Survival - 13. Surv Chapter 13

“ I am glad that you convinced me to pack extra food when we were in Zermatt, as it kept us all going for the unscheduled stop over at the mountain hut” I said to Uncle Nat, “I bet you were the only one to have your bivvy bag with you too” my uncle commented, and I chuckled, you got that right, I was the only one, that was nice and cosy for the two long nights up there” I replied.

After I had showered and changed, we ate lunch before, Uncle Nat checked out of the hotel and we headed down to Zermatt in the cable car, then caught the train to Zurich, as we would be flying out of Switzerland the next day, for the long journey home, with a 12-hour flight to Singapore, then a seven-hour flight to Adelaide, arriving at 9am Monday morning.

During our three-hour stop over, we had a wander around the airport shops, and I made a call to Mum, to let her know that we are on our way back to Australia, and Mum informed me that there is a news article about me climbing the Matterhorn in Switzerland, with a small group of fellow mountaineers.

I explained that Uncle Nat had fallen ill two days before the Ascent, and had to stay behind at the hotel, half way up the mountain, and I continued on with the rest of the group, and we were stuck in a mountain hut for just over a day due to bad weather, during our climb back down from reaching the summit.

Mum was not too happy to hear that Uncle Nat was not with me for the climb, but she was glad that I had returned safely, and after handing the phone over to Uncle Nat, my Mum told him off for not going with me or stopping me from going with strangers.

After the phone call, Uncle Nat did a web search of the news article which was the lead story. “Australian lad concours another two more mountains” were the headlines, “17 -year-old Jacob Blackwood, mountaineer extraordinaire, has in the past fortnight reached the summit of two more mountains, firstly Mt Kenya, which is 5,199 metres, and the famous Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, which is 4,478 metres high, and is well known for being one of the most dangerous mountains on earth.

It appears there is no stopping this young man from climbing some of the world’s biggest and most dangerous mountains, after earlier this year, he successfully reached the summit of Thunder Mountain, in North West Canada.

With these latest two successful climbs, Jacob Blackwood has reached 12 mountain summits, around the world, including Mt Bellamy in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, Mount Cook in New Zealand’s South Island, Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and Mt Kosciuszko in Australia, plus all of the tallest peaks, in each of the 5 states of Australia, to name just a few, who knows where he will end up next”.

When we arrived in Adelaide, Uncle Nat and I separated, in hope of avoiding the media, and I went through customs first, with plans to travel home separately. Unfortunately, the media was at the arrival’s hall when I stepped out, and they immediately started asking questions and taking photographs, but this was short lived, as two men in Army uniforms, suddenly appeared beside me and escorted me out of the terminal, with the media hot on our heels.

With the jeep parked directly outside, we climbed in and raced off, withseveral taxi’s following us and instead of turning right onto the highway, we unexpectantly turned left, and a short while later we turned left again. “Where are we heading to Sergeant?” I enquired.

“The Brigadiers orders, we are to get you to the nearest secure location, which is Warradale Barracks in Oaklands” the Sergeant in the front passenger said, and less than fifteen minutes later, we turned into the main entrance of the barracks, where two soldiers were waiting to close the security gates, causing the taxi’s to come to a sudden stop, as the gates were closed in front of them.

Once parked outside the administration building, I was led inside, and directly into the CO’s office, were a Colonel was seated at the desk, and I snapped to attention and saluted. “At ease and take a seat Corporal” the Colonel said as the door was closed behind me.

“It seems that your talents have attracted a bit too much media publicity, so you will be situated here for the time being, as it is the closest base to your school, which is just 10 kilometres East of here.

Your uncle has been transferred to this base, and he will be along later, once he has packed his and your belongings” the Colonel informed me.

“I see sir, I do apologise for all of the trouble, we did attempt to not create so much publicity this time, but we couldn’t control the other members of the climbing team, and that is where I suspect the news originated from” I explained.

“That is fine, now unaware by civilians, there is a block of apartments that backs onto the base, coming off Morphett Road, the one at the rear on the left side is owned by the Defence Force, so you and your uncle will be living there from now on. It has a secure gate, for access to the base, and you should be able to slip in and out the front of the building, without been noticed, to attend school.

I understand that you are part of a detail, looking after the son of the Canadian Consular General, so we have asked for his assistance, for you to be picked up and delivered to school and back to base each day. Their house is in the suburb of Medindie, so as of tomorrow, you will be collected at 0745 in the morning, and dropped off at 1535 in the afternoon. I am sure you are going to be invited to their house, which I understand is quite grand, so make sure you mind your manners, when you are there” the Colonel said to me.

“Yes sir, I will, anything else I need to know?” I replied, “Yes just make sure you display your Army ID on you when on the base, and the Sergeant outside has a key for your new home, so he will show you the way, that is all for now” the Colonel said, and I stood and snapped to attention and saluted, before exiting the office.

