NB New Direction - 11. NB ND Chapter 11

“Right, if you have the funds, which I believed you do, we can get a chartered plane to come from Rangpur, and land here, and if you can, would it be possible to bring my husband home on that plane? Judy said, as she handed the tablet over to me, for me to see. “Right, you call the plane charter company and organise a one passenger flight from Rangpur to here, and a 4-passenger flight from here to Dhaka, that’s if you and your husband want to have a short holiday till this is all over” I said to Judy.

“Yes I would love to take a cruise on this big ship of yours” Judy said, “That is very easy to arrange, and you are most welcome to stay for as long as you wish” I replied, as I handed over the sat phone, the first call she made was to her husband, and by the look on her face, he had agreed to the holiday cruise, the second call was to the aircraft charter company, and I handed over my company credit card for a deposit on the charter.

When the call ended, Judy handed me the phone, “Right, the plane takes 20 minutes to prepare, and take off, and my husband will be on it, and it is a 35-minute flight to here, then a 95-minute flight to Dhaka. I will get our luggage packed for an extended holiday, and you can both relax while I do that, my home is at the back of this shop” Judy announced, as she went to the front door, closed and locked it, and pulled down the blind.

When the plane landed on the very small runway on the edge of town, Judy drove the Tuk-tuk there to meet her husband, while Kyle and I ate some morning tea, that Judy had served up for us. When she returned, Judy introduced us to her husband Jai, and we chatted for a little while, before we gathered all of our luggage, and loaded it into the Tuk-tuk, and Jai and Kyle went to the airfield.

While Kyle loaded the luggage into the aircraft, Jai went back to the shop to collect Judy and I, arriving back just as Kyle had finished loading up. Picking me up, Kyle carried me over to, and into the aircraft, and made sure I was seated and belted in, and once everyone was in and the doors were locked, the plane set off for the capital city and the International Airport.

Once I was back in my wheelchair, Kyle wheeled me into the terminal, and we went to the airline booking counter for Singapore Airlines, and Kyle towed behind him a luggage trolley, with all of our belongings. I booked four seats for the next flight to Singapore, which would be leaving in just under two hours’ time, two seats in first class, and two in business class, and we checked in our large suitcases, but kept our backpacks with us, as carryon luggage.

We quickly made our way to customs and quarantine, and luckily, we passed through there reasonably quickly, and we arrived at our departure gate just twenty minutes before the call for boarding, so we didn’t have very long to wait, and with us being first to board the plane, we had to wait 40 minutes before the plane taxied away from the terminal and took off.

The flight would take just over four hours, and we would be arriving at 6.45pm local time. Once we had passed through customs, I made a quick call to Singapore, to book some accommodation at a hotel, and I made a second call to the Southern Explorer to let them know, that we were on today’s flight to Singapore, and we would be staying at a hotel till the ship arrives, and I was told that they would arrive in three days’ time.

I was feeling very tired by the time we arrived in Singapore, and Kyle had me settled into our shared suite, and I soon fell asleep from exhaustion, pleased that I was in a safe place, away from all of the natural disasters happening in Bangladesh. When I woke in the morning, Kyle was setting out breakfast on the table, and once he had done that, he helped me out of bed, and into my chair, so I could move to the table to eat.

“I have already spoken to Jai and Judy, they are going to spend a the few days of waiting for the ship, doing some sight-seeing, and plenty of shopping” Kyle informed me.

“Have you spoken to your mum, to let her know you are safe?” I asked, “Yes, I called mum last night, before going to bed, she is pleased that we are out of Bangladesh, and now in Singapore, and I told her that we would be sailing back to Fremantle, on the Southern Explorer” Kyle replied happily, as we continued to eat.

“When you speak to her next, let her know that we are planning to make a stopover at the Cocos Keeling Islands, for a short holiday. From Singapore, it will take us about 4 days for that part of the journey, and a further 6 days to Fremantle, so about two weeks to get home” I informed my best friend. “Great, I have always wanted to see the Cocos Keeling Islands” Kyle said happily.

I decided to rest for today, and Kyle said he would go and do some shopping, then be back by lunch time, to make sure I don’t starve, which made me laugh, “I do appreciate everything that you do for me buddy” I said to him, and Kyle just smiled and nodded his head.

