Desert Air - 42. DA Ch 42 - Career Begins

I had already bought a couple of picture frames of different sizes, so when I opened the poster tube, as I expected, inside was my veterinary degree from Murdoch University, and a large flat package contained my Zoology Degree from the University of WA, and I soon had them in the frames, and temporarily sitting on my desk.

Most of the other mail was junk mail, except one from Newman Veterinary Clinic, which was a cheque for the use of my vet clinic in Marble Bar four times, in the past two months, and they were for two - one day clinic each month, with Marcus doing two of the clinics, which made me smile.

The next morning, was a Thursday, so after grabbing a cup of tea, I returned to the office to check the latest statistics on numbers of visitors coming to the Airbase museum, which seemed to be busy during the cooler winter months, and now starting to slow a little with the approaching summer.

Dad entered the office about twenty minutes later, also holding a cup of tea. “Morning, I’ve just been checking the stats for the visitors, and I see that you have been using the station staff a lot more in the past few months,” I commented, “Yes that is because Jake is no longer working for us, he had to resign because of that spider bite, it knocked him around a fair amount, and he even ended up in a coma for a short while,” Dad informed me.

“Oh, poor bloke, how is he going now?” I responded, “He is doing ok now, he has just been given to the ok to do light work, so I am looking at seeing if we can re-employ him in some way,” Dad replied. “So who has been managing Limestone since he has been out of action?” I asked, “That would be me, so I have been doing a heck of a lot of travelling between the two locations, and I often use the Twin Otter to cover the short distance a lot faster,” Dad replied.

“So I am guessing that you would like me to move into Limestone to take over operations there?” I asked, “Yes, the sooner the better, so I can concentrate on helping with running the museum,” Dad replied. “Did you get the Outcamp finished?” I asked.

“Yes, it is all done, with eight of the buildings for accommodation, one for kitchen and another for dining, plus one for officer accommodation. We built another eight more to expand the main base, to double the accommodation space, and we have added another two converted shipping containers for extra 5 toilets and 5 showers,” Dad said to me.

“Sounds good, and before I head into town, I will drive the Hawkei over to the Army Camp, so it is there all the time for the SAS personnel, if you can follow me in a Ute, to collect me and bring me back,” I suggested to Dad.

After breakfast, I finished off packing all of my luggage and personal belongings, and loaded them into my Jackaroo Ute, before Dad followed me in his Ute, as I delivered the Hawkei to the Army base, and I unlocked the small shipping container, which is used for Weapons and Ammunition storage, and I place the keys for the Hawkei in there before locking the door again.

Back at the Complex, I collected my two framed degrees, and added them to my pile of belongings, inside the Ute, before saying goodbye to the parents. Nearly an hour later, I parked in my spot at the vet clinic, and after turning on the air conditioning and lights, I went back to the Ute, to collect my two framed degrees, and returned inside, where it is now a lot cooler, and I headed to my office, and with two screws already in the wall, I hung the two degrees behind my desk, took a step back and smiled.

When the telephone rang, I jumped in fright, before taking a few calming breaths and answering the call. “Hello, Limestone Vet Clinic,” I said, “Hi, are you ok, you sound…” the familiar voice of Marcus said, “Yes I am fine thanks mate, I just arrived and wasn’t expecting a call, and I jumped a bit, that is all, how are things in Newman?” I replied.

“I’ve had a call from a lady in Marble Bar, asking for the nearest vet, as she has an injured echidna,” Marcus said to me, “Ok, tell her to come straight here, and I will see what I can do, but I don’t have anything in the way of supplies or equipment,” I replied, and I heard Marcus chuckle.

“You may need to check your store room, as my boss insisted that we store some stuff there, since we have been using your clinic fortnightly, for the past few months,” Marcus informed me, “oh ok, do you have a stock take list of what is here, so I can reimburse her for what I use?” I asked, “Yes mate, and I am sure she would be happy that you did use them, she is in Port Hedland at the moment, and I think she is bringing back more supplies,” Marcus said.

While waiting for the echidna to arrive, I checked the store room, and found a plentiful supply of most things I would need to treat an injured mammal, and when the lady arrived, she had the echidna wrapped in her Jumper.

It ended up that the echidna had a brush with a vehicle, with a crushed front paw, and there was not much I could do but clean it up and wrap the paw up in a bandage, and hope that the bones heal enough for it to walk and dig like normal.

I thanked the lady and I informed her that I need to keep it for a few days, to keep an eye on the paw, and once healed, I would release it back into the wild. Once the lady had left, I found an animal transport cage and some newspaper in the back, and I made up the cage with shredder paper, with a small container of a sugar syrup, before placing ‘Spiky’ into it, and carried him to my Ute, and secured him on the back seat, before I drove into town to do some food shopping.

