Story THE MULBERRY TREE

[Bidadisndat]

THE MULBERRY TREE
(Book 2 in the Changes of Pace Collection)
​

Dirk pulled his old 3-ton Dodge Crew-Cab Work-Truck over to the shoulder of the road and after stopping some fifty metres past the hitch-hiker sat looking in the rear-view mirror, waiting to see if the person was alone or, as sometimes happened, had companions waiting to jump out from nearby bushes and also try to cadge a ride. However the hiker was definitely alone and without waiting to see if the driver would reverse simply stooped to lift and shoulder a large and heavy-looking back-pack before trudging slowly towards the truck.

He couldn’t see the hiker’s face due to a large bush-hat that was protecting its wearer from the mid-summer morning sun, but when the hat finally made it to the passenger-side window he discovered to his surprise that it was being worn by a young woman. The light, slightly baggy long-sleeved khaki shirt and multi-pocketed cargo pants she was wearing hadn’t given any indication of her build, though they appeared to be comfortable and well suited for hiking in the blazing heat.

Having looked intently but wordlessly at him for a moment the girl gave a smile and nod of her head then held up one hand as a sign to wait a moment before going to the rear of the truck where she opened and looked behind the canvas flap of its cover. Obviously deciding that this was her ride she hefted her pack up over the tail-gate onto the tray, closed and secured the flap then coming forward again opened the front passenger door and as she clambered up into the cab said with a smile, “Thanks for stopping.”

“You’re welcome,” replied Dirk, returning her smile as shifting the idling truck’s transmission into first gear and checking the driver’s-side rear-view mirror he asked “Where are you headed?” whilst cautiously easing back out onto the busy highway.

“North,” the girl replied succinctly, removing her hat to reveal an attractive face with a smattering of pale brown freckles across her forehead, upper cheeks and nose, and allowing a mass of curly light-ginger hair to tumble down around her shoulders. “And you?” she asked, half turning to pass the hat over the back of the front seat and place it in the rear.

“Same. Any particular place you have in mind?”

“Nope. I’ll know it when I find it.”

“Fair enough. Bit the same as me I guess. Anyway, name’s Dirk.”

“Sally. Saw some tools in the back. Are you a gardener?”

“No. At least, not yet. Got a lot of what I need to get started though. When I find the right place that is.”

“Are you looking to buy some land then?”

“Not really: I’m actually thinking of going bush.”

“Really? Are you planning to become a hippie or a hermit?”

“A bit of both I guess,” Dirk answered with a laugh, “though Homesteader would be a better description for what I have in mind. Unfortunately, at the moment I’m having a bit of a problem finding a place where I’ll be able to do that and live in reasonable comfort without being disturbed by the rat-race.”

“I know of a couple of places that’d probably be good for that, though they’re all on Crown Land. Do you have a tent?”

“Yeah. I’ve got more than enough camping gear in the back to make myself quite comfortable really. Are any of those places you know of far from here?”

“A few hours’ drive further north there’s a really good spot, but you have to drive a few clicks off the highway to get to it. My dad and uncle found it years ago and used to take our families camping there during school holidays. It’s out in the bush so there aren’t any facilities such as power, showers or toilets, but it’s got a small permanent spring with crystal clean water, and it’s only about ten minutes or so walk from the beach.”

“Do many people camp there?”

“Absolutely none. That’s probably the main reason dad would take us there: Nobody ever came near the place, so we had it all to ourselves. Of course that was a few years ago, but I don’t think it’d be any different now. At least I sure hope not because some day I’d like to go back and camp there for a while.”

“Sounds nice. Don’t suppose you’d care to let on where it is would you?”

She was silent for a minute, examining him thoughtfully whilst appearing to consider the question and then apparently making a positive decision said “If it turns out to be what you’re looking for, and if I have your solemn word that you won’t tell anybody, I can show you where it is. Have you got a map?”

“You have my word. There’s a Gregory’s road atlas in the glove box.”

She opened the glove-box and after taking out the spiral-bound book of maps found the page showing where they were now then quickly worked out roughly how far it would be to where they’d have to leave the highway to get to the place. After a quick look at the spot she was pointing to he was surprised to see that, on the map at least, it didn’t seem to be all that far from a decent sized town. It’d take him at least three hours to get there, he told her, and possibly a bit longer as he’d need to stop at some point and get fuel for the truck and something to eat. She settled herself back in the seat and after asking him if he didn’t mind, a short time later closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, but not before noting that despite obviously not having shaved for two or three days he was quite a good looking bloke.

He drove through a number of small villages, not bothering to stop for fuel as the prices were well above what would be found in larger towns, though even then prices were higher than would be found in big cities. As he approached the town that Sally had pointed out on the map she woke up and when he pulled into a service station told him she needed to use the restroom. He told her to go ahead and after getting out of the truck and going to the petrol bowser waved away her offer to put some cash towards the fuel.

He’d just finished filling its tank when she returned and after moving the truck to one of the servo’s parking bays went inside the building to pay for the fuel then use a restroom himself. He also took the opportunity to purchase two large cups of coffee and several sachets of whitener and sugar, plus three packs of sandwiches from a refrigerated display cabinet, all of which he took out to the truck. Sally was standing alongside it but climbed back into the cab when he arrived and passed a cardboard tray holding the coffee and sandwiches to her before getting into the driver’s seat and driving back out onto the main road.

A few minutes later and still in town he pulled into a parking spot beside a large well-maintained park where they alighted and found a table with bench- seats under one of many shady trees where they could sit, eat the sandwiches and drink their coffees.

“You didn’t have to do this, but thanks. I really appreciate it,” said Sally as she threw a small piece of bread from her sandwich to a sparrow that had alighted on the table.

“My pleasure. About how far from your campsite do you think we are now?”

“Not too far. Mind you, years ago the road we came in on used to be the main highway and it went right through the centre of town, but the new expressway we came off looks like it by-passes the town completely. I just hope the road we’d need to take is easy to access.”

There’s one way to find out,” said Dirk as having finished his sandwiches he crammed the wrappers into his empty coffee cup then rose from the bench and headed for a litter bin close by. “We’ll take a drive, and if we can’t find your camp-site at least it’ll still be early enough to look for another one.”

“I suppose so, but I’d really like to camp at the old place. Our family used to have some really good times there,” she replied somewhat wistfully, and getting up to walk alongside him drained her own cup and threw it into the bin.

“If we’re going to be camping at the same place do you think it might be a good idea to get something we can share for dinner tonight? Have a barbeque perhaps?” Dirk asked. “I’ve got a large esky that can hold plenty of food and drinks, and a picnic stove with a hot plate that we could cook a bit of meat on.”

“That’s a good idea. I noticed there’s a supermarket down the street so how about we get what we need while we’re here?”

“Yeah, we might as well. Got any ideas about what we should get?”

“Not at the moment, but I’m sure we can work something out as we go.”

Their shopping resulted in a couple of good steaks and all the makings for a salad, a large tin of sliced peaches and a carton of thickened cream for dessert, bacon, sausages and eggs for breakfast, and Dirk also bought a 5-litre cask of Traminer Riesling plus a bag of ice. With purchases in hand they returned to the truck and after putting the ice and cold goods into the esky and other items into a large plastic tote were soon on their way again.

“That road atlas is pretty old and doesn’t show many minor roads so I guess we might have to rely on your memory. I’ll keep the speed right down though, and you can tell me if you see any landmarks you recognise.”

“I remember there was a sign-post pointing down a sealed road that led to the local Waste Depot and to Nine Mile Beach. We’d take that road and after a quarter of a mile turn left onto a gravel road, follow it for exactly seven miles then turn right onto a fire-trail that went through the bush. My dad said it was a mile from the fire-trail entrance to where we had to turn left onto a spur that leads to the camp-site, and all up it was just over ten miles from the centre of town. I think we’ll probably have to go back to where the by-pass starts and if the sign’s still somewhere around there I should be able to find the place.”

Dirk drove the truck back to the point where the new highway began its by-pass of the town and found a sign that pointed to Nine Mile Beach and another that pointed not to a Waste Depot but to a Waste Management and Recycling Centre. According to Dirk it was essentially the same thing but the new sign was more in keeping with the attitude towards waste that people were supposed to be adopting now. Which, he added, was a very good thing as he’d found that people didn’t look down their noses at him quite so much as they used to do when he collected recyclable items that they deemed to be rubbish.

“Definitely more hippie than hermit,” laughed Sally. “I have to agree with you though: I’ve often thought I could completely furnish a house with some of the stuff that people throw out on kerbside collection days.”

“Furnish a house? Hell, with the stuff I’ve seen thrown out I reckon I could build a house. And I don’t mean just a rough shack either: Timber, tiles, roofing iron, windows and doors, kitchen and bathroom fixtures; you name it. Many of the things people throw out are in really good condition too, and often the only reason they’re thrown out is because people consider they’re too old fashioned to be sold easily, or if something is broken they don’t know how to repair it… or more than likely just couldn’t be bothered.”

“Well, mass production sometimes means it’s more economical to replace rather than repair some things, though unfortunately that seems to be turning us into to a throw-away society, don’t you think? Now you’ve got me thinking maybe I should start paying more attention to what I see thrown out. Do you really think you could build a proper house with recycled material though?”

“Sure. Mostly recycled stuff anyway, and it’s what I intend to do eventually. With that idea in mind I picked up quite a few items when our last two local kerbside collections were on, and some of them are on the back of the truck now, plus I’ve got more stacked under my parent’s house. A bloke could very easily build a really comfortable place to live in without it costing much at all provided he had the time, tools and inclination, all of which I happen to have.”

“Not to mention a big truck that you can use to carry lots of good stuff.”

“Oh yeah, that too. I named her Delilah. Some of my mates reckon she’s an ugly looking beast and they’re probably right, but as you said, I can carry lots of good stuff with it. Mind you, the running costs plus keeping the old girl registered and insured might become a bit of a pain in the future if I don’t have a regular income, but right now I’m better off with her than without.”

Having worked out that seven miles was just a little over eleven kilometres he’d set the trip meter to zero where the gravel road began and kept a close watch on it as he drove, finding when they arrived at the calculated distance the entrance to the fire-trail was precisely where Sally said it should be.

The land was flat and covered with low scrub two to three metres high, with several stands of taller trees scattered throughout, and Dirk thought it probably stretched unchanged all the way to the coast. After driving for about a kilometre and a half along the fire-trail Sally directed him to turn left across a culvert and between two posts on either side of a spur that about five hundred metres later began a broad curve to the right and a gentle slope down into a depression in the landscape. He was surprised to find that as they descended the scrub around them began to give way to trees that became taller the further down they went, and by the time they reached halfway to the bottom of the slope they were almost surrounded by a small woodland, mostly of eucalypts but with a fair number of other types. However from the fire-trail it appeared that the land was simply flat and covered with scrub, and only by driving along the trail and then down the spur would anyone come across the taller growth. The spur looked unused although the posts they’d passed at its beginning probably discouraged people from accessing the track as most would think they marked the entrance to private property.

“We’re here!” cried Sally excitedly, pointing ahead to where the rough track terminated in a big tear-drop shaped turning circle in the centre of which grew a large Morton Bay fig tree. “You can park under those trees over there, and the campsite is just a short walk down a path on the other side of them,” she added, now pointing in the direction of several liquid ambers that grew along the northern side of the teardrop.

With the truck parked in the shade they got out and followed a shady path that zig-zagged down a steep embankment to a flat clearing of perhaps half an acre, shielded by trees and bushes on its southern and western sides but fairly open on the other two. The clearing was knee deep in dry grass and they were a bit wary about the possible presence of snakes, particularly Eastern Browns which don’t need to be provoked much before striking, however after carefully making their way around the area they decided that there probably weren’t any there.

“It’s not as overgrown as I thought it’d be but we’d still have to flatten a bit of grass if we wanted to pitch our tents here. It’s a nice place though, don’t you think?”

“It sure is. And you said the beach isn’t too far away?”

“Normally it’d be about a ten minute trot along a path over there on the right,” she said pointing in its direction and adding “Though it’ll probably be a bit overgrown if the grass here is anything to go by so it may take a few minutes longer.”

“What about the spring you said was here?”

“If it’s still flowing, it’s just over to the left. Come and have a look.”

Dirk followed her back towards the path leading down to the clearing and then along the embankment to where a steady flow of clear water was issuing from a length of inch and a half galvanised pipe that had been driven in between rocks on its face. The pipe protruded some fifteen inches about three feet above a small pond perhaps six feet in diameter and maybe two feet deep, and the overflow ran some distance over a long rocky drain along the base of the bank before eventually seeping back into the ground. Sally told him that her father and uncle had put the pipe into the rocks where once several trickles of water had issued and after a few attempts had managed to tap into the main stream.

They’d then built the pond and a fireplace using more rocks gathered from the surrounding bushland. The fireplace had been built close to the embankment several metres along from the pond and it actually stuck out like a sore thumb, albeit one that had been bandaged by such a tangle of creeping vines that more than half its stonework was hidden from view.

“Well, what do you think of the place?” Sally asked.

“Hmm… It does seem to be a good place to camp… For a while at least,” Dirk admitted after looking around the quiet and fairly well hidden clearing and a couple of minute’s thought. “It wouldn’t take long to clear away enough grass to make a space for our tents either. Want to come and help me get some gear from the truck so we can do that now?”

“OK. I want to get my camera too.”

They walked back up to the truck and while Sally retrieved her camera from her back-pack and placed its carry strap around her neck Dirk pulled open the rear flap of the cargo tray’s cover and selected the tools he thought they’d need for the job.

“You’re not exactly a greenie, are you?” Sally said with a laugh when she saw him unload a whipper-snipper with a brush-cutting blade attached and mix up a container of two-stroke fuel for it.

“I am actually, but I also believe in the appropriate use of technology when required. Of course if you want to do the clearing by hand there’s an old-style hand sickle somewhere among the tools,” he replied with a grin. “If not, grab that metal garden rake and the plastic grass rake and we’ll get started.”

Sally took a number of photographs before they commenced work and Dirk noticed later that her camera, an older style Minolta 110 Zoom SLR seemed to have become a permanent accessory with which she recorded everything that was done in and around the camp-site and further afield.

 

[Bidadisndat]

Beginning where the path met the clearing Dirk, wearing gloves, a helmet with ear muffs and a face shield attached and knee-high gaiters used the brush cutter to clear a wide swathe of grass through to where the spring was located then began clearing a large semi-circle around it, slowly edging out to the fireplace and a bit beyond. He’d asked Sally to see if she could clear the vines away from the fireplace while he was using the brush-cutter, but after finding that they were much thicker than expected she asked him if he had a pair of secateurs she could use. Going back to the truck he returned not only with the tool she wanted but to her amusement he’d also managed to manhandle a large petrol-powered lawn mower down the path.

Whilst Sally went to work with the secateurs he set the mower deck at its highest position and beginning where he’d started with the brush cutter began covering the same area. For the first pass he removed the catcher and replaced it with a mulching plug, then lowered the deck to do another pass. Deciding against using the catcher at all he made a final pass with the deck set as low as the terrain would allow him to push the mower without it digging into the earth, and by the time he’d finished the cleared area looked, according to him at least, like the greens of a city lawn-bowls club, though perhaps not quite as big. Or quite as flat... Or quite as... as... ahh… as green. Yes: Definitely not as green.

In the meantime Sally had been able to clear away the vines covering the fireplace, finding when she did the large hot-plate that her father had wrapped in several layers of plastic sheeting and placed vertically behind the bars that would support it when in use.

“My dad was pretty proud of this fireplace,” she said when Dirk came to have look. “He could build a fire in it that made no smoke at all. Actually, you couldn’t see much in the way of flames either. It didn’t seem to use much wood but it sure gave out a lot of heat.”

Taking a good look at the structure Dirk worked out that it was a type of rocket stove and that it also had a large earth-oven, the solid dome of which had been made from a mix of builder’s sand, lime, and clay taken from several old and abandoned termite mounds that Sally’s family had found in the bush. The semi-circular door of the oven was basically a plug that fitted into the opening and consisted of a thick piece of timber backed by some type of insulation covered by a metal plate. He’d read about rocket stoves however never having seen one for real he was eager to try this one out, just to see if they were as good as they were cracked up to be. That of course would mean collecting a bit of firewood, but putting up their tents would come first.

Using the rakes they cleared the cut grass away from the space where they’d pitch their tents, Dirk telling Sally that leaving the clippings might make for a softer place to sleep but as they began to decompose it could also make their tents overly hot. As they walked back to the truck with the tools Dirk diverged from the path and walked around the far side of the trees shielding the campsite from the track and found that it would be possible to clear a path wide enough for him to drive the truck down to the clearing.

“You could, but you’d have to shift a big tree trunk that my dad and uncle placed across the top end to discourage people from coming down here,” Sally told him.

“That’s OK, though from the look of the place I don’t think anyone comes down here anyway: No pizza boxes, no empty beer bottles or soft drink cans; in fact no litter at all. The fire-trail that the spur comes off looks like it’s used a bit though, so maybe people who drive past on their way to and from the beach just couldn’t be bothered checking out where the spur leads to.”

“That doesn’t surprise me: The beach is reasonably good for fishing but it isn’t known as a good swimming or surfing spot so not many people go there anyway. Not that we didn’t play with our boogie boards down there a lot though.”

An hour later they each had their tents erected and along with their back-packs had brought most of Dirk’s camping accessories down from the truck. These included his three-burner picnic stove with its gas bottle, cookware and eating utensils, two camp chairs and a small folding table, two solar shower bags that they filled at the pond plus the esky and the tote containing food.

A short amble through the trees after they’d set everything up produced a pile of dry wood ranging from twigs through to fallen branches that could be easily broken up for use in the fireplace. Dirk got the rocket stove going, thanks to the advice of Sally who had often helped her father do that, and with the small amount of smoke produced when the fire was first lit being unlikely to attract any attention he was pleased with the way it worked.

Rather than use the large plastic wrapped hot-plate that Sally’s father had left there he put it aside and used the one from his picnic stove which though smaller was still large enough to cook their steaks on, and whilst he took care of the cooking Sally made up a tossed salad. He opened the cask of Traminer Riesling and poured them each a glass to have whilst preparing the meal, another with their meal, and then they settled back in the camp chairs to enjoy a glass or two more whilst enjoying a brilliant red sunset.

Before it got too dark Dirk went up to the truck, locked it and set the alarm he’d installed before returning with a Coleman kerosene lantern which he filled and pumped up before adding spirit to its pre-heater bowl and lighting up the new mantle he’d fitted. The ensuing light was extremely bright and he hung the lantern from the branch of a nearby tree where it would not only provide sufficient illumination but hopefully attract annoying insects away from them. It seemed to work OK for moths and bugs but not for mozzies, so he also lit up a Mosquito Coil and placed it on the grass between their chairs. They talked well into the night but when both began showing signs of getting tired by frequent yawns Dirk extinguished the lantern and the mozzie coil and they each made their way to their tents.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

The sun seemed to have barely parted from the horizon when Dirk and Sally emerged in the morning and yet it was already warm enough for them to decide on a swim before breakfast. The path leading from the campsite to the beach was a bit overgrown, as Sally had thought it would be, but not so much that it was too difficult to follow, and they were able to negotiate their way to the sand and surf in about fifteen minutes. There wasn’t any surf to speak of, at least not of a type that would attract board riders, however it was ideal for swimming and they both kicked off their sandals and ran full pelt down the sand and plunged into water that wasn’t quite as cold as they thought it might be. Although they both swam a good distance up and down the beach a bit of time was also spent horsing around, with each taking turns at trying to dunk the other. Despite the fact that he was about six inches taller and more than a tad stronger Dirk quickly found that Sally was fast enough to evade most of his attempts to grab her and a couple of times proved that she was capable of giving him a dunking.

A long finger of rock, perhaps five hundred metres from where they were swimming jutted out into the sea and Sally told Dirk that when the tide was low it exposed a reef that ran out for quite some distance, and that was where her father and uncle used to do most of their fishing. Even as they looked at the rocks two men bearing long fishing rods and carrying creels emerged from the line of bush further down the beach and trudged through the sand towards the reef, both returning the wave that Dirk and Sally gave them.

Having reached the rocks the men spent a short time getting their rigs ready then made their way out to the far end where they began casting into the surf. Dirk was surprised to see that within a few minutes the first catch of the day was hooked and reeled in, and wanting to know what type of fish were biting he headed at a fast clip towards the reef with Sally hard on his heels.

After walking carefully on the slippery algae-covered rocks out to where the men were fishing not only did they learn that the fish now being landed were sand-whiting but were also given a few tips on what type of gear and bait would be needed to catch some for themselves. They were also advised that if they were going to fish from the reef they should, like the men themselves had, invest in shoes fitted with metal cleats to help prevent them slipping on the rocks, and a life jacket in case they got washed into the sea by a rogue wave.

They spent about twenty minutes watching as a seemingly whole school of fish was reeled in and were delighted when the men, who had exceeded their bag limit, offered them two good sized fish to put on their barbeque. Accepting the fish and borrowing one of the men’s fishing knives Dirk quickly scaled and gutted them before they made their way carefully back to the sand with their prize then hiked back to the campsite where the fish were placed in the esky.

Now hanging from a tree branch the solar shower bags filled the evening before and laid out on the rocks beside the pool weren’t hot, but were at least warm enough for them to rinse the salt off their bodies without making them shiver. Obviously not bothered by Dirk’s presence but with her back to him Sally slipped out of her swimsuit then after using the shower walked naked to her tent wherein she towelled herself off and put on clean dry clothes, and although Dirk didn’t actually stare at her he couldn’t help but observe that she had quite an attractive figure. Well, attractive to him at least because she may have been described by some as being a bit ‘solid’, or even ‘chunky’, but then again he’d never gone much on the ultra-slim fashion-model types that he thought of as bordering on anorexic. Giving a shake of his head he decided that if she wasn’t embarrassed by stripping off in front of him there was no reason for him to feel so either and he followed suit.

Having returned fully dressed in dry clothes to where they’d set up his camp furniture they had a good breakfast before Dirk decided that he’d like to explore the area around the camp. Carrying her camera Sally acted as a guide, showing him where several paths led off into the scrub below the clearing, though she couldn’t tell him much about the land other than that it was Crown Land, and while it probably came under its control she doubted that the local council, or even any State or Federal government departments bothered to check on it. The local Rural Fire Service did though, and in fact the captain of the volunteer bush-fire brigade had regularly visited their camp when they were there during school holidays and had often gone fishing with her father and uncle.

The land below the clearing sloped gently down to the north and in contrast to the trees behind them was sparsely covered with stunted bushes that seemed to be struggling for survival in the sandy, nutrient deficient soil found in many similar places up and down the coast. The upward though more gentle slope opposite the clearing was the same and after working their way to the top and then about fifty metres further northward they found a rusted barbed-wire fence which Dirk thought was probably the boundary of private property on the other side. According to her father, Sally told him, the land had long ago been deemed useless for farming, at least in a profitably acceptable manner, however Dirk reckoned that for a hermit-hippie-homesteader like himself the campsite itself had a lot going for it, the first and foremost of course being its relative isolation and privacy.

At the base of the hollow at its western end a large depression in the ground appeared to be a little bit boggy and Sally’s father had told her that many years before there used to be a creek running down to the beach, but it had gone dry after the roadworks he’d been working on had redirected its flow. However it wasn’t completely dry and Dirk surmised that the underground source that fed the spring in the clearing probably percolated through to the depression.

A short walk from the main site and set back a little above the path leading to the beach there were three grassy areas where the slope had been flattened out, and Sally explained that they’d been positioned so that visiting friends could pitch tents there without intruding on the family’s private space. Not that she could remember anyone having used them though.

That information, together with the remoteness of the site to begin with led Dirk to feel that Sally’s parents were people who valued their privacy as much as they did having a nice secluded spot where they could escape the daily grind of city life for a while, which was probably something to be thankful for.

Back at the camp Dirk paced out the length and breadth of the clearing then retrieved a sketch-book and pencil from his back-pack and began drawing a rough plan showing the entry path, where the vehicle access was, the spring and pond, the fireplace and the path to the beach. As he was doing this Sally had got the fire going and put his camping billy on to boil water for a pot of tea, then made up some sandwiches from the salad vegetables still in the esky plus a can of tuna that she had in her back-pack. When she brought the mugs of tea and the sandwiches to the table she had a look over his shoulder at his proposed plan for the site and how he’d pencilled in a few of his ideas.

“Are you really thinking of doing all that if you stay here?” she asked.

“It’s what I’d like to do wherever I decide to stay. It’d probably be best if I camped here for a couple of weeks to be sure it’s OK, but this place seems to be ideal for what I want to do. I’m going to need a few supplies of course, so I’ll be driving back to that town soon to get them. Do you still want to camp here for a while, or would you like me to drive you into town so that you can get a lift to wherever you’re going next?”

“I wouldn’t mind staying here for a while if that doesn’t muck up your plans too much, but I’d have to go into town with you and do some shopping too. If we’re both going to be here for a few days do you think we should shop for food together again? It’d probably work out a bit cheaper that way.”

“Good idea. When we get back here I want to move that tree trunk your dad placed at the top of the track so I can bring the truck down. Do you reckon our stuff will be safe enough if we leave it here?”

“I’m sure it will. We were down at the beach for well over an hour and we shouldn’t be much longer than that driving into town and back, and I think the chances are pretty slim that somebody would come by here while we’re gone.”

“I think so too. OK, let’s go.”

As Dirk drove out past the two fence posts marking the entrance to the spur he remarked that their position would probably lead people to believe that the land beyond was privately owned, and Sally replied that that was her father’s intention when he and her uncle put them in. She added that there was normally a chain stretched across the track between the two posts, though the last time her family had been here her father had driven half-way back to the city before remembering that he’d forgotten to put the chain up before leaving.

Dirk immediately stopped the truck, reversed back to the posts and got out to have a look around for the chain, which he found lying on the ground beside one of the posts to which one end was bolted. Surprised to find that it was heavily galvanised and hadn’t turned into a pile of rusted links he dragged it across the track and attached its free end to a hook on the opposite post before getting back in the truck and continuing on to the shopping centre.

During the drive into town Dirk told Sally about how until recently he’d been a computer analyst/programmer for a big insurance company, but over time had come to realise that despite the high salary he was on it just didn’t provide the lifestyle that he wanted. During the past three or four years he’d spent a lot of time learning about permaculture, gardening, and homesteading, and though he didn’t have any real practical experience yet he was quite sure he could make a go of becoming reasonably self-sufficient.

He’d sold his late model sedan and purchased the old work-truck they were in now, moved most of his belongings to his parent’s house then loaded up with his camping gear and “pioneering tools” as he called the gardening equipment on the back, left the bright city lights and headed south. A month later he hadn’t found any places that impressed him enough to want to stay so he turned the truck around and was heading north when he met her.

Sally’s story wasn’t a whole lot different, apart from the fact that while she did have a driving licence she didn’t have her own vehicle. She’d had a number of jobs after leaving high school but they were mostly casual or dead-end positions that didn’t offer any sense of satisfaction or security. After reading two books by Peter Pinney - Dust on my Shoes and The Lawless and the Lotus - and thinking her own life was mundane in comparison she decided to get a back-pack, a sleeping bag and a small tent and just take off. She’d already made a couple of journeys out west but found that being close to the sea was more to her liking, and as it had been bitterly cold and raining at the time she made her decision to hit the road once more thought it best to head north along the coast.

She’d discovered that hitch-hiking could be good, but only if the hiker was careful: There’d been several offers other than providing a lift made by a couple of men and in one case she’d had to fight one off after he tried to pin her against the seat and slide his hand up the leg of the shorts she’d been wearing. He’d received a deep scratch to his face when Sally swiftly back-handed him with a hand wearing a large ring before baling out of his car. She showed Dirk the ring, given to her by a motor-bike-riding friend concerned for her safety, and when he saw that it had been designed more like a weapon than a piece of jewellery told her that he certainly wouldn’t be picking a fight with her.