I spend most of the day watching movies on the television, and doing some reading, only venturing out of the hotel for about an hour, in the late afternoon, when Kyle wheeled me out for a walk around the block to get some fresh air. We joined Jai and Judy for dinner at the hotel restaurant, and they told us of all the places that they had seen during the day, plus all the shopping they did.

The following day, Kyle took me out sight seeing all morning, returning to the hotel for lunch at the restaurant, when my mobile phone rang, with the caller ID saying that it was the Southern Explorer. “Hello Huon, this is Paul Kingsley speaking, I just wanted to let you know that we will be arriving at Singapore harbour at about 2100 hours tonight, and I have given the crew some shore leave, till 1600 tomorrow afternoon” the captain said to me.

“Very good sir, there will be two guests travelling back to Fremantle with us, a Dr and Mrs Jai Chakma Patwary, can you organise accommodation for them on the main deck please, and I, will take my usual executive cabin, and Kyle is to have the cabin next to me please, as I am not fully mobile yet, and rely on the wheelchair still, and can we have a few days stopover at the Cocos Keeling Islands please” I informed the captain.

“Very good sir, I will need to speak to you privately, before we leave Singapore on an urgent important matter” the Captain said and we ended the call. “The Southern Ocean will be arriving early, at about 2100 hours tonight, and the Captain is giving the crew some shore leave, till mid afternoon tomorrow, before we begin our journey home” I informed Kyle.

After lunch, we went out and did some shopping, and I left a message for Jai and Judy at reception, to let them know that the ship will be arriving early, and will depart Singapore at about 1800 hours tomorrow evening. When we arrived back at the hotel, there was a reply message waiting for us. “That is perfect, we have already spent way too much money on shopping, can we have dinner at the restaurant at 6pm tonight? Jai and Judy”.

We had enough time to have a little rest, before getting ready for dinner, and our guests were waiting when we arrived, as we were shown to our table for dinner. Jai talked about all the wonderful things he and Judy had seen wince arriving in Singapore. Although he studied medicine in nearby Kuala Lumpur, he had never had the chance to see and explore Singapore, which is just as magnificent.

As we neared the end of dinner, we discussed plans for tomorrow, and agreed to meet up at the reception lobby of the hotel at 2pm to go to the ship. I didn’t mention it to our guests, but Kyle and I had already planned to go to the Southern Explorer shortly before lunch time, as they had to pass through customs and quarantine again, before going onboard.

Back at our hotel suite, Kyle got to work to pack up all of our luggage, leaving out what we need for tonight and tomorrow morning, and after I had a shower, I headed to bed early, as all of this exploring and shopper had tired me out a lot. Soon after waking up the next morning, I called the ship and James answered the call. “Good morning sir, I assume you have had a pleasant stay in Singapore?” James said, after I identified myself as the caller.

“Yes, thanks James, probably spent a little bit too much on gifts for my cousins, but that is life, when did you arrive, and what’s the latest news?” I asked, “Well we arrived a little earlier than planned, eventually mooring at 2015 hrs, the majority of the crew are having 6 hours of shore leave. First shift, starting from 0800 hrs, the second shift starting shore leave at 1100 hours.

The officers are doing five-hour, split shifts of shore leave, starting at 0700 hours, and 1000 hours, that way we have a good amount of crew onboard at all times, with all external doors locked at all times, while in harbour. “That sounds like a good plan, ok Kyle and I will be arriving at about 1130 hours, so we will see you in few hours’ time” I answered, and after the call ended, I told Kyle what I had just been told.

It was good to be on familiar grounds, when Kyle and I arrived onboard the Southern Explorer, later that morning. The Captain, Ships Doctor, Chief Engineer and Exec Chef being there to greet us, along with two of the housekeeping stewards and a deckhand, to assist with our luggage, and getting the wheelchair on board. When Kyle and I were finishing settling into our executive cabins, the Captain arrived in the Storm lounge on the same level, and I wheeled out of my cabin to speak to him.

“Sir, during our travels this year, we have stumbled across an amazing site, your cousin knows about it, and has asked us to take steps to secure the site that I am about to reveal to you, because of his commitments in Claremont, he has asked me to assist you in any way” the captain said to me in a whisper, and he handed me an envelope, and inside was a small piece of paper with coordinates written on them.

