Eruption - 1. Erupt Ch 1

Although I was born, and spent my first three years in Western Australia, before our family moved to near Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, when our Dad was promoted, to regional manager for a mining company. Four years later, before my younger brother, Kit was born; Mum and I travelled to Perth for the last three months of her pregnancy, staying at her sister’s place while there.

Both my brother Kit and I both have joint citizenship with Australia and Canada, while Mum and Dad only have permanent residency. With New Brunswick being bilingual, I too am fluent in French, and I often found it necessary to speak French, wherever I went.

After I completed my IB high school education, I began to attend University, to study Geo Science and Psychology, after completing high school just two months before my 16^th birthday, which was in August, with I being top of the class in all of my subjects in high school, with distinctions in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Geology, as well as A+ grades in French, Spanish, Chemistry and Natural Sciences.

Dad had chosen Mechanical and Mining Engineering, as his career, but I was more interested in Sciences, having already applied for and been accepted into New Brunswick University at Fredericton, and I elected to start with GeoScience first, with plans to start a second degree the following year, if the timetables allow it.

The first degree would take 3 years to complete, and if I continue to do a Master's Degree, I will be finished two years later. When I had done well in my first year at university, I decided to start my second degree in Psychology, which would take just three years to complete, with Mum and Dad being very supportive of what I wanted to do.

Apart from supporting me during university, my parents also provided me with an apartment, situated not far away from the campus, which is 200 kilometres from Moncton, so I don’t have to travel so far and to give me more independence and the space to work uninterrupted, although my younger brother by five years would call in to see me, on the weekends.

At the end of my third year of university, I was about to turn 19 years old, and apart from a family dinner at home, there were no other celebrations for me, in regards to completing an Associate Diploma in Counselling and completing my first degree in Environmental Science. At my request, they arranged for me to get my pilot’s licence, on top of doing my Degree in Sciences, as I now wanted to specialise in the areas of Geophysics and Volcanology.

For the seven weeks of the Northern summer holiday break, Mum and Dad also arranged for me to take a holiday to Australia, to spend some time with Aunty Joslyn, in South Australia where she works as a Veterinarian and Park Ranger for the Department Of Parks and Wildlife.

“Hello, Aunty Jos, this is your nephew Carson speaking?” I said into the phone after Mum dialled the number and handed me the phone, after dinner on my second day of holidays. “My word, it is so nice to hear your voice again, and you sound so grown up,” Aunty Jos replied.

“I am nineteen now and completed my third year at university already. Anyway, Mum dialled your number for me, so I could ask if it is okay to spend a few weeks with you there in South Australia.” I said to my aunt.

“That would be wonderful; it has been so long since anyone from the family has come to visit me, I look forward to spending some time with you. I am guessing that it is night time there now?” Aunty Jos said to me. “Yes Aunty it is just after 8 pm Saturday night here,” I responded.

“Well, it is just after 9 am here. So when can I expect you to be arriving?” Aunty Jos asked, “I’m not sure, I will pass you on to your sister so she can tell you all of that stuff,” I responded before passing the phone over, and I went and sat down on the lounge.

“Hello Jos, Marc is next to me to be part of the conversation, is it ok that Carson comes and stays with you for about five weeks?” I heard Mum say into the phone, “Hello Jos, good to hear from you again, Amy and I are very happy to hear that you can reconnect with Carson again,” Dad added, and at that point, I stood up and headed to my bedroom to have a shower.

I often spent weekends at home with the family, to spend some time with my little brother, who was just 12 now, and becoming a bit of a smart arse, and he was growing very tall like Dad, while I am a fair bit shorter like Mum. Kip knew not to pull any pranks or be rude to our parents, as he knew that I was fully capable of flattening him, having won every wrestling challenge that he made.

After I had showered, Mum called me into the lounge, where Dad was now seated, and for the next twenty minutes, we discussed my trip to South Australia, and some of the planning that was required to be done, including arranging for me to have my very own Passport for the first time.

Having already gained my Canadian driver’s licence over a year ago, Dad suggested that I get my Australian Driver’s licence, while I am on holiday in South Australia, remembering to drive on the left-hand side of the road, and that way I could drive around and explore some of South Australia, I also have my private pilots licence, which I gained a month after my driver's licence.

“Where exactly does Aunty Jos live?” I inquired, and both of my parents smiled, “You will love it where you are going, because although it will be wintertime down there in the Southern Hemisphere, you will be in Desert country in far Northern South Australia, where it is cool nights and warm days,” Mum replied.

Dad chuckled softly before adding, “Your Aunty Jos is not stationed at one place, although she does have a workhouse in the town of Marla, where she is based, and her own home is in Alice Springs, she is often out and about travelling between all the parks in the northern part of the state,” Dad said to me.

“How do I get to Marla exactly?” I asked, and once again Dad chuckled and he turned to Mum to answer that question to me. “Well dear, it is approximately 600 miles northwest of Adelaide and 250 miles south of Alice Springs, and 90 miles south of the Northern Territory Border.

The best option for you will be flying from here to Vancouver, then across to Tokyo, before heading south to Darwin, from there we can arrange for you to fly to Alice Springs, before you board the Ghan Train that will stop just out of Marla,” Mum announced.

“Crikey’s Mum, that sounds like a hell of a long trip,” I responded, “That it is, you have already done that long journey twice when Mum was heavily pregnant with Kip, when you were five years old,” Dad said.

“Yes and you slept most of the way, which was a great relief, and I was not sure how you would cope with the long-distance travelling to Australia and back,” Mum added. “I have heard of this train called the Ghan, it goes from Darwin to Adelaide in 3 nights and 4 days,” I said.

