NB Drama - 2. NBD Chapter 2

“Hey guys, no doubt, you have heard about the mess that I have got into, and that I am no longer the Administrator of the Indian Ocean Territories of Australia.

Sebastian, the twins and I, are going to be cruising the world’s oceans for a while, so we will not be in contact. I am fine and I am being well looked after, so please do not worry, I will contact you again, when things have quietened down a bit. Lewis”.

Once I had sent the emails, I deleted my email account completely, and shut down my laptop. Just over a day later, as we were cruising past the Cocos Keeling Island, Sebastian and I were tuning into the local television news.

“Good evening, at the top of our news tonight, Australia is in crisis with Singapore, after an incident that took place in Singapore less than a week ago.

Information is a little sketchy at present, but what we have learn is that Sir Lewis Shaw, the IOTA Administrator, travelled to Singapore, at the request of the Federal Government, to represent them at the planning meetings for the coming APEC meeting.

It is believed that during his stay in Singapore, one of his staff was arrested by the local authorities, and detained for questioning. It is believed that Administrator exceeded his authority, when demanding that his staff member a Staff Sergeant in the Australian Army, be released.

It is not known how, but the staff member was released by an unknown person, and dumped at the front of the High Commission in Singapore, with a lot more injuries than he had before. The Administrator, had his staff member treated at a private hospital, before rushing him to the Administrator’s private Jet, and flew out of Singapore.

The office of the Governor General released a statement this afternoon, stating that the Staff Sergeant was recovering in Darwin Private Hospital, after having surgery to remove his damaged spleen, and that Sir Lewis Shaw, has resigned as the IOTA Administrator, effective from lunch time yesterday, WA time.

It is believed that the former Administrator has fled the country, in a private jet, owned by his husband, Mr Sebastian Wagner, and their location is currently unknown. The Governor General has announced that under the directions of Her Majesty, the Queen, Lewis Shaw will be stripped of his Life Peerage of Baron of Rottnest, and his Knighthood, but he has retained his first award of Commander of the Victorian Order.

The former Administrator and his husband, have done a lot of work and spent a lot of money into promoting more tourism into the Indian Ocean Territories, but the future of tourism is now in grave doubt, after the private flights of Wagner Air, from Darwin and Broome, to Christmas Island, the Cocos Keeling Islands, and the Chagos Archipelago have been stopped and permanently cancelled…”

“Well, if they are going to treat you that way, why not hit them where it hurts, financially, and see if they can keep up with the demand for tourism in the region” Sebastian snarled, before turning the news off. I went back to reading a book that has been keeping me busy, although I had no idea what I would do in the future, now that my life in Australia was over.

“How about we head for a very remote location, where we won’t be disturbed for a long time?” Sebastian asked me about ten minutes later, “Do you mean FI?” I asked, and Sebastian smiled and nodded his head, “Sure why not, I could do with a change of scenery and temperature” I responded, and Sebastian lifted up the phone and pressed the number for the Bridge.

“Captain, we are changing course, to the Jetty at FI” I said to the yacht’s Captain, “Very good sir, I have always enjoyed visiting that place, we will be there in just over two weeks” the Captain replied, which made Sebastian smile, as they ended the call.

“Well in two weeks, we will have disappeared to a remote region of the world, and no one will be able to disturb us” Sebastian said to me. “What will we do once we are there, we have to keep busy somehow?” I asked, and Sebastian thought about this for a while, before answering.

“How would you like to become a fulltime sheep farmer, I had an email from Tom and Margaret two weeks ago, apparently the farm managers that are suppose to be looking after my farm, have just up and left, with only a few hours’ notice. Tom and Margaret have reluctantly returned to the farm to manage things, until we find replacement staff, even young Jose has returned home to Northern Chile” Sebastian stated.

“Ok, why not, I am happy to get my hands dirty for a change” I responded, “Good, because you definitely will do that. Apparently, the previous managers have left the farm in a real bad way, so there is a lot of hard work ahead of us. We will need to call into Cape Town to collect a whole lot of supplies on the way past, which will mean a few extra few days of travelling” Sebastian said to me, just as there was a knock on the door, and I called out “Come In”.