 

[Bidadisndat]

It was closer to two and a half hours rather than one when they returned to the campsite, shopping complete, and found that it was just as they’d left it. On the way in along the fire-trail they’d passed two utes and a station wagon, all with fishing rod holders, going in the opposite direction, and as none appeared to have stopped it was probable that other drivers using the trail would also go straight past the spur without knowing it was there, or not bothering to go down it if they did.

After parking under the trees Dirk walked back to where access down to the clearing had been blocked off and after having a look at the tree trunk decided that it wouldn’t be too difficult to move. That was soon done by using the truck and the cable of its winch to haul it out of the way, and it wasn’t long before he was able to drive down and park by their tents. As there was still quite a bit of daylight left he again used the brush-cutter to slash the grass around the rest of the clearing, and then cut the grass at the top of the access, but not so low that it would be obvious that someone was using it.

They had a late evening meal of barbequed fish with a salad, finished off the can of sliced peaches and the cream left over from the previous night and had a couple of glasses of wine from the cask. Dirk refilled the Coleman lantern and after lighting it up got out his sketch-book. He and Sally then sat side by side at the table so that he could show her a few more ideas he’d thought of for the site.

First off he pointed out where he’d like to build a small cabin, positioned so that it would face north to take advantage of the sun throughout the day and have a good view of the clearing and the slope opposite, but be close enough to the tree-lined embankment behind that it wouldn’t be seen by anybody unless they came down the path. Flipping back several pages he showed her a plan of the cabin he had in mind and after examining it closely for a few minutes she offered him a couple of suggestions as to how, to her mind at least, it could be made better.

Taking the pencil from him, and without asking if it was OK to do so, she quickly sketched another plan incorporating her ideas, changing access to his loft sleeping area from a steep ladder to a set of stairs with storage drawers under them, and enlarging the shower and toilet area to include space for a washing machine. Dirk had to agree that her suggestions were in fact good, apart from there being no electricity to power a washing machine, and as the overall size of his cabin wouldn’t be increased by much decided to include them. Not that his design was all his own to begin with, he conceded; he’d originally started with the floor plan of a caravan and incorporated the idea of a lofted sleeping area after finding it in a soft-covered American publication of house plans he’d purchased at a news agency two years before.

Returning to the site plan he then showed her where he would position a water tank, where grey-water should be directed and where he would put a tool-shed, a greenhouse, vegetable garden beds and a chicken coop and run. He also wanted to put in a lot of different fruit and nut trees but these would probably be spaced out around the perimeter of the clearing rather than be in an orchard.

“My dad did that: He planted quite a few fruit trees around the place hoping that nobody would pinch them before they became too big to move. That was years ago though and they’re probably all dead and gone by now.”

Once again she took the pencil from his hand and this time lightly drew a rectangle adjacent but not too close to where he wanted to build his cabin.

“What’s that?”

“That’s my cabin. And since I added a laundry to your design I won’t need one, so mine can be smaller than yours.” And she looked as if she meant it.

“What!? Hey, I’m not intending to start a commune you know. And what would you do here anyway?”

“Same as you: Grow fruit and vegetables, and herbs. Look after chickens. Maybe I could also do the hippy thing and make pottery or jewellery to earn a bit of money at markets. And before you start objecting I’d like to point out that it was me who showed you this place, and it was my family that built the pond and barbeque here, so if you want to stay here you should be asking me if it’s OK to do so.”

“Sally, are you serious?”

“About staying here or about you having to ask my permission? On both counts I don’t see why I shouldn’t be. Anyway, we’ve both only just arrived and as we don’t really know the area well how about we simply camp here for a while, check everything out carefully and then decide if it’s worth staying.”

“Yeah, that sounds reasonable I suppose. I’d still like to put in a vegetable garden though, even if it’s only a small one, just to see if things other than gum trees and scrub will grow here. If we had to abandon the place we might come back in a year or so and find vegetables growing wild, sort of like a Garden of Eden.”

“What about watering it? The ground here’s very sandy and absorbs water quickly. Even after very heavy rain it dries out really fast.”

“For now I’ll simply run a hose from the pond down to the garden, but if I build raised beds using plenty of organic material and compost, and top them off with a thick layer of mulch, that should go a long way towards retaining moisture.”

“Ahh, OK. I don’t know too much about those things so you’ll have to teach me. Got any other ideas?”

“Yes. If we’re going to be staying here for a week or so I think we should move our tents a bit further back, under the trees where they won’t be exposed to direct sunlight all day. Just have to check the trees first to make sure they don’t have any branches that look like they’ll suddenly drop onto the tents. I can also rig up a large tarp as a sun and rain shelter and we could put this table and the chairs under it. And as for working on the veggie garden, I think it’d be best to do that in the early mornings and late afternoons when the sun isn’t too hot.”

“Sounds like a plan. There’s still plenty of light left so let’s move our tents now and then maybe I could help you mark out where you want the veggie beds to go. I could start learning about gardening, from the ground up, so to speak.”

“Oh, very clever! Okay, move the tents now, yes, but before marking out the veggie beds we should also rig the tarp under the trees. And I think I should also set up the composting toilet and screen that I have all the parts for.”

“Now that’s a really good idea: I don’t mind roughing it a bit but if we end up staying here for a while I’d rather not have to head into the scrub every time I needed to go to the loo. When our family camped here my dad and uncle used to dig a deep hole and cover it with a box with a seat fitted to it. We had to throw some sand down the hole when we finished using it but it sometimes smelled a bit so my mother made sure they always dug the hole well away from the tents. Are composting toilets anything like that?”

“Not really, and provided they’re used properly of course, composting toilets don’t smell at all. In fact I plan to use one in my cabin. You can read up on them in one of the self sufficiency books I’ve got, and I think you’ll be surprised at the benefits of using one, especially in a place like this.”

A bit over an hour later their tents were repositioned, the composting toilet with its screen had been set up and a large tarp was slung tautly between two trees and two metal poles that were suitably guyed. The front of the tarp was slightly higher than the back, the mid-point of which was held down by a length of rope and a rock so that if it rained water would flow to that point where it could then be directed to a barrel. It wasn’t likely to rain within the next few days, or even weeks if the long-range forecast was correct, but if it did Dirk had two big blue plastic barrels on the back of the truck, one of which he could quickly put in position. They moved the table and chairs under the tarp but rather than mark out the veggie beds they decided to just sit, relax in their new lounge-dining area and enjoy another glass of wine.

“You know, being a hippie isn’t such a bad thing really, is it? I think I could really get to like this lifestyle.” said Sally as she drained the last of the wine cask into their glasses. “Mind you, it might be a good idea if we can establish a small vineyard here: This cask is empty already!”

“Really? I jush carn ’magine how that happened,” slurred Dirk as he stood, grabbed his wineglass and staggered around as if he was drunk. “Fortunately for the residents of this camp I bought another cask when we were in town, so we won’t have to make an urgent dash to the bottle shop just yet,” he added in a more sober sounding voice as he sat down again.

“You had me fooled there for a while,” said Sally. “You know, I was just beginning to think you were pretty smart, but I can see now that you’re as silly as every other man I’ve met. Hmm… Then again, you did buy another cask of wine so maybe you’re not a completely lost cause.”

In what was to become a bit of a pattern for the following weeks they headed for their tents around nine o’clock, usually quite tired because they both worked and played hard, though tonight the wine may have helped a bit in that regard.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

The next day when Sally stuck her head out of her tent and looked around in the early morning light she saw that Dirk was already at work, tapping wooden stakes into the ground to mark out the vegetable beds. Hastily putting on a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, socks and her walking boots and grabbing her sun-hat she walked down to join him. He’d marked out four beds, each measuring four by fifteen feet and separated by paths wheelbarrow wide, and was about to begin raking grass clippings onto them. The clippings were quite fine, having been slashed then mowed three times, and as it was quite a job trying to rake them up he decided to revert to the appropriate use of technology and with its grass catcher attached used the mower as a vacuum cleaner. It took a while but with Dirk adding loads of clippings and Sally spreading them out with a rake one of the beds was covered with an inch or so of finely cut grass.

“I need to find a lot more mulch,” said Dirk. “At the moment the soil here’s really sandy and will dry out quickly, and it won’t be all that good for growing veggies. It means I’ll also have to find or make lots of compost and do quite a bit of spadework to dig it in and get the beds started. Once that’s done though, they shouldn’t ever need digging again.”

“Don’t you have to dig them over every year?”

“No. At least not in a no-dig garden, which is what this is going to be. Of course it’s going to mean a lot of work at first, but once the beds are established I’ll just need a continuous source of nutrients to keep the soil fed. Building a large composting system will be a priority.”

He drove a garden fork into the sandy soil at one corner of the bed and tried to lift a small amount out of the ground however as there wasn’t sufficient clay content or moisture to hold it together it simply fell through the tines of the fork. “Not good. Too dry. Add water,” he thought as he went to the truck and retrieved two thirty-metre long forty-millimetre fire-hoses, both of which had once been mounted on reels in an old abandoned warehouse. He rolled out the first of the hoses, beginning at the pond and heading towards the garden until reaching its end where he attached the second hose and continued, thankfully finding that the joined hoses were long enough to reach the furthermost bed. Next he attached a weeper hose to the end and flaked it out on top of the bed that he had tried digging into, then walked back up to the pond where he fed the top end of the hose into the pipe from which the water was flowing. He was surprised to find that the flow of water was strong enough to expel the hose from the pipe and he finally had to get some cord and tie it so that it would stay put. Back down at the garden beds he had to wait a few minutes before being rewarded with the sight of water trickling from the pores of the soaker hose and begin seeping down through the grass clippings into the sand below, but he was happy. He’d give it an hour before checking and in the meantime maybe he could have some breakfast?

When he approached the table and asked, Sally grinned and told him to sit down: She’d already made up two bowls of Weet-Bix topped with slices of banana and mango, and had two glasses of pineapple juice poured.

“What’s that stuff you’ve sprinkled on your Weet-Bix?” Dirk asked.

“It’s LSA, which is a mixture of Linseed, Sunflower and Almond meal, plus I added Psyllium Husks and Chia seeds. You’re going to have to learn all about this stuff if you want to be a really healthy and happy hippy you know. By the way, do you think it’d be OK to make another garden bed just for growing herbs?”

“Sure, but how about building an herb spiral?”

“What’s an herb spiral? I’ve never heard of it.”

“There’s a chapter about them in one of the gardening books I’ve got in the truck, so rather than me explain I’ll get the book out and you can read up on what they’re good for and how to build one.”

“You know, if we decide to stay here for a while I think it’d be a good idea to build a proper bathroom and laundry, like I showed you on the sketch. If we did that first it could be added to bit by bit until your cabin is complete. Going to need a bit of building material though.”

“I agree. When we’ve finished breakfast we’ll go over to the truck and I can show you some of the stuff I’ve collected with that in mind. I think you’ll be surprised at what I’ve got.”

Shortly afterwards Sally was standing on the back of the truck’s large tray and Dirk was pointing out the many items he’d loaded before leaving home. All of the gardening tools, including a large wheelbarrow, had been taken off and temporarily placed under the trees, and his camping gear moved to his tent so there’d be room to carry bales of straw and bags of manure for the garden.

“Right. Beginning at the front of the tray; that large solid-looking bench is actually my workbench and where I keep all my woodworking tools locked up. They’re mostly hand tools such as hammers, saws, chisels, screwdrivers and such, though I also have a number of power tools in there too. The sheets of metal on the right are the sides and roofs of two three by three metre garden sheds and the timber under them is for their floors. That big blue roll of metal sheeting is the wall of an above-ground swimming pool which I thought would make a good temporary water tank, and the liner and a cover for it are rolled up in its centre. The two blue plastic drums alongside it are also for water storage, and behind those there are a dozen or so five-gallon pails stacked together with their lids. There’s a large coil of one inch irrigation hose, and another of half inch hose, some of which I was thinking of using to make a simple solar hot water heater.

“What are those plastic pipe things beside the barrels?”

“They’re first-flush diverters I put together. When rain falls on a roof after a dry spell the first lot of water to come off can carry dust, leaves, bird poop and other crap that you really don’t want in your water supply. The diverters let the first flush of rain carry that stuff away then clean water flows into your water tank. They’re not perfect, but they work pretty well.

“OK, moving along; these are salvaged kerbside collection items I brought with me: Wrapped in that old blanket are the sides and ends of a king-sized bed, and those pieces of wood joined by the hessian tapes are the slats for it.”

“What? You brought a king-sized bed with you?”

“Only for the timber: I’m planning to use it to form part of the floor of the loft in the cabin. Let’s see now... There’s a four foot long double bowl stainless steel kitchen sink unit, a hand basin for a bathroom, a double laundry sink unit, an extractor fan, and in that box there are all the taps I’d need, plus a shower head. Oh, nearly forgot: There’s also a three-piece sliding glass shower door sandwiched between the wall and roof panels of the sheds, and the square fibreglass base behind the kitchen sink goes with it.”

“Gosh, it’d be really good if we could set the shower up so we wouldn’t have to use the watering cans.”

“You’re right. I guess we should give that some sort of priority. We’ll have to set up the above ground pool on the bank above us first but it’d give me a chance to see if the home made solar hot water system I designed would work. I’ll need to get a pump to lift water up from the spring to fill the pool though.

“What’s this?” Sally asked as with her foot she nudged an open wooden box containing what looked something like an electric motor.

“It’s an insinkerator.”

“It’s a what?”

“An insinkerator, though that’s just a trade name for a kitchen waste disposal unit. They’re used to grind up food scraps so they can be flushed down the drain instead of being put in the garbage bin. It was attached to that sink.”

“Wow. I’ve never heard of them.”

“They’re not very popular in some quarters, and in some places they’re actually banned: Apparently the high nutrient, high fibre material that goes into the waste water adds a burden to treatment plants, and the high content of saturated fats can block sewage pipes. Because someone probably had the same thoughts when they were renovating a kitchen it was thrown out, so I scored it.”

“If they’re so bad, why do you want one?”

“I was thinking of using it to grind up kitchen scraps to use in a worm farm. I’ll have to explain it all that to you later I guess. I don’t know why, but they people who threw it out also threw out a Whole House Water Filter System, and though I’ll have to buy new cartridges for it at least they’re not too expensive. Using that along with the first flush diverters means I’d have a water supply that’d actually be better than anything a local reticulated system could provide.

Anyway, that’s about it, I think, though all those plastic planting pots and the box of irrigation and hose fittings up with the garden stuff also came from kerbside. Plus I’ve got quite a few more tarps for covering stuff.”

“Cool. I can see what you meant about being able to build a house from recycled stuff. As they’re empty, how about we unload those two blue barrels now? You said you wanted to use one of them here anyway, and it would give you a little extra space to carry more straw and manure.”

“Good idea. After we’ve got the drums off we can take a drive and see if we can find a farm where I can get the straw or hay I need. I think it’d be good to find a nursery too: I have plenty of packets of seeds but I think at this point it might be better to get seedling plants to start off with.”

They unloaded the drums, the above-ground pool materials, the sink unit and the coils of irrigation hose from the truck then before leaving the campsite Dirk checked the garden bed where he’d laid out the weeper hose. The hose had been running for just over an hour and although the soil held together a bit better now that it was moist it still needed more water, so he left it as it was.

While he was checking the garden Sally cleaned up the breakfast dishes and put everything away in Dirk’s tent, and it wasn’t long before they were headed towards the town and the farms around it. Dirk sought out the nursery first as apart from wanting seedlings he hoped the staff there might be able to tell him where he could get cheap mulching straw. That is, they might if they weren’t actually selling the stuff themselves.

Having purchased quite a range and amount of seedlings and twenty bags of good quality potting mix the staff, not selling mulching straw, were quite happy to recommend a couple of places where he could get it. He was in luck here too: One of the farms they went to had lucerne hay that had been spoiled by rain and as it was going cheap Dirk purchased ten bales. And as if that wasn’t good enough a young lady who was there to buy good lucerne for her horses told them that she had bags and bags of manure to get rid of, and if they’d like to follow her home they were welcome to take as much as they wanted.

Unfortunately with the load the truck already had on it there was only room for twenty or so bags, but that would be enough to get two beds dug over. Telling the young lady that he’d be back in a day or two for more, and would return the empty bags, he then headed into town where he purchased another esky, filled it with ice at the service station and topped up the truck’s fuel tank.

In the meantime Sally had gone to the supermarket to do a little bit of shopping and when Dirk pulled into the supermarket’s car-park she was already waiting for him with a trolley filled with string bags full of groceries.

“Just thought I’d get enough food to last three or four days rather than have to waste fuel coming into town every day and I bought the string bags so we won’t have to worry about the disposal of plastic ones. I also got two more casks of wine though they’re both different from those you bought last time.”

“No wonder you wanted me to pick you up here instead of carrying your ‘little bit of shopping’ to the service station,” he said as they put the groceries on the floor of the cab behind the front seats. “OK, you ready to go back now?”

After she’d grinned and nodded yes he put the truck in gear and they headed back to camp. When they got to the sign that pointed to the Recycling Centre Dirk stopped and looked down the road leading to the facility.

“I should’ve thought of this before,” he said, then rather than turn off onto the gravel road continued to drive straight ahead. “Might find a few things here we could use for our cabins, and no harm in having a look anyway.”

“It was worth the detour wasn’t it?” said Sally as they drove out nearly an hour later. “I saw several good things that I think I’d be able to use in my cabin if we do decide to stay here.”

“Yeah. Not quite as cheap as free of course, but cheap enough. I had a look at a big claw-footed bathtub that was in immaculate condition and I wouldn’t mind having it, but it was cast iron and very heavy. And did you see all the windows and doors they had stacked up? Some of them had lead-light glazing and the prices they had on them were ridiculously low compared to what you’d find in a recycling centre close to the city. That said, I’ve been warned that you have to be pretty careful when buying second-hand windows and doors: It’s often more difficult and ultimately more expensive to refurbish and install them than it is to put in new ones.”

“That’s a pity. I noticed that there were lots of wall and floor tiles too,” put in Sally. “Maybe not enough to do a complete wall or floor in any one colour, but you could make some really nice patterns by using contrasting tiles.”

“I’ve seen in magazines where people have done that on bench-tops and coffee tables,” he replied. “Some people have a flair for doing that type of thing don’t they? Most of the furniture there was pretty rough, though I noticed there were several sets of kitchen cupboards and bench-tops that weren’t in too bad condition. What little damage I saw on those was probably due to their being ripped out of kitchens that were being remodelled, but they’d be easy to repair.”

When they arrived back at camp Dirk went straight to the garden bed on which the soaker hose had been laid and once again drove the garden fork into the soil. It was now a tad on the wet side but he knew that the moisture would drain away quickly so wasn’t worried about it. He moved the soaker hose to the next bed then went back to unload the truck, first taking the new esky to the shelter then unloading the bales of lucerne and bags of manure and potting mix while Sally took care of the groceries. She also carried the trays of seedlings up to the trees close by the shelter and seeing that they had wilted a bit from being in the heat of the truck’s cabin where they’d been placed on the back seat, filled Dirk’s two watering cans and gave them a good drink.

He was wondering what he should do next but when Sally suggested that it would be a good idea to go for a swim all thought of work was put aside and he quickly put on his swimmers and grabbed his beach towel. She was also ready to hit the water and fifteen minutes later they were swimming up and down the beach and frolicking in the waves. They noticed that this time there were three men and a woman fishing from the reef and after seeing them drag in a couple of fish Dirk suggested that perhaps they too should get a couple of rods and try their luck. Sally agreed, saying that they could become hunter-gatherers and it would be another cheap way to put food on the table.

“And speaking of putting food on the table,” she said, “maybe it’s time we were getting back to put dinner on. I don’t fancy cooking in the dark.”

“Don’t worry: The Coleman provides more than enough light to cook by, but yeah, I agree it’s time to go back. It’ll be good to rinse off in fresh water though we’ll have to be careful when using those shower bags as they’ll be a lot hotter today than they were yesterday.”

That turned out to be the case: The water in the shower bags was far too hot to use directly but Dirk solved that problem by half filling his two watering cans with hot water from one of the bags and topping them up with cold water from the spring. He then invited Sally to stand under the rose as he lifted one of the cans and tipped it so that she received a good shower. He hadn’t forgotten that she’d stripped off when showering the day before but he was surprised when she did the same with him standing behind her holding the watering can. He repeated the exercise with the second can, refilling both cans from the second shower bag and then it was her turn to give him a shower, though as he was almost six inches taller than she was he had to go down on a knee so he could rinse the salt out of his hair first.

Dried and dressed they both set about getting dinner ready, Dirk as the hunter getting the fire going and tending to some lamb chops and Sally as the gatherer putting together a Greek salad. When adding the Fetta she suddenly laughed, wondering where a gatherer would find that particular cheese, or any other cheeses such as Brie and Camembert for that matter. Later, after they had eaten and were relaxing with a glass of wine she mentioned the thought to Dirk and although he laughed she noticed that a small frown crossed his brow as he thought about it.

“Goats,” he finally said.

“Goats?”

“Yeah, goats. If you had goats, or a house cow, you could make some of those cheeses. Not to mention having fresh milk, cream and butter.”

“Whoever heard of a hippie keeping goats?”

“Maybe hippies don’t, but many homesteaders do, and I’m a hermit-hippie-homesteader remember. Except that I’m not alone, don’t grow or smoke pot and don’t yet have a home to stead, whatever ‘steading’ is. But apart from that, I’m all of the above.”

“You know, I think it just might be a good idea for me to let you stay here: You’re quite amusing, even if in a strange way.”

Dirk took so long to think of a suitable retort that his mind wandered to a completely different subject before he said anything, and even when he did Sally was so engrossed with the chapter on herb spirals in the gardening book that he’d passed to her earlier that she almost didn’t hear.

“Sorry, I missed that,” she confessed as she looked up from the book. “Got caught up in herb spirals. You were saying?”

“I’m going over to the spring to take the hose out: I don’t want to see the garden flooded come morning. After I’ve done that I think I’ll turn in so’s I can get an early start in the morning.”

“Take your time; I’ve still got a few pages I want to read.”

“If I go to bed you can keep reading. When you finish just turn this knob here to put the light out,” he said, pointing to the knob he was talking about. “Use your torch when you go to your tent because you’ll be night-blind for a minute or so after you douse the lantern.”

“I think I’ll just sit in the dark until I get my night vision. There’ll be more than enough starlight to find my way around.”

“Good idea. Actually, I think I’ll sit here with you until I finish my wine,” he said as with a grin he topped up his almost empty glass.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Dirk had been working hard at it for over an hour before Sally woke up in the morning and crawled out of her tent, and during that hour he’d managed to turn over and mix together the sandy soil and grass clippings of one of the garden beds. He’d also emptied the bags of horse manure, spreading them out over a large patch of mowed grass clippings that they hadn’t as yet raked up, and he was going to use the mower to shred the nuggets after they’d dried out a bit. His two blue barrels had been placed close to the spring and they now supported the twin bowl kitchen sink under which he’d placed an empty five gallon pail to catch drain water.

“It’s only temporary,” he told Sally when she came over to have a look at what he’d done. “I have to build a proper frame to support the sink at a more convenient height. Besides, I want to use the barrels for water.”

“That’d be good. As you said, it’d probably be best to camp here for a while before putting up any permanent structures, but if we do decide to stay, as I said before, a laundry/bathroom should be built first, and then a kitchen.”

“A kitchen too now? You’re not just a pretty face are you?” smiled Dirk. “That’s another good idea you’ve chalked up. What about building the rest of the cabin?”

“We could do that after my cabin is finished. After all, you have a nice big tent that’s a lot more comfortable than my little one.”

“Hmm. You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you? OK, big decision time: Are we going to have breakfast now, or do you want to work up an appetite by helping me dig in the garden before it gets too hot?”

“Let’s do the digging first. After breakfast I want to begin collecting rocks to build my herb spiral, so don’t be surprised if you see me taking off with your wheelbarrow.”

“There’s still a bit of mowing to do here, and I think I should also clear the track leading to the beach. You can call me if you find any big rocks that are too heavy for you to lift.”

Rummaging through his box of hose fittings he found one of the three way connectors that he was looking for, added a second weeper hose using the fitting, moved the setup to the third and fourth beds then walked back up to the spring and attached the supply hose as he’d done the previous day. When he was sure the water was flowing they both set to work turning the grass clippings into the sand, with Dirk digging several rows ahead and Sally following behind with another garden fork to mixing them together. It took quite a while and Dirk had to laugh at the look on Sally’s face when he told her that after the manure was added later it would also have to be dug in. When the digging was done they washed up using the new kitchen sink unit then cleaned it before having breakfast.

“Dirk, I’ve been thinking: Would it be OK to set your picnic stove up so that we don’t have to light a fire when all we want is a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, no problem. In fact, I can do that right now if you want. It’ll only take a minute or two.”

He set up the stove where she wanted it, attached the gas cylinder then while Sally filled and put the kettle on he took the cooking utensils from his camping gear and placed them on the shelf of the fold-away stand that the stove sat on.

“There you are: Stove, sink, ice-box, table and chairs... We have a kitchen already by the look of it.”

“Great. Now, Weet-Bix again, or do you want a cooked breakfast now that we have a kitchen?”

“I think I’ll go with the Weet-Bix. How are we off for bananas?”

“We still have five or six. I’m going to leave this pen and notepad on the table so if you think of anything you need next time we go into town just write it down.”

Dirk looked at the notepad as they were having breakfast and saw that she had already begun her list, having written Fishing Rods at the top and beneath that Canned tuna, salmon, sardines, and Tinned fruit – apricots, peaches, pears, plums and pineapple, although what difference there was between something being canned or being tinned he had no idea.

After they’d had breakfast he prepared the brush-cutter for another attack on the last bit of long grass that remained in the clearing and the path down to the beach while Sally headed off along one of the tracks looking for the rocks she needed for her herb spiral. The brush-cutter was proving to be a bit obstinate in starting and while he was trying to find out what was wrong with it he heard Sally call out to him from the slope on the western side of the clearing. He called back though she mustn’t have heard him as she called him again, but this time her voice seemed to have a sense of urgency about it and thinking that she may have had a fall, or perhaps even found a snake he dropped the brush-cutter and ran across the clearing towards where he had last seen her. As he reached the edge of the clearing he looked down the slope to see Sally sitting on the grass about fifty feet away, her knees drawn up with her forearms crossed on top of them and her head bowed and resting on her arms. And she was crying. Hard.

He ran down, skidded to a stop and dropped to the ground beside her, not sure what to do as she didn’t appear to be injured in any way that he could see. To his query of “What’s wrong Sally?” she didn’t raise her head but without moving her arms pointed weakly with one hand towards a tree close to where they were sat and sobbed “It’s not fair!” He wanted to go and have a look at the tree she had pointed to but at the same time he didn’t want to leave her side as it was obvious that she was highly upset about something. He put a hand on her shoulder and was very surprised when she suddenly turned towards him, flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shirt, crying even harder than before. He felt that there was no point in him saying anything at the moment so he simply sat there, letting her cling to him as over the next ten minutes she cried herself out.

“Oh Dirk, I’m so sorry,” she finally managed to say through her sobs.

“No, it’s all OK. Can you tell me what’s upset you or is it something you don’t want to talk about?”

“I’ll be alright in a minute. Can you come with me? I need to show you something.” she said, letting go of him, getting to her feet and walking towards the tree she had pointed at.

When they reached the tree it wasn’t until he had stooped to follow her under its pendulous outer branches that touched the ground all around it that he realised that they were now in the shelter of an enormous mulberry tree. Under the tree he saw that a small plastic table and two chairs just the right size for young children had been set up, and under the table was a plastic box, the top of which was moulded to look like a door with clear Perspex windows set into it. At present the windows were covered with a film of dust and the contents couldn’t be seen however when Sally had opened the little door a short time before a Paddington Bear was revealed. When he turned to Sally she had begun crying again, but this time there were just quiet tears sliding down her cheeks as she took the bear out of the box and held it close.

“It was my little sister’s favourite toy. She was devastated when she found she’d left him behind the last time we came. Dad told her that Paddy would be quite safe in his little house for now but he’d make a trip back later and bring the bear home, but then there was the accident and of course we never came back.”