“That is correct, you will board the Ghan in Darwin on a Wednesday morning if you have had enough of flight, and you will arrive in Marla on Thursday evening, a bit after dinner time, so you will have nearly two days onboard the train,” Mum replied. “That sounds relaxing, especially after so many hours of flying from the east coast of Canada to Central Australia,” I commented.

Mum went through the details of the travelling with me, which would entail departing just before 6 pm on a 2-hour 25-minute flight to Toronto, before boarding a five-hour flight to Vancouver, arriving there at 10 pm local time, and I would stay overnight in a hotel.

At 1.25 pm the next day, my next flight from Vancouver to Tokyo, Japan, will take 10 hours and is a direct flight, and will arrive at 3.15 pm the next day because of the crossing of the Dateline. After another overnight stay in a hotel, my next flight will be from Tokyo to Singapore, which is a 7-hour flight leaving on day three at 5 pm, and arriving at 11 pm that same evening local time.

With just nine hours till I board my last flight from Singapore to Darwin, Mum has suggested that I stay at the airport, and wait there for my next flight which leaves at 8.30 am on Day four of my journey, arriving in Darwin at 2.45 pm, local time where I would stay overnight in a hotel before boarding the Ghan departing at 10 am the next day on the Wednesday morning.

By the time I arrived in Marla the following evening, I would have been travelling for six days since leaving Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada, and I was starting to feel quite ill just thinking about it. “Mum, what about if I travelled the other way around, would it be a shorter and less painful trip?” I asked.

“You know, I had not even thought about that,” Mum replied sounding a little surprised, and Dad chuckled again as he stood up, “Just a moment dear, let me get the iPad from my study and we can check out the alternative route,” Dad said.

He returned a few moments later looking down at the iPad as he walked back into the living room, then stopped halfway into the room, and scratched his head.

“You know son, I think you have found a solution, it appears that it is just a seven-hour flight from Toronto to London, and now let me check London to Darwin,” Dad said as he continued walking and sitting down next to Mum.

“Well, it looks like it is only an 18-hour flight to Darwin with just a one-hour stopover in Singapore, so you have two overnight flights, in total without the need to stop overnight in a hotel,” Dad announced.

“Well, that sounds fine by me, I will take the second option please,” I responded with a huge smile on my face, and both Mum and Dad laughed.

Over the next two weeks, I made the application for a passport, which I requested and express service, as Mum had booked the flights for 16 days, I also submitted an application for a visa, which I discovered that I didn’t need because I was an dual Canadian / Australian citizen, and Mum helped me out with getting some new clothing to suit the Australian climate, and to pack my brand new suitcase.

My new passport arrived with four days to spare, which was the main thing that worried me the most, and now that I had it, I could start to relax, and prepare for a wonderful five-week holiday in Australia. The night before I was to start my holiday, I was pushing my food around my plate, deep in thought, and not feeling very hungry, and my stomach was in knots.

Mum had already sent Kip to his room to shower and get ready for bed, and when she returned she sat down and frowned at me. “Ok son, what is the matter, you have hardly touched your dinner tonight,” she said to me. “I know Mum and I am sorry, I just don’t feel very hungry at the moment,” I said as I tried to fight back the tears that were building up.

When Mum saw the tears start to roll down my cheeks she jumped up and was beside my chair in an instant, and gave me a side-on hug. “What is it son, you know you can tell me anything, and your father and I are very proud of you, no matter what you do or whoever you love,” Mum said to me, as I began to cough, surprised at what she had just said.

Did this mean that Mum and Dad knew my secret, I had not dared to tell anyone, especially when I was in high school and as well as in my first two years of university. I looked up at Mum who was smiling, and nodded to me, before pulling up the nearest chair to sit close to me and taking hold of both of my hands.

“Carson, my dear sweet boy, we have known for quite some time that you are a special boy, not only academically and with sports… I think the Native Americans call it Two Spirits if that is the right word for your orientation, and your dad and I love you, no matter who you decide to love,” Mum said to me.

I cried for about half an hour with Mum comforting me as best as she could and as the tears stopped flowing I began to get very tired, so I said goodnight and headed to bed and was soon fast asleep. Mum woke me up the next morning, and it was just after 10 am according to my bedside clock.

“How are you feeling son? Do we need to postpone the trip for a week?” Mum asked me quietly, “No Mum, I want to go on this trip, I just need to get myself organised,” I replied, as I stretched then yawned.

“Well have a shower first, then come and eat some brunch, as your flight to Toronto doesn’t leave until 6 pm tonight, and you have a hotel overnight stay there, which will be your only overnight stay,” Mum said before she stood and left my bedroom, closing the door behind her.

I took my time getting showered and dressed into some casual clothes, I checked the weather for today and it was set to be a mild clear day, so I decided to have something to eat, then go for a long walk to get rid of some of the energy, since I have a lot of travelling to do in the next few days.

Taking the route via London would mean that I would be travelling for 4 ½ days instead of 6 ½ days, which I was very pleased about, I had decided to take my iPad with me, to help keep me occupied during my travels, and to take lots of photos.

I had not looked at the air tickets in detail, as Mum handed them to me, which included a voucher for my overnight stay in Toronto; she then passed me a brand new Visa credit card, which had my name on it, which caught me by surprise.

“You have a limit of $1,000 a day on that card, so spend wisely,” Dad said to me, “I will Dad, I plan to just relax and enjoy my visit to Australia, before getting settled into my university studies,” I replied. “That is very good to hear; now we have given you five weeks to spend in Australia, which will give you plenty of time to relax.