“Sir, I have a fax that the Captain has asked me to deliver to you” Mrs Cooper said to us after she entered our suite, and Sebastian stood and accepted the fax, and read it before handing it to me. It was Sebastian’s young cousin – Xander, who said that he is missing the family and is requesting to join us, and do his studies by correspondence.

“Thankyou Mrs C, I will deal with this personally, oh and tell your nephews to pull out their cold weather gear, as we are heading to FI, to stay for a while, and to keep it under wraps, as we want to be staying there, with only two couples to know we are coming” Sebastian said, “Very good sir, I have always enjoyed that place and it’s people” Mrs Cooper said before leaving.

Opening up his laptop, Sebastian logged into his email account, and opened a new email. “To Tom and Margaret, thankyou so much for taking over managing the farm, while I make arrangements for new staff. We will be arriving at FI onboard the MV Huon, and will dock at the farm jetty in approximately 18 day’ time. Please keep this information to just you both and Eric and Mary, we will be bringing plenty of supplies with us, regards Sebastian & Lewis”.

Once that email was sent, Sebastian sent and email to the grammar school that Xander is attending in Switzerland, letting them know that due to illness in the family, he was requesting that Xander have leave from the school for an extended period of time, and that he would make all the travel arrangements shortly.

The third email was directly to Xander, “Hello mate, message received, and yes you can be with us, I have emailed the school to say that due to a family member being ill, I have requested leave from the school for you. I will email you the travel details, once they are set, we are on the yacht at the moment, travelling to Cape Town, then onto you know where, but do not tell anyone. See you when you arrive in South Africa. Love, Sebastian, Lewis and the twins”.

“I have an idea that I want to run past you, for the past few months I have been busy working on designing and building a new home for us, but with the events of the past few days, has sort of put that on hold for a while, but not for ever. I know the homestead at Douglas is fairly solid, but old and tired looking, so I am thinking that we could build a village, consisting of homes built from shipping containers.

I have been looking into different designs since we left Darwin, and there are three ground level designs that I like very much, and they are solid and able to withstand the very harsh climate that the FI provides. You remember last time we visited the farm, that I took you for a drive out to the farm jetty, near the northern boundary, that area is deep enough for the MV Huon to get to.

We can set up a new village in that area, about 6 kilometres south east of the jetty, where there is a wide point, at the top end of the Douglas River, where it widens out into a large bay, it is well out of sight from neighbouring farms, and well away from any roads, so no one will notice that it is there” Sebastian informed me.

“I like your idea of a new and modern village, but who will be living there apart from the family, and maybe our personal staff?” I said. “Well, you know that Tom and Margaret are back on the farm looking after it for us, I heard from them, that Eric and Mary have put their B&B home up for sale, as they want to retire, so I was thinking of inviting them to join us, along with Tom and Margaret.

We will have Xander with us, plus, Mrs Cooper, and her nephews, Wyatt and Xavier, and we can build guest accommodation, for when your brother – Jeremy and family come to visit, along with Kylie and her family, and Margaret and her family” Sebastian said. “Ok, but it sounds like a heck of a lot of work” I commented, “That is the beauty of shipping containers, they can be made into almost anything, including horse and stock stable and storage sheds” Sebastian replied.

“Ok, that sounds good, so what about this mystery new home that you have been secretly building, is that movable too?” I asked, and Sebastian laughed, “Actually yes it can, to almost any location whee there is enough deep water” Sebastian replied, and this statement got me really confused.

Are you ever going to tell me what this new residence is, and where it is now?” I asked sounding very frustrated, which I was, and Sebastian chuckled at this.

“Yes, it requires water, but it is not a ship, or a floating barge, and yes my love you will get to see it very soon” Sebastian replied, and I sighed in protest at the confusing response given.

“All I can say for now, is that while I was visiting the South West of WA, I came across this amazing and very popular tourist attraction, and that is what gave me the idea for the new house” Sebastian added. Later that evening, I was doing a search on the internet, of popular tourist attractions of the South West, when Sebastian walked into the suite. “What are you doing, my sweet?” he asked me.

“Searching online for popular tourist attractions that involve water” I responded, as I saw something about a 1.8 kilometre - long jetty, in the town of Busselton, which is the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere. “Well this looks interesting, and it is over the water, but…” I started to say, and stopped when I saw what else was part of the Busselton Jetty tour.

