Travelling Vets - 9. TV Chapter 9

Inverway and Riveren Stations would remain with the family, where Uncle Owen is based, as well as Newry Station near the State & Territory border, which is now Mum’s home base, and Marcus and I will be keeping Diggers Rest in WA, while the remaining three stations, all in the Victoria River district, would be sold, which is a total of 2.47 million acres, leaving us with 2.22 million acres, plus we would be retaining the WW2 Airbase, which is now a permanent training base for the Australian Defence Force, with just organised tour groups, permitted to visit the base on set days during daylight hours each week.

When we left London for our long flight home, Mum informed us that our new home was ready for us to move into and that she had managed to find a family to lease the bigger house so that it is not remaining empty, while the original house and cabin are ready for us to move right in. The tenants for the bigger house – Lionel and Jean Roe have two children, who attend boarding school in Perth, and Lionel works as a manager for a Resort owner/manager and wanted to reside away from the business, while his wife works part-time as Housekeeping Supervisor for the resort.

Mum informed us that after arranging for the buildings to be fully furnished, Jean had arranged for the house and cabin to be detail cleaned and arranged for the shopping of food basics for the original house, so we didn’t have to worry about shopping right away when we get home. A layout plan of the house and cabin, plus photos had been sent to us, which we looked at during our journey home, so we are familiar with the place by the time we arrive.

Mum had also discussed with Uncle Owen and me, about investing in development land located in town, which would be ideal for building more housing in town, which is always an issue with a chronic shortage, all over the state, and we decided that once the funds are available from the sale of the stations, that we would go ahead with this plan, as there is a 14-acre block of land located next door to the Waterfront Resort, and fronting onto the Victoria Highway, which is currently available for purchase.

Mum had also suggested purchasing the 14 lots of land on Caldesia Loop, a development that has a sealed road leading off Weaber Plains Road, which has been surveyed, and sewage, power and telephone installed, but nothing has been done since this was completed some years back. Having the entire area would allow us to build a new residential area, and also to assist with the housing crisis, which there seems to be no end to it in the foreseeable future.

While Marcus returned to work the day after we arrived home, I planned to spend as much time as possible helping Julia and the boys to settle into their new home, which I knew would take a while due to the dramatic change in climate for them. After a few days of recovering from the long journey, I took Julia and the boys to see the veterinary practice and to visit Spike and Frilly, who were very pleased to see me when we arrived and I stepped into the garden enclosure.

As Frilly climbed my pants legs, I bent down and picked up Spike, who happily settled into my hands, while Frilly settled on my shoulder and on seeing Julia she hissed and lifted her frills in a warning. “That is enough of that, Julia is family, so treat her nicely please,” I said to the lizard, who seemed to have understood, as the frills lowered, and Frilly moved over to the other shoulder to look at the boys, who looked stunned at such a sight.

After visiting the clinic, I took the family for a drive around town, including visiting Hidden Valley, Kelly’s Nob, a hollow Boab Tree, and the Celebrity Tree Park. From there we took a 70- kilometre, a 45-minute drive out to Lake Argyle, where we stopped at the resort for some lunch.

After a delicious lunch, we went on an afternoon 3.5-hour Lake Argyle Cruise, returning to the resort just after a spectacular sunset, and from there we drove 34 kilometres back to the Victoria Highway, where instead of turning left to head back to Kununurra, we turned right, but the boys were a little too tired to notice. “How long till we get to Newry?” Julia asked me quietly.

“Just half an hour, it is only 40 kilometres away, although it is across the border in the Northern Territory,” I replied. “I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the family,” Julia said to me, which made me smile as we continued to drive eastwards. “I had insisted that some changes be made at the border, as we occasionally had idiots who tried to skip being quarantine checked at the border. Until recently, I was the District Veterinary Officer for the region, and I had a lot of influence on how things happen at the border.

We now have concrete barriers from the road out to 500 metres each way, plus a deep trench from the end of the barrier for a further 500 metres, to stop anyone from trying to avoid the checkpoint. I also had barriers put up between the two opposite lanes, to stop people cutting out and going the wrong way, also to avoid the checkout, and when eastbound traffic left WA there was no need to stop, but that has now changed and all traffic both ways now must stop and be checked,” I explained to Julia.

A little way down the road, I slowed down, as we approached the border, and stopped as indicated by the signage. “Good evening, Dr Kendrik, off to see your family?” the quarantine officer asked me, “Hello Mike. Yes, I have family from the UK with me, who are looking forward to meeting my Mum and siblings. I have nothing to declare,” I replied. “Very good, have a nice evening,” the Quarantine officer responded as he waved us through without any kind of inspection.

Fifteen minutes later I slowed down and turned left, soon passing the cattle yards on the left, before coming up to the main homestead compound, and I parked near the front of the main homestead, where the whole family came out to meet us. “Wake up boys, we are here,” I said to Ryley and Langley, as Mum opened the door for Julia, and assisted her out of the vehicle.

“Welcome to Newry Station and the Northern Territory, Aunt Julia,” Mum said to Julia as they embraced, and I could see tears building up in Julia’s eyes, “It is so good to meet you at last, dear and thank you for the welcome,” Julia replied. “Where are we? This isn’t home,” Langley asked.

“No, young man, this is my family’s home, on a cattle station. I am your cousin Mary,” my sister said to the boys, who were introduced to Mum and all my siblings. “Come inside, dinner is almost ready, so you can relax now,” Mum said as she led the way through the garden to the main building, while Rhodes and I retrieved the luggage for our short stay at the station.

After a full day and two nights at the station, we headed back to Kununurra soon after breakfast, and there was a bit of a line of traffic at the border. “Wait here please, and I will see what is happening,” I said to Julia and the boys, as I pulled over to the side of the road a little, and leaving the vehicle running to keep the air-conditioner on, I stepped out and walked towards the quarantine building.

“Ah, Dr Kendrik, perfect timing, I was about to call Newry, to ask for your assistance, and I have the duty police officer here call for extra staff, who are on their way too,” Mike the senior quarantine officer said to me, as he continued to explain the situation to me, which was a shortage of staff and an increase in traffic flow, which was making things a little difficult.

A quick telephone call to head office in Perth, allowed me to take on a role as temporary Quarantine Officer for the Department of Agriculture, and I called Auggie and asked him to send someone out to come and collect Julia and the boys, as I would be stuck at the border for some time, and they waited in the now much bigger office building until they arrived, while I parked my car in the shaded carport for staff vehicles.

As things were starting to quieten down, a telephone call from my brother at the Border Livestock Quarantine Station down the road, asking me to come out there right away, as there are indications of another outbreak for Leptospirosis, which had me dashing for the car and turning around and heading for the Quarantine station. With the road now sealed into the property, it was a lot easier for a large vehicle to enter the now larger facility, and I parked my vehicle next to Rhode’s vehicle, before retrieving my gumboots, overalls and vet gear, which I always carry with me.

I ended up spending the rest of the day at the Quarantine Station, testing all of the cattle that are currently been checked there, and as per the new rules that had been introduced by my recommendations, all cattle crossing the border into WA now have to spend a minimum of twelve hours of monitoring, before they can cross the border, and this has kept Rhodes and Mary very busy.

We have employed an additional two other stock persons to assist with this workload, who works part-time at the Quarantine Station and part-time at Newry Station, and they have living quarters at both locations. Once I had arrived back home that evening, having called ahead that I was on my way, I had a shower and changed into some fresh clothes before joining the family for dinner at our new home. “I have been doing some research on what to do with your boy's education, and I have come up with several options for you both,” I began.