Dirk, sensing that she was reliving a tragic event in her life waited for her to continue in her own time rather than ask questions. It turned out that both her parents had been killed instantly when a drunken driver ran a red light and slammed into their car at high speed, and although her little sister had survived the crash she had been severely injured and died a short time later in hospital.

Sally’s Uncle and Auntie had taken her and her brother in and given them both all the love and care that they could, and Sally would always be grateful for it, however when they began talking about her going to university after she finished senior high school she told them that she would be leaving. Of course they were quite upset about that, telling her that there was more than enough money left to her and her brother in her parents Will for them both to get the best education possible. However she just couldn’t see herself as a uni student and told them gently but firmly that it wasn’t going to happen. Her brother had decided to attend uni, although it was going to be as an officer cadet with the army, and despite the love shown to her by her uncle and auntie she felt utterly alone and miserable when he left.

The mulberry tree had been one of several advanced seedling fruit trees that their father had bought to plant around the clearing and it had been her sister that had chosen the spot, dug the hole, placed the tree in it and watered it in. From that moment on it was hers, and each time they came to the camp she would make a beeline for the tree to check that it was OK. It grew well and after five years was just big enough for a little girl to climb up on, swing on and have picnics with Paddy under.

“I know it sounds silly but I just can’t bear the thought of Paddy being all alone down here, looking out of his window day after day and waiting for Sissy to come back, so I’m going to take and keep him with me always,” she said.

As Dirk put his arm around her and began walking her back up to the campsite he had the feeling that all he wanted to do from now on was make sure that she would never feel alone again.

“It’s not silly of you and I’m sure your sister is thrilled to see that Paddy is once again in loving hands,” he said. “Especially yours. You do know that she’s looking down from above, don’t you?”

“Yes Dirk, I do believe that,” she replied. “And so are my parents. You know, that’s probably the most comforting thing that anyone has said to me in a long time.”

“Are you alright now?” he asked. “I can leave the brush cutting until later if you want me to keep you company for a while.”

“No, that’s OK. I’ve kept everything bottled up inside me for a long time and I think I just needed a really good cry. I’m really glad you brought me here though; otherwise I might never have come back and found Paddy. You go ahead with the brush-cutting and I’ll go and get my rocks.”

She held the bear up to the sky and called out loudly “It’s OK Sissy, I’ve got Paddy, and I’ll take really good care of him for you, I promise I will.”

When she brought the bear down and they continued walking up the slope Sally was now smiling through her tears, though for some reason Dirk now felt in danger of shedding a tear himself.

 

[Bidadisndat]

By lunch time Dirk had cleared the track to the beach and finished cutting the grass, which he left to dry out before running the mower over it to collect the clippings. The section where he’d spread out the horse manure the day before was already dry enough though and he spent some time shredding the nuggets with the mower and emptying the catcher’s contents evenly over the two beds they’d turned over. He decided it would be probably be better to turn in the manure during the evening rather than now when it was reaching the hottest part of the day, and went to look for Sally. Finding her on one of the tracks trying to push the wheelbarrow which had a substantial load of rocks in its tub, he took over and several minutes later had dumped the load close to where she wanted to build her garden.

“Time for a break, Sal. What’s first: Lunch, or a swim? ”

“A swim. I probably wouldn’t feel like swimming, or even walking to the beach, with a full stomach. So, swim, lunch, a nap, and then we can continue with our projects.”

“Seems like a good plan. I know you bought enough groceries to last a few days so we don’t have to drive into town too often but tomorrow I want to go and get another load of lucerne hay and some more manure, so how about we have a look at fishing rods while we’re out and about?”

“Good idea. And I can get a few more tins of the fruit I wanted but were too heavy to carry. C’mon: Race you to the beach,” she said as she took off, running down the track that he’d cleared earlier.

He managed to catch up with her just as she reached the stretch of sand separating the bush from the sea but he was surprised to find that it wasn’t quite as easy as he’d imagined because Sally could run like the wind. Barely stopping to kick off their sandals they hit the waves and spent half an hour swimming up and down the beach before Dirk saw a long line of blue-bottles being blown towards the shore and they got out of the water quickly. As they walked back to the camp Sally suggested that they get a few large containers of white vinegar as it was able to neutralise the stinging cells of a blue-bottle if they got stung by one. Her family always took a jug of it whenever they came to the beach as it was notorious for blue-bottles and that may have been one of the reasons that the beach wasn’t used much for swimming.

The rest of the day went as planned: They had a lunch of sandwiches then lay down in the shade for a nap, snoozing for a couple of hours before getting on with their self-assigned tasks. Dirk managed to finish turning the manure into the vegetable beds and as Sally was only half-way towards getting all the rocks she needed he also spent some time pushing the wheelbarrow for her.

The shower routine was performed at the end of their working day and finally came a dinner of snags and three, not surprisingly washed down with a glass of wine. Dirk smiled when he saw that close to the table Paddy had been sat on a tripod seat that Sally had made from sticks, twine and a pile of long grass cuttings. That bear, he thought, would most likely be spoiled rotten if it was a child and he had a vague feeling of jealousy when Sally picked the bear up and took it to her tent when she went to bed. He turned off the Coleman and sat in the light of the half moon that had appeared from over the horizon about two hours before, thinking about the next project on his to-do list until a couple of annoying mozzies forced him to retreat to his tent.

* * *​

The seedlings in their punnets under the trees had been watered and Dirk had laid out a large number of eight inch plastic pots, one for each seedling, and had half filled them with the potting mix he’d purchased. He then began carefully transferring each seedling from its punnet to the larger pot, topping it up with more potting mix as he did each one, and by the time he’d done that there were some ninety plants that now needed to be gently watered. When he’d finished he was surprised to find that it had taken over three hours to do the job, however by working in the dappled shade of the trees it had been quite a pleasant task.

When Sally came over to have a look and asked him why he hadn’t just planted the seedlings straight into the beds he explained that the fresh manure he’d dug in and watered generated quite a bit of heat as it began to decompose, and the heat could damage the plants. It would probably be best, he said, to leave the beds for a few days to cool down, but in any case only after they’d established healthy root systems would the seedlings be transplanted from their pots.

Unfortunately it was going to be an additional expense however after seeing several burrows and fresh droppings in the surrounding bush he decided that he’d need to put a fence around the garden to keep rabbits out. He measured out its length and breadth, finding that he’d need about fifty metres or so of wire mesh, plus star pickets, fencing wire and whatever else would be needed, which if he followed the advice of a keen salesman would probably include a post-hole digger with a tractor attached he thought with a grin to himself.

Sally had continued collecting rocks and now had a sizeable pile from which to chose the best shapes for fitting close together when she began building her herb spiral, although that wasn’t going to be started until she’d finished re-reading the chapter in Dirk’s gardening book. There were several plans she had in mind but the one that appealed to her most was to set up the spiral close to the pond to take advantage of the running spring water and make a feature garden of it. Dirk was impressed with the idea and as they sat and had breakfast he put pen to paper and sketched out a rough plan of what he thought she wanted to do, making a couple of suggestions as he did so.

After breakfast and with Sally’s help he unloaded the material for the two garden sheds from the truck, placing it close to where he planned to erect one of them, then all the other items apart from those locked in his workbench, which was currently bolted to the tray, were taken off and placed under the trees. Knowing that Paddington Bear hadn’t been disturbed for many years they reasoned that it’d probably be safe to leave their camp unattended, for short periods at least, so they piled into the truck and headed off to get more hay and manure, the fencing materials and whatever it was that Sally wanted to get. They also took the smaller esky as they needed to get more ice.

Once in town Dirk dropped Sally off to do her shopping and drove to the farm where he bought the last of the spoiled hay to be had, then to the horse property where he picked up another twenty bags of manure before returning. After he’d helped carry the groceries to the truck they went to a sports store to look at fishing gear and came out with a long beach rod and reel, and the line, lures and sinkers needed for the tons of local fish that they were sure to catch. At least that was what the salesman had said as he handed them a pamphlet showing the minimum sizes and bag limits when fishing in New South Wales. Dirk said that maybe he’d try his luck on the weekend... if he could remember when that was as he seemed to have lost track of what day it was now.

A stop at the hardware store resulted in two fifty metre rolls of four-foot high heavy gauge wire mesh, two dozen six-foot galvanised star stakes, ten treated timber fence posts and a large coil of fencing wire being loaded onto the back of the truck. A gripple iron with two bags of gripples, a carton of staples to suit the wire and two bags of ring clips with pliers to put them on with was put in the back of the cab. As they were about to leave the hardware store he suddenly remembered that he’d need to dig some pretty deep holes for the treated timber corner and gate posts so went back inside and came out with an ‘Armstrong’ post-hole digger. When Sally commented that the brand-label on the implement was ‘Cyclone’ and not ‘Armstrong’ he had to explain that it was an old joke and was used to describe tools that required the use of strong arms to work them.

They also stopped off at the nursery where Dirk bought another ten bags of potting mix, a bag each of Gypsum, Dolomite, and Blood & Bone, and a container each of Sea-Sol, Charlie Carp and Molasses, plus four small bags of seed potatoes, each of a different variety.

Following a detour to the recycling centre on the way back Sally was now the happy owner of a set of bamboo wind chimes, and though she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to discard such a beautiful instrument she was happy to know that it would soon be hanging on a tree close to their shelter. Dirk came out waving a jaffle iron and when Sally surprised him by saying she’d never even heard of such a device let alone used one he was quick to tell her that she would be in for a treat when he showed her how it worked. However the main purpose of the detour was so that Dirk could have another look at the bathtubs, and though he would love to have had the cast iron bath he’d seen earlier he bought and had the staff help him load two large and deep fibreglass baths onto the back of the truck.

It wasn’t until after midday that they returned and while Sally put the groceries away and began preparing something to eat Dirk reversed the truck down to the garden and unloaded the material stacked on the back. With the truck parked back up under the trees he went over to the shelter where Sally had a late lunch of sandwiches waiting under a fly-proof cover that she’d bought, sat down and pulled the notepad and pen towards himself.

“Sal, there are so many things that need to be done but each one seems to need doing first, so I think we’ll have to nut out a prioritised list. What do you think are the most important things to be done around here first?”

“Well, considering that it looks like we’re going to stay here for a while I think we should finish the veggie garden first, and perhaps my herb spiral, though that’s not overly important. What we really need to do is build the bathroom, kitchen and laundry. What other jobs do you have in mind?” she said as she poured two cups of tea and took the cover off the sandwiches.

“As you say, finish the veggie garden first, and I also want to clear a level space on top of the bank behind us and set up the above ground pool for water storage. I already have everything I need to do that so it can be done fairly quickly, though I might have to rope you in to help a bit. Then we can begin looking for the stuff we need to get started on the building. We should try and get as much on it done as possible before the weather turns nasty.”

“That doesn’t look like it’ll happen anytime soon, but I agree. OK, so how long do you think it’ll take to get the veggie garden finished?”

“Working at an easy pace; a few days, and that includes putting up the pool. After lunch I’m going to spread out the bags of manure to dry out a bit then start forking over the next two beds. I decided to add another two beds and they’ll go on the far side of the beds we have now. They’ll be used for growing potatoes under straw, or in our case under the Lucerne hay. That’s why I got the extra bales and bags of manure. When all the beds are done I’ll put the fence up around them.”

“You mean you’re going to dig more beds just for potatoes?”

“No, I won’t be digging them: I’ll mow the grass as low as possible, break up the surface using the fork, throw on a bit of the Blood & Bone, Gypsum and Dolomite then lay out lots of newspaper on top and wet it. The seed potatoes are spaced out on the paper and then covered with the lucerne, the manure-grass mix and whatever good dirt I can find. We add as much compost as we can make through the growing period and by the time the spuds are ready to be dug up the soil will have improved dramatically. When the bed is empty I’ll plant a cover crop of nitrogen fixers like Algerian oats, tic beans, rye grass and clovers and when it gets about knee high it’ll be slashed and dug in to help improve it even more. By the time the next planting season comes around the soil there will be ideal for putting in what the North American Indians call The Three Sisters of corn, beans and squash.”

“You know, I find it hard to believe that a computer programmer knows so much about gardening.”

“Actually, I’m an expert: I’ve read no less than three books on the subject, and I once grew a cumquat in a pot on the balcony of my city apartment.”

“Did you really? How impressive! By the way, speaking of growing things: Are you trying to grow a beard or are you just too lazy to shave? Mind you, I think a beard would suit you really well.”

“You really think so? I wouldn’t mind growing one again. I used to have one a long time ago but for some reason I shaved it off.”

“For some reason? Ha! I bet you met a girl who didn’t like beards.”

Dirk looked at her in surprise and wondered how she could have possibly known that, but the look on his face showed that he’d been caught out and Sally grinned triumphantly.

“Did she look like me or, unbelievably, was she even more beautiful?”

Dirk laughed. “Well, I have to admit that there was a girl, and she was very attractive, at least to look at. But it turned out she was rather ugly on the inside, if you know what I mean: Extremely self-centred, selfish, possessive and very hot tempered. Even her best friends admitted that she could be a complete bitch more often than not. Anyway, I finally realised just how bad she could be and the relationship, if it could be called that, only lasted about three months.”

“Poor Dirk. Were you badly hurt?”

“Oh yes: Terribly. Absolutely devastated. In fact I was just on my way to join the French Foreign Legion when we met. You know, you probably saved me from having to spend twenty years or more in the desert trying very hard to forget what’s-her-name.”

“The French Foreign Legion? That’s a joke. Somehow I just can’t imagine you being a soldier: I’d have thought running off to join a circus would have been more your style. Anyway, it’s lucky you didn’t just lose your appetite and starve to death,” said Sally, grinning as she picked up the empty plate upon which a large stack of sandwiches had been sitting only a short time before. A short time before Dirk sat down and began helping himself to them that is.

“You’ll only have enough time to spread those bags of manure before swim o’clock, so why not leave turning the last two beds until tomorrow morning? I

Dirk went off to spread the manure, deciding that where the new beds would go would be a good place to start. He spread ten bags along the length and breadth of the new area and the remainder was spread over the grass that had been slashed with the brush-cutter but not yet mulched. He also positioned the two bath-tubs, supporting them on rocks to keep them stable then directed the hose from the pond to them both, restricting the flow so that by the time he and Sally got back from their swim the baths should be about half full.

It was later in the afternoon than when they usually hit the beach and already the shadows of the dunes were beginning to creep across the sand towards the water. Pausing at the water’s edge they checked the surface for blue-bottles and having seen none they waded out to swimming depth then dived under the first incoming wave. They swam a few of their normal laps but as it was late and they were getting a bit tired they didn’t engage in their usual frolicking but walked back to the pleasant routine of preparing and having dinner, and just for a change a glass of Rosé instead of their usual white wine.

Before sitting down to eat Dirk wandered over to the bathtubs and found that they were just over half full and he let the hoses run until he’d mixed a half cup each of Sea-Sol and Molasses into the water of each bath. That done he took the hoses out, broke open two of the bales of Lucerne and separated them into biscuits which he placed in the baths to soak.

“See this?” Sally asked, holding up the book that she had been writing in when he returned to the shelter. “It’s my personal journal. Touch it, and you’ll find yourself joining the Foreign Legion after all, understand?”

“Ahh, OK. I understand. What’s for dinner?”

It was salad again of course, but this time with tuna, and tuna being fish they went back to having white wine, not that it really mattered Dirk had said, as a Rosé was just as acceptable provided it was cold.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Next day the first job had been to break up the soaked biscuits of lucerne and scatter them over the first two veggie beds. The thick mulch would keep the sun from drying the beds out quickly, the Sea-Sol would add lots of essential nutrients and trace elements to the soil and the molasses would stimulate bacterial growth in both mulch and soil, which hopefully would encourage lots of earth worms to move in.

The mulching hadn’t taken much time to do and now the second two beds were being turned over to combine the sandy soil and grass clippings, after which they’d break for breakfast. They’d found that by working in the early mornings and in the evenings they actually got more done than if they’d worked the same number of hours straight through, and agreed that the same routine would be good to follow even after completion of the gardens and their cabins.

Following their breakfast break Dirk rigged up a couple of hammocks under the trees for their afternoon siestas then took the mower over to the area he’d marked out for the potato bed and began to shred the manure that he’d spread out on it. He emptied the catcher onto the third and fourth beds as he did so and what manure and grass was not picked up was simply left where it was, along with another good sprinkling of the Blood & Bone, Dolomite and Gypsum to help enrich the soil underneath.

After a few jabs with a garden fork into the soil proved that digging the bed would be more trouble than it was worth, especially considering how he was going to use it, he had Sally help him lay out the newspapers thickly over the surface and then laid out the weeper hoses to ensure the paper would be soaked through. When the paper was thoroughly wet they next spaced the seed potatoes out, cutting quite a few into halves sporting eyes from which shoots were beginning to show. Dirk left the cut potatoes in the sun for a while to harden off the cut surface a bit before placing them on the wet paper as he was afraid they might otherwise begin to rot.

With the potatoes laid out the next batch of hay was retrieved from the bath-tubs and strewn on top, with another two bales being opened and given a soak. By the time the bed was finished six full bales had been used to obtain the thickness that Dirk wanted and both his and Sally’s forearms were sticky from handling the molasses and sea-sol water-logged hay.

The mower was again brought into action and Dirk began shredding the last of the manure that had been spread out and adding it to the mulch on the potato beds. He would like to have added a bit of good soil to the beds too but as there was none to be had anywhere around their camp he decided to get one or two cubic metres of loam from the nursery the next time they went to town. He would also need to fill the two jerry cans he used to carry fuel for the mower and brush-cutter he realised as he picked up one that was half full, knowing that the other was already empty.

Around midday they stopped work, washed off their sticky hands and arms and set about making lunch; again a plate piled high with sandwiches. With Dirk leading the attack on the plate it was soon devoid of all but a few crumbs... And he then complained he was so full that he’d be barely able to make it to the hammock he’d rigged up that morning!

Following their afternoon siesta, swim and shower Dirk laid out the star stakes and treated timber corner posts around the veggie garden, with posts for gates at the centre of each side. One gate would give access to the garden and the other would give access from there to the chicken run he was thinking of adding to the far side, though that plan was still up in the air at this point: Chickens would only be considered if they found they could get away with staying there undisturbed by the powers that be.

As he was doing this Sally got the rocket stove going and following the instructions Dirk had given her had prepared buttered slices of bread and the fillings for the jaffles he was going to teach her how to make. When he returned, having done nothing other than lay out the fencing materials, she watched as he prepared the first two. He laid the first two slices of bread on the bottom of the iron, buttered side down, spooned in some baked beans and cracked an egg on each then placed the second slice of bread on top, buttered side up. Closing the iron on the bread he trimmed the corners and put it into the firebox of the stove then waited for several minutes, turning it every so often to make sure the contents were cooked evenly. When he took the iron out and opened it Sally was thrilled with the perfectly cooked jaffles and told Dirk she wanted to make the next two. Her efforts were successful despite that the jaffles she made were, shall we kindly say, somewhat darker than Dirks, but she was really happy with the result.

“Ahh… Just the way I like my poached eggs: Crisp!” said Dirk as he took a bite into the first of the two jaffles she’d made.

“Really? That’s good, because mine are perfect too,” Sally said laughing as she bit into the first of the two he had prepared.

“Would you like a rosé or a white to go with that?”

“I think a mug of tea would be better, especially as I just brewed a pot.”

As they relaxed after the meal a thought crossed Dirk’s mind: “The fire-trial that the spur comes off: Do you know where it leads to?”

“It curves to the right a bit just after passing here then goes through to the beach on the far side of the reef. That’s probably where those fishermen we talked to parked their cars. My dad and Uncle Jim were working for the Main Roads Department years and years ago when the first highway was put through this area. They’d sometimes camp for a couple of weeks around each worksite rather than travel back and forward to the city and often went hunting for rabbits when they weren’t working. Uncle Jim found this spot after following the fire trail during one of their hunts and they sort of ‘borrowed’ the machinery they operated to cut the spur and level the clearing. He and dad always said that the clearing and the spur were probably more level and smoother than any of the roads they’d worked on, and whenever we camped here they’d spend a couple of hours working on keeping it that way. Not that it was of course, but we all thought of it as our own land, and I remember my mother and auntie even put in small flower beds on each side of the pond.”

She sat and gazed into space as memories of the days she’d spent camping here with her family came back, not to haunt her now, but to comfort her. It was if they were all together again and she covered her mouth and gripped her nose in a vain effort to stifle a sob.

Dirk was at her side in an instant and as he put an arm across her shoulders she leaned towards him and laid her head against his chest.

“Dirk, I really hope nobody throws us off this place,” she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. “My family is here. I can feel it. And I feel like it’s where I belong.”

“Yes Sal, it is. It is your place, and in fact all things considered, I’m really just a visitor here. Look, I don’t think anybody’s going to be interested in this land for quite a few years to come so we’ll probably be OK. And as I now acknowledge you as queen of this little kingdom I’ve decided to alter my grand design by making a switch: The big cabin will be yours, and I’ll take the shack down the back.”

She gave a laugh and pulled herself upright. “But then you’d be most likely be regularly knocking on my door and asking if you can use the laundry to wash your clothes, or worse, asking me if I could wash them for you. Anyway, that’s a way off yet so we can talk about it later.”

She stood up to go to her tent but before leaving ruffled his hair then stooped down and gave him a kiss on the cheek saying, “But thanks for the offer.”

After she had gone Dirk poured himself another glass of wine and sat enjoying the noises of the night and, after putting out the lantern, the view of the starlit heavens while he thought about nothing and everything until his glass was empty.

* * *​

There were two problems that Dirk found when he began work on the fence around the vegetable garden early in the morning. Firstly, when trying to dig a hole for the first of the corner posts he found that the soil was so sandy that the sides kept collapsing back into the hole. Hoping that the problem might be solved by wetting the soil he filled his two watering cans and poured them both into the hole that he’d started. With luck the soil would hold together long enough for him to dig down the three feet he wanted for the posts, though he would have to add more water and let it soak in as he dug deeper. The second problem was that the mash hammer he was using to drive the star posts into the ground wasn’t a good choice as it was difficult to wield and took too long, and perhaps a post driver would be faster and easier.... As the salesman had suggested when he’d purchased the posts.

Leaving the star posts he concentrated his efforts on the first of the corner posts and after quite a bit of alternate digging and watering the hole finally got it into the ground. He didn’t bother tamping it in though as the salesman had said something about using gripples to pull the fence wire tight could pull posts out of true and he should put stays on all posts that had to take any strain, especially if the soil was as sandy as Dirk had said it was.

He took a break for breakfast and was surprised to find that instead of the usual Weet-Bix with banana Sally gave him a large plate of sausages, eggs, tomatoes, and toast! As he ate he told her about needing to get a post driver and some extra poles with which to make post stays, however when she pointed out that it was now Sunday and the hardware store would probably be closed he decided to go ahead and just dig the holes for the corner and gate posts.

It had taken him a full hour to get the first post in position and after using his long tape measure to mark the position of all the holes, ensuring that the garden would be a perfect rectangle, he had Sally pour water onto each spot he’d marked while he went to work on the next hole. He established a pattern of digging a hole about a foot deep, filling it with water then moving to the next hole until he had completed a full circuit. By the time he returned to the hole he’d started with the water had soaked down and he was able to repeat the process until all the holes had been dug to the correct depth, though it took nearly all morning to do it.

Sally in the meantime had left the watering of the holes to Dirk and begun clearing the ground either side of the spring, and in doing so had uncovered the border of rocks around where her mother’s little flower garden had been. Now working furiously she cleared out all the old growth and by the time Dirk had completed his task she had finished hers, and as they were both rather grubby from their efforts it was time to hit the beach and clean off the dirt before rinsing off under the shower.

“When are you going to try out your new fishing rod?” Sally asked as they walked down to the beach.

“When I’ve finished fencing the veggie patch. I’ll have to go and get the extra things I need first thing in the morning but by Tuesday afternoon it should all be done. At least the fencing part. I’m going to get a couple of cubic metres of good loam if I can, and spread it straight from the truck onto the potato patch before I put the wire up. Actually I think I should get a bit more and we can use some for your herb garden.”

“That’d be good. I’m actually thinking that maybe I could combine the herb garden with mum’s flower garden somehow. What do you think?”

“It’s actually a good idea. You can read up a bit on companion planting in one of my books where you’ll find a table showing what grows best with which. I’m going to plant edible flowers in the veggie garden too, though not so much for colour as for deterring pests.”

They kicked their sandals off where the track met the sand and ran down to the water, checked for bluebottles then plunged in and began swimming. Stopping to look around and get his bearings Dirk suddenly felt his heart racing as he saw two dorsal fins break the surface a short distance out to sea, and without wanting to panic her swam to Sally and suggested that they swim to shore, citing a sudden cramp as the reason. Once on the sand he looked back out over the water and was relieved to find that the fins he’d seen were not those of sharks, as he had feared, but of two dolphins of a pod that was swimming close to the shoreline.

When he pointed the fins out to Sally her heart thumped wildly for a moment until he told her they were dolphin fins and she excitedly ran back into the water hoping they would come closer. Unfortunately they didn’t but she was still quite thrilled with the sighting. Her good mood continued as when about to leave the water and return to the camp she leapt on Dirk’s back and told him he would have to carry her up to where they’d left their sandals. Halfway up the beach he suddenly cried “Cramp!” dropped to the sand and twisted his body so that she came off his back. Before she could recover he rolled her over a couple of times so that she was covered in sand and in response she pulled him down so that he too was covered, and they had to run back into the sea to wash it off, laughing all way.

“Next time I go to a place that sells camping gear I’ll see if I can get a couple of bars of sea-soap,” he said to Sally as once back at the camp they performed their now traditional rain dances under the watering cans.

“Sea soap? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Ever tried to use ordinary soap in saltwater? It’s useless. Normal soap is sodium based and doesn’t dissolve easily in salt water, but sea-soap is potassium based and does. Ideal in situations where you need to save fresh water, such as on boats, or here.”

“You’re a mine of information, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, though most of it’s useless stuff. Interesting perhaps, but useless just the same.”

“Well, at least everything you’ve done or told me so far has been good so I’m not complaining. Can you get the fire going for me please? I’ve got a pack of chicken thighs in the esky and I'm going to do apricot chicken for tonight’s dinner. And I can cook rice to go with it if you’d like a change from salads.”

“That sounds really good. Are you going to use the oven?”

“No. Your heavy cast-iron frypan will be OK. When the fire’s going can you come back and chop up the onions for me? I can do the carrots and celery but it makes me cry when I do onions and I noticed that it doesn’t seem to bother you.”

They took their camp chairs over to the fireplace and sat discussing a few ideas each had about the camp-site and drinking a glass of cold water from the spring, with Sally keeping an eye on the pieces of chicken browning in the fry-pan. When the chicken was nearly browned to her satisfaction she added the chopped vegetables, frying them until they were also browned, then half a large can of apricot halves in natural juice and a packet of French Onion soup mix, finally leaving it all to slowly simmer until the chicken was cooked through.

“Do you need me to get the lid for the pan?” Dirk asked.

“No. There’s a lot of liquid in there at the moment but if I leave the pan uncovered it’ll help reduce the liquid to a sauce, which I think is a much better way than using cornflour to thicken it. I have to keep a close watch on the rice though; I don’t want it sticking to the bottom of the saucepan and burning.”

Thirty minutes later they’d returned their chairs to the shelter and sat at the table enjoying the meal. And wonder of wonders, they were still drinking spring water! That changed when they decided to have desert and agreed that a nice cold white would go well with the small can of pineapple rings and the left-over apricots that Sally was now serving with cream.

“We’ll have to get more ice for the esky tomorrow. I don’t suppose your mine of useless information includes anything about how to build a non-electric ’fridge does it?”

Dirk laughed. “No, but as we’re staying here maybe we should get one of those fridges that uses gas or kerosene. Which reminds me: I have to get fuel for the Coleman. I’ll have a think about it but we might be stuck with using the esky, at least until we can get a kitchen built.”