“Yes, my sweet, you were saying?” Sebastian said as he walked over and looked over my shoulder. “It says here there is an 8-metre deep observatory near the end of the jetty… this wouldn’t by any chance be the idea that you got for our new home?” I asked, and Sebastian just laughed out loud. “You got it in one” Sebastian said as he walked over to the lounge and sat down.

“Holy crap, really? So how deep does this underwater home go to?” I responded in shock. Same as that observatory, eight metres, with three levels, plus another three levels above the water” Sebastian responded. “Ok, hand over the plans Mr, I want to see what it looks like” I said to my husband in a threatening manner, and Sebastian chuckled as he stood up and walked over to his filing cabinet, and pulled out a folder, which he handed over to me.

I was originally going to have it go deeper, and higher, but decided against it, in case of water depth issues, so I joined four sections together to make two levels, with a connecting central lounge area on both levels, then from then on it is all one section per level” Sebastian said as I unfolded the plans.

“Holy smokes, are really going to live underwater?” I asked, “Well not us, as you will see, the executive suites are above the water, on the second from top floor, with suites for each of the twins, plus the third suite that will be Xander’s suite, and there are two large and two small lounges, all for just us five.

With level one being the bottom level, there are 4 VIP suites on level two, as well as 12 staff cabins, and our administration offices are on level three, just below the surface” Sebastian said to me, “Have the twins seen this yet?” I asked, “Yes from nearly the beginning of the project, they are looking forward to it” Sebastian replied.

“This water level, has a swimming pool?” I asked sounding a little surprised, “Yes a heated pool, since we will now be in a cold climate, and that level is actually one metre above the water, the administration level just below it will have narrow windows, looking out just above the water” Sebastian said.

I was going to ask some more questions, when there was a knock on the door, and Sebastian called out to come in, and it was the twins, who saw straight away what I was looking at. “So, you told him, at last eh?” Joachim said to his older brother, “About time you did bro” Louis added.

“So where is this going to go?” I asked, “Yes, we were wondering that too” the twins chorused, “Well, I was thinking, since we are going to build a village on the farm, how about we put it in the bay just across from the village” Sebastian suggested, as he retrieved a map of the Falkland Islands, and spread it out on the coffee table, so everyone could see.

The map was of just the top Western quarter of the East Falklands, with Goat Point and Riocon Grande Farm being on the Eastern edge of the map.

On the Eastern edge of the point in the bay, there is a couple of sandy beaches, with a bit of a steep climb to the top, where we will build a ramp and stairs, for easy access, and also a small jetty will be built so we have a place for the boats to get to and from our home, which you can see has to landing jetties, so depending on the direction of the wind each day, will depend on where the boat is stored or tied up” Sebastian said.

“You said there is accommodation for 12 staff, where are we going to get them from?” I asked, “I have already spoken to Mrs Cooper, Xavier and Wyatt, they have seen the plans, are happy to stay employed with us no mater where we go, although Mrs C isn’t so sure about living underwater.

The 2^nd Engineer, 4^th Engineer, 4 Hospitality and 3 Galley crew from the yacht are also happy to join us, so that fills up the 12 positions, with Mrs C being the Chief Steward and Housekeeper, while Xavier and Wyatt looking after us five, the rest will look after themselves and any guests that me may have from time to time” Sebastian responded.

“Can we make one of the small lounges on level five into our executive dining room?” I asked, and the twins nodded their head in agreement to the idea, “Well looks like I am out voted on that so, yes we will do as suggested” Sebastian said, which I was pleased about.

After nearly eight days at sea, we arrived in Cape Town, and Sebastian gave Mrs C instructions, to get herself and her nephews, clothing to suite the colder climate of the Falklands, and anything else that they wanted for their new quarters, when we get there.

Sebastian, had already been in contact with a building firm in Cape Town that builds homes out of Shipping containers, and he put a rush order of 4 homes, plus horse stables, and a semi open area between them, storage and machinery sheds, also with a semi open area, and 2 smaller guest cabins, which would be shipped directly to the FI as soon as possible, and in the mean time we would remain onboard the MV Huon, berthed at the jetty.