A few minutes later, after driving past the maintenance and storage workshops, we came to a stop on the side of a long narrow shed, and in front of us was a high security gate, that looked like went straight into a landscaped garden, and with just one backpack in hand, as Uncle Nat had the rest of my luggage, we passed through the gate, and walked up some back stairs to the first floor, to apartment 15, and the Sergeant handed me the keys.

These keys are for your use, your uncle, the Major will be issued with a set when he arrives, make sure you don’t lose them, I will let you settle in, take care” the Sergeant said before heading back downstairs, and through the back gate.

The apartment was new, with all the modern conveniences, and it was fully furnished, as I had a good look around, and placed my backpack in the second bedroom, which has an adjoining shared bathroom, with a laundry nook included.

I sat down and watched a bit of television, and I must have fallen asleep, as I woke up to the sound of a key in the door and it opening. “Are you home nephew?” Uncle Nat called out, and I jumped up to meet him at the door, where his arms were full of luggage.

“Get started with the dirty laundry, while I go and collect some more of our belongings from my car” Uncle Nat instructed, and after nearly twohours, I had the second load of laundry in, and I was starting to unpack my belongings from all the boxes, while Uncle Nat showered and changed, before he went to do some food shopping, with the IGA supermarket being just 6 blocks away.

With just 11 weeks left of school for the year, I had to buckle down and do some serious studying, if I was to graduate this year. Although I was averaging B+ for most of my subjects, there were a few subjects where I was getting just a B grade, and I needed to concentrate on those subjects a little more.

I was planning on entering the Army when I have completed my high school studies at the end of the year, and I had already submitted my application, with the application process beginning in in early January next year.

I knew that once I was in, I would be doing 80 days of Recruit training, followed by 3 weeks of Corps training, then 72 weeks of training, for the course that I have selected to do, which is Telecommunications Technician.

Apart from the main subjects of English, Specialist Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physical Education and Physics, I also was doing Auslan Sign Language, Accounting, Design & Technology in Communications and finally Psychology.

Over the next 3 weeks, I was spending over three hours each evening with homework, as well as continuing my commitments with the Army cadets, and assisting with watching over Langley.

Uncle Nat and I were eventually invited over to his house for an evening meal, and I was bowled over by how grand the house was, it was huge.

With large landscaped gardens, a tennis court, and a large function room, used for official social events, that Langley’s parents host from time to time. Langley and I even had a chance for a challenging game of tennis, in the afternoon, and the evening meal was quite a treat, with a total of 4 courses.

Over dinner, I learnt, that Langley would be attending University in Adelaide in the new year, where he would be studying Law, and he was a little disappointed when he learnt that I would not be attending University but joining the Army instead.

When asked what my plans were over the summer holidays, I looked over to Uncle Nat before responding, “I have no set plans, as Uncle Nat has used up all of his work holidays, so I would probably be keeping fit, in preparation for joining the Army, and maybe go camping somewhere within South Australia” I replied, and Uncle Nat just smiled.

“I have just recently been transferred to another base, so I am still settling into my new job, so unfortunately I don’t have the time this summer, to go on a hiking or mountaineering expedition, and my new CO isn’t quite as understanding as my previous one” Uncle Nat added.

When graduation day arrived, I was thrilled to have got through my finally exams, without any trouble, so I was hoping to have reasonably good grades. As went stepped onto the stage to receive my graduation certificate, I was caught totally by surprise, to see my parents sitting next to Uncle Nat, and I diverted via their seats to give Mum a hug and Dad a hand shake, before returning to my seat.

Once all the certificates were presented, we had just the awards and the head student speech to go, and I was caught by surprise yet again, when they called out the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award for activities outside of the school.

“This award goes to a young man, who in the past five years, has climbed some of Australia’s and the world’s biggest mountains” and I blushed when I heard the Headmaster state this, knowing it was me, he was referring to. “This year alone, he has reached the summit of the Matterhorn is the Swiss Alps, Mt Kenya, in Africa and Thunder Mountain in North West Canada.

I ask Mr Jacob Blackthorn, to step forward to receive this award, from special guest, Mrs Afya Nweke” the Headmaster announced, and from the side of the stage, Nanny Afya walked onto the stage, and shook the headmaster’s hand, before looking towards me, as I walked forward, struggling to not cry, and I could hear a lot of cheering from the audience of students and families.

I gave Nanny Afya a long hug, before accepting the award, then shook the headmasters hand. “Before you leave Jacob, maybe you could give us a short version talk about one of your adventures” the headmaster asked me, and reluctantly I agreed.