Not bothering to light the lantern they sat and talked until the sun had dropped below the horizon then as darkness began to descend on the camp made their way to their tents, looking forwards to a good night’s sleep.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

It wasn’t until they saw a sign on the gate proclaiming that the hardware store would be open only until midday that they realised it was Australia Day, and that being a public holiday most of the shops in town would be closed. Having left camp very early they were thus quite relieved when at seven thirty the gates of the store’s compound were swung open and they were able to load the truck with the items on the list of materials they wanted. They also learned that the hardware store was open on Sundays, at least until 2 p.m.

They spread out a large tarp on the tray and draped it over the sides and tail-gate of the truck and two cubic metres of garden loam were dropped onto it by a tractor with a three-in-one bucket. The tarp was folded back over the top to prevent the loam being blown off when they were driving and the twelve poles that were going to be used as stays for the fence corner and gate posts were laid on top of it. He had planned to use large wooden pegs for the bottom ends of the stays to bear against but on the advice of the salesman he added some extra poles that would be cut and sunk about two feet into the ground.

Sally came out of the building pushing a new wheelbarrow into which she’d placed the twenty litre container of kerosene and the post driver that Dirk had purchased.

“We already have a wheelbarrow,” said Dirk when she came to the truck.

“No: You have a wheelbarrow, and it’s big and too heavy for me to push when it’s full, so I got a smaller one for myself. Is the kero OK in the cab, or do you want it up on the back?”

“I’ll put it on the back,” he said as he hoisted the drum out of the barrow and placed it on the tray along with the post driver. Sally’s garden barrow was in fact quite a lot lighter than his big builder’s barrow and he had no difficulty in lifting and placing it on the back where it was secured with a length of rope.

Following a conversation with a staff member who handled fencing products Dirk’s final purchase, after a post driver, was a chainsaw with a 16” bar, a chain sharpening file and guide, and a five litre container of bar oil. He was also forced by Sally to fork out a few dollars for a booklet on chainsaw safety after she heard the salesman tell him that chainsaws were one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment used on a farm, especially when used by novices. The saw would be used to cut notches in the posts for the stays and although it was a relatively small job he figured that the saw would be convenient to have if he needed to cut firewood.

“It’s lucky the camp-site is fairly remote,” said Sally as they drove to the shopping centre. “Otherwise with your brush-cutter, mower and now the chainsaw the noise might attract a bit of attention.”

“I guess so, but once we have everything done it’ll go back to being peaceful and quiet. You know, the camp does appear to be pretty remote, but we haven’t been far away from it since we arrived, except to drive into town. I think it might be a good idea to drive around the area and see what the neighbourhood is like.”

“Good idea. And I’ve got another: How about we pack a picnic lunch and go exploring. We’ve been working for a week, not that it’s been hard work of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a day off. Maybe you could even try out your new fishing rod.”

“Now that’s an even better idea. I’m really keen to get the fence up though, and that could take a whole day. How about we go the day after?”

“Yeah, OK then. I heard the guy back at the hardware store suggest setting the posts in concrete. You don’t want to do that?”

“No. I might want to change the garden’s position in the future, or make it larger. Plus if we were ever forced to clear off I’d want to take everything with us, and pulling out posts set in concrete would sure take a lot of time and effort. Not that I think that’ll happen any time soon. At least, I sure hope not.”

“Me too. OK. Here’s the shopping centre and at least Woolworths is open. Do you need anything in particular? Lobster, caviar, pate, more wine?”

“Good Lord, you mean you don’t have those staples permanently written on your list? Can’t think of anything in particular I need... Hmm… On second thoughts, can you get me a 2 litre jug of unsweetened apple juice please?”

“Sure. No problem.” She answered as she got out of the truck and went to do the shopping while Dirk headed off to the servo to top up the truck’s fuel tank and fill the smaller esky with ice, the larger one also having been brought along to fill with the cold goods that Sally wanted to buy. When she met him in the carpark later her groceries were placed in the truck and they decided to do some window shopping then have an early lunch at the Lakeside Tavern before returning to camp.

Dirk found a shop that sold camping gear and although they didn’t have any in stock he was told that sea-soap could be ordered in for him if he was willing to pay up front because there wasn’t much call for it, and they didn’t want to be stuck with stuff they couldn’t sell quickly. He paid them for the soap and said that he’d come back next Monday and pick it up, if it had arrived by then, otherwise he’d call in the following week.

At the tavern they ordered quiche and salad for lunch and though it was nothing to write home about it at least it was a change from eating at camp. While they enjoyed being able to have a meal without having to bother about cleaning up afterwards Sally thought that the prices they charged were a bit steep until Dirk pointed out that considering the overheads involved they were really quite reasonable, and that had they been in the city the meal would have been even more expensive.

Once again back at the camp Dirk helped Sally unload the groceries, the can of kerosene and her wheelbarrow before changing into working duds of old shirt, shorts and boots, and drove the truck over to the veggie patch where he unloaded the extra poles. Reversing the truck up to the potato beds he began shovelling loam onto them, swinging the shovel so that each throw was spread wide and trickled through the hay rather than sit on top of it. He moved the truck two more times before he had taken all the loam off the back then remembered he was supposed to leave some for Sally’s garden. Not a big problem though, because her garden wasn’t yet ready and he could get more soil later.

With the loam in place he could now turn his efforts to putting up the fence, the first part being the marking and cutting of notches into the posts to accept the stays, which also had to be cut to fit the notches. He was thankful that the staff member at the hardware store had sketched out on a piece of paper just how the posts and stays had to be cut and having marked out the first post decided to install it to make sure his markings were correct.

The chainsaw, already fuelled and with chain-bar oil added, made light work of the cutting and a short time later the first post, which was already in position, was fully braced and Dirk spent some time solidly tamping in the soil around its base with a fencing bar. After he’d sunk 2 ft sections of pole into the ground at the base ends to hold them, the stays had fitted nicely into their notches, mostly because of the care he’d taken in following the directions given him, and the corner post appeared to be quite solidly fixed in place. Well pleased with his efforts he continued to the next post, which an hour later was also solidly fixed, and might have continued on had not Sally come down to have a look at his work and tell him that it was time for a swim. She was so impressed with his efforts thus far, and also that he had worn the safety hat, face-shield and ear-muffs when using the chainsaw that she told him that as he was such a good boy he could have a glass of wine at dinner time.

“Sounds good. What’s for dinner?”

“You mean a glass of wine isn’t enough?” she said and when he pouted added “Actually, while you were playing at fencing I made a lasagne. When we get back from our swim we’ll see how well the rocket stove’s oven works. Of course if it doesn’t we’ll only be having a salad.”

“And wine. Don’t forget the wine.”

“Ahh... OK,” she said, and putting on a complaining voice whined “Oh Dirk, I told you we should’ve bought a proper gas range and oven.”

Dirk laughed, called her an idiot and then got chased down to the beach. Following their swim they found that the oven really did work and the lasagne came out done to perfection. Well, almost, Sally said as she slid it back into the oven for another five minutes, and put the foil wrapped sticks of garlic bread in at the same time.

“Dirk, do you think you could build a bench close to the stove and put a sink in it? When our cabins are finished we’ll have an outdoor kitchen where we could do baking and preserving, like it suggests in one of your books. Be really good in summer when it’d probably be too hot to do that in a cabin.”

“Sure. It’s a good idea and wouldn’t be difficult to do. We could build it out of rocks so that it matches the fireplace and pond.”

He grabbed his pencil and sketch pad and while she was getting the lasagne out of the oven did a quick drawing of what he thought she wanted and showed it to her when she sat down.

“Yes, just like that. I know you want to keep your double sink for the cabin so perhaps we could get a bench and sink unit from the recycling centre and simply cover the back and sides with rocks.”

“Even easier. Of course, it’s going to need quite a few rocks whichever way we do it, so I guess you and your new wheelbarrow will be pretty busy for a while. I’ll help you of course, but I really want to finish the garden fence first.”

“That’s OK. Another thing: Your sheds. Do you want me to help put one of those up?”

“That’s a good idea, and I would appreciate your help. I could do it by myself but it’d be far easier and a lot faster if we do it together. If we began erecting it first thing one morning we could have it up before lunch-time. Let’s do it on Thursday ’coz I’ll be spending most of tomorrow on the fence and we’re going exploring on Wednesday.”

“No, let’s put it up on Wednesday and go exploring Thursday. That way we can lock up stuff that somebody might want to pinch if they came through here while we’re gone.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s likely, but either way. Why don’t we decide on Wednesday morning?”

“OK. Another glass of wine?”

“Oh, if you insist,” he answered, immediately holding his empty glass out.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Before breakfast two more corner posts and two of the gate posts had been braced and Dirk was itching to get the last two gate posts done so that he could start putting up the wire.

“I remembered this morning that the days will begin to get shorter and colder as winter approaches,” he said to Sally as she was getting out the makings for breakfast. “We’re going to have to put in a bit of hard work if we want some solid shelter when the temperatures start to fall.”

“I thought of that too. Actually the winters here aren’t too bad but all the same, we’d better start sourcing materials for the cabins ASAP. Have you had any more ideas about how or what we’re going to build it with?”

“Several, though the one I’m most keen on is mud-brick.”

“Mud-brick?! Are you serious?”

“Most definitely. I’ve always dreamed of building a mud-brick house. I’ve got a couple of books about mud-brick building that you can have a look at and I think, or at least I hope that you’ll be impressed enough to agree. Too much of an undertaking for the cabin I have in mind at the moment but I’ve drawn plans for a house I’d like build sometime in the future. Anyway, for now I’m going to get on with that fence: I want to get it finished by the end of the day.”

He cleaned up his breakfast dishes and got his two books on mud-brick building out of the truck and gave them to Sally then sauntered over to the garden to get on with the job. An hour later the last two posts were in place and he began to lay out the wire, which would have proved to be a mongrel of a job had he not hired a spinner on which to place the coil. Considering that he was going to have three strands to support the mesh plus two more beneath it, he decided that the small hire charge for the spinner was well worth the money.

The posts stood five feet high on three sides, and eight feet on the side where the chicken pen would go, and as the mesh was four feet wide, his plan was to hang it two or three inches off the ground and put three or four tight strands of wire under it. This would hopefully keep the rabbits out but still enable him to use a whipper-snipper along the fence without the line getting caught up and damaging the mesh. The wire strands were laid out and loosely attached to the star posts with tie wires, the salesman having told him that the wire didn’t go through the holes in the posts as he’d thought they did, because the galvanising gets worn off and rust begins at that point. By lunch-time, though admittedly a rather late lunch-time, the wires had been pulled tight with the gripple iron and secured, and it only needed the mesh and gates to be installed before the fence was complete. Around the vegetable garden at least: The higher fence around the chicken run would be put up later

Over lunch Sally told him that she’d had a look at one of the books on mud-brick building and though she’d been very impressed thought that it would take a long time to make enough bricks to build a cabin with. Not to mention that they had no soil suitable for making the bricks anyway, as far as she could tell. Dirk wasn’t at all perturbed by that, saying that perhaps he might be able to source the material and even make the bricks elsewhere and bring them back. Otherwise he thought maybe he could build a post and beam structure, if he could find the timber that is. The biggest problem as he saw it was going to be the roof: Where to get enough corrugated iron to build that?

He opted out of the afternoon siesta, preferring to get the fence mesh up, and Sally gave him a hand. The mesh was laid out and cut to length, then lifted and one end was secured to a gate post with heavy duty staples. With Sally’s help the first run of mesh was lifted upright and loosely ring-clipped to the top and bottom wires and was then pulled taut. Getting tension on the mesh might have been a difficult job however Dirk wove a four foot length of re-bar through the end of the mesh then attached it to the cable of the truck’s winch. Engaging the winch he slowly pulled the mesh taut then secured it to the first corner post before moving on to the next. When all the mesh was in place both he and Sally went around the fence tightening all the tie-wires at the star posts and now clipping the mesh to the centre wire.

When they’d finished the resultant fence looked extremely well made and they were both very proud of the job done, with Dirk being most relieved that due to the bracing stays the corner posts hadn’t been pulled out of true. The other sections of fence were completed in the same manner and all he needed to do to complete the job was construct the gates at each side, or hopefully find a pair of ready-made gates at the recycling centre.

They may have skipped the afternoon siesta but there was still time for a quick swim before dinner so they headed for the beach, unfortunately finding when they got there that the seas had built up a bit and waves were now dumping their weight, along with a lot of seaweed, onto the sand. They walked down to the reef and out onto it, going as far as they could until thoughts of a rising tide trapping them made them return quickly to the beach. The smooth rocks were quite slippery in places, particularly where they were covered with algae and Sally held Dirk’s hand for balance as they covered the distance. She didn’t need any assistance walking back up to the dunes and along the track back to camp but they found themselves still holding hands anyway. Neither of them said anything but somehow it just seemed to be the natural thing to do.

“When we go to the recycling centre to look for the gates we need, I think we should also have a look at the kitchen benches,” said Sally. “And if we can find them, a solid table and a couple of chairs: The fun of sitting on camp chairs to eat has palled a bit.”

“I agree. How about we put up the shed then go to the recycling centre. We can decide in the morning if we want to do that or go exploring. By the way, when we were down at the beach I had another idea: Next time we go down there we’ll take the wheelbarrows and collect some seaweed. I can use it as mulch on the potato bed.”

“But it’ll be too salty, won’t it?”

“No. Most people would think so, but seaweed doesn’t actually have any salt in it at all. Some on it, yes, but not in it. Wash it off with some fresh water and it’s good to go. The important thing is not to dig it into the soil: That’s asking for trouble because it would use all the nitrogen in the soil as it decomposes. If you just leave it on top as mulch it will break down of its own accord and add lots of valuable nutrients to the soil. Cheaper than buying Sea-Sol, though did I mention that collecting seaweed is illegal on most beaches?”

“You’ve got to be kidding! Why on earth would it be made illegal?”

“Something to do with disturbing the natural environment I suppose. Not to worry: The ammount we’ll be taking won’t be noticeable.”

After a dinner of barbecued lamb chops and a Greek salad they sat and read; Sally one of the books about mud-brick building and Dirk a fishing magazine that he’d picked up when they were in town, however the omission of their afternoon siesta soon showed up as a series of wide yawns from both of them and before long they abandoned the books and headed for their tents.

* * *
​

Not being able to make up their minds it had been the toss of a coin that had them erecting one of Dirk’s garden sheds rather than exploring the countryside further afield, and by breakfast time they had the besser block supports for the base frame laid out and levelled, the bearers placed on top and the floor joists in position and ready to be nailed.

After breakfast Dirk did that then placed the floorboards on top, nailed them down and secured six inch wide lengths of damp-course around the perimeter, allowing half the width to overhang each side. When the walls were erected the damp-course would be folded upwards inside the shed and downwards on the outside so that rainwater wouldn’t seep in.

The floor completed, the wall panels were then tek-screwed together, the back wall having a fixed widow and the front wall two sliding doors that could be secured by a padlock, and with the help of two wooden props the walls were raised and screwed together at each corner. The ridge beam of the gable roof went up next and the roof panels, two of which were of translucent Alsynite, were then slid up into position and secured by Sally using Dirk’s cordless drill and impact driver and a box of weather-proof tek screws. He’d cut a circular hole in one of the roof panels close to the ridge and over the hole Sally secured the Whirly-Bird vent which would help keep the temperature in the metal shed down. She’d never done anything like that before however after Dirk had shown her how to use the tools but suggested that it might be a bit difficult for her to do she took that as a challenge and enjoyed proving to him that she was quite capable.

The floor of the shed was about a foot above ground level but rather than a step Dirk had built a ramp which would make it easy to push the mower and wheel-barrows inside if they had to, though as they took up too much room the mower was normally parked under a tree with one of the barrows placed upside down on top of it. To the left of the double doors he installed a row of Dexion shelving, the metal for which had also been scavenged though he’d had to buy plywood for the shelves. The shed was completed by lunch-time and Sally was very impressed by the result of their efforts, not to mention her own satisfaction in having used a cordless drill and an impact driver for the first time, and decided that perhaps building a mud-brick house actually would be within Dirk’s capabilities... If she was there to help him of course.

Following the emptying of a large plate of what-else-but-sandwiches, which Sally had come to understand were Dirk’s favourite fast food, they drove to the recycling centre and began hunting for the items they wanted. First found was an eight foot long kitchen bench unit which, despite having a small amount of damage to one side and no sink, would suit the purpose for which it was intended, especially as Sally was able to find a sink that Dirk could install in it. They also found an old but very solid table that had seen better years, and there were so many chairs available that it took Sally some time to decide on those she wanted. They weren’t able to find gates for the garden and though they did find several eight foot lengths of pool fencing, one of which could be cut in half to make gates, Dirk decided that it’d be just as easy to make his own.

He got into a deep discussion with Robert, a staff member who he was now on first-name terms with, and heard that there was a rumour that the recycling centre, sans staff, was going to be privatised and relocated to a new waste management facility being mooted for the other side of town.

“It might only be a rumour,” he told Dirk. “But if it does happen most of the goods here will be either slashed in price or given to anyone who wants them. Anything not gotten rid of would then simply be pushed into the current landfill site because it wouldn’t be cost effective to move it. I’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening, but if there’s anything you want from here just let me know and I’ll put it aside for you.”

“Thanks Rob. There are quite a few bits and pieces we’ll want to get over the coming weeks and I’d hate having to travel too far to get them. I’ve also had my eye on that cast-iron bath but it’s more a problem of weight than price.”

“Really? I could load it onto your truck with our forklift if you want. If you don’t live way out the back of Woop-Woop I could also go with you and give you hand unloading it, though that’d cost you a beer.”

“Thanks Rob. I could probably afford that, provided you don’t drink some kind of fancy imported stuff. Anyway, I’ll let you know the next time we’re here. Right now we have to head off, so we’ll catch you later.”

Not wanting to reveal anything to him about precisely where he and Sally were living and what they were up to Dirk quickly shook hands with Rob, got into the truck and headed back to camp where the table and chairs, the kitchen bench and sink were unloaded. All in all, he said, it had been a very successful day and though they’d earned themselves a swim before anything else was done it’d be a good idea to take their wheelbarrows down to the beach when they went.

Unfortunately the effort of pushing wheelbarrows filled with seaweed over the sand wasn’t as easy as Dirk had thought it would be and after returning to the camp after their swim he decided it would be better to take his truck down to the beach. As now was as good a time as any he put the two barrows on the back of the truck, told Sally to jump in and when she was seated drove back to the road leading to the Recycling Centre and on to the beach. It was the first time that Sally had been to the part of the beach they drove to now but there were plenty of places close to the sand where he could park, and they made quite a number of trips with the barrows, moving up and down above the high tide level where piles of seaweed had been drying in the sun for months. The dried weed was much lighter than the wet stuff of course and before long they had a large amount piled up on the tray and had driven back to the camp where it was unloaded and spread over the potato beds. Being very dry it was also quite brittle and they had no trouble using a couple of rakes to shred the stuff into something that more resembled the mulch that they were currently using.

Later that evening the two campers, who in reality were now squatters, sat on their new chairs at their new table and admired their new veggie garden and the shed as they planned their next project. Though there were several to choose from Dirk felt that clearing a space and putting up the above-ground pool for water storage should be done first, as he knew that the long run of good weather they’d experienced so far couldn’t last forever, and when rain did come he wanted to be able to take full advantage of it.

And if he was going to put up the pool he might as well also set up the solar hot-water system and shower he had in mind. Despite his assurances that it would be OK Sally was a bit dubious about using a plastic barrel for hot water and suggested that perhaps they could get an old hot-water service tank from the recycle centre. Dirk had to agree that that was probably a much better idea, but in the meantime he could go ahead with putting up the above-ground pool which he now called “The Reservoir.”

Another project would be facing the back and sides of the outdoors kitchen bench unit with rocks and as that should also be done while the weather was good they decided to do both at the same time: Dirk would clear and level the site for the reservoir and hot water tank while Sally would continue collecting more rocks for her herb garden and the kitchen bench. He’d also have to build the gates for the garden and chicken run, and realised that the pool gate option wasn’t all that good as the gate for the chicken run needed to the same height as the fence around it. But not tomorrow: Tomorrow they’d be going to explore the surrounding area, and with that in mind they opted for an early night.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

“Take one every six hours,” said the doctor at the Emergency Department of the local hospital after examining Sally’s swollen eyelid and giving her a small container of antihistamine tablets. “The swelling should be gone before the end of the day, but if it hasn’t, come back in.”

Dirk had driven Sally to the local hospital after she had woken very early that morning to find that during the night an insect or bug of some type had bitten or stung her on her eyelid, and it had swollen so much that she was unable to see anything with her left eye.

“Lucky the E.D. wasn’t busy,” said Dirk as he began driving back to the camp. “I thought we’d have to wait for a couple of hours to see a doctor. Puts a bit of a dampener on the day though, doesn’t it?”

“A little, though it would’ve been much worse if I’d been bitten by a snake. At least it isn’t painful, and there’s nothing wrong with my right eye so I still want to go sight-seeing.”

“Really? OK. Want to go back and have breakfast, and maybe make up some sandwiches before we go?”

“I’m not really hungry at the moment. How about we just start our tour and have brunch somewhere a bit later. Unless you’re feeling hungry of course.”

“No, I’m OK for now. You know, the road that the track to the camp comes off looks like it’s used quite a bit so I was thinking of following it to see where it goes.”

“Fair enough,” she said as she rummaged through the truck’s glove-box looking for and finding a pencil to go with the notepaper she’d found in the back of the road atlas. “I might make a few notes as we go in case we find some out-of-the-way place we want to come back to.”

Passing the spot where they would normally turn off onto the track to the camp site Dirk continued down the unsealed road, noting that less than a mile further along the rusted wire of an old fence could be seen running along the side closest to the coast. He was wondering if it was part of the fence they'd found when exploring the slope opposite the campsite, and if the scrub beyond was actually farmland rather than Crown land when Sally suddenly asked rather excitedly “Can you see what I see?” He looked ahead to where she was now pointing and saw the remains of a structure that had obviously been given over to the elements of nature some time ago.

“You mean that old collapsed building? It looks like it might’ve been a hay or machinery shed.”

“Really? I think it looks more like a source of roofing iron for a cabin. Or for a chicken coop if it’s not good enough for that.”

“Now that’s really smart thinking,” said Dirk as he pulled over to the side of the road opposite the fallen timbers and iron. “Let’s go and have a closer look.”

“You go. I didn’t put on my only dress just to tear it up going through barbed wire fences. Remember we’re only touring today, but if you find anything we can use I’ll help you get it later, when I’m wearing something more suited to doing dirty work.”

“Yeah, OK. It’s a very nice dress, by the way.”

After making his way along a short access road to the remains of the shed he guessed that its collapse had probably been caused by a storm taking out the bush pole supports and wall of curved timber slabs at the far end, allowing the roof to fall to the ground. Pacing out its length and breadth he estimated that the shed was about twenty metres long and twelve wide, and stood between five and six metres high. He also found that rather than being heavily rusted the corrugated steel sheets had actually once been painted red, however while time and the elements had weathered their exposed sides most were in fairly good condition.

Some of the sheets were a bit bent and twisted where the roof had hit the ground when it came down, however it didn’t take him long to calculate that there would be more than enough good panels to roof the planned cabin and build a chicken coop. Most of the few damaged panels could be straightened out enough to use by hammering them back into shape over a short length of three inch diameter pipe, and those would be good enough for building a coop. And the timber slabs used for the walls of the shed could also be used for the walls of the coop, or even the cabin if it came to that. Whatever they decided to do with it, he told Sally when he returned to the truck with the good news and continued their drive, they’d be back to scavenge as much of the useful material as they possibly could.

The road they were on ended at a ‘T’ intersection and feeling that the unsigned but sealed road ahead led back to the freeway if he turned left, swung to the right and accelerated along the smoother surface. Within minutes a small town came into view and as they approached it a roadside sign informed them that it was named Brocklesbury, and that it had a population of twelve hundred. They were to learn later that there was actually less than half that number as a bushfire eight years previously had all but destroyed the town and many people had left, but the sign had never been changed. A small lake upon which ducks and geese were happily paddling about drew their attention and on its far side there appeared to be a small park overlooked by a row of shops. Dirk drove into the town and parked in the shade of one of a dozen or so beautiful Jacarandas interspersed with an equal number of Illawarra Flame Trees growing opposite the row, and of course Sally had to take photos of those.

“Do you think there might be a place where we can get a bite to eat?”

“Bound to be. It’s a nice little place isn’t it? I had no idea it was here, and I don’t think my parents knew of it either. Well, I suppose they might have, but if they did I can’t remember them ever bringing me here.”

Sally took his arm as they crossed the road to the shops and then held his hand as they walked up and then down the length of the street, finally entering a small café from where an enticing aroma of prepared food emanated. Inside they found that the café was connected by internal doors to a bakery on one side and a delicatessen on the other, and at the rear was a courtyard covered by a pergola over which grew a beautiful blue wisteria vine. After ordering a light meal from a menu displayed on the front counter they sat at one of several sets of wrought-iron tables and chairs set up under the pergola and simply relaxed.

They were both impressed by the way the café had also been set up as a book exchange to cater for readers, having many shelves full of a great range of both paperbacks and hard-cover books, and it wasn’t long before they’d each found a novel to read. Their meals were finished long before the books they were reading would be so Dirk purchased both before they left, assuring the lady behind the counter that they’d be back to exchange them when they next came to town.

The lady behind the counter, Mai Tran, smiled and told Dirk that they were welcome, however if they were going to be regulars they should know that the residents always referred to Brocklesbury as “The Village” rather than “The Town”, which was forty minutes drive away. And being a staunch supporter of the village she added that if her children didn’t have to attend high school, cadets and sporting events there she’d be happy if it was a hundred and forty minutes away as almost everything they wanted or needed could be had right here in the village.

During their conversation it turned out that Mai had a fear that, being not really too far from the town, property developers might try to move in and destroy the peaceful village lifestyle that the residents currently enjoyed. The last thing they needed here, she said, was to have a hundred shoulder to shoulder McMansions built on tiny blocks that left no space for a decent garden or for children to play in. It was now happening all over the country but more often in areas that had little to offer once the land had been cleared of those same elements that had initially attracted the money hungry developers.

Before leaving, Sally checked out the delicatessen, and being very surprised to find a range of items that many a city deli would be hard put to equal told Dirk that it would become a regular stop once they’d settled into their cabins. Then, lured by the tantalising smell of freshly baked bread drifting from the bakery on the other side of the café she went inside and bought a half dozen wholemeal bread rolls and a couple of pastries to take back to the camp.

“Wow, that café lady sure has it in for developers, doesn’t she?” laughed Dirk as they left and headed for the truck.

“And with good reason,” replied Sally. “Makes me even happier that our neck of the woods doesn’t seem to attract any attention.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been thinking about that: That old hay-shed we were looking at obviously wasn’t built on Crown land so I think we should try and find out the status of the land where our camp is. It might turn out to be private property. Not that it matters much I guess as either way we’d be considered to be occupying the place illegally.”

“Well aren’t you a little ray of sunshine? We’d better keep our heads down and just hope that nobody notices our flagrant disregard of the law, otherwise we’ll find ourselves back in society working at jobs we don’t particularly like, and having to live in places where we have to pay rent. Uggh! Anyway, let’s put that out of our mind for now. Where should we go from here?”

“Let’s go and check out the bay that the lady at the café told us about.”

“Mai.”

“What?”

“Mai. The lady at the café said her name is Mai.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.”

“And my name’s Sally, in case you’ve forgotten that too.”

“Not likely to forget that in a hurry,” he said, and as he turned his head to look at her noticed that the swelling of her eyelid had subsided to the point that it was barely noticeable.

When he told her that she flipped down the sun visor on her side of the cab and finding no mirror there swung the rear-view mirror to where she could have a quick look, leaving Dirk to readjust it so that he could once again see through the rear window properly. Laughing at the look on his face as he did so, and satisfied that all was well with her eye she said that she would stop using the tablets and keep those remaining in case she got bitten or stung again.