Sebastian had also arranged for their new home, which has been completed for a month now, to be shipped to the Falklands, from Darwin, and it would be two weeks behind the arrival of the MV Huon. On that same ship will be two twelve - metre long, aluminium multi hull boats, with two 355 horsepower engines, that has a below deck cabin, with dining seats for six & a table, plus a small kitchen area, and a bathroom.

On deck there are seats for the skipper and 8 passengers, and these two boats would be ideal of transporting people from the main island to the observatory tower. For our first day in the Cape, Sabastian and I just did a few tourist things, taking our time looking at the different sites, and enjoying the foods of South Africa.

When we arrived back at the yacht, there was a local newspaper on the coffee table, that wasn’t there this morning, an I picked it up and sat down in the lounge to have a look, and I was shocked to see what the headlines read. “Prominent Historian and Author cries Foul play”.

“Australian history author, Philip Folkman, has announced that while doing research on his newest book, the War History of the Indian Ocean Islands, he has recovered evidence that former Administrator Lewis Shaw and his staff member, who was seriously injured, while attending planning meetings for the APEC Meetings, were setup by a crime gang, so as to put pressure on the Australian Government, to loosen their trade tariff’s for Singapore and Malaysia.

It is believed that Mr Shaw’s assistant, a Staff Sergeant in the Australian Army, was set up and charged with Inappropriate Behaviour, after an unknown person accosted him on a park bench and ran off when a group of men saw the act and then began kicking the daylights out of the Staff Sergeant.

When Mr Shaw was informed, he went to the police station, and on seeing his assistant’s injuries, Mr Shaw demanded that he be taken to hospital for treatment, which was refused. Sometime after the High Commissioner made the same request, the Staff Sergeant, was dumped on the side of the road, outside of the High Commission gates, and he was immediately taken to the Private hospital for treatment, for a broken rib, bruised kidney’s and some cuts and bruises.

“When Mr Shaw went to visit his assistant later in the day, the Staff Sergeant had disappeared, with no records of him ever being in the hospital. Mr Folkman states that he has a written and signed statement from the treating doctor and nurses, at the private hospital, plus a copy of the Staff Sergeants medical file and X-ray film & report, stating the day and time that he was admitted into the hospital, and the time that he was discharged into the custody of the Special Police.

After intervention from the Governor General of Australia, the Staff Sergeant was once again dumped outside the High Commission gates, and the doctor that works for the High Commission, diagnosed another broken rib, two missing teeth, a dislocated finger and more bruises, that were not there when he was in hospital.

The Staff Sergeant was rushed to Darwin Hospital on arrival from Singapore, by private jet, where he had his spleen removed, and his finger put back into the correct position, and he is still in hospital, recovering from his injuries.

Since the incident, and Mr Shaw’s forced resignation, his husbands Jet Airline service, that provided transport to tourists from Darwin and Broome, to Christmas and the Cocos Keeling Islands, plus the Chagos Archipelago, has ceased operation, which has resulted in a huge drop in tourist visitors, which is greatly affecting all the island groups financially.

Mr Folkman called the Federal Government to have a full Coronial tribunal investigation, to get all the facts for this incident, as well as to compensate the Staff Sergeant for his injuries, and reinstate Mr Shaw’s full honours, that were wrongly stripped from him. Attempts have been made to contact Mr Shaw for comment, but is whereabouts is unknown.”

“Wow, now I didn’t expect that” I commented, just as Sebastian sat down beside me. “What is it my love? Anything interesting?” Sebastian asked, “Yes, you could say that” I replied, as I handed him the newspaper. “Well looks like the shit is really about to hit the fan in Canberra” Sebastian commented, when he finished reading the news article. “I think I had better stay onboard the yacht, and stay out of sight till we are out to sea again” I remarked, and Sebastian nodded his head in agreement.

“Just as well I had the Captain have the name of the yacht temporarily renamed, and the AIS code adjusted, before we arrived in Cape Town” Sebastian commented, “You have, I hadn’t noticed” I said shocked at this news, and Sebastian just smiled in response.

Two days later, we were preparing to leave South Africa, and we were waiting on the twins who had to do some last - minute shopping. When they returned, they had with them a copy of today’s newspaper, which they gave to Sebastian to look at, when they arrived in the executive lounge.