“If I may sir, I have asked the Chief to come and assist you up to the bridge” the Captain added, and the Chief Engineer appeared, and lifted me out of my wheelchair, “I will be back in a little while” I said loudly so Kyle would hear me, “Ok, see you in a bit” Kyle replied without coming out of his cabin. A few minutes later we arrived on the bridge, and the Chief engineer – Michael Sampson, placed me in a chair at the Navigators desk, before stepping away, while the Captain entered the coordinates into the Navigation system.

The coordinates put into the system, came up with a location in the middle of the Indian Ocean, due South of the Cocos Keeling Islands, and due West of Carnarvon. “Ok, so this is in the middle of nowhere, according to this” I stated, just as the Captain placed some A3 sized photographs in front of me. At first, I was a little confused, then I realised something, “Am I looking at a newly formed Island, due to volcanic or earthquake activity?” I asked quietly, and the Captain smiled and nodded his head.

“Long time of volcanic, but more recently earthquake, as the ground is very solid rock, with no heat and when these photos were taken, in early December last, it measured approximately 14 kilometres in diameter, with a large lake in the middle, and it is approximately 3 metres above sea level at its highest point, but we haven’t stepped onto it yet” the Captain replied. “Holy smoke, so what does Sebastian want us to do then?” I asked.

“Well, we found it in early April last year, but we just noted the coordinates, and I made a note in my private diary, for record purposes, plus took a few quick pictures, as the seas were quite rough on that day, but when we returned in December, the seas were mild, and we were able to sail around it a few times, to get better pictures of all around it and double checked the coordinates.

Mr Wagner has us buy some extra special supplies while we were in South Africa, plus a few items while here in Singapore. We have been ordered to have you land on the island first, along with an Australian Flag, and officially claim the island as Australian territory, and raise a flag on the island. We have a flagpole and some concrete to set it up. Next, we are to build a small lighthouse on the islands highest point, to mark its location, for that we have concrete Bessa-Blocks, and plenty of concrete, to build it.

Mr Wagner said it doesn’t matter how big it is in diameter, as long as it has a little bit of height. We have onboard, some solar panels, some batteries, and some lights, that will blink at five second intervals, they will not be very bright during storms, but on clear nights, they should be visible for one or two kilometres” the Captain explained. “As a pure coincidence, one of our guests, Mrs Judy Chakma Patwary, is a qualified engineer, so she may be of assistance with this project” I mentioned, and we discussed this a little more.

I was informed that the trip to the new island would take approximately twelve days, including the three days stop at the Cocos Keeling Islands, and that it truly was in the middle of nowhere, with it being 737 nautical miles East, to the nearest land, which is Carnarvon, Western Australia, the Cocos Keeling Islands are 785 nautical miles due North, and Fremantle is 908 nautical miles to the SE, while the nearest foreign land is East Java, Indonesia, which is 1,152 nautical miles to the NNE of the island.

I was carried back down to the storm lounge on D deck, and soon after the chief had left I wheeled into Kyle’s cabin, “Where did you get to, without your wheelchair?” Kyle asked me. “I had a big muscled man carry me up to the bridge, for a meeting with the Captain” I answered with a huge grin on my face, and Kyle laughed, I presume you are meaning Chief Engineer Sampson?” Kyle said eventually, and I just nodded my head, yes. Kyle didn’t ask me about the meeting, so I didn’t say anything about it, deciding to keep the new island a surprise for him when we arrive.

I had left a message at the hotel, to inform Jai and Judy that Kyle and I are already on the ship, and invited them to come when they are ready, and they arrived exactly at 2pm, after having been screened by customs and quarantine services. I had a set of arm crutches, with me, so I had decided to use them to get around on D Deck, and that I would leave the wheelchair on B deck, in a storeroom near the stairs and lift.

Kyle helped our guests to settle into their cabin, and to give them a tour of all the general public areas of the ship on the Lower, Main and A decks, while informing them that the upper decks, and crew only areas, are off limits to guests. Once we had cleared the harbour, the captain went to 21 knots, as we headed south and then south west to enter the Indian Ocean, with the Cocos Keeling Islands as our first destination, which was a good three days away.