From the eastern end of the village to the beach the road on which they were travelling was being completely resurfaced, rather than just being patched, and driving slowly and carefully past the workmen who waved them through soon found themselves at a small carpark at its end. Leaving the locked truck and their footwear behind, their feet were soon covered with golden sand as they trudged around the water’s edge, wishing they’d brought their swimmers.

“This would be a great place for snorkelling wouldn’t it?” said Sally.

“Strange: I was just thinking the same thing. Not that I have any snorkelling gear, but if we came here regularly it’d be worth getting some.”

“The place where you bought your fishing rod sold that type of stuff, so the next time we’re in town we could buy a couple of sets. And a couple of decent beach towels too. Gosh, that water looks so inviting: We really should have brought our swimmers.”

“How about we get a large tote for swimming and snorkelling gear and keep it in the truck?”

“Along with another esky for food and drinks. Good idea.”

Not being able to swim at present they made their way back to the truck and drove back to the village where a sign hanging outside the local hotel caught Dirk’s eye, and he turned into its car-park saying they might as well check the place out while they were there. Sally agreed but felt that it would be a bit impolite to just walk through and look around, and as she also wanted to use the toilet perhaps staying for a beer wouldn’t be a bad idea.

It turned out to be a longer than planned but rather pleasant interlude as, with only few patrons about, the barmaid was able to chat with them and provide a lot of information about the village and the surrounding district, although she wasn’t too sure about the status of the land that Dirk and Sally were camped on. She could find out though, she said, as the hotel’s owners were pretty well up on such matters, having lived in the village for some time. Or maybe Bob Watson, the captain of the Rural Fire Service would know, and as he just happened to be at the other end of the bar with a couple of mates she would ask him when they ordered their next round.

The captain when asked not only knew but actually came down to the end of the bar where they were seated and told them that the land they were asking about, “from here to about half way to the tip”, was privately owned. In the distant past a would-be grazier who’d owned the large acreage had found out the hard way that it was certainly no good for beef cattle and had given up and moved on. It had been acquired by its current owners for investment purposes and apparently they weren’t interested in farming or developing it, preferring to hold it in trust for their descendants.

From the end of that property to quite a few miles beyond the tip was Crown Land, though the council controlled a tract between the freeway and the beach and was responsible for maintaining the road between the two. When told that they were camping “somewhere along the beach” he advised them that the council rangers took a dim view of people pitching tents anywhere other than in one of their controlled campsites or caravan parks, but if they wanted he could show them a spot where they would be out of the way and not be harassed by the powers that be.

A long time ago he’d met a family who’d carved out a small camping site in a gully a couple of kilometres this side of the tip and they’d been regular visitors for some time, though he hadn’t seen them for some years now and supposed that maybe they’d given up camping when their kids grew up. Sally sat with her hands held together in prayer fashion, both index fingers pressed against her lips and her thumbs under her chin as she stared at him with eyes that seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“Uncle Bob?” she almost whispered, moving her fingers away from her lips.

The captain looked a bit startled by the address. “Yeah, that’s what the kids’ parents told them to call me, back in the days when kids were taught to have some respect for their elders.” Then recognition slowly dawned in his eyes as he looked at her. She’d grown a few years older of course, but her features hadn’t changed much if at all over the intervening years. “Good Lord! Hmm... Let me think now... You’re “Silly Sally” if my memory serves me right.”

“Yes, that’s me! Oh this is unbelievable!”

To anyone listening, including the bar-maid, it must have seemed to be a home-coming of sorts as with a tear or two Sally told “Uncle Bob” about what had happened to her family and how she came to be camping at the very place he had offered to show them. Naturally Sally introduced him to Dirk whose hand was immediately swallowed by Bob’s massive paw and given a good shake, along with a “Pleased-ta-meetcha” greeting, and both he and Sally were ushered to the end corner of the bar where Bob’s two mates were drinking. There was another round of introductions for the two newcomers, this time including the barmaid, and despite Dirk explaining that he was driving and had already had a beer they were both shouted another.

When told about the accident they all expressed sympathy for Sally regarding the loss of her parents and sister and assured her that she would always be welcome whenever she came to the village, with Bob saying that if she ever needed help to just call him, or the brigade if he wasn’t at home. Of course that wouldn’t be easy to do in a hurry as the closest phone to their campsite was probably at the recycling centre, though it had been a genuine offer and she thanked him for it.

Bob amused the group with his description of how he’d met Sally’s father and uncle when they were laying a culvert prior to grading a track from the fire trail to their campsite, and had been persuaded by the two men, plus half a dozen long- necks of beer, to turn a blind eye to what they were up to. He had visited their campsite every school holidays after that and had often gone fishing with them, though he admitted that he was a lousy fisherman but at least there was always a cold beer to relieve his frustration at not being able to catch anything.

One of his mates got a laugh when he said that Bob must have been very frustrated if the size of his beer-gut was anything to go by, but that was countered by Bob replying that keeping his fire crews in order and properly trained was even more frustrating than not being able to catch any fish, so it was really their fault.

Despite being told it wasn’t necessary Dirk forked out for another round of drinks when their glasses were almost empty, though this time he and Sally settled for lemon squash rather than beer as they would soon be back on the road. It was late in the afternoon when after promising to return soon they finally left the village and followed the sealed road all the way into town, not because they needed anything there but more in order to explore the surrounding countryside as originally intended.

 

[Bidadisndat]

Their stop at the village had by itself been worth making the trip, especially as the people they’d met there had been so welcoming, and as Dirk had already worked out that it’d actually be easier to drive to there rather than the town if they needed anything they’d probably be going back there fairly regularly.

“That barmaid’s very attractive, isn’t she?” said Sally as they drove off.

“Bron.”

“What?”

“Bron. The attractive barmaid said her name is Bron.”

“Oh yeah, so she did. Short for Bronwyn I should think.”

“And my name’s Dirk, in case you’ve forgotten that too,” he added with a smirk.

Sally burst out laughing at the way he’d used the same words as she had when they’d left the café earlier in the day and gave him a hard punch on the arm “for being such a smart-arse.”

“She made some good suggestions too, didn’t she?” he replied, gripping the steering wheel with one hand whilst with the other rubbing the spot where Sally’s almost bruising punch had landed. “Putting a CB radio in the truck would be a wise move considering we don’t have any way of calling for help if we need it. I’ll call in at Repco and see what they have in that line.”

“Lucky it’s Thursday and the shops are open late. About the snorkelling gear: Do you think it might be better to ask Bron’s partner for some advice before buying anything? After I told her we’d been down to the beach and thought it would be a good spot for snorkelling she told me he’s a Diving Instructor, and they have some gear we could try out before we spend money on something that might not be suitable. He’ll be instructing some students at the beach this weekend she said, and if we wanted to go on the Sunday we’d be welcome to borrow some gear then, though we’d have to be there before eight a.m.”

“Yeah, I heard that bit. OK, let’s do it. Should we make up some sandwiches to take, or have a counter lunch at the pub?”

“Let’s have lunch at the pub. Apparently that’s where the divers go after their classes are finished and we might be able to tag along too, without being intrusive of course.”

“Good; that’s got Sunday planned. Early tomorrow morning I’m going back to that hay-shed and start sorting out the good material from the bad... Whoa up! There’s the Repco shop, and it’s still open.”

Dirk reverse parked the truck into one of the marked bays at the outlet and half an hour later they were headed towards the main shopping centre having ordered a good 5-Watt CB transceiver with all the accessories and arranged for its fitting, which could be done next morning. That meant the sorting out of material at the hay-shed would have to be done later in the day because he wouldn’t have use of the truck until noon, and as he’d have to bring it into town again they could do their shopping then rather than now. Apart from getting some meat for tonight’s dinner Sally told him, and if she was going to buy meat she might as well get the other items she wanted. They finally returned to the camp with everything they were going to buy anyway, including a couple of big beach towels and a large tote for their snorkelling gear, so Dirk would have to take the novel he’d bought in Brocklesbury and sit in the park reading for an hour or so while the CB radio was being fitted.

The days may have begun to get shorter as Dirk had said however there was still plenty of daylight left when they arrived back at the camp and they were able to have their dinner prepared in time to sit and watch a beautiful sunset as they ate.

“You know, I’ve never missed having a TV,” said Sally as the sun slipped below the horizon just after Dirk lit the Coleman lantern, “but what do you think about getting a radio/cassette or record player? It’d be nice to have some easy-listening background music occasionally.”

“We could do that. I don’t know if you noticed, but the Recycle Centre has quite a few old radios and stereos that people have gotten rid of, and there were several radio-cassette systems that came from cars. We could run one of those off a 12-Volt car battery. Recharge it from the truck’s alternator when it starts to go flat.”

“Now that’s something a real hippie would do. Next you’ll be growing your hair long, and wearing a colourful bandana around your head just like Willy Nelson.”

“Yeah, and sitting here smoking pot and playing a pair of bongo drums. Not likely, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see you wearing tie-dyed cotton pants and shirts, strings of beads, feather in a headband and all that hippie stuff.”

Have you been looking through my pack?” Sally asked suddenly and loudly, glaring at him in what appeared to be a really angry way.

“What?! Good Lord no! I’d never do that, honestly. But don’t tell me you really have that kind of stuff in your pack... Surely not?”

“No, of course I don’t. I was only joking, but the look on your face... ”

The sentence went unfinished as at first she and then, when he knew that he’d been had - again - Dirk began laughing. Before she realised what was happening he suddenly scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the pond where he threatened to dump her into the icy cold water.

“No! No! Please Dirk! Please don’t. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she cried out, still laughing but desperately gripping her hands together behind his neck to try and prevent herself from being dropped.

Returning to his chair with her still cradled in his arms Dirk turned and sat down, holding her on his lap, and she adjusted her arms and stayed where she was, snuggled comfortably against him while Paddington Bear sat on his tripod seat and pretended he really didn’t care. Or at least that was what she imagined would have been the case had he been able to care.

Unfortunately the chair on which they were seated didn’t prove to be all that comfortable for two people and after five minutes Sally rose and after giving Dirk a kiss on the forehead and thanking him for not dumping her in the pond set about brewing a fresh pot of coffee to go with the two small Apricot Danish pastries she’d bought at the village bakery. With Sally’s back turned to them Dirk looked at Paddy and cocking his head and raising his eyebrows silently mouthed “What?” before breaking into a huge grin.

All in all it had been a good day and they were hopeful that the days to follow would be just as good, although as Dirk said, that would really depend on them being able to remain undisturbed by those narrow-minded people who believed that society should conform to their tunnel-visioned view of how people should live their lives.

* * *​

Given the choice of staying at the camp and reading a book or going into town with Dirk, and doing a little shopping while the CB transceiver and its antenna was being fitted to the truck, Sally chose to go into town. The unit had taken a little over an hour to install and Sally returned to the Repco store with her purchases just as Dirk was reversing the truck out of the workshop, and after putting her shopping bags into the cab they drove to the recycling centre.

The number of record players and car radio-cassette players that were for sale there may have been state-of-the-art at one time but the sure didn’t look like it now, however they did manage to find a unit with twin speakers that would suit their purpose. It wasn’t a 12-Volt unit but though it required a 240-Volt supply the 500-Watt inverter that Dirk used when charging the batteries for his cordless drill using the truck’s cigarette lighter socket would provide the voltage needed. They also found two extra speakers and Dirk was going to hang one at each corner of their shelter, though at the moment there was only enough wiring to position two of them about six feet either side of the player, and he would have to buy more wire later.

When he admitted to Sally that he’d forgotten to buy a battery for the system when they were in town she laughed and told him not to worry: They’d been without music for nearly two weeks and a few more days of quiet wasn’t anything to lose sleep over. On the other hand, she added, as they were going to begin salvaging material from the old hay-shed after lunch maybe they could drive the extra couple of miles into Brocklesbury and buy a battery and some wire for the speakers there.

“That’s a good idea. Do you want go there before or after we tackle the hay-shed?”

“Before might be best: We’ll probably look a bit grubby after handling the iron. Hmm... I wonder if we might be able to have a hot shower at the hotel. You know, it’d be almost worth booking a room for the night just to be able do that.”

“Now that’s not just a good idea Sal: It’s brilliant! We could have dinner there too. It’s a Friday night so they might have some entertainment, and it’d be a good chance to meet a few of the locals. Let’s do it!”

“OK. That means we do the hay-shed first. I’m about to make lunch but first I’ll give you the things I need and you can put them and your stuff in the truck.”

“With any luck they might have washing machines that guests can use,” said Dirk as he returned after putting their things in the truck, “so I’m going to take my laundry bag.”

“Gosh, I didn’t think of that! I’ll take mine too,” said Sally as she dashed to her tent and returned with a large mesh bag that was half full.

“There’s no rush: If we’re going to stay at the hotel tonight we can get the things we need from the hardware store in the morning. We’ve just got to hope they have a room available.”

As a change from sandwiches, though only a slight change, Sally used the wholemeal rolls that they’d bought the day before, and she’d been so generous with the filling that Dirk had some difficulty getting his mouth around the one she handed him. Finishing their rolls and the large mugs of tea that went with them they headed for the hay-shed armed with a number of implements of de-construction, as Dirk called them and not too long after had the truck parked out of sight behind the partially collapsed building.

“No point in advertising our presence,” Dirk said. “We’ll start with the best panels we can find and I’m sure there’ll be more than enough of those to build a roof. Any more than that we can consider a bonus. The sheets I looked at appeared to be about twelve feet by three and I roughly calculated that we’ll need eighteen for the main roof, allowing for slope, eaves and overlaps, and five for the back porch roof. Plus we’ll need some for the chicken coop.”

“And for your workshop. There looks to be quite a few more than we need though, doesn’t there? We might have to make several trips.

“Definitely. I figure on taking, say, fifteen sheets each time, so that’d be two trips to start with. Right-o, let’s get to it.”

Before beginning the work Dirk had a quick look under the highest part where the roof was still supported by the end still standing and saw that the metal, on the underside at least, didn’t show any signs of being rusted. At the other end where the roof had fallen to ground level it was hopefully in the same condition and it was there that they used a wrecking bar and claw hammer to begin pulling out the galvanised nails that held the corrugated sheets to the purlins. The wrecking bar worked best and Dirk decided that purchasing a second one, perhaps a little longer, would make the job a lot easier. As it was they were able to remove fifteen sheets, which turned out to be a bit longer than the twelve feet he’d estimated, and load them onto the truck in only a little over two hours, giving them plenty of time to return to camp and unload them before driving in to Brocklesbury.

When they got back into the truck to drive to the hotel Dirk grinned when he saw that Paddington Bear had been sat on the back seat, safely wedged between the bags holding their changes of clothes and their laundry.

“Leaving Paddy in camp when we go out for the day is one thing,” said Sally, “but I’m not going to leave him here by himself overnight, even if you do think I’m being silly.”

Dirk didn’t think she was being silly at all: In fact he thought it to be rather endearing and as they drove away told her that he could understood completely how she felt.

 

[Bidadisndat]

They were very fortunate in finding when they arrived at the hotel that there was a room available and that laundry facilities were also to be had, though they were coin operated machines that had been adapted to use tokens purchased from the office. Dirk asked for a room with twin beds and was told that each of the suites had a queen sized double bed and a king single, and after signing in was given the key, along with a small carton of fresh milk for tea or coffee. Having purchased tokens for the washing machines and dryers their first task was to get their laundry started, after which they headed for their room and the first very long hot shower that they’d had in over a fortnight.

Sally thought that it should be Dirk who had the double bed as she was a lot smaller than he was and didn’t really need a bed that she could get lost in. He didn’t argue with her - she had red hair after all - but he also didn’t accept the money she offered towards payment of the room either.

When she went to the bathroom to have her shower he slipped down to the truck and returned with Paddington and a carton containing the two hand-held 5-Watt radio transceivers he’d purchased when the truck’s unit was being installed. He was reading the operators’ booklet when she came out with one of the hotel’s big bath towels wrapped around herself and told him it was his turn. After he’d gone into the bathroom she quickly finished towelling herself dry, dressed, then began using the hair drier that she’d found on a shelf in the room’s wardrobe. By the time Dirk came out, fully dressed apart from socks and shoes, she was ready for a night out on the town - or on the village at least - and he noted that she was now wearing earrings and had applied a small amount of makeup. Not that she needed any, he thought as they headed for the dining room.

They walked into the room to find that there were only a few guests present at the moment and were shown to a table close to a big picture window that overlooked the beer garden. Several people were playing darts there and Dirk thought that it was a good sign as back in the city he often played the game with some of his co-workers, and being able to play here would enable him to get to know the regulars.

Taking their time and beginning with an entree of cous-cous stuffed tomatoes with yoghurt and mint sauce they followed it with a main course of apple and cranberry stuffed roast pork, then a desert of apple and black cherry cobbler with double cream, all of which they enjoyed along with the bottle of Semillon. When they had finished the waitress asked Dirk if he was paying then or did he want the bill added to the room charges. He opted to pay for the meal there, and added a generous tip not only because he was in an expansive mood but also because the meal and service had been top notch.

Leaving the dining room they wandered through the beer garden where under recently installed lights two teams of darts players were now locked in fierce but friendly competition, honing their skills for a tournament that was to be held next month. After watching for a short time and talking to a member of the darts club they discovered that there was also a fishing club based at the hotel. The two clubs had only recently been formed however each already had a small but very active membership, with several patrons of the hotel belonging to both.

From the beer garden they progressed to the lounge where they found that a karaoke system had been set up and a good number of people were by and large entertaining each other. They managed to find a couple of chairs at a table towards the rear of the room and while Sally guarded his seat Dirk went to order their drinks. When he stepped up to the bar to place their order he was greeted with a familiar face.

“Hullo Dirk. Back again I see. Is Sally with you?”

“Hullo Bron. Yeah, she is. We’re staying over at the hotel tonight. We had no idea this place was so active. Seems like half the population of the village must be here.”

“Yeah, it’s a popular place for the locals. We do get a few outsiders in here from time to time, and during summer there are a few more people on holidays, but most of us living here would prefer it to remain the peaceful village it is now.”

“I can understand that. Sally and I don’t live in the village, but I hope we’re not going to be considered outsiders because here is closer than the town and we’ll be coming here fairly regularly I should think.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong: Visitors are always welcome of course, but if you live this side of the freeway and come here often you’ll probably be thought of as locals anyway. Besides, Sally’s Bob Watson’s niece and that would count a lot in your favour.”

“But Bob’s not her real uncle: That’s only what her father told her to call him.”

“You, Sally and I know that, but try telling that to Bob: He was tickled pink to see her again, and as far as anyone around here’s concerned she is his niece, even if only because he’s already told everybody she is.”

Dirk laughed and collecting their drinks returned to the table where Sally was waiting and relayed to her what Bron had told him. She looked across to the bar and when she saw Bron look their way stood and gave her a wave which was returned by a smile and another wave.
Neither of them got up to sing though they enjoyed listening to those who took to the karaoke’s microphones and along with everybody else applauded the good singers and jokingly booed the bad ones. A little later in the night the karaoke was replaced by a live band and many patrons, including Dirk and Sally, hit the dance floor. Dirk couldn’t help but see that many of the young men looked at Sally with more than just a passing glance, and he knew that had he not been with her she would have been inundated with requests to dance.

There were actually quite a few young, and even several not-so-young ladies who gave his rugged good looks the once or twice over too, however he seemed to be completely unaware of it. Sally noticed however, and though perhaps not intentionally her body language left no doubt in their minds that Dirk was with her and was off limits to them. The last dance was a slow number and when Dirk held her close she let go of his hand and then with both their arms around each other she laid her head against his shoulder and together they simply swayed in a small circle around the centre of the dance floor.

When the music stopped they went over to the bar and had a few words with Bron, asking where should they meet her on Sunday morning as Sally had forgotten to ask her when she’d offered to lend them some snorkelling gear to try out.

“Will you be staying at the hotel tomorrow night too?” Bron asked.

“No. We hadn’t planned too but in any case all the rooms are booked out. We were lucky to get a room for tonight apparently. It’s not a problem though because we’re early risers anyway, and it only takes about fifteen minutes to get here from our camp-site. Well, time for us to be off. We’ll see you early Sunday morning. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight guys, sleep tight,” Bron said as she began loading the washing machine behind the bar with trays of empty beer glasses.

Before returning to their room they went to the laundry and retrieved the clothes that they’d left in the tumble dryer. When they returned to their room the first thing that Sally saw when entering was that Paddy had been brought from the truck and was now seated against the pillow at the head of the king single bed.

“Leaving him in the truck for the night wouldn’t have been any better than leaving him at the camp, so I persuaded him to stay here,” said Dirk.

Without replying, mainly because she was suddenly more than a little choked up by Dirk’s thoughtful demonstration of his caring about her, she went over to the bed and eased the bear under the bedspread so that only its head could be seen.

“Well, that bed’s obviously been taken,” she said as she turned back towards Dirk. “I suppose you and I will have to share the big bed after all, won’t we?”

“Gosh Sally, I didn’t mean ...”

“Oh hush now, Dirk. Who are we kidding? Look, maybe we didn’t intend to form a relationship, but unless you’re totally blind, and I know you’re not, surely you can see that we seem to have drifted into one. I realised tonight that I want us to stay together and I think you do too, and that’s not just the Brandy Alexanders I had tonight talking.”

“If I remember correctly,” he answered as he gathered her to him, “you had two Grasshoppers first,” and they shared a short tender kiss. At least, the first kiss was short and tender: Those that followed were increasingly longer and much more passionate.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

When Dirk awoke early in the morning he quietly eased out of the bed and without disturbing the still sleeping Sally went to the bathroom before returning and getting dressed in his now clean work clothes. He sat on the single bed and after inserting the new batteries he’d bought into one of the two hand-held radios placed it behind Paddington then went outside, closing the door with a small bang in the hope it would wake Sally up. Going to the truck he got in and turned on the CB unit and pressing the transmit button on the microphone said “Sally. Sally. It’s Paddy. Where’s Dirk gone?”

The sound of the door closing had woken Sally and she looked around slightly confused by the voice she’d heard and finding that Dirk wasn’t there, and that Paddy was now sitting up instead of lying under the bed cover where she’d left him. When Dirk repeated the call she went over to the bear and moving it aside began laughing when she saw the hand-held radio. Picking it up she pressed the transmit button and said, as if talking to Paddy, “Dirk? Oh, you mean that tall skinny guy with the lichen growing on his face? I think he ran out on us. Forget about him Paddy, we’ll be quite OK without him.”

She was still giggling when the tall skinny guy came through the door, laughing and telling her to get dressed quickly as they needed to go and get breakfast before heading off. Over breakfast Dirk told her that it was Bron who had suggested he get hand-held radios when he bought the unit for the truck, and that he should also get spare batteries for each. If they had rechargeable batteries it would be a good idea to also get a charger that plugged into the truck’s cigarette lighter socket, if it had one. The truck did have one of course, and he bought an accessory that turned one power outlet into two so that both sets of batteries could be charged at the same time. He should tune all three units to the same channel for their own personal use, she’d said, but told him to switch to channel six if they needed to contact her or her partner Dave.

Breakfast out of the way and their bags placed back in the truck, Dirk went to the office to pay for the accommodation and return the room key, after which they drove down to the shopping centre. Sally had decided to get a few things from the delicatessen so Dirk dropped her off there before going on to the hardware store where he purchased a new wrecking bar and the wiring he wanted, plus a pair of leather work gloves that would fit Sally much better than the pair he’d lent her. He then drove to the service station for a new heavy duty battery for the truck, having decided to use the truck’s older battery for the radio-record player, and fill up the petrol tank, which had gotten down to just over half full. Sally had seen him drive into the service station and walked there carefully carrying a large cardboard carton tied with twine in one hand while the other clutched a shopping bag that bulged with whatever it was that she had purchased. After placing the goods in the truck, along with the old battery that had been replaced, they headed away from the town towards the hay-shed and a couple of hours work.

With the experience gained the day before and two wrecking bars in use the removal of more panels from the shed went a lot faster, and when they stopped for a break two hours later another fifteen sheets were ready for transport. Sally went to have a look beneath that part of the collapsed roof that was high enough to walk under and at the rear found a stack of timber covered by a number of unused sheets of iron. She called excitedly to Dirk to come and have a look at what she’d found and when he arrived they counted twelve sheets in almost pristine condition, apart from the one on top that had weathered slightly due to exposure to the elements.

“What do you think? Should we take them?”

“Hmm. Yeah. I know what you’re thinking, but I reckon we should: According to Bob, the farmer who put this shed up is long gone, and if anybody passing by noticed that it was slowly disappearing and came to investigate you can imagine how long these would be left lying here. In fact, we should take these and the wood under them now and come back for the other sheets later.”

It didn’t take too long to have the twelve unused sheets loaded onto the truck and Dirk was amazed to see that the stack of lumber left exposed by their removal consisted of about a dozen ten-foot lengths of four by eight inch and perhaps twice that number of two by sixes. And because they’d been properly stacked and kept out of the hot sun they hadn’t bowed, warped or twisted enough not to be useable. The individual lengths weren’t overly heavy however it would be a bit of a job for him and Sally to lift them all onto the truck so they decided to take them after they’d finished removing the steel they wanted.

Fifteen minutes later they were back at the camp-site unloading and stacking the sheets together with those they’d brought back the day before. Sally insisted that any and all material they acquired should be placed neatly out of sight under the trees as she didn’t want the camp to look like an extension of the recycling centre... Or a hippy commune she added. She had seen two of those in the past, she said, and in both instances they looked like rubbish dumps.

There were still the fifteen sheets of steel that they’d removed from the shed that had to be collected and as having had a substantial breakfast that morning they decided to go straight back and pick them up rather than stop work now for lunch.

With their scrounging done for the day the pots of plants under the trees were watered and the vegetable garden beds were checked. Dirk found that while the soil was moist under the mulch it could probably use some more water so he set the weeper hoses up and leaving them to give the beds another deep soaking went about putting together what he described as their custom-built sound system. It didn’t take long to wire up the battery/inverter, radio/record player and speakers and by the time Sally had set out the food she’d purchased at the delicatessen the sounds of Bert Kaempfert’s album Swingin’ Safari were drifting clearly from the four speakers. Dirk may have forgotten to buy a battery the day before, but at least he’d remembered to get a few records! Together he and Sally had looked through boxes and boxes of old and not-so-old 33’s at the recycling centre and found that their tastes in music were pretty much the same, and finding that there were enough vinyls to keep them entertained for hours at a time bought twenty LP’s at fifty cents each.

“I think it might be an idea to revise the plans for the cabin, don’t you?” Sally said as they sat eating one of two quiches she’d bought. “Since you didn’t light out of here like a scalded cat after last night, and we’re still together collecting building materials I assume I wasn’t a one-night stand, so if we’re going to be a couple we only need to build one cabin instead of two.”

“You certainly know how to cut to the chase, don’t you?” Dirk laughed. “No Sal, you’re definitely not a one night stand. And as for the cabin, I’ve already given that some thought. I’ve got a few more plans in my sketch book that I think would be good, though I know you’ll probably want to change most of my well thought out ideas. Hang on a minute and I’ll go and get it.”

“OK. By the way,” Sally said as he went to his tent. “I don’t think I ever told you my surname, did I?”

Dirk shook his head. “No, you didn’t,” he answered, stopping to look at her expectantly.

She looked at him with a gleam in her eye. “Believe it or not, though it’s on my driving licence if you want to check, it’s Forthright.”

“Seriously? Good God, if that doesn’t take the cake. It sure suits you though,” he said, laughing as he went to retrieve the sketchbook.

“So what’s yours?” Sally asked when he returned.

“My surname? Fischer. With a 'c' between the 's' and the 'h'. The name is the German form of Fisher though my grandparents came from Holland originally. They were living in Java but fled to Australia with their two children; my father and my auntie that is, just before Japanese troops landed on the island. They only just made it by all accounts. Anyway, my dad married an Aussie girl and now here I am.”

