NB New Direction - 17. NB ND Chapter 17

The next day, Kyle and I took the bikes for a ride around the island, and even went down to the lowest point of the lake, where it overflows into the ocean, when there is rain, which we were not sure about just yet, but with the small amount of low shrubs, that was growing well on the rocks, we presumed that it must be fairly good regular rainfall on the island.

After three days, I decided to give the spiral stairs a test, so after breakfast, I headed to the top of the stairs, and carefully made my way down, with Kyle following close behind. The stairs were stable with no sign of movement at all, and I was pleased that it would make it so much easier to get down to the beach.

With the concrete also set on the slabs of the sheds and gazebos, we transferred the drums of fuel to the storage shed, so it is out of the sun, and moved two of the kayaks to the storage shed, while the other two we decided to take out onto the water, since the ocean was calm now.

About half an hour after paddling around the area, not going out any further than about fifty metres from the beach, Kyle and I were making our way back to the beach, when a fin appeared from the water, heading in our direction, which caused both of us to panic, thinking it was a shark, looking for a quick snack.

When we saw the fin disappear, we were not sure what to expect, until suddenly it was a dolphin and not a shark, that jumped out of the water, and over my Kayak, causing me to nearly loose balance. I managed to stay upright, and not fall into the water, and I stopped paddling to see what would happen next. The dolphin gave my kayak a nudge, strong enough for me to fall into the water, and all I could do was laugh, which Kyle was doing too, and soon the dolphin was beside me, and I stroked its back very gently, till it took off again.

I climbed back onto my kayak, and grabbed the paddle, and turned the kayak around to try and see where the dolphin had gone, and this time it jumped over Kyle which made him fall into the water. After about half an hour of watching the dolphin, we paddled back to the beach, and pulled them up onto the beach, to allow them to dry in the sun. Taking the PFD’s off, we made our way up the stairs, so we could shower and change before going to the administration building to work.

For today, Flight officer Lentz was doing maintenance on the helicopter, with Judy assisting, taking both bikes to get up to the helipad. Jai was doing a stocktake of all the equipment and supplies that the Southern Explorer had delivered, the cook and stewards were busy doing some cleaning of the galley and dining room.

Chris and Shawn took the patrol boat out to do a slow patrol around the island a number of times, firstly at about 250 metres out, then again at 500 metres out, keeping an eye on the sonar, in case there was any unwanted visitors, and Kyle and I started to set some admin procedures into place, so we knew what each other was doing.

At lunchtime, with everyone gathered, we had a debrief of the mornings activities, so everyone knew what was happening on the island. I reminded everyone to remain vigil with island security, and to report any suspicious activity, no matter how small it may be.

After lunch, back at the admin building I called Sebastian, but his phone went to Message bank, “Hi mate, just a quick call, can you see if you can organise a lean-too, which we can put up between two buildings to provide shelter for the two bikes, it just needs to full roof to sun and rain protection, and maybe a back half wall.

Also, a lockable gate would be ideal for the top of the spiral stairs, oh and some remote sensors, to pick up any movement at night time, with silent alarm, that can be sent to our mobiles. Thanks mate, say hello to the twins, and Mrs Cooper too” I said before ending the call.

For the rest of the afternoon, Kyle and I worked on developing a website, for the island, and we added some photos that we had taken while on our bike rides. The photos included the lighthouse, with the flagpole, the lake, the village from a distance, the beach, without it showing the sheds or gazebos, and a photo of the dolphin as it is jumping over Kyle, with only a back view of Kyle on the kayak.

We decided not to photograph any of the team members, or the vehicles that we have on the island, but we did include phots of some of the albatross’s, pelicans, terns and petrels, two different kind of seals, acouple of penguins, and even some parrots. On the website, we gave adescription of the island, stating that it was less than 800 nautical miles West of the Australian mainland, around 800 to 900 nautical miles south of Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling Islands, with the nearest foreign land being East Java, Indonesia, around 1200 nautical miles to the north.

We created a new email address, for contact purposes, and stated that in the future, there would be 3 - month long science scholarships for a maximum of six university post-grad students, who are studying zoology, veterinary science, environmental science, meteorology or marine biology. I sent a link of the website, via email to Sebastian, so he could look at it before it goes live, and we just had to wait for a reply from Sebastian.

In the late afternoon, with a notepad each and the binoculars, Kyle and I set off in one bike, to the other side of the island, where we had noticed most of the seals during previous trips. Leaving the bike well away from the coast, we hiked the last 600 metres to the rocky coast and laying on the ground and peering over the side, Kyle counted the birds and mammals that we saw, while I sketched them and their surroundings, including the different plants, and a few small crabs.

When we arrived back at the village, just as it was getting dark, Kyle and I went online to have a look at identifying the plants and mammals that we had sketched and counted. One of the plants, I already knew the common name for it, as it is common the west coast of Australia, that being Pigface, there is also some Beach Spinifex, and Coastal Daisy. There are also some Reef Crabs and King Crabs, that we have identified. The birds we identified so far, are the albatross, petrels, and some smaller parrots.

The following day, we pulled out our snorkelling gear, to explore the sea life close to the island shores, and we spotted dolphins, dugongs, clown fish, little penguins, manta rays, sea turtles, and we explored the other two locations that have small beaches, which we could access by climbing down the rocks.

