Shadows Dancing in the Sun - 12. Shad Chapter 12

On the weekends that I was not busy with hockey commitments, I would also be at the Guildford house, helping Giorgio in the gardens, with the newest section being transformed into a nice area for relaxing, with a giant chessboard and garden seats included in the gardens, near the fish pond. Uncle Mitch had used a professional decorator to decorate and furnish the cottage, and the unit behind it, and once done, photos were taken to add to the website, that Uncle Mitch had set up for this new business.

The school term almost over, and the open day at the new Campus due to be on the first Saturday and Sunday of the holidays, from 10 am to 2 pm, the staff that Uncle Mitch had employed to give the place a thorough clean, were hard at work. The School council had officially accepted the proposal for both buildings to be use by the school as its new campus, with both buildings to be used, with the exception of the entire fourth floor and two sections of the roof level of building two.

Uncle Mitch would also be responsible for the engineering department in the lower floors of both buildings, which meant keeping the power and water supplies running. With the school term ending on the Thursday, it gave me one whole day to relax, before we are invaded with guest, coming to check out the new facilities.

When I arrived home, I smiled when I saw a large sign on the stone wall, between the pedestrian gate and the driveway gate, that announced that it was now part of the school. “Garrison Senior Campus”, and it included the school’s logo just below the bold words, once I had let myself in through the pedestrian gate, just moments after it closed and locked behind me, I heard a shout.

“Hey kid, can you tell us some more about this new campus of your school?” one of a small group of reporters asked me, and I continued walking down the drive and stopped at the corner, and dialled Uncle Mitchell’s number. “Uncle we have a problem at home, are you far away?” I asked, “No Tobias I am just a block away, what is the problem?” Uncle Mitch replied.

“Let’s see now, how would I describe them, they are word vermin, two legs, big mouth and usually carrying a microphone, notebook or a camera,” I responded, and Uncle Mitchel laughed. “That is a brilliant description of the media, I like it. I will be there in a few minutes, just head inside and I will deal with them when I get there,” Uncle Mitch replied.

I was practicing on the piano when Uncle Mitch walked in, “you were right about them being vermin, I left my vehicle at the other place a block away, and walked over here, pretending that I was just another pedestrian going for a walk, and as I passed the gate, I swiped my card, and quickly turned around and slipped inside, before they knew what had happened, and when they did, they bombarded me with questions.

I sent a message to the headmaster, and he has sent an email to parents and guardians of all year 10, 11 & 12 students, which I have received a few minutes ago,” Uncle Mitchell said to me when I stopped playing. “The email reads, to parents of all Year 10, 11 & 12 students, this email is to inform you that the media has already got wind of the new sign outside the new campus in Crawley.

When to come to see the new campus this weekend, please park in the UWA number 20 carpark, just off Fairway, to get there take the first road on the left after leaving Stirling Highway, and follow the road around to the left, then take the first right, the carpark is on your left hand side. Once parked, walk towards Stirling highway, where you will find a crosswalk to cross over Fairway to the campus.

Please place the bottom section of this email on your driver side dashboard, to let the UWA parking inspectors know that you are permitted to park there this weekend. If this email is not placed there you will have to find alternative parking or risk being fined for illegal parking without a permit. Please allow a minimum of two hours for the campus tour,” Uncle Mitchell said reading out the contents of the email.

“That was nice of the UWA to allow the school to use their carpark,” I commented, “Not exactly, I paid a fee to allow the school to park there, but don’t tell anyone about it, as it is a gift from me,” Uncle Mitch said. “Not a word,” I replied, as Uncle Mitch showed me the email, which on the bottom 1/3 of the page, is a large school logo, and the words – Senior School Open Day - Carpark 20 Parking Permit, followed by the headmaster’s signature.

“By the way, I know tomorrow is your only free day before the weekend, but we will be having the senior teachers and some staff arriving tomorrow for a detailed tour of the facilities, as they will be assisting with guiding the students and parents around on the weekend.

They will all be arriving by school bus at 10 am, so as to not have any problems with the media at the gate, and only the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster will be arriving in their own vehicle about half an hour before the bus, plus we have enlisted the assistance of two security guards to act as crowd control for the media at the gate, for tomorrow, and the weekend,” Uncle Mitch announced.

“What are you going to do about your vehicle?” I asked, “I will slip out later tonight and drive it back in, hopefully no media will be around when I do it, and I have checked and no one is monitoring the other side gate, so I can slip out that way,” Uncle Mitch replied.

“When I woke up the next morning, having set my alarm for 8 am, I had a shower and changed into some fresh casual clothes, before heading to the kitchen, where Uncle Mitch was cooking breakfast.

“How did you go with retrieving your vehicle?” I asked as I sat down at the table. “Not a problem, there was no reporters around at 1 am in the morning,” Uncle Mitch replied grinning, before serving me my breakfast.