“Well sir, if it is a short talk, then I have the ideal one” I said once I stepped in front of the microphone. “Most students in my year, have had the pleasure of hearing some of my stories, and the two that brought the most enjoyment, were when I received two text messages from my dearest Nanny Afya, and I will repeat it for everyone today, firstly in her native language of Swahili, then in English.

Looking out towards my parents and Uncle Nat, they were already smiling broadly when I said this, and looking over to where Nanny was sitting, she too was smiling, as I pulled out my phone. “Simba, Mtoto tembo aliveunja ndani ya bustani, neon langu ni fujo gani, lilikuwa limeita wigo wa kuja na Kukusanya monster kidogo” I said, and nearly all the senior class laughed, having remembered me saying this.

“In English, that is, “Simba, baby elephant broke into the garden, my word what a mess, had to call the rangers, to come and collect the little monster” I said as I over dramatized the whole message, and now, the whole assembly was laughing, and I waited for the laughing to quieten, before I continued.

“For those who do not know, I spent the first 4 ½ years of my life living in Tanzania, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and Simba is my middle name, and the name I am called by my Nanny Afya.

The second message, I received from my Nanny, was just a few months ago and in English reads, “My word what a mess, baby elephant brings his mama this time, and tore up a lot of the garden, and left plenty big droppings behind, which I demanded the ranger clean up, he not happy man, but he not back chat to Nanny Afya, while I carry big stick, my oh my, this mess is dreadful, glad your Mama and Papa are not here to see it”.

This brought a whole lot more laughter in the assembly, and I took the time to leave the stage at that point, and everyone applauded, which made me blush even more, and looking over at Nanny as I left, she too was blushing, which made me chuckle.

After the assembly was over, I went to be with my family, with Nanny Afya now talking with my parents and Uncle Nat, and I gave Nanny another long hug. We chatted for a while, before Dad announced that we are booked in a restaurant for and early celebration dinner.

During dinner, I was informed that Mum and Dad, plus Nanny Afya would be staying for eleven days, leaving two days after Christmas, and that we would be having a family Christmas party, this time with Nanny being with us once more. Mum, Dad and Nanny were staying in a short-term accommodation apartment during their stay, and that is where we will be having Christmas lunch.

When asked what I planned to do during the school holidays, I said that I had no set plans, except that I would like to go for a short hiking trip straight after Christmas, camping for a few nights. “Why don’t you ask your Cadet CUO to join you on a hike of the South Coast track in Tasmania, it would be idea in summer time” Uncle Nat suggested, “Yes much safer than those mountain climbs” Nanny added.

“I will look into it and see” I responded, and once back at the base after a very long day, I sent a text message to Chris Harding. “Thinking of doing the South Coast Track in Tasmania, 7 to 9 days, straight after Christmas, are you interested in joining me?”, and it was as I was preparing for bed about an hour later, that I received a reply. “Sounds great, lets meet up at lunchtime tomorrow to discuss it”.

The following day, I met Chris at the Goodwood Library, which is just a few blocks away from where Chris lives. For me it is only 6 stops on the suburban railway line, with a twenty-minute walk to the Marion Railway station from the base, and a 600-metre walk from the Goodwood Train station to the library.

Instead of going into the library, Chris informed me that we were going back to his place, which is a 650 metre walk down the street, which caught me by surprise a little, as he had not mentioned where he lived before, or what his parents do for work. When we arrived at a house, that looked quite small, with houses very close together on each side, I followed Chris through the front door.

“Mum, I am back” Chris called out, as we headed down the long corridor, what appears to be a lot bigger than what it looks like on the outside. “Hi squirt, where is Mum?” Chris said when we came across a teenager sitting in the lounge room reading a book. “She was called to work, some emergency counselling session I think” the teenager responded.
“This is my little brother, Bailey, also known as squirt. Bailey, this is my good friend from school” Chris said making the introductions.

“Yes, I know, I’ve seen him around school, and in the papers” Bailey replied, which surprised me a little. “Bailey was in Year 9 at the same school as us, this year” Chris said as he retrieved to bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to me, before indicating for me to follow.

A few moments later, we entered Chris’s bedroom, which was very neat and tidy, with a large desk with a laptop computer sitting on it, and retrieving a second chair, we sat down, and Chris booted up the computer. “My parents are not too sure about us going to Tasmania, but Dad did suggest that we go somewhere here in South Australia instead, and he said nothing too dangerous” Chris said, and I chuckled at this last bit of information.

“That sounds fair enough, and I was thinking the same thing, so I did some research myself last night, how would you like to try a 7-day kayaking expedition on the Coorong?” I replied.

“That is brilliant, I like that, and I have always wanted to go and see it” Chris responded happily, as I leaned forward and typed in the web address that I was looking at last night.

“What is brilliant” came a voice from the doorway, which made me jump a little, which Chris noticed.