Eruption - 2. Erupt Ch 2

When I spoke to my sister this morning our time, she announced that she is taking her well-earned holidays, to spend some quality time with her oldest nephew,” Mum said to me.

“Wow; that is a long time, I look forward to exploring as much as I can and spending time with my favourite aunty. Um, I have one question to ask, would you mind if I look at the possibilities of transferring my University studies to Australia?” I replied, and Mum looked at Dad and they both smiled.

“We think that would be a wonderful idea, and we will be happy to assist you with that, but let's wait and see how your holiday goes first eh!” Dad said to me.

Although the trip was long and uneventful, I was glad that I convinced Mum and Dad for me to take the London route, as I was fairly worn out by the time I arrived in Darwin, even though I had flown business class from Toronto to London and onto Singapore and Darwin.

My parents had arranged for me to spend two days in Darwin before I boarded the Ghan train south, and as I exited the immigration area to the arrivals hall, I was surprised to see a lady holding a sign – “Welcome Back Carson Newton”, and suddenly I realised that the lady was Aunty Jos, and dropping my luggage I stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug.

“Hello Aunty, this is a nice welcome,” I said to her, “Hello Nephew, it is great to see you again, my word you have grown so much in twelve years,” Aunty Jos said to me. A few minutes later, we arrived at her vehicle, a Land Rover Defender, which looked like it was kitted out for nearly everything needed for a lot of time out bush.

“I am presuming that with you meeting me here in Darwin, you have already made plans,” I commented as I climbed into the passenger seat, remembering that it is on the opposite side than at home in Canada. “Well yes, of course I have plans, dear nephew.

I plan to give you a wonderful holiday in Australia. Your Mum, my dear sister has also informed me, that you are considering transferring your University studies to here in Australia, which is wonderful news,” Aunty Jos replied.

“Ok, so where are we heading first?” I asked, “Firstly we are spending two comfy nights at a hotel here in Darwin, to have a look around the city, then we have a great adventure, firstly to Kakadu National Park, which is about a three-hour drive from here, and we will be spending two nights there.

At Kakadu, we will do a two-hour long Yellow Waters cruise, and the next day we will be doing a full-day tour of the National Park which has some amazing sites to see. After that we set off on the road again, heading south for the town of Katherine, which is a three-hour trip, where we will do a three-section Katherine Gorge cruise, and we will stay overnight in town.

After Katherine, we continue on south to the small township of Mataranka, where there is a thermal pool, and it is the location of the true story of Aeneas and Jeannie Gunn, which was a popular book and a movie known as, “We of the Never Never,” Aunty Jos said.

“I know that book, Mum used to read it to me when I was younger,” I announced, “Yes, probably the same book I gave to your Mum as a birthday present, last time she was here,” Aunty Jos stated.

Over the next six days, I got to see some of the amazing Australian wildlife, including some very mean-looking crocodiles, as we sat in the shade of a wide veranda of the café in Mataranka, for an early lunch, with fans above us to keep us reasonably cool.

“Phew it gets really hot out here,” I commented as we finished our delicious meals of Buffalo Burgers and Territory Chips and salad, which included bush tomatoes and other bush ingredients that I was not sure what they were called.

“Where are we heading next Aunty?” I asked, “Well there isn’t much between here and Tennant Creek, which is a good six-hour drive away, hence the early lunch. We should get there before dark, and tomorrow we will drive onto Alice Springs, which is another 5 hours drive away.

I own a house in the Alice, which I share with my partner, who is a doctor, and I only get to stay in one or two weeks a month due to my work commitments, so it will be nice to be staying there for a bit longer than usual,” Aunty Jos said to me.

“What is her name, your partner I mean?” I asked, and Aunty Jos opened her mouth a little surprised by my question, before she closed it and smiled.

“Her name is Doctor Jillian Langford. She was married before she met me and has two children, who live with their father, they do not approve of our partnership, which is very sad, as we had hoped that they could come and stay with us at some point,” Aunty Jos said sadly.

“Do they live in Alice Springs?” I asked, “No, I am afraid they don’t, as their father lives and works in Adelaide, he is a doctor also,” Aunty Jos said bitterly. “Well it is their loss not to spend time with their mother and her awesome partner,” I said, and Aunty Jos smiled and wiped away a tear.

Over the next two days, we did a heck of a lot of travelling from Katherine to Alice Springs, and it was late afternoon when we pulled up at my Aunt’s home in the suburb of Desert Springs. “Wow, this place looks very grand,” I commented as I opened the car door and was hit by a wall of hot temperature, and I closed the door again.

“Crikey Aunty, that is very hot outside,” I commented and Aunty Jos laughed, as she pointed a remote at the triple garage, and the door on the left automatically opened, and Aunty Jos drove in, hitting the button again for the door to close.

As I tentatively opened the door again, I felt that it was almost as cool as inside the car, which made me smile, as I stepped out, and walked around to the back to grab my large suitcase and carry bag, and I followed Aunty Jos into the house via the linking door.

“Hi honey, I am home,” Aunty Jos called out, “I’m in my office, I will be down in a moment,” came a reply from somewhere on the upper level.

“Right, you can have the guest bedroom down on this level if you wish, with your bathroom right next door, and there is a library on the other side of your bedroom,” Aunty Jos announced, as she made the short distance to the bedroom, which was a good size and well furnished.

“Thanks, Aunty, I think I will take a shower to freshen up,” I replied as I looked around the room. “You will find a fresh towel ready for your use and extra toiletries if you need them,” Aunty Jos said to me before she exited my room and closed the door.

