Wellstead - 12. WSD Chapter 12

I remained there for the remainder of the morning, occasionally looking out the window when someone in the car said they spotted a kangaroo or two bounding past, or a family of emu’s racing long side the train, or a camel or two grazing on the saltbush and taking no notice of the giant mechanical beast of a train that was passing them at high speed.

I made my way back to the Gold Class lounge just before lunch was about to be announced. Anne and Elspeth soon appeared and sat next to me.

“You disappeared all morning. Lloyd has been very disappointed that he couldn’t find you,” Elspeth said voicing some concern.

“I just needed some me time that’s all. I’m ok now,” I replied with a smile. After a brief pause I added, “These two envelopes are for you both to share with the boys. Don’t open them until we have arrived in Alice Springs.”

We stood up to make our way into the dining car for lunch. The boys soon appeared and were seated in the table next to the ladies and I, and we had a wonderful lunch. Like all the meals we had eaten so far on the train it was very good. I fancied I could feel myself getting heavier from all the good food.

Soon after lunch the train arrived in Alice Springs. I was already at a door waiting to disembark when it came to a stop and the doors were opened by the steward. I made my way out of the station and climbed into a waiting taxi, where I gave the driver instructions to drive me to the hotel in which I had booked a room for four hours, so I could do some business in peace and quiet without any interruptions. Once in the room, I telephoned Frank Hills.

“Hello there, young man. I hope you are having an enjoyable holiday. The business side of things are all good, but… there has been a break in at the house, where every room has been ransacked, plus a lot of the windows have been broken. The cottage at the back hasn’t been touched, mainly because the intruder cut themselves with glass, and was bleeding quite badly.

“I had a call from the detective today saying they have someone in custody, who is in hospital recovering from loss of a lot of blood. They say he has a strong Scottish accent, and he is refusing to say anything to the police why he was bleeding so much, but they have taken his fingerprints and they match those at the house. I am wondering if he is the ex-husband of Miss Elspeth,” Frank said.

“Yes, Frank, I suspect that it must be, and some-how he has managed to track Elspeth and Lloyd here to Australia. I suggest you give the police his name and his address, which you have from Elspeth’s details. Can you please make sure that he is deported and banned from coming back?” I asked Frank, and he agreed to do the very best he could to make it happen.

Frank added, “By the way, the changes to your travel plans have all been finalised, and I have sent an altered itinerary to your hotel in Darwin.”

I thanked Frank for everything and hung up the phone. Once the call ended, I set the alarm on my watch and lay down to have a rest. I was still trying to get used to sleeping on a moving train and I hadn’t got that much sleep over night. I drifted off to sleep quite quickly. I woke up to the sound of the telephone ringing.

“Sir, if you want to re-join the Ghan for the remainder of the journey to Darwin, you will need to go now. I have a taxi waiting for you at reception,” the receptionist said, hanging up the phone.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5.40pm. I had slept through my alarm that I had set for 5.15pm. Jumping up quickly I grabbed my wallet, phone and hotel room keys and dashed down stairs, thanking the receptionist as I handed the keys in and dashed out the door to catch the taxi.

The train was almost ready to depart. The station clock clicked over to 5.55pm as I raced to one of the train doors, and showed my ticket. I was near the end of the train, so I made my way forward towards my cabin, which I estimated to be four cars away. When I finally arrived at my cabin, I found all three boys in there looking very worried. Their faces changed instantly as soon as they saw me step in, and Lloyd gave me a big hug. I suggested that we all make our way to the lounge car to find Anne and Elspeth, and the boys followed me.

We found them both looking a bit worried and they too looked pleased as soon as they saw that I was safely on the train. We chatted for a while over soft drinks until we were called to dinner, where I asked to be seated with the ladies as I had some matters I needed to discuss with them. The boys were seated at a table a little further away.

Once we were seated and our orders had been taken, I told the ladies about what had happened at home, and the arrest of the intruder, who was in all likelihood Elspeth’s ex-husband.

“I have asked Frank to work on getting this man deported and banned from re-entering Australia. I also have made some changes to the travel plans, but don’t want the boys to know just yet. When we get to Townsville we will be spending some time there with tours of the Great Barrier Reef and a stay on Magnetic Island. I have cancelled the train trips from Townsville to Sydney, and we will fly to Sydney instead.