We were leaving the harbour of Cape Town, when we suddenly began to slow down, and the phone beside Sebastian buzzed. “Sir, we have been ordered to stop, as there is an official who wishes to speak to you, before you leave” the Captain said, and with Sebastian leaning towards me, I was able to hear the conversation, “Captain, Lewis here, who is the official?” I asked.

“The Australian High Commissioner in South Africa, to see you sir” the Captain replied. “Captain, tell them I have no interest in speaking to his Excellency, and that he should return to port, as we are not stopping” I replied, “You heard the man, lets leave Cape Town at once Captain” Sebastian added, “Yes sir” the Captain replied and the call ended.

“This may cause some issues, with our plans to go to FI, we may have to change our plans again, as the High Commissioner will know where we are heading” Sebastian said to me, and I sighed, “You might be right, but where do we go?” I replied.

We need to find a remote island, that we can rent or buy, where we can live peacefully, without any disruptions” Sebastian suggested, as he retrieved his laptop computer and started it up. A few minutes later as Sebastian and I were looking at Google Maps, one of the bridge officers entered the lounge.

“I have a fax for Mr Shaw sir” the officer said as he approached and handed me the fax. “Sir Lewis, please stop the yacht and return to Cape Town, your resignation was not accepted, and you are requested to return to Christmas Island, furthermore, your titles were not revoked as suggested in the media. Signed the High Commissioner of Australia, South Africa”. “Well that is something different, and unexpected” I said as I handed the fax to Sebastian, and I stood up and followed the officer back to the bridge.

“What are you going to do? Are you planning on going back, after everything that has happened?” Sebastian asked me, when we reached the bridge. “Not at the moment, I smell a rat, and it is not coming from this yacht or Australia” I replied, as I picked up the satellite phone and dialled a number that I knew by heart.

“Lewis Shaw to speak to the Governor General please” I said, when the call was answered, “Certainly Mr Shaw, please hold” came a response, and I put my hand over the mouth piece, “the staff member referred me as Mr Shaw, not Sir Lewis! I may be correct with my suspicions.

“Mr Shaw, what can I do for you?” the Governor General said, when she came onto the phone, “Ma’am, I have a matter of great importance to tell you. I am currently in Cape Town, and I have received a message from the High Commissioner of South Africa, that my resignation was not accepted, and that I am to return to Christmas Island, plus that my honours have not been revoked, is this all correct?” I stated.

“It certainly is not correct, your resignation was accepted, and your Baron and Knighthood honours were indeed revoked, although that is now under review, after what Mr Philip Folkman has revealed recently” the Governor General replied.

“Well in that case ma’am, I suggest that you have the Federal Police look into why someone is pretending to be the High Commissioner of South Africa, and sending me a fax, with the Australian Government logo on it, insisting that I return to Christmas Island, possibly to kidnap me, and possibly take me to Singapore” I said, “Thankyou for your information Mr Shaw, I will certainly get it looked at. Good day to you” the GG said and she ended the call abruptly.

“I do not like the sounds of that” Sebastian said to me, before turning to the Captain, “Change course to North West please Captain, we are heading to the Med, and I ask that no transmissions be made from this yacht, until I give permission” Sebastian said, before he grabbed my hand and led me off the bridge, and we headed back to the executive lounge.

“I have an idea that I want to run past you” Sebastian said when we arrived in the lounge, where the twins were relaxing, and they looked up after Sebastian said that. “Bare with me on this, it may be a bit of a wild idea, but it could work. I have a friend who contacted me last year, asking if I was interested in buying a small island and building a villa on it for tourists, and for our holidays.

We have spent the past 8 months we have been preparing a flat area on the island, so as we can place a prebuilt villa in sections onto the island directly from a ship, we have a reasonably flat area, to put the building on, located near the south end of the island, which is 331 acres in area. We also have a team slowly restoring the old watch tower, back to what it originally looked like when it was built.

If we are careful, we could use our latest project as the feature building on the island, as it has all the facilities needed installed already, and we can add, with wind turbines and solar panels, and we just need to run a pipe down to the water, to get access to the sea, to get water for the desalination plant” Sebastian stated.