After a long and relaxing hot shower, I dressed in shorts and short- sleeve cotton shirt and exiting my bedroom, I began to explore the lower half of the house, firstly the library next to my room, which has two walls filled with bookcases of books, and under the two windows is a good size teak desk and a reading lamp.

Remembering that I entered the house on the right-hand side, I looked up the stairs from near the front door and heard faint talking from that direction, so I headed towards the back of the house, and on the left behind the bathroom, I found the kitchen with an adjoining laundry.

Next to the kitchen is a small meal area with a square table and four chairs. In the other area opposite, is a large billiards table, with a cue rack and scoreboard on the wall, and through the double doors is a large lounge room, with large leather chairs.

Stepping out onto the back patio from the meals area door, I saw a good-sized swimming pool, a large table with seating for eight, a large barbeque, plus a sink and fridge bench area. A retaining wall behind the pool has a mixture of rocks and native shrubs and plants and a few hedges down the side fence.

“Hello there Carson, I am your aunt’s partner Jillian,” a voice said behind me, which made me jump a little, as I didn’t hear the door open. “Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you, and I am sorry to have dragged your partner away for nearly two weeks,” I said as I accepted her hand and shook it lightly.

Jillian chuckled, “My, what a well-spoken young man you have here dearest,” Jillian responded, as she pulled me into a hug, which I was not expecting. Aunty Jos laughed, as she stepped out onto the patio, with three bottles of Lemon Lime Bitters in hand, and she handed them out.

“Never tried this, always a first time,” I said as I accepted mine and took a sip and smiled. “Not bad, I will have to have this more often,” I said. “Do you play golf at all Carson?” Jillian asked me, “I have played it a little bit when I can get Dad to have a day off, but I am not very good at it,” I replied.

“Good, we are members of the local golf club, which happens to be right across the road from us,” Aunty Jos said to me, “Ok, I am up to the challenge, but not in this hot weather, it is very draining on me,” I replied, “Not a problem, we can have an early morning round, say 6 am start if that is ok with you?” Aunty Jos suggested.

“Wow, so early, but yes that is fine, as long as it is before it gets too hot,” I responded. “That is good, Now we are going to educate you on an Aussie pastime, called a barbeque, so we will be having dinner out here on the patio, and if you like you can have a swim afterwards,” Jillian said to me smiling.

“I know what a barbeque is, we often have them during our northern summers at home,” I responded, and Aunty Jos laughed. “Mum and Dad have educated us on Aussie slang too, so don’t try and ambush me with any slang, as I know them all, plus I know a lot of Henry Lawson poems and Banjo Patterson stories off by heart too,” I commented smiling.

“That reminds me, Barry and Greg are coming over for dinner tonight too, they have been kind enough to keep me company on more than one occasion while you were away in the top end,” Jillian said to her partner, “Wonderful, the more the merrier, how about we make it a small party, let's contact Janice and Marg, and see if they can come along too,” Aunty Jos suggested, and Jillian went inside to make the phone call.

“Just a small group of our friends and colleagues, Barry and Greg are partners and are both male nurses at the hospital, Janice is the receptionist and Marg is the nurse at Jillian’s private practice,” Aunty Jos explained to me. Within half an hour, there were more than just two couples gathered in the patio area, as a husband and wife couple who also work at the hospital and their three children had also come along.

“Are you on a gap year before you start university Carson?” I was asked as we all sat down to eat, “No, he is very much like my sister and brother-in-law, very smart as well as being kind-hearted,” Aunty Jos responded before I could speak, which made me blush a little.

“I am what you call a prodigy I guess. I finished school at the age of sixteen, with distinctions in most subjects, and I started University in the next study semester in August, so I have just completed my third year of studies in Science and second year in Psychology,” I replied.

“Wow, all of that and you are only nineteen?” the oldest child in the group asked, “Yes that is right, if you study hard, and remember to find a hobby to help you de-stress, like a sport or some kind, or a hobby like chess maybe, then you can do just about anything,” I responded.

“What did you do for sports or hobbies?” the same boy asked, “Well, at high school I played basketball, tennis and swimming, and during the winter holidays I often ice skated and skied to just relax, and few of my friends and I often have Chess challenges,” I replied.

“C’est etonnant, oh sorry, I mean… Never mind,” one of the hospital nurses said, “Merci. That is fine, I understood what you said, I have lived in Eastern Canada most of my life, which is bilingual, with French as the second language, I also speak fluent Spanish, although I was born in Australia,” I responded.

“You are an extraordinary young man, you must be very proud of your nephew, Joslyn,” Greg said to my aunt. “I am, and it is wonderful to see him again as he was only five years old when I last saw him in person when his younger brother was born here in Alice Springs,” Aunty Jos replied.

The social evening continued for a few hours with the children and some of the adults going for a swim, and I decided not to as I was getting quite tired, so I assisted with cleaning up and packing the dishwasher, before saying goodnight and retreating to my room for the night.

When I woke the next morning, the house was very quiet, and as I looked at my watch, shocked to see that it was after 8 am, I jumped out of bed and dressed before exiting my room and going to the kitchen, where I spotted a note on the kitchen bench.

“Carson, we decided to let you sleep in, we have gone for a long hike, and will be back at around 8.30 am, Love Aunty Jos and Jillian.” Glad that I hadn’t missed the game of golf, I looked into the fridge, where I saw plenty of fresh food after pouring a glass of juice, and I got to work to make a fresh fruit salad, with cantaloupes, watermelon, blackberries, pineapple and mandarins.

By the time that I had a large bowl made up, and had set out a tub of yoghurt, three bowls and cutlery set out on the table, I heard laughter coming from the front door, which soon opened. “Yoo-hoo! We are back, are you up yet nephew?” I heard Aunty Jos call out.