Travelling Vets - 1. TV Chapter 1

Over the next three years, with an ever-busy veterinary practice, we had very little time for rest, although I had insisted that all staff who are not on call must have at least a half day Saturday and all day Sunday off work, and Auggie was able to do that the assistance of his admin staff who managed the rosters. As well as keeping busy with the practice, which includes managing the now-expanded border Animal Quarantine Station, a number of us have been busy with additional University and College studies.

I have completed two additional Masters Courses, one in Biosecurity and the other in Veterinary Clinical Studies, while Mary has completed a Diploma in Veterinary Nursing, and Rhodes has completed a Diploma in Laboratory Technology as well as a Certificate 4 in Veterinary Care, and both of them are now working for me, and cousin Samuel is now working full time with his father, but spending time at the other stations as well as Inverway and Riveren Stations.

We now have an additional veterinarian based at Derby as well as a Vet nurse and 2 auxiliary staff for Jessica at Marble Bar. We had also invested in some additional property in town to use as accommodation when our staff from other clinics are in town for work or recreation, with four 2 - bedroom apartments in one complex purchased for this purpose, which is located next to the Shire offices and across the road from the hospital.

With an additional aircraft purchased recently, Marcus is now full-time as a flying vet, which includes assisting the other Vet Practices in the Pilbara region, assisting Jessica at Marble Bar and Newman, plus doing all of the Cattle station visits when required, so there are some days that he is staying overnight at a client cattle station or our own Limestone Station, or even at the airbase on the rare occasion.

On one of those rare days that Marcus arrived home at the end of the day, I was in the backyard visiting my two favourite pets. “Hello, Handsome, nice to see you home,” I commented when I saw him arriving, and Marcus chuckled at this comment. “How are our two little rascals today?” Marcus replied. “Mischievous as usual, I will be right in,” I replied smiling, and a few moments later I kissed and hugged my husband, which had been the first time in a few days, as he had been extra busy this week.

“I picked up the mail from the post office, and there is an unusual registered letter for you post stamped from Cardiff, UK,” Marcus said to me, as he indicated to the coffee table. “Our family is originally from Wales, but as far as I know there is no one there that we know there. I wonder what it is about,” I commented as I picked up the envelope and turned it over in my hands a few times. “Well, open it and let’s see, just looking at it won't give you any answers,” Marcus said to me. Smiling, I opened the envelope and retrieved a crisp sheet of writing paper.

“Dr Jexon Kendrik, M. Sc, D. VSc - Dear Dr Kendrik, my name is Dr Adam Matheson, Clinical Director / Owner of River Wye Vet Group, which has five branches in Southern Wales, and our family have been providing veterinary care in the region for over twenty years. It was recently brought to our attention an article about a family in remote northern Western Australia who own half a dozen cattle stations, as well as a strong and busy veterinary practice.

After some discussions with my senior team, we would like to put to you and your business partners, an idea of having an exchange of Senior Vets, where we will send two of our vets to Australia and you send two vets to Southern Wales. Even though none of my vets has a pilot’s licence, as you and one of your partners have, we would like the opportunity to do this exchange. Please think about it and let us know if you like the idea and let us know your thoughts. Kind Regards…” I read out loud for Marcus to hear.

“When do we start packing?” was Marcus’s response, which caught me totally by surprise. “Err, a few things need to be done before we even think about going ahead with this idea. Firstly, I need to get permission from the Army, especially with the Government clearance that I hold. Secondly, we need to get passports, thirdly, we need to discuss this with Auggie, as he would be left to run the place in our absence, and finally, what about offering the others the chance to go to Wales,” I said in reply.

“Really? You would offer the chance to travel to the UK to the others first?” Marcus said sounding very annoyed, “Well that is something we need to discuss, not just pack up and go. It is not exactly that easy you know, plus I need to consult my mother too,” I answered.

“I’m going for a walk,” Marcus said before leaving the house and property. A few days later, Mum stormed into the practice, as I was seeing my last patient for the day, and she went directly into my office, and after seeing the patient and owner out, I headed to my office, shrugging my shoulders as I passed reception.