With just a small minimart located at Marble Bar, there wasn’t much of a selection of food, so I picked up what I need for basics, and when I had paid for it all I stopped at the community notice board near the door to see what is being advertised.

“Wanted – Holiday Job, for 16 M. I will try anything. Available from end of final term of school till late January next year. Kingsley Garrison.” There was a mobile phone number as well as a local phone number, and I retrieved my phone and dialled the local number.

“Hello, is this Mrs Garrison? I am calling about the school holiday job enquiry,” I said when the call was answered. “Who is speaking?” I was asked, “This is Jexon Kendrik speaking, I am the new veterinarian,” I replied, “Yes hello Dr Kendrick, and I was the lady who brought you the echidna earlier.

My son attends school in Broome, and he will be home in less than a week, for the end of year holidays. He posted that message at the last holidays, I am the senior administration officer for the Marble Bar local council offices,” Mrs Garrison replied.

“The message said he is 16 years old, does he have a Learner’s licence?” I asked, “Yes he has that and also a scooter licence,” Mrs Garrison replied, “Ok, when he gets home, get him to call me at the clinic or at my home at Limestone station,” I replied.

A little later, as I entered the homestead, it was a little dusty, and so after putting the food away, I began the task of cleaning up the homestead, which took me most of the morning to complete. Once checked on the echidna again, I had made a sandwich and I filled the water container, before I headed over to the shed, which is now empty of buildings, and with just the station Ute and a small tailer remaining.

Checking the oil, water, tyre pressure and making sure that there are tools, spare water and spare fuel in the back, I set off to do a water run and look around the north-east part of the station, with the distance to the north-east boundary gate being a little over 52 kilometres away.

Once I had done that, I would travel down another station track heading south to check the remaining five tanks and dams on the Eastern boundary.

I arrived at my new home just before dusk, tired and dusty after checking nine main water points over a distance of approximately 130 kilometres, I sat down in the lounge for a short while too relax, before checking on the echidna, who I had left in the laundry, and he appeared to be doing fine, and after restocking his food and water, I had a shower and cooked some tea of beef chops and a salad, and ate that in front of the television.

The next morning, I put the echidna back into the carry cage and we headed over to the clinic, were a vehicle was already waiting in the car park, and a family from the local indigenous community just out of town stepped out of the vehicle, and I recognised the man as Mike Bindi, one of the elders of the Gooda Binya Community.

“Hello Mike, it’s been a while, how can I help you?” I said as I approached their vehicle and shook his hand, “Hello Dr Jexon, nice to see you too, we have a litter of Pups, we wanted to see if you can check them over and maybe find homes for them,” Mike said to me.

“How many are there?” I asked, “Just three, the other four died before or during birth,” Mike replied, “I see, well bring them in, do you have the mother with you?” I responded, “Yes, she is with the pups, we are hoping you could look after her too, as we are going away to attend some sorry business,” Mike replied, “I am sorry to hear that mate and sure, I can look after her too, just let me know when you have returned, so you can collect her,” I stated.

Inside the clinic, the mother appeared to be pure Blue Heeler Cattle dog, while the pups appeared to be a cross of Blue Healer and Kelpie. I spent the next twenty minutes checking the mother dog and her pups, all who appeared to be in good health, with the pups being approximately 2 weeks old.

I was surprised, when Mike offered to pay $200 to cover costs for looking after the animals, which I accepted, and I said that he didn’t need to pay any more, as I wished them a safe journey, and they left the clinic.

I had left the dog and pups to run around in the outside exercise area, since it has high walls and fencing around it, with a large water container for drinking, while the echidna, I allowed to wander around the staff area of the clinic, with the door closed leading to the treatment rooms and reception area.

I decided to make the quick trip into town to buy some dog food, biscuits and treats, and when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find a small selection of leads, dog bedding, feed and water bowls and some squeaky toys, so I bought a good selection of everything I needed, before heading back to the clinic, where another vehicle was waiting.

With the bags of dog supplies, I unlocked the clinic and the new arrival followed. “Excuse me for a moment, while I put these down out the back,” I said to the lady who looked like she was not a local, and I went into the back area, where the echidna came scuttling towards me, stopping at my feet, which made me smile.

“Hello Spike, come to say hello have you?” I said as I shuffled past him and headed for the staff room, to put all the supplies on the staff lounge bench, out of reach of Spike, who had followed me. I checked on his supplies and he had tipped his food bowl, so I cleaned up the mess and topped up the bowl, before making my way to the front again.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, how can I help you?” I said as I arrived back at the reception area, “Yes, I have an injured lizard that my son found this morning as we were packing up from our overnight campsite,” the lady said, as a boy entered the clinic holding a small box.

“He had ants all over him and he cant walk properly, can you help him please Mr,” the boy stated, “I will do my very best, now lets see what we have,” I replied, as I was passed the box.