“Ok brother, where is this place where you plan to have this hair-brain idea” the twins asked, “Not hair brain, totally crazy” I added, and the twins laughed at this, “Ha bloody ha, guys. Now you have all seen the plans, we can do this, just send one level of tower up at a time, and slot it all together, that is how it has been designed, to do it that way, not matter if it is in the water or on land” Sebastian stated, “The location?” I asked.

“Isola di Serpentara” Sebastian said, and I saw the shocked look on the twins faces, “Err, are you sure about that brother, that is pretty hard to get onto, we passed it when we were on the cruise, during your manly moon, I mean honey moon” Louis asked.

“Will you please tell me where the hell this Serpent place is?” I asked in a frustrated tone, “Oh sorry sweetness, it is a very small island in the Mediterranean Sea, and it’s highest point is 54 metres above the sea, it is 4 kms East of Sardinia, a territory of Italy, it has a very old watch tower on it that dates back to the Spanish Wars” Sebastian replied.

“Oh” was all I could say, as Sebastian brought up a Google Maps look of the island, “Does it include those three rocky outcrops just to the north?” Joachim asked, “Yes it does, and we have already built and installed a 500-metre long, steel framed jetty between the small northern and the larger southern rocks, to create a boat landing, but the depth there is only 3.2 metres, so bigger ships will not be able to berth there.

This yacht maybe able to get there at high tide, but it may get stuck there till the next high tide. From the jetty, we have made a 350-metre long boardwalk, also steel framed, to the island, and it is an 890-metre hike to the building site.

We already have approval from the local authorities to build a villa, with no height restrictions, so we are hoping that they won’t complain about a tower that will be over 18 metres high.

The one problem that we do have, is that the main level is 3 decks up from the ground, but there is an airlock, located on Level 1 East, with a bathroom and two elevators in the small foyer area, which leads into the central recreation lounge, and I just thought of another thing, we may have to install a warning light on top, to stop aircraft from crashing into us” Sebastian explained.

“Oh great, that is all we need” I exclaimed, as I sat down hard in the lounge, having stood up and paced the room for a bit earlier, “It will all be good sweetness, so please don’t worry” Sebastian said to me. “How long till we get there, bro?” Louis asked Sebastian, “The Captain said ten days, if it is smooth sailing” Sebastian replied, before pulling out his phone and he spent the next few hours on the phone cancelling plans for the shipping containers, and also to arrange for the tower to be shipped to Italy via the Suez Canal, which will only take 14 days.

For the next ten days, I tried to keep myself busy, swimming in the pool each day, and spending some time in the gymnasium, and I even started to learn Italian, which was a lot easier than I thought, especially with the twins helping, and they often began talking in Italian during dinner, to get me to get use to understanding the language, and to reply to what they are saying.

The crew were pleased when they learnt that we were heading for the Med, and Mrs Cooper was looking forward to getting a nice suntan again, as all the cold weather clothing was packed and stored away for another time. Just 1 ½ days after passing the Gibraltar Strait, I made the call that I needed to make.

“Hello sis, it is me” I said when the call was answered, “Oh Lewis, we have been so worried about you, are you ok? and where the hell are you” my sister said to me, “I am fine sis, and you can tell everyone else we are all fine. We are still on the yacht, but I can’t tell you were I am or where we are heading, as there has been an attempt to kidnap me, so we are staying at sea, just to be safe” I said.

“Oh, and who is trying to kidnap you?” Margaret asked me, “I think it may have been the same gang that assaulted my assistant, they may be trying to get me back to Singapore, to face trial for illegally smuggling a wanted man out of the country, which seems strange considering they just dumped him out on the side of the road like garbage” I replied.

“That is terrible, I will ring Kylie, she may have an idea on what is happening. Do you have the same Sat phone number for the yacht?” Margaret asked.

“Yes sister, you can call me on that number, but don’t give it to anyone, give me a call in say two days from now at this time, which is a suitable time for me too, remember the name of the base that our brother helped to build, use that for the code word, then we will know it is you” I said to Margaret, “What base… oh yes, now I remember, very sneaky, ok brother you take care, and give your husband a kiss and cuddle from me, bye for now” Margaret said before ending the call.

“Remind me to privately tell the Captain the code word, before we go to bed” I said to Sebastian, “I have no idea what you are talking about” Sebastian said to me, and I just chuckled, as I headed back to the bridge with the Satellite phone, and I refused to tell Sebastian the code word when he asked me, over the next two hours.