“Wow. Interesting. Meanwhile, back at the cabin... ”

Dirk grinned and opened the sketchbook, however as he began looking for the plan he had in mind he suddenly remembered something that they needed.

“Hang on a bit. What time is it?” he said looking at his watch. “Nearly three thirty. Hmm. C’mon Sally, leave that for the moment. We have to get to town before Big W closes. We’ll be just in time if we go now.”

“What for?”

“Don’t ask questions. You’ll see soon enough.”

Quickly finishing their quiche and cleaning everything off the table they sprinted to the truck and once aboard Dirk drove to town at a speed that would have been frowned upon by the cops, had they’d been around. Luckily they weren’t, and twenty five minutes later the truck was parked at the shopping centre and the couple were entering Big W, with Sally still mystified as to what he was on about.

Dirk steered her towards the section where camping gear was displayed and quickly found what he was looking for: A queen-sized air mattress and a double action pump to inflate it with. Next stop were the aisles where he asked Sally to pick out bed linen, blankets and pillows. She very sensibly decided to get a mattress protector as well, though more for the added comfort and warmth than protection, plus two sets of good quality cotton fitted sheets and pillow cases, two pillows and a large doona.

She then went into shopping mode and dragged him to the kitchenware section where she placed a box containing a four-person dinner-ware set into the loaded shopping trolley that Dirk was pushing, and followed it with a canteen of cutlery. Sending Dirk back to the truck with the goods, and telling him to go and buy a bag of ice for the esky she moved on to Woolworths and did some grocery shopping which included a couple of very large steaks. She also stopped in at the chemists when she saw that they had 110 film cartridges on special - 50% off - and being down to her last two, snapped up the fourteen that the shop had remaining in stock, then added a flash unit to her purchase.

“We’ll really have to get on with building the cabin now,” Sally said as they headed back home, which was how they now thought of the camp-site. “We can’t just leave everything under the tarp and hope the weather stays good for the next few months while we do things like fishing, snorkelling and playing darts. Though speaking of fishing, you still haven’t tried out your new rod yet.”

“Well, we’re committed to going snorkelling tomorrow, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I got a game of darts in at the hotel afterwards, but the fishing I can put off till sometime during next weekend. We can begin work on the cabin on Monday though we’ll need more material. The timber we’re getting from the hay-shed will be good for bearers and joists though we’ll still need to get timber for the flooring and framing.”

With the truck parked in its usual position close to the shelter their new possessions were unloaded and while Dirk pumped up the air mattress Sally put a record on the player and began thickly slicing potatoes and mushrooms to go with the steaks. It would be Dirk’s job to get the fire going and cook the steaks because according to Sally whereas it was usually up to women to prepare picnics, barbeques were the sole responsibility of men, and that, she added pointedly, also included cleaning up afterwards.

Dirk soon had the fire going and while waiting for the hot-plate to heat up pulled the hose supplying water to the garden beds out of the pipe feeding the pond. When he put the steaks, potatoes and mushrooms on the hot-plate Sally came over, placed three foil-wrapped cobs of corn into the coals of the fire and handed him a cold can of beer to hold in the hand not wielding the tongs. She’d once been told that it was necessary for a man to be correctly balanced when cooking outdoors, and that the absence of a can of beer in the free hand could be very upsetting. She wasn’t sure if that was an intended pun but it sounded like one.

He had barely opened the can when they heard the sound of a vehicle coming along the track and stopping, then following a door being slammed shut a loud shout of “Coo-ee” from above the campsite.

“It’s Uncle Bob!” cried Sally, recognising the old but familiar Australian bush call and hurtled up the zig-zag path to where Bob had parked under the trees. By the time she had escorted him back down the path Dirk had had the good sense to retrieve another can of beer from the esky and as Bob approached handed it to him with a broad smile, saying “Just in time for dinner.”

“Nah, she’s right mate. Doan wanna putcherz out. I wuz just passin’ by and thort I’d drop in and make sure everythin’s OK. Wotcherz up to here anyway? Looks like yerz’ve got a nice garden started.”

Bob was nothing if not a diamond in the rough and his broad Aussie speech left no doubt that he was a man of the country, and Sally knew that whatever they were up to, as Bob had put it, he wasn’t going to advertise the fact that they were squatting on the land. After looking around the camp, talking with them for some time, and finally being persuaded to have a piece of steak and a bit of salad to go with the beer Dirk had given him, he finally drove away, taking with him the promise that Dirk would be volunteering to become a member of the local bush-fire brigade.

Gaining another member wasn’t something that Bob had expected, but he was so pleased with the offer that he told them that as a member of the brigade Dirk’s truck would be provided with a windshield sticker that authorised his use of the fire trail. He went even further, telling them that he would have the trail properly sign-posted, with access limited to authorised vehicles only, not that that would make any difference to the fishermen who used the trail of course, and the brigade would make sure that both it and the spur were maintained in good condition.

After dinner and with Bob gone they spent some time discussing some of the plans Dirk had drawn in his sketch-book and finally decided that his original design, which had been based on the floor-plan of a caravan he’d admired plus the addition of a loft, along with Sally’s addition of stairs and laundry wouldn’t need to be changed much: There would still be a bathroom/laundry and kitchen at one end with the lofted sleeping area above, and a lounge/dining area at the other, although not being restricted to the dimensions of a caravan the height and width would be increased slightly. The only real difference was that the planned pergola-covered deck adjacent to the living area and overlooking the clearing and the slope of land opposite would now be raised to the same level as the floor of the cabin. The deck, in addition to being an ideal place to relax with a glass of beer or wine and watch the sunset after a hard day’s work, would also be where most meals were to be had, and Sally didn’t want to have to step up or down when carrying dishes in and out of the cabin.

Dirk envisaged lots of fruit and nut trees planted along mulched swales on the slope opposite the clearing, and Sally thought that on the western end of the gully they could put up several rows of grape-vine trellises that would catch the sun on both sides as it passed overhead. Of course that would be sometime in the future as they’d have to build their cabin first... And a chicken coop... And a greenhouse... And a workshop... And lord knows whatever else they needed, however if they were able to stay here they were certain that in due course it could all be done.

Later, Sally enjoyed herself making up the queen-sized air-mattress bed in Dirk’s much-bigger-than-her-tent which next day would be taken down and put in the shed until, Dirk joked, she decided to run out on him. When they went to bed that night Paddy had to accept that Sally had new sleeping arrangements in place, but he was comfortable enough in his box which she’d lined with soft material, and Dirk seemed to be just the right type of man who would take care of her properly, so it was all good.

* * *​

 

[Lake Lili]

Great story... looking froward to MOAR... love how it is interweaving with the Brocklesbury people...
Question... is the use of film rather than digital a product of personal choice or when the story was written?
Enjoying it very much! Thanks.

Lili

 

[Bidadisndat]

Hi Lake Lili,

Back in the eighties, digital cameras were only just coming into vogue and even though though the writing was on the wall so to speak, there were many photographers who preferred to stick with film.

Regarding this story; There is MOAR to come and though at the moment what I've written outstrips the timeline of the first story I'll put it up. Same goes for Blackwattle Creek and The Landscape Gardener which would meld a few years later. With having to finish my gardening projects and Mrs Bid's Honey-do List I'm going to have my work cut out bringing them all into line, but I will get everything done... eventually.

Bid

 

[Bidadisndat]

“This must be the place,” said Sally as at a quarter to eight they drove up to the gate of the property Bron had described on Friday night. “It’s in a nice position, isn’t it? Close but not too close to the village and the beach only a stone’s throw away.”

The gate had been left open to allow Dave’s dive school students to drive straight down to the farmhouse and Dirk followed the road down to where a sign indicated a roped off area where they should park. It appeared that they were the first to arrive as there were no other vehicles present, and this was confirmed when Bron, having heard the truck coming down the driveway came out of the house to greet them.

“Hi guys. You must be really keen, getting here this early,” she said, smiling as they got out of the truck and walked across to the front porch.

“Are we too early then?” Sally replied. “I thought you said we should be here before eight.”

“Oh, I did. All the students are told that, but they usually don’t begin arriving until around twenty past. If we wanted to actually start the classes at eight we’d tell them to be here at seven thirty. But this is good because you can meet Dave and then we can get you kitted out with some gear. Come on in. We don’t wear shoes inside the house so you can leave yours on the porch and wear these,” she said, handing them each a pair of house slippers.

“Gosh, this place is beautiful, Bron,” said Sally as they walked into the house. “Did you decorate it yourself?”

“Yes, though we’re still working on it. I choose the paint colours and the furnishings and Dave does most of the painting and the pushing of furniture around to where I think it should go. He hates it if I change my mind too often about the position of the heavier pieces though.”

She led them through to the family room and a few moments later they were joined by Dave who had just finished loading the students’ totes full of scuba equipment plus tanks and weight-belts onto the back of his Toyota.

After introductions Dave explained over a cup of coffee that as they had had no previous snorkelling experience, Bron would give them some basic instruction while he was teaching his scuba diving students at the beach. They would, he said with a laugh, be able to enjoy the sport more if they were taught some simple techniques beforehand, rather than flounder around working out how not to drown. All of the students’ equipment was packed and ready to go leaving only left Dirk and Sally to be outfitted, and as that would take only a few minutes he led them out to the back veranda where two empty totes had been set.

“I’m hoping you really enjoy snorkelling today and might want to try scuba diving later, so apart from the masks, fins and snorkels we’re providing you with wet-suits so that you’ll be able to spend a lot of time in the water. Let’s see now” he said as he quickly ran a tape measure around them. “Sally, I think you’d need a size twelve in our wet-suits, and Dirk, you’ll probably be a four slim. You can try them on before we go, just to be sure,” he said after handing them two suits that he took from the racks where they’d been hanging.

Another vehicle was heard coming down the driveway and as Dave went around to the front of the house to greet whoever was arriving Bron handed them a mask each and instructed the pair on how to test them for fit and comfort. When Dirk put the mask given to him on his face and breathed in through his nose as instructed Bron tugged at it to make sure that it sealed properly. It wouldn’t budge until he breathed out a little and he had to laugh when Bron said that she could have got it off his face but would probably have then had to put his eyeballs back in after they’d been sucked out of their sockets. The mask handed to Sally also fitted perfectly and next they were each handed a snorkel and shown how to position it on the mask strap.

“The snorkel goes on the left side so that it doesn’t get in the way of a regulator. Good to get used to that now in case you decide to take up scuba diving later. As with the mask, it has to be comfortable so just put the mouthpiece in and hold it lightly with your teeth and lips. Don’t bite too hard on the lugs of the mouthpiece as they’re made of silicon and can be bitten through quite easily. Now, when you’re swimming along on the surface your head should be tilted so that you can see where you’re going as well as what’s under you. That means the snorkel has to be set at a bit of an angle on the strap so it’ll be almost vertical or pointing backwards a little when you’re swimming. You’ll understand what I mean when we get into the water. Now, from those tubs over there find a pair of boots that fit you comfortably and we can then get the fins. Oh, you should also grab a pair of the yellow gloves from the tub at the end.”

All the students had arrived now and while Dave was inside running them through the plan for their dives that day Bron was explaining to Dirk and Sally how to kick their legs and gain the most thrust for the least effort. The so-called bicycle flutter kick was the best however it wasn’t as easy to explain in words as it was to see how it was done, she said, but when they went down to the beach she would demonstrate the technique and they could simply copy the way she did it.

“You aren’t going to dive with the class then?” asked Sally.

“No. At least not on the first dive. I might go out with them on the second dive but at the moment Dave has restricted me to short, shallow water dives only. That’s not too bad because if it was up to the doctors at the Diving Medical Centre I wouldn’t be diving at all for the present,” she said, sticking her stomach out and rubbing both hands across it in a circular motion while giving Sally a wink.

“You mean you’re pregnant?” exclaimed Sally.

“Just a bit,” joked Bron, knowing that there was no such thing as a woman being “a bit” pregnant: Either she was or she wasn’t. “Nearly two months, but my wet-suit still fits OK. When I can’t squeeze into it I’ll stop diving for a while, but by then the water will probably be getting a bit cool anyway, so the timing’s good.”

Having already put their cozzies on before leaving home the two would-be snorkelers worked their way into the wet-suit long-johns and then the hooded vests provided, finding that they fitted quite comfortably.

“We don’t need the jackets?” asked Dirk.

“No. The water isn’t all that cold, but even if it was a lot warmer it’s still a good idea to wear a hooded vest. Most of the heat lost by a diver wearing a wet-suit is from the head, particularly the occiput. That’s the raised bump you can feel if you put your hand on the back of your head,” Bron told them as she demonstrated on her own head where they should feel for the bump on theirs.

When they pressed a hand firmly on the spot shown they were surprised by the amount of warmth they felt that would quickly leach out of their bodies when submerged, and were quite happy to take advantage of Dave’s offer to lend them the wet-suits for the day’s diving.

They were both handed a weight belt with the amount of lead on each being heavy enough to hold them at eye level when in a vertical position in water too deep to stand, and a normal breath of air in their lungs. They were also told how to release the belt by a tug of the right hand on the quick-release buckle.

As the road to the beach hadn’t been fully restored yet and parking was quite limited they placed their small esky on the back of Dave’s truck and went with him and Bron down to the boat ramp from where the divers would begin their first dive. They stood by and watched as Dave’s students assembled and donned their equipment before entering the water and swimming on the surface out to the dive flag that had been positioned where their descents were to be made.

After the last head was seen to disappear beneath the surface Bron led them down the boat ramp and wearing their weight-belts they waded out to waist depth before putting on their masks.

At this point Bron told them that if they wanted to take their mask off for any reason while in the water it had to be pulled down to hang around the neck and not be pushed up onto the forehead. There were two reasons for this, Bron explained: First was that they wouldn’t lose the mask if hit by a wave, and secondly, but more importantly, throwing the mask upwards was often the first thing a panicked diver did when reaching the surface. Dave felt that a mask on the forehead was in effect a distress signal, and if one of his students wasn’t in trouble if they did that, they sure would be when he swam to their assistance. And he would swim out to assist if he saw a mask where it shouldn’t be, Bron warned.

“I guess I don’t need to tell you that you have to take the snorkel out of your mouth when you’re floating on your back,” she laughed when demonstrating how easy it was to put fins on when doing just that.

The next hour was spent not only enjoying diving down to have a look at the marine life hiding among the rocks and seaweed beneath the surface, but also in learning and practicing the simple skills that Bron was able to show them. This included ditching and trying to recover their weight-belts, and though Bron had to bring the belts back to the surface for them a couple of times before they mastered the skill, it did demonstrate that without the belts the wet-suits would keep them afloat if they got into difficulties.

As Bron had told them, the so-called bicycle flutter kick when swimming underwater took a little bit of practice to master, however once they’d got the hang of it, it proved to be very effective and became quite natural to use.

They took a break when Dave returned to the beach with his students and sat listening to the debriefing he conducted while they all enjoyed a hot cup of coffee poured from several thermos flasks that Bron had filled earlier. Dirk and Sally had also been catered for; however as they felt that they were not actually part of the class Bron almost had to force them to accept a couple of the sandwiches she had made for everyone.

After the break another hour was spent exploring both sides of the bay, and at one point being able to look down through its clear water at the scuba divers below. The divers, who had completed the last of their skills apart from a compass swim back to the boat ramp, were now poking around the rocks and crevasses, and both Dirk and Sally felt more than a little envious of them not having to surface for air every couple of minutes.

It was some time later at the hotel, after all the equipment had been washed and hung up to dry, that the students were debriefed and then handed their graduation certificates, which Dave had laminated in clear matt plastic sleeves. They also received their temporary certification cards, which could be used until their official PADI ‘C’ cards were issued, and a membership card for the newly formed Fish Hook Bay Dive Club, of which they were the proud inaugural members. A further surprise came when each was handed what looked a bit like an American Express traveller’s cheque but turned out to be a voucher for a twenty five dollar discount off an Advanced Diver course should they wish to take one. If they didn’t want to use it themselves the recipients could hand the voucher to any friend wanting to do an Open Water course, as Dave had learned from his instructor friend in Sydney that that was a great way to build up the business without spending a fortune on advertising.

During the long lunch that followed they were properly introduced to the now ex-students, who turned out to be four of Dave’s tradie friends and two of their wives. It would have been three plus three however the wife of one of the tradies was even more advanced in pregnancy than Bron was, so the only unmarried man in their group of friends had taken her place.

They were also very surprised to find that Bron herself had only very recently completed her Open Water Diver Course; however such was her enthusiasm and the manner in which she had imparted her snorkelling skills to them that by the end of the day they had resolved to undertake a scuba course themselves. Dave was of course quite happy to hear that, and they didn’t see the wink and smile he gave Bron after they asked him for a couple of application forms. Dirk laughed when after being handed the forms he saw that Bron had already written their first names on them and filled out the bottom section with their chest, waist, hip and height measurements. Dave used these measurements to determine the size of wet-suit and B.C. a student would need, though in Dirk and Sally’s case it wasn’t really necessary as they’d been fitted out earlier.

They’d been having lunch in the beer garden and it wasn’t long after the newly-installed dart board was seen that the divers, including Dirk and Sally, had formed two teams and were competing against each other. Sally, who had never in her life thrown a dart before, joined in the game and soon demonstrated that she had a good eye and a deadly aim.

This of course prompted Dave to suggest that perhaps she and Dirk might like try their hand at shooting a rifle one day, and if so they’d be welcome to join him and Bron for a day at the firing range. Shooting was something that hadn’t crossed their minds up until then, though it suddenly seemed to be an invitation too good to refuse and they both quickly agreed.

Without mentioning that Bob Watson had quietly and confidentially told him about the vegetable garden, and the cabin that the two were planning to build in the bush, Dave also invited them to visit him and Bron and have a look at the way they were setting up their farm in order to be as self-sufficient as possible. To Dirk this seemed to be even more appealing than the offer to go shooting at the moment, given that it was precisely what he and Sally were planning to do, and he decided that it’d probably be a good idea to invite him and Bron to have a look at their place.

He was about to make the offer however Sally beat him to it when after having gone to the bar with Bron they returned to the table with two trays, each holding glasses of beer for those divers that hadn’t gone home yet, and began discussing secret women’s business. Not that anything they said could ever be regarded as being secret as the girls talked quite openly about everything anyway, but it was generally accepted that men would have little to contribute when it came to whatever it was they were discussing. The men couldn’t be completely ignored all the time of course: After all, somebody had to pay for the food and drinks so some allowances had to be made, didn’t they? And of course the men coughed up the cash, each considering that such payments were merely an investment in their own continued well-being.

When the last of the students indicated they were leaving Dirk and Sally also said they should be getting along too, however following a quick whisper to Dave, Bron asked them if they’d like to stay on for dinner at the farmhouse and perhaps spend the night there. There was a spare room that had recently been furnished and decorated and they were welcome to stay, Bron said, and Dave thought it’d also be a good chance for them to look over the farm. Besides, next morning Dave wanted to erect the new green-house that had been delivered in kit form, and as he needed a hand they would be just the people to help... If they had nothing else on, of course. In return perhaps he could help Dirk with some of the construction of the cabin that he’d revealed he was planning to put up?

“A win-win situation if ever there was one,” Dirk said as he and Sally agreed. “But rather than have to cook, how about we all have dinner here? The food’s really good and it’ll be on us, especially as you guys were kind enough to invite us to go snorkelling and provided all the gear.”

There was no argument with that idea either so they ordered another round of drinks and although they all aimed a few more darts at the board while waiting for the dining room to open they spent most of the time chatting about what each was planning for their homesteads. Conversation continued much in the same vein throughout dinner and also back at the farmhouse, where Bron showed them the canning equipment and the home-made dehydrator that Dave had put together. Dave, after showing off his home-brew set-up suggested that as they were interested in becoming self-sufficient it would probably be a good idea if they did much the same, and gave Dirk a copy of the plans he used to make the dehydrator.

It wasn’t all that late when the effects of time spent snorkelling, plus lunch, dinner and the several drinks they’d had caught up with them all, and they were practically half asleep when shown the bedroom in which they’d be sleeping. They were amused by the fact that the bed’s mattress was an inflatable one very similar to the one Dirk had purchased for their own place, though after finding it also had a foam topping guessed it might even be a little more comfortable. The only down-side, Sally told Dirk, was that the invitation had caught her off-guard and she hadn’t brought Paddy along. He didn’t laugh at her but instead said that Paddy would be OK for tonight in his own bed, and suggested that in future if they were going anywhere there might be a possibility that they’d be gone overnight, Paddy would be placed in the truck. Sally put her arms around him and gave him tight hug, thankful that the handsome guy who’d given her a lift in his truck turned out to be just the caring type of man that she needed in her life.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

It was well that help was available to erect Dave’s new green-house in the morning, not because the pieces were heavy but because they were just plain awkward to hold up while being bolted together as shown in the instructions. Dave had to admit that with Bron having gone to work at the bakery in town, without their help it would probably have taken him all week to put it up, but with an early start and three of them working on it the structure was ready to begin receiving its first pot-plants just around lunch time. Dirk and Sally were both impressed with the kit and Dave was happy to pass on the brochures and price list that the makers had sent him, along with the advice that they could save on transport costs if they picked the kit up from the railhead rather than have it delivered to their door.

“Well, for starters, we don’t have an address, let alone a door to which anything can be delivered to yet,” laughed Dirk.

“Hmm. Yeah, that could be problem I guess,” Dave replied. “But not just for delivering goods: What about mail? And an address for registration of your truck?”

“I was thinking of simply getting a post-box for mail, though I hadn’t thought about the registration or insurance for the truck, mostly because the renewal papers are always sent to my parent’s house in the city.”

“Probably a good idea to leave it that way for the time being, at least regarding the truck. I know there are post-boxes available in Brocklesbury at the moment but you’ll still need a residential address to apply for one. You can use our address on the application form if you like, and that way you could drop into the post office on your way back home and organise one. You can always change the address later. Now, what about lunch?”

“Bron told me I could make up some sandwiches if we wanted them,” said Sally. “She showed me where all the makings are and it’d only take me a few minutes.”

“Sounds good to me. What about you, Dirk?”

“I dunno... I suppose I could be persuaded to nibble one or two.”

“More likely scoff a dozen,” laughed Sally as she headed for the kitchen to start making them.

“Can I take that to mean Lord John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, is your patron Saint too?” a grinning Dave asked the likewise grinning Dirk.

“Most definitely, Dai. It was either him, Colonel Sanders, Ronald McDonald or Sarah Lee, but I reckon I made the right choice.”

“God, Bron’s going to crack up when I tell her that one!” Dave said as he burst into laughter. “Sandwiches are my favourite fast-food too. You want a beer to go with them?”

“No thanks mate. I’ll be happy with a mug of tea. I noticed when we were putting up the green-house that you’ve marked out a pretty large area for your veggie garden. Are you planning to use those steel poles and rolls of chain-link mesh over there to fence it in?”

“Yes. It’s actually the fence from a tennis court that had to be removed from a building site. Should have been put up a few weeks ago but my fencing bloke’s truck is off the road with mechanical problems so the job’s been delayed a bit. I could get somebody else to help put it up but I know Frank needs the work and I’m not in too much of a rush to get it done.”

Sally called to them from the back veranda and they went up to find that she’d prepared a very large plate of sandwiches and had a full pot of tea brewed for them. She’d also taken the sensible step of making up a small plate of sandwiches just for herself, knowing that she’d probably miss out once the boys got stuck into the large plate.

After the plates and mugs had been cleaned up and put away after lunch Dave followed Dirk’s truck in his as they drove to the village where Dirk was able to rent a post-box before he and Sally, after thanking Dave profusely, continued on back home. As he watched them leave an idea suddenly came to Dave: Dirk had an operational truck and at present Frank the fencer didn’t. He decided to give Frank a call and ask him if he could use an offsider to help him until his truck was back on the road, and if he did, maybe Dirk could come to his rescue. He felt pretty sure that Dirk would be agreeable, and there was no harm in asking anyway.

“Remember I suggested we carry a tote for our snorkelling gear when we got some?” said Dirk as they drove away from the farm. “I think we’re going to need two totes now, don’t you?”

“For scuba equipment? Yes, I was thinking the same thing. You know, I haven’t had such a good time in a long time, and we sure learned a lot, didn’t we? I’m impressed with the plans they have for their farm too. Best of all is I think we’re making some good friends around here. I can’t even imagine ever living in a city now.”

“I know exactly how you feel. Look, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I also think we have to be prepared to move if somebody discovers our little bit of paradise and kicks up a stink about us living there. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen anytime soon, but I’m thinking it might be wise to find a good block of land somewhere around here, put a deposit on it and lease it out. That means I’ll probably have to find a job for a while because the banks aren’t going to lend money to someone who’s unemployed. At least we’d have a bit of security. What do you think?”

“Much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. At the moment I feel like we’re living in Paradise, but I’d hate for it to work out to be a Fool’s Paradise. Still, I’m pretty confident that we can get away with living here for a good while yet. We’d best get the cabin built before we go looking for jobs though; otherwise it’ll take us years to do. That said, I’m not really in the mood for dragging more sheets of metal and lengths of timber around today. Can we do some gardening instead?”

“Sure we can. Do you mind if we go to the recycling centre before going home? I want to give Rob a list of some of the things I think we could use from there.”

“Such as?”

“Well, a couple of doors for a start. I was thinking of windows too, but all too often old windows are more trouble than they’re worth. Which reminds me, we might have to put up the second shed for more storage: We don’t want to get some really nice things only to have them destroyed by bad weather. I also worked out the floor area of the bathroom-laundry and it’s not all that much, so we might be able to find enough tiles of the same colour to cover it.”

They bounced a few more ideas around until they reached the centre and began looking around for the things Dirk wanted. Rob was on hand and after taking and reading the list Dirk had written on the back of a rough plan of the cabin helped them look through the section where building materials were stacked.

“OK you two,” said Dirk when he’d stopped to go through the list Dirk had given him. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re not looking for firewood for your camp-fire. My bet is that the plan on the back of this list is for a shack you’re going to put up somewhere in the bush. Fair enough. In fact, I’ve often dreamed about doing the same thing myself; nice and close to the beach so I can go fishing whenever I want, which is more often than not. Anyway, you needn’t worry about me telling anyone because I’m not the type who’s inclined to divulge secrets, especially when I’m involved.”

“Why would you be involved?” asked Sally. “After all, it’s Dirk and I who’d be building the shack, as you call it.”

“Ah, yes. But I’m supplying you with some of the materials you’ll need. And there’ll probably be a time when you could use an extra hand to help with the build, in which case I’d be most offended if you didn’t ask for my assistance.”

“Well that’s really good to know Rob,” said Dirk. “As it happens we do need some help to load and unload a stack of timber that we’ve sourced from a derelict building. We could do it ourselves but we wouldn’t want to risk offending you.”

Sally grinned. “Do you have a girlfriend Rob? I hope so, because if Dirk does need your help you could bring her along so that I’ll have someone to help me watch you guys doing all the heavy work.”

Both men laughed and Rob admitted that he did have a girlfriend, and as she was just as keen on fishing as he was she would probably be very happy to come along... Provided she could go fishing with Rob after the work was done. Sally latched on to that idea very quickly and suggested that maybe he could teach Dirk how to fish, given that he had recently purchased a rod but as yet didn’t have a clue as to which end he had to hold, let alone how to use it. Of course that prompted more laughter and it was quickly decided that Rob and his girlfriend Rebecca would come by the camp next Sunday morning when he could help with the timber, after which they’d all go fishing and then have a barbecue, and perhaps a beer or two.

They found a good solid door that Dirk thought would be good for a back door, another that would go between the laundry/bathroom and the kitchen, plus two that had four glass panes in the top half and could probably have been used for entry doors, however both of them had panes that were broken and although replacing the glass would be a relatively easy task Dirk decided to leave them.

When Rob asked if they wanted any windows Dirk told him that unless they were in really good condition he would rather buy the few that were needed: From what he had heard, old windows were often more trouble than they were worth to restore. While admitting that that was often the case Rob told him that there were some there that were in really good condition and were probably worth having a look at. In fact, he added after checking the list and looking at Dirk’s plan of the cabin, there was a set of three good casement windows that would probably suit the kitchen.