“This will give us 7 days of rest and relaxation in the Townsville region without the train travel and stops between Townsville and Sydney, so we can just have a good time without all the long hours on the train,” I announced. Both Anne and Elspeth agreed that this would be wonderful, and they both said they would love to see the Great Barrier Reef.

We enjoyed another wonderful meal on board the train as we watched the sun setting to the west on our northward journey towards Darwin. It was amazing to see so many different shades of red, orange and yellow with the tinges of green and blue, as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon. After dinner, I asked the boys to join me in the lounge for a game of cards. Once they got the hang of the game of Canasta we fought on with the game for a number of hours before we decided to retire for the night, with Elspeth and Anne having retired to their cabins well over an hour earlier.

I woke early the next day and was in time to watch the sun rising from the east while I sat in the lounge with an early cup of tea and a copy of yesterday’s Territory News. About twenty minutes later Elspeth and Anne joined me. We were the first to have breakfast in the adjoining dining car. As we finished our breakfast, I sent a text message to Kyle:

Wake up sleepy head. Time for some breakfast.

I soon received a message back:

Thank you. Will be there shortly with the other two.

I smiled as I read the message and put the phone away.

A few minutes later the two young men and the teenager made an appearance. They sat down at the table opposite the one we were seated at and they ordered their cooked breakfasts.

“Now, young men, we are arriving in Katherine shortly, and we are going on a river cruise into the Katherine Gorge. So, once you have eaten make sure you have everything you need - camera, sunscreen and hats. We meet at Elspeth’s cabin before the train arrives,” I announced to the late arrivals, who all nodded their heads as they dug into their breakfasts.

Once we did arrive in Katherine, the sub-tropical heat hit us really hard; it was very hot but also slightly humid as we climbed into the air-conditioned tour bus for the fifteen-minute drive to the boat launch site just north east of town, where the aluminium boats were waiting to take us on our tour up the river.

For the next two and a half hours we slowly cruised up the river, viewing the spectacular scenery of the area, including the magnificent cliff walls of the gorge and the very ancient aboriginal art which had been created so long ago. When we had returned to the boat launch site we boarded the buses back into town where we had half an hour to look around town before we needed to board the train.

By the time we were back on board we were all sweating profusely from the heat and humidity and we decided to have a shower first before going to the dining car for a late lunch. Once again the scenery was changing with a lot more trees and even some small towns as we continued northwards, until we finally arrived at our destination of Darwin.

Again we were hit hard with the temperature and humidity as we stepped off the train. With our luggage in hand we made our way out of the station to find two limousines waiting with the chauffeurs having signs held up with the names “Wellstead” and “Parkes” on them, which I had arranged as part of the trip, keeping it as a surprise. Once the luggage was loaded, we bundled into the two limos and we made our way to the hotel, one of the best, located near the centre of town.

I had arranged 3 two-bedroom suites, with Anne and Elspeth sharing one suite, Lloyd and myself sharing

the second and the Parkes brothers sharing the last one. While we were checking in the receptionist told me there was a message waiting for me. I stepped away from the rest of the group so as to read the message privately, knowing already who it was possibly from.

My Dear Best Friend,

You are a rascal, and also so kind to arrange for us to spend a few days with you here in Darwin. We arrived safely at 3pm this afternoon, and we have gone for a walk around the city to explore what there is around. We will meet you in the hotel restaurant for dinner at 7pm.

With love,

your best friends,

Danny & Sam, Mick & Toby and Julia.

I smiled as I refolded the message and placed it into my pocket, and re-joined the group.

“Do you remember my friends from university? I have arranged for them to fly up to Darwin to join us for two days. They will be joining us for dinner at 7pm, so we need to be back down here in less than an hour,” I announced as we were being led to the elevators and taken to our suites on the 6^th floor of the hotel.

I took a really quick shower and dressed, before dashing out of the suite and down the hall to where I knew my friends’ suites were located. I knocked on the door of the middle suite. Sam opened the door and gave me a huge hug.

“You know you are a bad boy for spending all this money on us. Not that we are complaining, but you are still naughty,” Sam said as he stepped aside to let me in. After closing the door he gave me another big hug.

“About time you got here young man,” came a voice from the other end of the room, as Julia entered the suite from the adjoining door.

Soon all six of us were in the one suite talking and laughing together. I was so pleased to see my good friends again and could not stop the huge smile on my face.