As we were preparing for bed, there was a knock on our cabin door, and I went downstairs to answer it. “Sorry to disturb you sir, but a Mrs Kylie Sanders is on the sat phone and she gave the correct password” the first officer said to me, before handing over the sat phone and closing the door.

“Hello Kylie, what are you doing calling me” I said into the phone, “Don’t you get narky with me boyo, I have been worried sick about you, now tell me this instant where you are” Kylie said to me, “I’m sorry, but I won’t, I am no longer in Australia, that is all you need to know” I replied, “If you are worried about someone listening in, you don’t have to worry, I am on a secure phone line from Perth Headquarters, since you left, I have been transferred back to the main land” Kylie replied.

“I am on a yacht in the middle of a sea, that is all I am going to tell you, now I have lots of things to do today, so I am going to hang up now, I will set up a new email address tomorrow, and send you an email, that is all for now, bye Kylie” I said before ending the call.

I changed into some suitable clothes, before taking the Sat phone back to the bridge, and I sat there talking with the first officer for a while, before returning to the suite. “What took you so long?” Sebastian said in a half sleep, “Just talking to the First, we will be arriving in Marina di Villasimius at 9 am tomorrow, I think I got the pronunciation correct” I said, “Bravo, Si” Sebastian replied.

“How far is it from this marina to the island?” I asked Sebastian, “About 14 kilometres by boat from the marina, now go to sleep” Sebastian mumbled, and I was soon asleep beside my husband.

The next morning, after we had cleared customs, we went for a look around the small village, which is very popular with holiday campers, as well as plenty of holiday houses in the village. I had given all the crew permission to have shore leave, since they had not had much time to relax much, when we were on Christmas Island.

After a wonderful day of exploring and enjoying the sights of Sardinia, we set said in the very late afternoon, passing the South eastern tip of the Island, just as the sun was touching the horizon, and we moored at the jetty of the island just before it started to get too dark. With a busy day planned for tomorrow, we all ate dinner and headed to bed without a fuss, as we were all eager to see what this island is like.

When I woke up in the morning, I headed forward to the crew area, and up the stairs, 4 levels till I reached the bridge, and not bothering to knock, I walked straight in, where the Captain was sipping a cup of tea. “Good morning Captain, what does this Island that my hubby bought, look like” I said to him as I approached the front of the bridge deck, and the Captain just smiled.

“Yes, I know, I am impatient, Sebastian tells me that often” I added, as I walked out onto the side wing for a clearer view, and the Captain joined me. “Well it is very rocky for one thing, and reasonably flat in most places, are we touching the bottom Captain?” I asked.

“Surprisingly no we are not, so it must be deeper than 3.2 metres” the Captain responded, “Righto, I am off to explore” I said as I left the bridge, and headed down all the stairs, till I reached the lower deck, and kept moving to the aft of the yacht, to the aft platform, which I hoped was at the right height to step onto the jetty.

Once on the jetty, I headed along the boardwalk, until I reached the island itself, and began the hike up the hill, stopping at the old tower, which I was amazed was still standing. I continued on along the track, and I soon arrived at a very large cleared area, that was about 250 metres wide, and it looked very flat, as it took up nearly the whole width of the island.

Looking to the east of the island, there is a small bay, which looked fairly deep, and I wondered if it would be best to have the tower located there, where it will be mostly hidden by the island, and be in a sheltered area. I walked to near the south end of the island, before making my way back towards the jetty, and when I reached the tower, I went inside to have a look, and it was incredibly well restored, with a carved stone steps leading up to the entrance, which has a heavy wooden door, which was open.

Stepping inside, the internal walls had all been restored, and the windows have been framed with weathered looking frames, and wooden shutters. The tower is round with three levels, and a wooden spiral staircase circles along the inside wall of the tower, with a space for plenty of head clearance, as I reached the next level up. All three levels were empty, but all the walls and windows had been restored, and a wooden roof had been built on the top, with wooden shingles, to keep the weather out.

The view from the top floor was incredible, I could see the main island of Sardinia very clearly, as the sun began to warm up, as I headed back downstairs, where I nearly banged into a man as he stepped through the main door. “Scusami, me displiace”, Excuse me, I am sorry, I said in Italian.