“There’s also another set here that I think you might be interested in, though it would depend on what you've got planned of course,” he said. “They came from a mansion that’s being pulled down to make way for a retirement home. Come and have a look and see what you think of them anyway.”

Leading them back into the building where all the best doors, windows, architraves, skirting-boards and other timbers were stored he lifted an old blanket that was protecting some windows under it. Sally gasped slightly when she saw what Rob explained were two large and two smaller sections of a beautifully handcrafted lead-light bay window complete with supporting woodwork.

“It’s six foot wide if the side windows are set at 45° but maybe it could be made slightly wider or narrower if the angles are changed. I’d take it myself but I don’t have a place where I could use it.”

“They’re beautiful! How much?” Sally asked.

Rob grinned. “Let’s see now. Six second-hand windows at... Hmm... Oh, that’s right: The prices are written on the sign over there.”

“But they’re just the normal prices for your windows. Surely the bay would cost a lot more, wouldn’t it?” Sally asked.

“It might, if anybody recognised it as such, though as far as the staff here is concerned they’re all just old windows. Tell you what: If you want them, I’ll throw in all the supporting woodwork, and help you load and unload them.”

“I think they’d look really good in the kitchen, Dirk. What do you think?”

“Yeah, I have to admit they really are nice. OK, if they’re what you want, we can take them, and maybe use the casement windows somewhere else.”

“OK Rob, you heard the man: We’ll take them. Mind you, I think your offer to help us unload them is just a sneaky way to find out where our camp-site is.”

“Well, I need to know where to go when Reb and I come to teach you how to use a fishing rod next Sunday, so I’m not really being sneaky, am I?”

“That’s true. But you won’t need to help us unload these, thanks all the same: Dirk’s really a lot stronger than he looks.”

After carefully loading the windows onto the truck and giving Rob directions to their camp-site they drove carefully back and with equal care unloaded the items and placed them in the shed, standing them against the wall opposite the Dexion shelving. It was unfortunate but not unexpected that they hadn’t been able to find the floor tiles they wanted for the laundry, said Sally, but as far as she was concerned the bay window they’d scored more than made up for that, and she’d be happy to buy the needed tiles in town.

“Yeah, I have to admit that the bay window was a real bargain,” Dirk said. “And it won’t take much alteration of the plans to fit it in.”

“If we adjust the angles a bit it would easily fit, and though it’d stick out a lot more than the window in your plan, the wide sill would be an ideal place to grow herbs in pots: Plenty of sunlight, protected from wind and easy to water.”

“Fantastic! I can see how that would work. Now, speaking of potted plants, I’m going to check on those we’ve already got growing. While I’m doing that you’d better go and let Paddy know we’re back.”

Sally launched herself at him and after giving him a passionate kiss ran to the tent and retrieving the bear sat him on his tripod chair to watch as she first put a record on the player and then began preparing something to eat. “Life couldn’t get much better than this,” she thought, humming the tune now being played as she watched her man tending the plants.

Dirk found to his pleasure that all the plants were thriving and as he began watering them looked back to where Sally was humming along with the music from the record player as she worked and thought, “Life couldn’t get much better than this.”

He grinned to himself when he realised that it actually could get a little better when he returned to the shelter and found that Sally had poured them both a glass of wine and put out a platter of Jatz crackers topped variously with cheeses, cabanossi and salami. She’d also set out small take-away containers of sun-dried tomatoes, stuffed olives, artichoke hearts, char-grilled aubergine, courgettes and capsicums, marinated champignons and dolmades, all of which she’d purchased from the deli in the village.

To top it off there was a glorious red sunset which indicated there’d be another fine day tomorrow, and as they sat listening to music and watching the sun go down Sally summed up the atmosphere and made him chuckle by saying “I wonder what poor people are doing tonight.”

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

The shepherds’ and sailors’ weather forecast rhyme of “A red sky in the morning heralds a warning, a red sky at night is a shepherd’s/sailor’s delight” proved to be correct when they woke to yet another clear day, and they wasted no time in getting breakfast out of the way before commencing work. Before the physical stuff began they sat down and made up a rough schedule for the tasks that needed to be undertaken in order to get the project started. Much of this day would be spent organising the material needed but Dirk calculated that if they could get the timber and all went according to plan they should have the foundations, floor and wall framing of the first section completed by the end of next week.

He’d given quite a bit of thought to foundations and finally decided that the old way of using wooden stumps treated with creosote and sinking them into the ground would be the easiest and least expensive way to go. Of course he’d have to source timber for the stumps, but maybe that also could be obtained from the recycle centre so he’d be making another trip back there very soon. Because digging the holes for the stumps would be both labour intensive and time consuming, as he’d found out when putting up the fence around the garden, he made the decision to look at renting a petrol-powered post-hole digger for a day.

Sally thought that as the good weather was forecast to last for some time yet, and they had plenty of time, maybe he should first dig a test hole where the cabin was going to be sited: If it didn’t take too long they might be able to dig all of the holes by hand and save the expense of renting a machine. Not surprisingly Dirk had a good laugh when soon after she had helped him dig the test hole they were heading for the hardware store to rent one anyway.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how one looked at it, their schedule was thrown out the window as when driving to the hardware store in Brocklesbury they met Dave coming the other way. Dave had spoken to Frank the fencer and was about to go looking for their camp-site in the hope that Dirk would be able to help Frank out for a few days. After the situation was explained to them both Dirk and Sally agreed that putting off their construction work for a while wouldn’t be a big problem if it was going to help a villager so Dave turned his truck around and they followed him to Frank’s house where introductions were made.

Frank was pleased to have Dirk help out, mostly because he didn’t want to let down people who’d contracted him to put up the fences they needed, and they came to an arrangement whereby he’d pay Dirk an hourly rate plus extra for the running of the truck. It became well worth Dirk’s time when after Frank had been let in on what he and Sally were planning to do regarding their cabin he suggested that the timber for the foundation stumps, and for any other timber they needed, could be obtained directly from the mill under his name. It would work out much cheaper than buying timber at the hardware store, and he not only also offered to lend Dirk his own post-hole digger but would help him with putting the stumps in place. In return Dirk told him that rather than Frank paying him any cash they could just swap labour, and although Frank agreed to that he did insist on paying for the use of the truck.



In the yard behind Frank’s house was an enormous stack of old hardwood fence palings waiting for the summer fire bans to be lifted before they were put to the torch, and when asked he told Dirk that if he wanted them he was welcome to take the lot. Dirk said that he could use all of them because what couldn’t be used for the projects he had in mind would feed their rocket stove. Sally couldn’t understand why Dirk wanted them however after he’d explained briefly how they could be used she was happy enough to help him load two hundred or so onto the back of truck. There were too many to be taken in one trip but Frank said he’d help throw a stack onto the back of Dirk’s truck each day after the fencing work was done as it would save him the trouble of burning them himself.

Frank wanted to get started on the work he had lined up as soon as possible so with their original plans suspended for the time being Dirk told him that the truck would be at his house next morning as early as was needed. He was a bit taken aback when Frank said that he usually started at five-thirty but breathed a sigh of relief when told with a laugh that turning up at seven would be fine.

The arrangement with Frank having set their plans back for the time being and Dave having already left they decided to grab a hamburger, a bag of chips and a milkshake at Jay-Jays take-away shop then go back to the hay-shed and recover more of whatever they could lay their hands on.

“These chips are more like wedges, aren’t they?” said Sally as after they’d parked behind the hay-shed she opened the large bag to find that it contained not only the chunkiest chips she’d ever seen but also a small container each of sour cream and sweet chilli sauce. “Much better than the fries they serve at a Macca’s.”

“Yeah. And the ‘burgers are huge too. And did you notice they put a really big scoop of ice-cream in the milk shakes? Not like the walnut-sized scoops that you’d get in most places.”

“Lucky we didn’t stay there and play that juke-box: We probably wouldn’t feel like doing anything for the rest of the afternoon if we had.”

“What makes you think I feel like doing anything now anyway?” Dirk asked as he finished his ’burger and hoed into the last of the chips before getting out of the cab.

They proceeded to where the timber was stacked in the shed and began hauling out one of the heavier pieces intending to stack several on the truck, however the weight was a bit much for Sally to handle and when she accidently dropped her end of the piece they were trying to lift Dirk got his thumb jammed between it and the next piece. He gritted his teeth and didn’t use any language that he might have used had Sally not been present, but said that it would probably be best to wait until Rob could help him with the task. Having decided to leave without the timber they nevertheless took another dozen sheets of steel that they’d removed from the roof earlier.

Just as they were about to leave Sally noticed an old satchel wedged behind one of the shed’s supporting timbers and after retrieving it handed it to Dirk, saying that she wasn’t going to open it as there might be spiders inside. She was right: When Dirk undid the straps and opened the flap the first thing that came out was a large red-back, the sight of which made him drop the satchel in a hurry. After finding a small stick with which he crushed the deadly arachnid he up-ended the bag and emptied its contents onto the ground, finding that they were simply insect chewed plans of the shed.

A roughly drawn addition to the original plans indicated that the unused metal had been intended to enclose a section at one side of the shed and the pieces of lumber used to support a floor. As they were the correct size to be used for bearers and joists they still would be, Dirk told Sally, though they’d still need to get a lot more timber for the flooring, and framing for the walls, ceiling and roof.

“Oh, I’d forgotten all about the floors and walls... and the ceiling and roof if it comes to that. Lucky we’ll be able to get the wood for that at the mill, rather than have to pay through the nose for it at the hardware store?”

“That’s for sure. I’ve been thinking: It’d be great to be able to build all of the cabin in one go, but that’d mean having to buy quite a bit of material because it’d take forever and a day to scrounge what we need from free sources.”

“Well, I do have to agree, but let’s go over the plan and work out exactly what we’ll need. Gosh, look at your thumb; it’s quite swollen now, and I bet it’s painful. Let’s go back to camp where you can soak it in hot water for a while and we’ll take it easy for the rest of the day. You’ll need that hand tomorrow when you’re working with Frank.”

Later, sitting at the table with his left forearm and wrist supported so that he could immerse his injured thumb in a bowl of hot water he used his right hand to sketch out a plan of how he would use the timber they’d be able to recover from the old hay/machinery shed.

“Here, take a look at this,” he said as with Sally sitting beside him he showed her a sketch he’d quickly done of a revised plan of the cabin. “I added a few inches to the laundry/bathroom area and rearranged it so we can put in the back door I bought for my original design. That way we won’t have to traipse through the cabin each time we want to carry the washing out to the line, or go to the loo from outside. I also think the door should open outwards onto the back porch so it doesn’t take up floor space inside.”

So good was his sketch that Sally was able to clearly envisage the building as it would look when completed, or at least the part that Dirk had drawn would look, and being impressed with the design told him so.

“Outward opening is fine though it means not having a screen door on the outside to stop insects. We could screen the whole porch though, and that’s not a bad idea really. The laundry and bathroom being together is good: That way when we come into the house grubby after a hard day’s work we can simply drop our dirty clothes into the laundry basket and go straight into the shower. And your idea of the towel cupboard in the bathroom having sliding basket drawers to hold underwear, shorts and T-shirts is brilliant too.”

“Glad you like it. I thought the drawers could be set back a little so that hooks on the inside of the cupboard door could hold a couple of bathrobes. By the way, I don’t think the composting toilet shown here should be used until we have a proper door between the bathroom and kitchen.”

“Very wise,” she said before beginning to giggle.

“What are you giggling at?”

“Just something that Bron told me: When she and Dave first moved into their farmhouse the toilet wasn’t working, and Dave had suggested putting lemon trees in planter pots on the back veranda to use as.... Dirk, No! Don’t even think about it!” she laughed when she saw him cock his head, purse his lips and begin raising his eyebrows. “Now, tell me more about how you intend using those old fence palings that we’re taking off Frank’s hands,” she quickly added in order to distract him from thinking any more about lemon trees in pots.

“OK. I thought about it a long time ago really, after seeing how a bloke was using old palings to make garden furniture that he sold at markets. He made things like dog kennels, planter boxes, garden seats, wishing wells and lots of other stuff, all of which fetched a good price. One of the things he made that really impressed me was a set of cupboards that looked good enough to use in a modern country style kitchen. The palings he used were all of native hardwoods and after sanding and painting or staining they looked fantastic. Not only that, the timber was all well seasoned by years of exposure to the weather and he reckoned that the cabinets he made would probably last for fifty years or more. If looked after properly of course. He also told me about some of the techniques he used and I reckon I could do the same thing with the palings that Frank’s giving us.”

“Seems to me like we’re going to have to build the workshop fairly quickly. Then you can make all the furniture we need for the cabin too, though I imagine that’d take a while to do, especially if you’re only using hand tools.”

“I’ve been thinking about that: I’ve got quite a few power tools so it might be worthwhile getting a small portable generator. It’d make building the cabin a lot easier and we could also use it to run other things, such as a washing machine.”

“They’re rather expensive, aren’t they?”

“What, washing machines?”

“You idiot.”

Dirk laughed. “No, generators aren’t necessarily expensive: I guess it comes down to how much power is needed and how often it’d need to be used, though in my case I certainly wouldn’t be looking at an El Cheapo that’d pack up only after running for a couple of hours. I’ve heard that a lot of those small Chinese-made generators used for camping are like that. I’d want something like a diesel powered one big enough to run a couple of things at the same time.

“You should talk to Dave: Bron told me that they used a generator until they got their wind turbine and battery bank up and running.”

“Really? And they have a wind turbine too? I didn’t know that.”

“Of course not: While you and the other guys were busy discussing he-man things at the hotel we girls were talking about more practical stuff.”

“Generators are he-man things.”

“Maybe so, but at the time drinking beer and throwing darts would have been more important than talking about generators which, by the way, are apparently called “Jennies” by those that use them.”

Knowing that arguing the he-man bit with her would be a lost cause he resorted to simply changing the subject in his usual way.

“What’s for dinner?”

Sally grinned triumphantly and told him that after he’d got the fire going they’d be having jaffles. She’d prepare them, but as it only needed one hand to hold the iron it was he who’d be cooking them. Thankfully, the pain in his thumb wasn’t bad enough to prevent him holding a glass of Rosé in his left hand as he wielded the iron with his right, so that was fine by him.

Before going to bed that night Sally said that she’d decided that as she wouldn’t be needed for the fencing job next day she’d stay at the camp and after lying in bed for a bit, thinking of Dirk working hard, get up and go to work on her herb garden. She’d changed her plan from building an herb spiral to simply planting out the embankment with a mix of herbs and flowers; though Dirk reckoned that going by the diagram she’d drawn it wouldn’t be all that simple.

When asked why she’d changed her mind about the design she showed him a large book on herbs that Bron had lent her and pointed out photos of gardens that incorporated similar ideas. He had to admit that the gardens certainly looked attractive but also warned her that it would entail quite a lot of time and hard work before her own garden began to look as good. Time wouldn’t be a problem, she said, as she had plenty of that, and as for any hard work required, well, she knew a bloke who would immediately drop whatever he was doing in order to help her... “Wouldn’t he?” she added pointedly, and Dirk could only grin and nod his head in agreement.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

At six a.m. Dirk very quietly eased out of bed so as not to wake his still sleeping partner and shortly after leaving a note reminding Sally that she could contact him on her hand-held CB headed for Brocklesbury, hoping that the bakery would be open so that he could grab something for breakfast. He found when he arrived in the village that although the bakery was open his breakfast could be either freshly baked bread or freshly baked bread, so he waited around until Jay-Jay’s take-away opened and he was able to order a couple of bacon and egg rolls and a cup of coffee.

After meeting up with Frank at seven their first task, after stopping at Jay-Jay’s to collect his breakfast, was to drive to the mill and pick up the fence posts for the job they’d be doing that day. While there he was able to negotiate the purchase of two dozen stump posts which thanks to Frank he was able to purchase at a much lower rate than what he would have had to pay elsewhere. He decided to pick them up at a time when Frank wouldn’t need him for any jobs he had on because, as he said to Frank later, time is money, and a surplus of one often meant a deficiency of the other, which being self-employed was a sentiment that Frank understood only too well.

During conversation as they drove it turned out that Frank was a member of the village's Bush Fire Brigade, and the fact that he’d heard that Dirk had volunteered to join despite having only recently arrived had gone a long way to upping Frank’s opinion of him. Dirk was unaware of this however, though in a small community such as Brocklesbury’s the word would be quickly spread that he was a good man to have around.

The rest of the week went very quickly for Dirk who was able to learn a thing or two about secure fencing as he helped Frank install posts and tension wires in order to contain livestock. He was surprised to learn that the wire wasn’t pulled and secured as taught as might be expected, but had to have a certain amount of “give” in it so that if an animal leant against it the stress would be spread along its full length and the wire wouldn’t break. Of more importance as far as Dirk was concerned at present however was that he got in quite a bit of practice using the post-hole digger and setting posts, as the same technique would be used to set the stumps for the cabin.

When he told Frank about the fence he’d constructed around his vegetable garden he was told that he’d probably done the correct thing by hauling his own fence tight as it wasn’t meant to contain stock, though Frank would have a look at it later to make sure.

By mid Friday afternoon the fencing job they were doing had been completed, another large stack of the fence palings in Frank’s yard had been transferred to the camp-site and Frank had inspected the fence around Dirk and Sally’s vegetable garden. Finding that it was as good as any he himself could have put up, and being impressed by the fact that Dirk had thought of using a length of re-bar to haul it tight, which was a method known to those in the trade but at that time not to Dirk, Frank offered to employ him whenever he had a job on that he couldn’t handle by himself.

With Dirk away from camp Sally had spent much of the first day clearing the embankment above and below the zig-zag path where she planned to start her herb garden and had found to her surprise that in the jungle of covering weeds a number of flowers had self seeded. When she thought about it she remembered sometimes seeing both her parents, but particularly her mother, working first to establish and then later to maintain the beds of flowers that hopefully would survive the times between visits during school holidays.

The thought of being able to continue her mother’s passion for gardening helped inspire her and by the end of the day all but a few obstinate roots had been cleared away from both above and below the path, and she knew that with Dirk’s help even they would also be removed soon. She knew that she would have to begin planting as soon as possible as without plants to hold the soil together heavy rain might cause the embankment to erode, although there were quite a few large rocks there that should prevent that happening. Either that or the rocks themselves might tumble down into the campsite, and that would be a real problem.

When Dirk returned in the late afternoon he was surprised by the amount of work she’d accomplished, and he quickly took a mattock to the deep roots that needed to be removed to finish the job. After checking the slope he assured Sally that the rocks weren’t in any danger of being dislodged as they were very large and bedded quite firmly into the soil. It would still be a good idea to get the planting done quickly however, even if only because the slope now looked so bare, and to that end they would drive to the nursery in town on Saturday and get the plants she wanted.

The next day, without transport but needing to do some shopping she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to walk to Brocklesbury, figuring that if she left just after lunch she would make it well before the shops were closed and be able to come back with Dirk in the truck. Leaving a note for him to meet her at the hotel in case he came back early and found the camp deserted she emptied her back-pack, placed two bottles of water from the spring in it and dressed in her baggy shirt and trousers, and sun hat, headed for the village. She’d only just gotten to the top of the zig-zag path when she remembered the CB hand-held and had to retrace her steps back to the tent where she attached the small radio to her belt before resuming her journey.

Although it took her a little over two hours to cover the distance she was pleased to find that despite not having done any hiking for some time the walk hadn’t been as tiring as she thought it might be. Just the same, she thought that it might be a good idea to buy a bicycle as it would then probably take her only about a quarter of the time to do the trip, then grinned to herself at the idea of trying to persuade Dirk to get a bike too. She knew that wasn’t going to happen, not because he’d be too lazy to ride it but because she knew if he wanted to go somewhere it would be quickly rather than at the much slower speed of a bike.

With her shopping complete she was having a look at some magazines in the newsagents when she found several dedicated to embroidery, crotchet and knitting, and remembering that her Aunty did a lot of knitting and regularly turned out the most beautiful sweaters, cardigans and scarves purchased one and took it over to the park to have a read. Half an hour later found her at the haberdashery where the two ladies who ran the shop were happily chatting to her about the many benefits, not to mention the pleasure of being able to crotchet and knit garments for one’s self, family and friends. The result was that she emerged from the shop with a large bag containing a dozen balls of wool, an assortment of needles, another book from which she could learn the basics, and a promise that the ladies would be happy to give her some lessons in the crafts of knitting and crotchet. They also advised her that when she wanted to tackle something that required a lot of wool it was best to buy it in one purchase, ensuring that the each ball of the colour chosen was from the same batch as sometimes there was a slight variation in the shade between batches.

After thanking them for their assistance she made her way to the hotel, intending to read the book of basics while waiting for Dirk to arrive. Hoping that he was able to hear her she turned on the CB hand-held and made her first real call on it, having already practiced the correct procedures with Dirk back at the camp. She was rewarded on her second attempt by his replying that he was receiving her “five by five,” though she still wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, and relayed to him the information that she was waiting for him in the beer garden of the hotel. After he’d acknowledged the transmission and told her that both he and Frank would be there in about half an hour she slipped into the bar, finding that Bron wasn’t on duty, and ordered a lemon squash with which she went back to the garden and began to read.

Half an hour later she returned to the bar and ordered another squash plus schooners of beer for the men, who she presumed would be a bit thirsty after spending the day working in the sun, and was given a bowl of Jatz crackers and cubed cheese. She learned later that the “cheese and bikkies” were always put out on that part of the bar where the regulars sat, and as they weren’t usually given out to be taken to the beer garden it seemed that Frank was a favoured regular. Her timing couldn’t have been better as the two men walked in just as she was setting the tray of drinks and nibbles down on the table beside which she’d been sitting.

Thanks to the knowledgeable barmaid who knew the regular patrons quite well, Frank was pleased to find that the schooner she gave him when he sat down after greeting her was his favoured drop of liquid amber. He apparently wasn’t inclined to drink much during his working week and after downing his schooner said before declining the offer of a ride and walking home that it would be his turn to shout when they finished work on the Friday.

Dirk was amazed that Sally had walked all the way to the village and agreed that her having a pushbike would probably be a good thing if she was that keen, but as she had guessed he wasn’t at all keen on the idea of him getting one as well. He did suggest that maybe a motorbike would be good but Sally was rather opposed to that idea when she imagined what it would be like if her man had an accident somewhere and help wasn’t at hand. He didn’t protest as he remembered her not unreasonable fear of an accident again taking the life of someone she cared deeply about, and knew that she cared about him as much as he cared about her.

Draining his glass and grabbing the last two Jatz crackers and cubes of cheese he picked up her back-pack filled with groceries and carried it out to the truck, with Sally following him with her bag of wool and knitting needles, then while telling her about the work he’d done that day he drove them back home.

The day’s physical work hadn’t been all that hard, he said, though it had been a long day and it was probably the heat that had drained a lot of his energy. He wasn’t too tired to finish the large plate of what Sally called a “white stew” of chicken and vegetables on a bed of rice that she set before him at dinner time though, however he decided against having his usual glass of white wine with the meal and soon after eating hit the hay.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

After an early night, the following morning found Sally travelling with her back-pack into the village with Dirk, her plan being to catch the morning bus into town where she wanted to check out the public library for more books on herbs. When Dirk dropped her off at the park from where the bus commenced its run she found that a sizeable number of high school students were also waiting, and resigned herself to having to stand for the forty to fifty minutes it took to travel the distance to town. Student concession pass holders are actually supposed to stand when there isn’t enough seating for full-fare paying passengers, however when one of the students offered her a seat she had the impression that it would have been offered regardless of the rule. The students seemed to have worked out a system whereby none of them had to stand for the entire trip as she noticed that there was quite a bit of changing around during the journey so she also took a turn at standing.

The bus driver grinned and gave her a wink when he saw that she’d also taken a turn at standing and broke one of the bus company’s primary rules by engaging her in conversation as she stood close to his seat, and after telling her that the students from the village were a good bunch of kids gave her directions as to where the library was located. He also reminded her that the bus would be returning to the village in an hour’s time, and that there would be another run made in the afternoon, with the bus beginning its return to the village at six thirty. There was talk, he added, that the bus company that operated from town would soon be performing the same service but at slightly different times in order to compliment rather than compete with the village’s bus service. That, he said, was just as well because if the town company tried to take over the run completely the villagers would probably take to driving their cars instead of taking the bus, just to prove a point. That point being that the villagers felt that they really didn’t need any outsiders to organise their lives, thank you very much.

Thanking the driver and alighting from the bus when it reached town she found her way to the library only to find that it didn’t open until ten a.m., which gave her time to have coffee and croissants in lieu of the breakfast she’d skipped earlier that morning. She also made a ’phone call to her aunt and told her, without being too specific, where she was and what she’d been doing lately, and also that from now on she would be living near the small village of Brocklesbury. She gave her the post office box number where mail could be sent, adding that the place where she was living hadn’t had the ’phone connected yet, and not mentioning that it probably never would be. Nor did she say anything about Dirk, knowing that her aunty would probably have a pink fit if she discovered that her niece was now living in a de-facto relationship with a man who’d she’d only very recently met.

Finishing the call with the promise that she would be returning to visit her and Uncle Geoff soon she purchased a pack of sandwiches for lunch, put them in her back-pack and walked back to the library which was now open. Looking through the shelves she was disappointed to find that books on herbs were abundant as hens’ teeth, and whilst the one that was available wasn’t worth borrowing she did obtain a library card for future use.

From the library she walked to Big W but not finding precisely what she wanted there walked two blocks further to a shop that sold bicycles and their accessories, and though the prices were much higher found just what she was looking for: A good solid bike featuring a carrier at the rear, a basket at the front and more gears than she would probably ever need, although the bicycle pump that she’d had on her childhood bike was no longer supplied as standard. Neither was the small tool pouch that was normally found hanging under the back of the seat, and these items she purchased separately, along with a bike lock, a dynamo that fitted onto the front forks, head and tail lights, plus a spare tube and a puncture repair kit. The salesman installed the dynamo, wiring and lights for her and after checking that everything worked as it should and securing her back-pack to the rear carrier she mounted the bike and began pedalling her way to the village.

Taking the sealed road that led from the north of town directly to the village rather than going via the dirt road that passed the track to the camp took a little longer than she thought it would, however she enjoyed the ride and arrived long before the last bus would have. It was only after she’d dismounted at the park and propped the bike on its stand that she realised that pedalling for such a distance had exercised her leg muscles to the point that they were now quite sore, and was glad that she’d be able to load the bike onto the truck for the trip home.

Dirk and Frank turned up a bit earlier than anticipated, having spent the day just putting in posts and deciding to leave the stringing of the barbed wire until the next day. Sally was all smiles when she showed off her new mode of transport and even kept smiling when Dirk said she’d have to pedal fast to keep up with his truck when he drove home, telling him that he’d better have dinner ready for her when she got back. For some reason he was suddenly keen to load the bike onto the back of the truck, and she admitted that she would be happy to ride in the cab as her calf muscles needed time to recover from the effort of pedalling all the way from town.

Before leaving the village Dirk went over to the shops and made a few purchases then with the bike loaded onto the back of the truck he drove them both home. She was pleasantly surprised after arriving when Dirk told her to sit back, put her feet up and read Bron’s book on herbs while he cooked up a meal of pork chops with peas, carrots, corn and mashed potatoes, all of which he’d purchased before leaving the village. As if that wasn’t enough he’d also done caramelized onions and gravy to go with it, and then washed the dishes and cleaned up afterwards. Maybe, she thought to herself, she should ride her bike long distances on a regular basis!

* * *
​

Despite that she wouldn’t be going into the village Sally had risen at the same time as Dirk and made breakfast before he left with orders to book them into the hotel for that night if it was possible as she wanted to have another long hot shower. After he’d gone she went back to bed again, intending to get a bit more sleep, however it wasn’t really in her nature to lie around when there were things to do and half an hour later she was up again, working on getting the embankment ready to receive the plants they would buy next day.