Once on the most southern beach, which is in a long narrow valley, providing a lot of shelter from strong winds, and Kyle suggested putting a smaller village at this location, with maybe just two double buildings, 2-double and 2-twin cabins for accommodation, plus a waste building and power station for that area. I liked the idea, and we discussed the idea some more, before heading back to the main village.

Walking into the Admin building, we found an email waiting for us from Sebastian, “Hey Kyle And Huon, I like the website, well done on a great job, and give approval for it to be launched. The Southern Explorer will be back there in about a week, with a few more supplies, is there anything else that you need while we are planning for the next trip, Regards Seb”.

I clicked the reply button, and started to type, “Hi Seb, Kyle and I have just returned from a trip out to the south end of the island, to the small protected beach, and Kyle suggested that we build a small hamlet there, with just two double buildings for dining, kitchen, lounge and recreation, and four accommodation cabins, plus a small power and water building and waste and rubbish storage building.

Kyle and I have been doing some recording and sketching of the flora and fauna on the island, a lot more around than I expected, there is also some ground cover plants including pigface and coastal daisy, plus a few other plants yet to be identified. It would be good if we could introduce some seeds and seedlings, to establish some shrubs and trees on the island, to help provide some more shelter from the strong winds on the island, Huon”.

For the next few days, Kyle and I spend most of our days travelling around the island, sticking to one track each time, following the smoothest area as we could find, which passes very close to the top of the lake and not too far away from the lighthouse. Each time, trip we made, we left the bikes at the beach, and created 3 hiking tracks to different parts of the island, which have great views of the coast.

One day while standing on the cliff top above the centre beach, which is the smallest of the three beaches, I spotted something that I was not expecting, and I pulled out the sat phone and dialled a number. “What are you looking at Huon… oh it is here already” Kyle said when he saw me staring out to sea and then spotting the approaching ocean Explorer.

“This is the Ocean Explorer, how may I help you?” came the voice of my cousin, “Hey Cousin, have you decided to make a surprise visit? Are the twins with you?” I replied happily. “Hi Huon, yes and yes, plus I have an extra passenger, who your best friend will be pleased to see” Sebastian replied and I handed the phone over to Kyle, “Hi Sebastian, why is Huon smiling so much?” Kyle said into the phone.

“Hello son, have you been behaving yourself?” came an unexpected voice for Kyle, “Hi mum, yes I have been good, and keeping busy, it has been awesome living and working on this island” Kyle replied, “Tell Huon that Mrs Cooper is with us, and we will see you soon” Annette said, before ending the call. Kyle and I jumped onto the bikes and headed back to the village, which took us close to 45 minutes to do.

By that time, a helicopter had delivered Annette, Mrs Cooper, the twins and Sebastian to the village. When we finally arrived, we saw the smaller chopper sitting on the edge of the village, and we could hear the bigger helicopter which was on the ship, anchored just offshore, as it lifted some cargo, which ended up being two parts of a floating jetty.

We said hello to all the new arrivals, as we watched the helicopter gently place the sections of the jetty on the beach, before returning to the ship for the next load. Kyle and I lead our visitors to the main lounge and recreation building, where we sat down for a late afternoon tea, and a chat. “Seb if you don’t mind, can you share with your brothers in a triple bed cabin, while Annette and Mrs Cooper, if you can share a cabin, or you can stay in your cabins on the ship” I suggested to our guests.

“Let’s worry about that a bit later, how about giving us a tour of the island” Sebastian suggested, “Well we only have two quad bikes, so using the helicopter would be the best option” I replied, just as we heard the helicopter place a loaded pallet in the village square, and Sebastian just smiled. “Ok Mr, what’s the big grin for?” I asked, “Why don’t you step outside and see” Sebastian replied.

Kyle followed close by as I walked out of the building, and on the pallets were two brand new golf buggies, that can carry 5 people and a small amount of cargo, and I just laughed. “Ok, I guess that sorts out that problem, only thing is, that it is too late in the afternoon for a full tour today, how about we have a tour of the village, and the main beach, and we will do the rest in the morning” I suggested, and everyone agreed to that.

About twenty minutes later, we were on the beach watching the twins and Kyle making sand castles, “I presume you guys are on school holidays” I asked my cousin, “Yes, and the boys wanted to check out the island, and Mrs Cooper demanded that she take her with us, as did Annette” Sebastian replied, “Demanded my foot, young man, I asked very nicely… with threats of not cooking for them ever again” Mrs Cooper replied, which made us all laugh.

“In regard to your idea of a separate Hamlet near the south Beach, I have brought along two double and two twin cabins, plus the extra Galley, dining room, recreation lounge building, Fresh water storage and pump room, plus desalination plant, and the waste treatment and storage units.

I would like to suggest that we move the triple cabins to the hamlet, and add the two twin cabins there as well, and place the two double cabins where the other cabins were, that way you will have cabins for us when we visit, and the hamlet can be used to accommodate research students” Sebastian suggested.

“Brilliant idea cousin, now in the morning we will take you out to the site of the hamlet, also Kyle and I have established three walking tracks, as well as the main access trail for the bikes and buggies, so I was thinking, those who are interested in a nice long hike, can come with me, and anyone feeling lazy or can’t walk long distances, can take the buggies with Kyle as their guide” I said with a big grin, which made Sebastian chuckle. “I think Annette and I will gladly take the buggy option thank you, and we can keep an eye on the twins” Mrs Cooper said sternly.