off the island and if we will be stuck indoors with the approaching cold front.

By the time we had returned to the house, the winds had increased as had the clouds, so we headed indoor for shelter, and about twenty minutes later it began raining again, so I stoked up the fire to keep the house warm and cosy, as we settled down for another long afternoon.

Just before dark, my sat phone began to ring and it was Dad calling me. “Hello son, how are things going on Eclipse Island?” Dad asked, “It is raining again, but we managed to get outdoors just after lunch for a good hike around the island to get some exercise, and it began to rain about fifteen minutes after we had returned, but the winds were still strong and very cold,” I replied.

“I rang because I received an interesting email today, and I thought it might cheer you up a bit. The email was forward from Army HQ in Canberra but originated from Army HQ in Washington DC.

“Dear Sir, we have learnt that the secret airbase that was used during World War 2, and had one of our bomber groups based there during 1943 to 45, is now open to the public as a war museum, and that you have a restored B24 Liberator there on display.

We would like to make a contribution to your museum, with a number of items that have been placed in permanent storage at our Airforce base in Tucson. Can you please forward to us the contact details of the company or organisation that is running the museum so we can arrange for the delivery of two B24 Liberator planes, as well as two WW2 jeeps and a few other item’s.”

Added to the email was a short message from the Chief of Army in Canberra, “To Kendrik family, I hope that you take up this offer, and I look forward to seeing the museum again when the additions have arrived. Regards, COA Canberra.”

I have sent an email back to Washington DC, thanking them for the offer to donate items to the museum, which is now privately owned, and restored to what it looked like back during the war, so I hope to get a response back from them,” Dad announced to me.

“Wow! that is awesome news Dad, I look forward to seeing the new items when they arrive. I am still not sure when we will be leaving the island, but the rest of the research team are based at Camp Quaranup on the Vancouver Peninsular, so I guess we will meet up with them once we are off the island,” I said to Dad.

“Ok son, take care, and I will chat to you again soon, bye,” Dad said as he ended the call. “Just some news from home, shame I won’t get up there until the next long weekend in September,” I said to August, as we heard the rain get harder, but the wind has slowed a bit, as we settled in for our second night marooned on the island.

I woke to the sound of my sat phone ringing, and looking out the window, it was still cloudy, but the rain has stopped and there was very little wind. “Good morning Jexon, can you guys be ready to be collected in twenty minutes, as we have a window in the weather,” Ted said when I answered.

“Yes, we will be ready, thanks Ted, bye,” I said happily. “Come on sleepy head, our chopper ride is arriving in twenty minutes, we need to get packed and ready to go in that time,” I said to August who was complaining about being woken up just after dawn.

The fire had already died down overnight, so there was just ash and charcoal remaining, so I poured a bit of water over the fire to ensure that it was totally out, before cleaning out the fireplace, while August slowly climbed out of his swag and got dressed.

Forgetting about breakfast, we packed up the remaining food that we had, which was mostly packet and canned food, packed our backpacks and rolled up our swags, and doing two trips each, we carried everything to the helipad near the lighthouse.

When Ted landed, he helped us to load everything onboard, before we climbed in and strapped in, and finally leaving the island, and Ted made sure we had our headsets on. “Jexon, someone wishes to speak to you,” Ted announced to me, and he flicked a switch.

“This is Jexon Kendrik speaking,” I said into the microphone, “Hello Jexon, this is Samantha from Radio news Great Southern, I hear that you are finally leaving the island by helicopter as we speak,” and I frowned at Ted, who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

‘Yes that is correct, myself and one other university student, after two days and two nights by ourselves, without the rest of the research team,” I replied. “What did you both do to keep yourself busy while marooned on Eclipse Island, which I should mention to our listeners is just over 6 kilometres off the mainland, south of Albany,” the reporter asked.

“Well mainly cleaning up the house after the rest of the team left, plus we played cards and yesterday we managed to get an hour of no rain but high winds to go for a walk around the island to get some exercise,” I replied.

“Last night the automatic weather station at nearby Breaksea Island recorded a minimum of 4 degrees, and just 2 degrees the night before, how did you cope with the cold temperatures?” the reporter asked, “just put on extra clothes and stayed in front of the wood fire in the main living area most of the time,” I responded.

“What are the conditions at the housekeeper’s house on the island, are there any modern facilities?” the reporter asked, “Yes, just before the research team from the University arrived, the main buildings received some upgrades, due to a private funding donation, with the roof replaced on three buildings, and solar panels and batteries installed, to provide plentiful power, for the lights and power points.

The house also has a new stove oven and a fridge freezer, and gas bottles have been installed to provide fuel for the stove and for the hot water system. The main water supply tank has also been relined and has fresh drinking water for the house, which has two areas for two families to live in,” I replied. “Thankyou for your time today Jexon Kendrik, one of the university students marooned on Eclipse Island,” she said.