As soon as I stepped in the door slammed behind me which made me jump in fright. “Ok, what the hell is going on with you two, I am getting reports that something is not right between you and Marcus, so spill it…” Mum demanded, and I took a few deep breaths then sighed, before taking a seat on the lounge, while Mum remained standing and glared at me.

“Ok, enough of the bully treatment Mum… Geez. Last week, we received an unexpected letter from a Veterinary practice in Southern Wales, proposing an exchange of two vets from each practice. I was going to consult with you about it, as well as with Auggie, but I was waiting for Marcus to settle down a bit, as he is a bit pissed off with me for suggesting giving our other vets a chance to travel overseas instead of us,” I explained to Mum.

“Wow, that is something out of the blue… and I can see why your husband is a little annoyed with you about this,” Mum said just as there was a knock on the door. “Enter if you dare,” I said out loud, as the door opened a little I saw Auggie peering in, and I laughed. “Come in Auggie, you need to hear this too,” I said to him smiling, and Auggie entered and after closing the door sat down next to me.

Over the next half an hour, we discussed the matter of the exchange offer, which Auggie said would be a great opportunity for me to learn new skills, especially with my additional degrees. “Look I see where you are going with that, but I also need to consider the effect that it will have on our practice, with both pilots out of the country, it is going to affect our business dramatically,” I said to Auggie.

“True, but I have been very quietly doing some private plane lessons, and I am not far away from getting my private pilot's licence, so you don’t need to worry about that side of the problem,” Auggie replied smiling. “So that is where you have been sneaking off to when I am not around?” I asked, and Auggie smiled and nodded his head yes, and all I could do was laugh.

“Ok, well I guess that matter is resolved, but neither Marcus nor I have passports, so we will have to get them, plus with my security clearance, I need to get permission from the Army to leave the country as well,” I responded. It took three weeks for the official approval to come through for me to travel to Wales for work purposes, and a further week for the work visas to arrive, and once I had them, I sent a response to the Vet practice in Cardiff.

“Dear Sir, I am happy to announce that my life and business partner and I would be happy to spend time working at your practice as locum vets in Wales, as part of a work exchange programme, with suitable accommodation and meals provided. Both of us have commercial pilot licenses, and we fly a DHC Twin Otter and a King Air B200C aircraft, which our family owns. My partner – Marcus Sanderson is a D VSc degree, while I have a D VSc degree plus three Master's Degrees, one in Zoology, another in Veterinary Clinical Studies and the third in Biosecurity.

We have our other business partner – August, who has just qualified as a pilot, who will take on the Flying Vet duties during our absence, which we presume will be for a period of 8 to 12 weeks. We have all of the necessary approvals and are ready to head to Cardiff as soon as your two Vets are ready to travel to Western Australia, they will be accommodated and given breakfast and an evening meal a day, at a local resort at our cost for the period of their Work Exchange period, and we will arrange for their transport back to Perth.

Just let us know the flight arrival details, so we can arrange transport to our practice in Kununurra, as we are located on a 3 ½ hour flight, 2,210 kilometres north of Perth. One week from today, Marcus and I will be travelling on QF 9 from Perth directly to London, arriving at 5.05 am local time, followed by a 1 ¾ hour rail journey to Cardiff, departing Paddington Station, London at 2.18 pm and arriving at Newport at 3.52 pm local time… We look forward to working with your staff at your practice, and that your vets will enjoy the challenge of working with our practice. Regards Jexon F Kendrik, Limestone Veterinary Practice”.

Less than a day later, I received a response to my email. “Dear Dr Kendrik, thank you for accepting this work exchange proposal. We look forward to seeing you here in Wales. My business partner – Dr Patricia Webb and her husband – Dr Mike Webb, have chosen to take the challenge to work in Western Australia. Now that you have given us your flight details, we have booked flights for Pat and Mike to travel to Perth.

Leaving London on Flight SQ 319 to Singapore, at 20.50 the same day that you depart from Perth, they will have a 7-hour layover, before boarding SQ 225 to Perth, arriving at 5.10 am local time the following day. Can you please arrange an additional flight to get to your practice in Kununurra. Regards Dr Adam Matheson, Clinical Director / Owner of River Wye Vet Group”.

I was a little unsettled, that we had not been given any more details about accommodation and meals, for our stay in Wales, and just presumed that they would let us know all of that on our arrival in Wales.