“The Nedlands Council have been kind enough to keep the first 12 street side car spaces reserved for the school, as I am negotiating with them for them be permanent parking bays for the school, with the first 6 to be reserved as two school bus parking bays, and the other 6 for parents, plus a request to install a school crossing,” Uncle Mitch announced.

“What are the plans for getting day students to school?” I asked, “Already thought of that, school buses will collect students travelling by train. To get off at Loch Street station, then travel down Loch Street, turn left onto Carrington street, turn right at the roundabout on Dalkeith road, where there are traffic lights at Stirling Highway, pass through the lights, turn left onto Edward street, which goes all the way through to Fairway, with the school on the left, but…” Uncle Mitch said to me.

“But what uncle?” I asked, “I just came up with a flaw in that plan, the bus parking will have to be on the west side of the road, unless…” Uncle Mitch replied. “I will let you think about it some more,” I said as I continued to eat. About five minutes later as I was finishing breakfast, “What about the students south of the river?” I asked.

“I have thought of that too, they need to be at the Mends Street Jetty carpark in South Perth, where a school bus will collect them, get onto the freeway, and off again at Mounts Bay road exit, then onto Stirling Highway, turning off there at Fairway, or at Canning Bridge Train Station, where a bus will collect the students, and continue on down Canning Highway, and turn left onto Coode street to the end, left onto Mill Point road, and left on Mends street,” Uncle explained.

“While uncle Mitch was on the phone talking to someone, I cleaned up the kitchen, then I changed and headed to the pool, as I felt like burning off some energy, since I had no Hockey this weekend. When I returned, Uncle Mitch was still on the phone, but he was pacing as he talked.

“… yes, that is right, the 3 reserved parking bays, closest to the large Bottlebrush tree, behind the ICRAR building… What do you get in return? Well as it happens, not only am I the owner of the new Grammar school campus, but I also own the same shaped new building on the corner of Clark Street and Fairway, which has 42 undercover car parking bays, and I am prepared to lease it to the University, at a cheap rate, in exchange for the permanent use of those three carpark bays, which will allow us to have a vehicle exit point for the school buses,” I heard my uncle say as he glanced over at me, before I headed for my bedroom suite.

When I came back out showered and dressed, Uncle Mitch was smiling. “I have managed to secure the car parking spaces needed to open up the back corner of the property for a vehicle exit gate, not only that, but all 8 carparking spaces along that side, along our boundary, as long as they are happy with the new building when they inspect it, which will be this afternoon at 4 pm.

They seemed to be very pleased when I told them that the building contains 50 lecture rooms, a library, two student lounges, an administration area, 8 staff offices and a staff lounge, plus male and female toilets, in each section on all levels,” Uncle Mitch announced.

“That is great news, so I guess that the roadside car parking bays will not be needed?” I responded, “No not for bus bays anyway” Uncle replied, before he looked at his watch, we better get moving, the Headmaster is due to arrive shortly, and we need to be at the gate when he does arrive,” Uncle Mitch said.

We arrived at the gate, just as the headmaster and deputy headmaster arrived, and I swiped my card to open the vehicle gate, as Uncle and I stood on either side of the cars to stop any media from sneaking inside, while they stood on the footpath demanding answers to their questions, and once the two cars had passed, we waited for the gate to close fully before walking away, totally ignoring the media.

“Oh man, there is a lot more of them since yesterday,” I commented, and at the corner, I spotted the arrival of the two security guards, who warned the media to stay clear of the gates. “I will stay here until the bus arrives, you go ahead and greet the Headmaster and deputy,” I said to my uncle, who nodded his head and set off to speak to the visitors.

I didn’t have to wait long before the school bus arrived with a load of school staff, and I swiped my card to let them in while security kept the media back. Once the gate was closed again, I followed the bus as it stopped near the corner, as it was too tall to go into the carpark. When the school bus left the property two hours later, there was just the headmaster and deputy headmaster remaining, and they indicated they wanted to speak to Uncle Mitch alone for a short while, so I headed upstairs to the penthouse.

When Uncle Mitch appeared, he smiled to me before sitting down in the lounge. “Is everything alright with the school?” I asked, “Yes, all is good, the headmaster just gave me a heads up that not all of the staff that were her today would have a chance to move to the new campus, as the school council is looking at employing higher trained teachers.

Because I have made the rent of the buildings next to nothing, they are able to afford higher trained lecturer staff, who have higher degrees than an average high school teacher” Uncle Mitch said to me.

“Wow, that sounds interesting,” I responded, “Yes, it is, and because of the higher level of training of the lecturers, it will bring a lot more money into the school, which will assist with paying their wages and paying for upgrades at the main campus,” Uncle Mitch said.