The more she read of Bron’s book the more ideas she had about what to plant, and by lunchtime the list of plants she required was a long one. It no longer contained just the herbs commonly used in the culinary field but now included a large range of medicinals and soil improvers, along with some very colourful plants such as calendula, cordyline, fox-glove, gladioli, heliotrope, nasturtiums, a variety of geraniums and many others. Some of the sages produced colourful flowers too, and then there were chillies and peppers that could be planted in the mix. Some of the plants she read about weren’t so much colourful as they were beneficial in some way but many were also just simply beautiful to look at because of their foliage and thus would also be included.

Her credit card was going to take a bit of a pounding, she thought with a smile, and suddenly remembering that a payment would be due soon was glad that she’d given her auntie the postal address so that the monthly account could be forwarded to her. It would be a simple matter to transfer money from her savings account to pay for the purchases she was making and then decided that she should actually transfer her account to the local branch for easier access.

By midday she felt as if she’d done enough grubbing in the soil for one day so after putting away the tools, removing her gardening gloves and washing her hands thoroughly brewed a pot of tea and made up a salad roll for lunch. She then sat down and carefully following the instructions in the book of basics began teaching herself how to use the knitting needles and wool she had purchased in the village. It took her a little time to get the hang of just casting on the first row of stitches, and even longer to do the next, however after some practice she found that it wasn’t overly difficult, apart from keeping an even tension on the yarn so that the stitches weren’t either too tight or too loose. By the time Dirk arrived home she had, despite twice having had to pull it all apart and start again, completed a small but satisfying length of the scarf she was attempting to make as her first project, and even if it did look a bit uneven here and there she was quite proud of her effort. Dirk was quite proud of her too, saying that he hoped she would continue her new craft at least until they had a couple of sweaters each to keep them warm through winter.

“A couple of sweaters each? I don’t know if I could learn to knit fast enough to do that: At the rate I’m going I’d be lucky to finish even one for myself by then. By the way; did you know that knitting was first done by men? And that many men still do it as a hobby? In fact, they often take out major prizes in competitions and craft shows.”

“Really? Hmm... Are you trying to suggest that I take up knitting too?”

“Not really. In fact somehow I can’t imagine you doing something like that.”

“Suppose I could try though: Get some steel wool and knit you a Volkswagen perhaps.”

“Trust you to come up with something stupid like that.”

“Not a good idea, huh?”

“Of course not. You know what steel wool’s like: Being so close to the beach the salt air would rust the front part of the car away before you got half way to the back. Anyway, apart from obviously being mentally affected by too much sun, how was your day?”

“Pretty good really. We got the job finished a lot earlier than Frank thought we would and he was quite pleased about that. Said that if I was available he’d probably be able to use my help again occasionally, even after his own truck is back on the road, which should be by Wednesday. At the moment he hasn’t got anything else lined up until the middle of next week though, and even then it’ll only be to do some repair work and install a couple of gates. I have to pick him up Monday morning and then go to the mill and get the stumps I ordered. He suggested I get a few bags of Kwik-Set concrete mix to put under the base of each stump before they’re put in, and I can get those from the village hardware store tomorrow morning before we go to the nursery. Oh, almost forgot: I managed to book us into the hotel for tonight.”

“Terrific. Do you think it might be a good idea to make a regular booking for each Friday night over the next few weeks?”

“Or even until we’ve finished building the cabin. That’s not a bad idea at all. In fact, it’s another excellent idea: Long hot showers, dinner without having to cook, do our laundry, play darts. OK, we should head off soon but I want to water the plants and check the garden beds before we go.”

“I’ve already watered the plants. They’re doing well too,” she said as he began walking down to the soon-to-be veggie garden.

He’d only been gone a few minutes when Sally heard him excitedly calling for her to come and have a look, and after she’d hurried down found him down on his knees beside a pile of mulch that he’d pulled back to expose the soil beneath. She knelt down beside him and saw that the reason for his excitement was that the moist soil he’d taken from a small hole he’d dug with his bare hands was laced with a number of very active earth-worms that had taken up residence.

“This is great!” he exclaimed as he dug another small hole a bit further away and exposed some more worms. “I was hoping to find a few worms but I’m amazed that there are these many in such a small area, though they might’ve been attracted by the horse manure we bought. In any case I’m going to be transferring those potted plants here tomorrow afternoon.”

Smiling at his enthusiasm Sally returned to the tent and shortly after had their packs, with laundry and the clothes they’d be wearing after showering, loaded into the truck ready to go. Paddy was once again seated in the back and as Dirk climbed aboard after putting the large esky on the back of the truck he was amused to see that the bear was now wrapped in the unfinished scarf that Sally said she was taking to show the ladies at the haberdashery in the morning.

“So why are you so excited about all those worms?” Sally asked as they drove towards the village.

“Well, there are a number of reasons: They’re really good for the garden. First, they’re surface feeders: They come up and feed on decayed vegetable and animal matter. They don’t actually digest the stuff the way we do, but actually consume bacteria that’s on whatever it is they’re grinding. What passes through their bodies, the castings, is left behind to enrich the soil and feed the plants. As they burrow back down into the soil they create tunnels that are lined with beneficial bacteria and allow water to penetrate easily. Compost eventually breaks down by bacterial action but plants are more easily able to utilise the minerals produced by the worms than try to break down compost themselves. Letting worms happily do what they do best saves us the job of digging the soil over every season.”

“I’ve seen worm farms for sale at hardware stores, and the nursery has them too. They’re supposedly good for getting rid of kitchen scraps. Maybe you could breed some of those worms to put in the beds.”

“Not really. At least, not the worms that we saw in the soil here. Here they’re native earth worms, and they normally don’t survive very long in compost bins, though I don’t know why not. The types used in those worm farms are different varieties: Usually Red Worms, Tiger Worms, or Indian Blues, and they don’t normally survive long in the soil. A case of each to his own, I guess.”

“Some of those I saw in the garden looked really big. Are they any good for using as bait? If they are we could probably use some on Sunday when we go fishing with Rob and Rebecca.”

“I’ve heard that sometimes they aren’t all that good for fishing. For some reason fish seem to dislike them, though there are some that would be good, if we had them here. African and Canadian Night Crawlers are supposed to be really good, but breeding them can be a problem because they tend to wander off at night when no-one’s watching. Would you believe that there’s a worm found in Gippsland, Victoria - Megascolides australis - that grows up to three metres long? It’s so big that it can actually be heard crawling.”

“Honestly? Wow! You’d probably only need one of those in each bed if that was the case, but Yuck! I wouldn’t be gardening there if you did.”

“I probably wouldn’t be either. Maybe we could use a couple of old bathtubs as worm bins though, and produce castings and worm oil for sale.”

“Worm oil?”

Dirk laughed. “That’s what polite people in the business call what anyone else would call worm pee. Do you think maybe we should change the subject before we get turned off having dinner tonight?”

 

[Bidadisndat]

Now Sally laughed, and began to talk about the various herbs she was planning to establish on the embankment, provided of course that she was able to get them. Although Dirk knew some of the herbs she spoke of fairly well, and was vaguely familiar with others having read a little about them in his many gardening books, it seemed that Sally had really gotten into studying the subject and had already amassed a lot of information about them. She’d brought Bron’s book with her and although it had to be returned she hoped that she might be able to borrow it until she had her garden planted out. She would also ask the local newsagent to order in a copy of the same book if it was at all possible, but if not then she’d ask her Auntie in Sydney to buy it and send it to her.

Arriving at the hotel they first booked in then took their dirty clothing to the laundry and put it into a couple of washing machines before having a shower, which this time they did together, then heading for the bar to see if Bron was there. She wasn’t on duty, but only because she’d just finished her shift for the day, and they found her sitting at the bar with Frank, Bob and a couple of their friends, waiting for Dave to come back from town.

“Speak of the devil,” Frank said to Dirk as they approached. “I was just telling everyone about the fencing job we’re working on. You’ve got a good hard working man there Sally.”

“Hush now Frank or you’ll make his big head swell even more,” she laughed, then leaning over said “Hi Uncle Bob” as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to blush slightly but at the same time puff up with pleasure at her show of affection and calling him “Uncle” in front of his mates.

In the hour that followed they listened to the men talk about what had been going on, in and around the village over the past week or so, including a few humourous events concerning locals that had occurred, though for the present they said nothing about what they themselves were doing. That is until Bob assured them that where they were living and what they were doing wouldn’t go any further than the select group of tight-lipped friends they were drinking with now. Plus of course Jeff Mullins who owned the service station, as he was one of the group, and Darren, the friend who had an excavation business, and his wife Beth, who was the local hair dresser. Of course the hotel owners Tony and Trev would soon know anyway as they always knew what was happening in the village and when Bob said that the members of the brigade could also be trusted Sally laughed and asked if it might be easier to list those who wouldn’t be in on their secret.

Dave turned up and after greeting everybody was ordered a beer as he dragged another barstool to the end of the bar where they were all sitting.

“How did it go?” Bron asked him quietly, referring to yet another project that he was involved with.

“Pretty good. I’ll tell you about it when we get home.”

When asked, Bron assured Sally that it was OK for her to borrow the book on herbs for long enough to establish her garden, despite the fact that it was actually one of Dave’s books and not hers, and asked if it would be alright for her and Dave to have a look at the garden when it was finished.

After Dirk mentioned that he was putting in a vegetable garden Frank was quick to tell the group about the fence that Dirk had put up around it, describing it as one he himself would have been proud of, and for some reason Dave suddenly found himself very keen to visit the campsite. He’d confided to Bron soon after meeting the couple that they both appeared to be somewhat like themselves in that they weren’t afraid to take a risk by occupying land they didn’t have any legal right to and were determined to be as independent as possible. Just the type of people that are needed for a MAG, he had said at the time, and from what he had heard tonight he was now sure of it and decided that it’d be a good idea to put out some feelers and gauge their reaction to the idea.

Dirk was told that training with the Bush Fire Brigade was held every Saturday morning from eight a.m. until midday and that his training would begin as soon as he was able, though it needn’t be tomorrow as that was probably a bit short notice. Dirk admitted that he and Sally actually did have a lot of work planned for the next day but assured Bob that he would be there the following Saturday as well as all those that followed.

“You don’t have to turn up every Saturday,” Bob told him, “Though we do expect our members to make a regular appearance. Mind you, we all have such a good time that there’s never a shortage of volunteers, and I suspect several members would rather be at training than have to stay at home with nagging wives. And you never heard me say that,” he added as laughter followed the statement.
It was very shortly after that the group split up, with Frank, Bob and his mates heading for home and leaving the two couples to decide how the rest of the evening would be spent. Any thoughts that Dirk and Sally had of having a quiet meal together in the hotel’s dining room were quickly put aside when Dave asked them if they’d like to join him and Bron for dinner in town as they were going there to meet up with their tradie friends.

“It’ll be a good night and we’d love to have you join us,” Bron added.

“You’ve already met a few of them when you came snorkelling with us and I’m sure you’ll like the rest of the bunch,” Dave added. “Just be aware that despite being good tradesmen, good fishermen and good shooters they’re not all that good when it comes to karaoke, which is what’s on tonight.”

“I’d be the last one to knock them for that, Dai: I’m a bloody awful singer myself. That’s why I learned to play the sax and the liquorice stick: Can’t play either of those and sing at the same time.”

“What’s a liquorice stick?” asked Bron, to which Dave answered that the term was originally used in America back in the thirties to describe a clarinet, then asked Dirk if he was a jazz fan.

During the drive to town in Dave’s truck the two men sat in the front and talked first about jazz and then other genres of music that they both enjoyed while the girls sat in the back and talked about knitting, crotchet, pottery and other crafts that interested them both. Dave also broached the subject of self sufficiency and after some discussion, during which the girls got involved, he put forward the idea of a mutual aid group and was pleased to find that both Dirk and Sally were very receptive to the idea.

The night turned out to be every bit as good as Bron had told them it would be, despite that the meals that they’d ordered then collected from the servery when their number was called weren’t exactly “Haute Cuisine.” They found that the tradies and wives who they hadn’t met before were just as friendly as those they had, and Dirk made sure that he had all their ’phone numbers just in case they needed some professional advice when he and Sally were building their cabin.

During the trip back to the village Dirk told them that he would be running a Scuba Course in three weeks time and if they wanted to join and had their medicals completed they were a couple of spaces available, not mentioning that if they did they’d actually be the first to enrol in the class. He had been to the local doctor to discuss the possibility of him doing Diving Medicals and found out that he actually had a spirometer for doing lung function tests, and was considering attending a course with the DMC in Sydney. It was good news for Dirk and Sally who had thought they might have to travel to Sydney to do their medicals, and the decided that they would make appointments on the following Monday.

By the time Dave dropped them off at the Cock & Bull the full day had taken its toll and the lure of a warm, comfortable bed being irresistible they said goodnight and quickly headed for their room. Unfortunately they’d forgotten about their laundry before going into town and now had to make a detour in order to move their washed clothes to the dryer, though there was no way that they’d wait up until that machine stopped and they’d take their dried clothes out early in the morning.

Dirk also took his two cordless drill batteries and their recharger to the room and set them up so that they’d be fully charged come morning. He could have used the inverter that was currently being used to run their record player back at the camp but figured that using a power outlet at the hotel was much easier.

* * *​

After breakfast, and retrieving their laundry from the tumble dryer, Dirk headed for the hardware store to buy the bags of Kwik-set concrete needed for bedding the stumps while Sally went to the haberdashery, taking with her the short length of scarf that she had knitted. When she showed the piece to the ladies there they were quick to praise her work, telling her that she’d done very well, especially as she’d had no previous experience, and added that all she really needed to do now was practice. Of course there was a lot more to it than just casting on, knitting, purling and binding off, she was told, and if she could come back when she had the time they’d be very happy to show her some of the more advanced stitches and techniques. Happy with that invitation Sally did some grocery shopping before walking down to the hardware store, arriving in time to see the last few bags of Kwik-Set loaded onto the truck, and climbed into the cab for the drive to the garden centre in town.

An hour and a half was spent there as they sought out the plants each was looking for, with Dirk being quite amused when Sally’s unsuccessful search for Calendula resulted in her learning its more common name was Pot Marigold, and that several trays of them had been staring her in the face all along.

“Lucky for you they don’t have teeth,” he said. “They were close enough to have bitten you.”

She laughed but suddenly remembering the ride they’d taken in Dave’s truck replied that that would have been a problem for sure as there was no first-aid kit in the truck.

“Did you see the set-up Dai has in his truck? Apart from the CB radio I mean. Big first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, fire blanket and a BOB. Bron told me that they always carried those things, and her own car was set up the same way too. Apparently most of their friends followed Dave’s lead and have also fitted their vehicles out much the same way.”

“Good thinking. I reckon we should do the same. Where on your bike would you like the extinguisher mounted?”

“I’m beginning to think that Idiot is your middle name,” she laughed.

Dirk had one of the staff load ten jumbo sized bags of potting mix directly from a pallet that was raised by the nursery’s fork-lift truck to the level of the truck’s tray, however Sally decided that it wasn’t going to be enough and had him load ten more. Dirk was pleased she’d remembered his telling her about using potting mix when transplanting the vegetable seedlings that they had growing in pots under the trees, but jokingly asked her if she was planning to cover the whole campsite with the mix. After poking her tongue out at him she then proceeded to load her seedlings onto the back seat of the cab alongside the groceries, and on the floor behind the front seats, while Dirk secured eight very large planter pots against the bulkhead on the back.

After a brief stop at the garage where they filled they esky with ice they returned to the camp and unloaded everything, with the bags of Kwik-Set being placed under a few sheets of iron to keep them dry, despite it being highly unlikely that it would rain before they were used on the following Monday.

Sandwiches and a large mug of tea for lunch was followed by a pleasant afternoon of planting out their seedlings, both working together at first on the vegetable garden and then on the embankment. Sally, often referring to Bron’s, or rather Dave’s book on herbs had set her plants out so that when fully grown they wouldn’t crowd out their neighbours. By the late afternoon they’d managed to have everything in place apart from the eight large pots which contained a variety of dwarf citrus trees. There was one each of Lisbon and Meyer lemons, a Seedless Valencia, Washington Navel and Seville oranges, a Honey Murcott mandarin, a Tahitian lime and a Ruby Red grapefruit. Dirk said that he’d also wanted to buy a Marsh grapefruit, an Imperial Mandarin, a blood orange and a couple of cumquats but as they hadn’t been available he’d placed orders for them. The seedling trees he bought were well advanced but would be kept in pots until permanent in-ground positions for them had been decided upon, so for the time being they were simply arranged around the shelter. Sally was keen on the idea of having lots of fruit trees, just like her father had wanted, but at the moment she was concentrated more on her own garden project.

“I know it’s not much to look at right now, but I think that in a few months when everything’s growing properly it’ll look really good,” said Sally as she surveyed the embankment.

“I think so too. Hopefully it’ll be the same with the veggie garden. By the way, I noticed a number of small trees growing down the slope a bit and somehow they looked familiar. I’m not sure what they are but I’m going down to have a look. Want to come?”

“OK. Which path are they on?”

“Not sure. There are a few paths we haven’t followed yet and hopefully they’ll be growing alongside one of those and not in the middle of the scrub.”

After he’d pointed down the slope to where the trees were located they looked for and found a path that might lead directly to them, and after following it came across what turned out to be two small but beautiful fig trees. They hadn’t grown very tall but instead had spread quite widely, and both were fully loaded with juvenile fruit.

“Oh, Wow! These are two of the trees my dad planted. There were quite a few more though, and with any luck some of those might have survived too. Let’s have a good look around.”

During a twenty minute search along that path no more fig trees were found however they did find two feijoas and three guavas, plus half a dozen stunted olive trees which in their bushland setting could easily be mistaken for some type of native plant. As the figs seemed to be growing well Dirk suggested that they be left where they were, but after the fruit had ripened and been collected they should take cuttings and grow a few more trees closer to the cabin. As for the feijoa, guavas and olives, he wasn’t sure if cuttings could be taken from them but while there might be no harm in trying it would probably be better to read up on the method beforehand.

Later that evening, after emptying three big bowls of chilli con carne, only one of which Sally had, Dirk went through the several gardening books he had and in The Complete Book of Fruit, written by Violet Stevenson and Leslie Johns, found the information on propagating that he wanted. After reading the relevant pages, plus a few more that side-tracked him for a while, he passed the book to Sally to read. When she’d finished they made a list of all the items they’d need in order to successfully propagate not only the fig trees but also the feijoa, guavas, olives and even the mulberry tree. Their list included, in addition to sphagnum moss, peat moss, vermiculite and coarse river sand, a packet of hormone rooting powder, with Sally suggesting that maybe they could also get a few old windows from the recycling centre and build a small cold frame in which to place the cuttings.

“We could do that, though I’d be more interested in putting up a greenhouse like the one we helped Dai with.”

“Me too, but that’s probably going to have to wait for a while. And when we do put one up it’ll have to be built with recycled materials because, apart from being cheaper, anything new here would look out of place, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it would. You know, I think that by the time we finish putting up the cabin with the materials we’re using it’ll probably look as if it’s been here for decades. On the outside at least: On the inside I reckon it won’t look too much different to a modern house, apart from the wonderful craftsmanship that will be evident in my work of course.”

“You certainly have tickets on yourself, don’t you?” Sally laughed, though she was pretty sure that whatever job he tackled would be done extremely well and the cabin’s interior would look really nice.

* * *
​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Early in the morning the sound of a vehicle coming along the track and stopping above the campsite was followed by a loud honk of its horn as Rob heralded his and Rebecca’s arrival, and shortly after the couple made their appearance at the bottom of the zigzag path.

“Had no problems finding the place I see,” said Dirk, coming from the shelter and advancing with a hand outstretched to Rob in greeting.

“Nah. Just followed the direction like you gave me,” he replied as they shook hands. “I’ve driven down the trail a few times to go fishing at the reef, though I didn’t know the spur was there and probably would’ve driven straight past if Reb hadn’t pointed it out.”

Sally joined them just as Rob was about to introduce Rebecca and after having done so they all sat together at the table under the shelter, each nursing a mug of coffee as they planned the day. First on the agenda was to retrieve the timber from the hay-shed, plus perhaps a few more sheets of steel, although they could be handled by Dirk and Sally without extra help and weren’t considered a priority. Rob’s opinion was that as he was there they should take advantage of his help and bring back as much as they could anyway, provided it left plenty of time for fishing of course. It was finally decided that they should all go on the first trip to the shed and then decide just how much could be recovered before stopping for lunch, after which the whole afternoon could be spent fishing.

After Rob moved his ute down to the clearing they all piled into Dirk’s truck and drove to the hay-shed, where Rob was surprised to find that their source of building materials was the same shed that he’d driven past many times, and had at one time even thought of having a close look to see what was in there.

“I thought you were talking about the old Anderson house, abandoned after the bushfire went through here years ago,” he said.

“No. In fact I’ve never seen or even heard of the place. Do you think it’d be worth having a look at?”

“It wouldn’t hurt, though it’s a few miles from here. It got burned a bit but though the local brigade was able to save most of it the owners decided that rather than fix it up they’d get a completely new house built closer to town.”

As neither of the girls had seen the place he was talking about it was decided to go there first, and after climbing back into the truck and following Rob’s directions Dirk drove towards Brocklesbury but at the Tee intersection turned left towards the town. Less than half a mile later he swung left again, this time into a driveway that obviously hadn’t been used in a very long time, and drove to the old weatherboard house that could be seen at its far end.

From the front the building looked to be in reasonable condition however at the rear the damage was quite obvious, with the back veranda completely destroyed and two rooms having been badly damaged though fortunately the fire had been prevented from spreading any further. They also found after carefully entering the house that it had been vandalised, however although several windows had been smashed and some of the light fittings had been torn out of the ceilings, that part of the building not touched by fire or water wasn’t too bad, all things considered.

When Dirk turned to Sally and gave her a big grin she grinned back at him and nodded her head up and down rapidly: Despite the fire damage there was enough good timber here to not only complete their cabin but together with the material from the hay-shed more than enough to also build an enclosed shed for Dirk to use as a workshop. The big difference here, as opposed to the hay-shed, was that the owners hadn’t left for parts unknown and would have to be asked for permission to remove anything.

That would have to wait for another day though: After all, the fishing planned for this afternoon couldn’t be delayed just because of this find, and a short time later found them back at the hay-shed loading timber. With the first load dropped off at the camp Dirk and Rob returned to get a second load while Sally and Reb stayed behind to make up sandwiches for lunch and get to know each other a little better. Rebecca didn’t say much at first and Sally soon discovered that she was in fact quite a shy type of girl, although she opened up a bit after being shown the herb and vegetable gardens and hearing that a chicken run and coop was going to be added.

Apparently she’d faced difficult times as a child, being variously ignored or abused by her parents according to how much they’d been drinking or what they’d been smoking at the time, and her self esteem was at rock bottom. Not surprisingly her schoolwork suffered and this led to her being bullied so much at school that she dropped out, ran away from home and was living on the streets until being rescued by Rob. Thankfully she’d managed to avoid falling victim to drug dealers and pimps, though she knew that had she remained on the streets that fate would probably have been inevitable.

There was no way that she would ever be going home as on the night before leaving she’d pinched her father’s wallet when he’d come home drunk and after taking out the cash had dropped it on the street outside their front gate. When a neighbour found it next morning and returned it to the address on the driver’s licence found inside her father thought he’d simply dropped it, and roundly cursed the unknown thief who’d obviously picked it up and removed the cash before throwing it away again. As the wallet contained his fortnightly pay plus five hundred dollars he’d won at the TAB on the horses it was no trifling amount, however Reb felt no remorse over her actions as by her reckoning it would never be enough to cover the abuse she’d long suffered at his hands.

Rob, suspecting that she’d had a worse time of it than she admitted had never attempted to pry any further but instead had simply taken care of her, providing her with a comfortable bed in her own room and three square meals a day. In return she kept house and prepared meals for them both, got a job as a check-out chick at the local supermarket and began to study for her HSC through the local TAFE College in the hope that one she might be able to get a better job. She wasn’t too sure of what she really wanted to do in the future though she loved animals and wondered if it would be possible for her to become a vetinarian.

For more than a year she and Rob shared the two-bedroom flat that he rented before she realised that she had grown to love him and moved into his bedroom as his partner. It hadn’t been as simple as just changing rooms and on the first night she had broken down in tears, admitting to Rob that she wasn’t a virgin, having been raped by her father not long after her seventeenth birthday. When she tried to tell her mother about the assault she was loudly abused and accused of making the whole thing up, and was told never to repeat “the terrible lies” she had just told. As bad as the rape had been it was her mother’s reaction that had made the betrayal of trust complete and it was that as much if not more than the bullying she’d suffered as school that caused her to run off.

It had been a little over two years ago since she’d made the admission but with the help of his patient understanding and love her self esteem and life had improved immensely, and while at times she still had some self doubts her rock solid hero Rob was always there to support her.

Sally showed her the knitting that she’d begun, the player and stack of records she and Dirk had purchased from the recycling centre, took her down to have a look at the vegetable garden and then down to the mulberry tree where she told her the story of Paddington Bear. It was an emotional telling and both girls were almost in tears by the time Sally had finished, however they both instinctively felt that each had found a good friend in the other, and this was borne out over the many years that were to follow their first meeting.

After the men returned and wolfed down the stack of sandwiches that had been waiting for them, and with Rob’s ute being a two-door model seating only three they all piled into Dirk’s truck and headed for the beach with two eskies and their fishing rods and tackle on the back.

Despite that fishing was a very serious undertaking, according to Rob anyway, Dirk and Sally thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and, although being wet through with spray from several large waves that crashed onto the rocks where they were standing each managed to catch enough fish to get themselves hooked on the sport. It was, Dirk admitted, more than just sport as it was also an excellent way to put food on the table, and if they’d had a freezer he and Sally would probably fill it with fish. Reb laughed at that and said that if they did have a freezer it should only be half filled with fish as being homesteaders they’d need to leave enough room for a few chickens, and possibly some rabbits too.

“Or maybe you could build a smoker,” suggested Rob. “Not just for fish, but you could also use it for chicken, pork, beef and sausages.”

“We’ve already got one!” Sally suddenly exclaimed very excitedly. “Dirk, my dad and uncle sometimes used the earth oven to smoke some of the fish they caught! I’m not sure how they went about it, but I’m sure we could learn how to use it.”

“You guys have an earth oven? Far out, man. We’ve got a Weber that I can use as a smoker but I’ve always wanted a big earth oven so we could make our own pizzas and bake bread. Problem is we aren’t able to build one where we’re renting. Hell, the old biddy who owns the place won’t even let me use the Weber in the back yard.”

“Gosh, that’s the pits. Well I guess you and Reb could come and use ours, especially if you have too many fish and need to offload a few,” Sally suggested. “In fact, maybe you could even show us how to smoke with it.”

“You’re on, Sal. I’d be glad to. Mind you, the wood around here isn’t what you’d want to be using but you can get packets of different woods for smoking at the camping shop in town.”

Having caught enough fish for one day they returned to the camp-site where Rob immediately went to check out the earth oven, and finding that it was even better than what he’d thought it might be said that it would be no problem for him to use it as a smoker. However today it was going to be used for their barbeque and it wasn’t long before the two men, a stubbie of beer in hand, had a bed of coals glowing under the hot-plate.

While Rob explained the intracies of using a smoker and how this earth oven could be used as one the girls, each with a glass of wine at hand, were putting together and laying out salads, plus a large mud-cake that Reb had baked and brought along. She called it a Mexican mud-cake as she’d used kaluah instead of the whisky that would have been used in a Mississippi mud-cake, and had almost doubled the amount. She’d omitted the instant coffee granules and had to adjust the other dry ingredients a little to compensate for the extra liquid however the resultant cake was one of perfection according to Sally, who had been unable to resist “just a tiny slice” when offered a taste.

“I’ve also made an Aussie version using Bundaberg Rum, and I call that one a Murrumbidgee mud-cake as I think that river would be somewhat like the Mississippi. Well, I don’t know that for sure of course, but at least the name sounds good, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it does. Dirk would love to try that one as I know he doesn’t mind a drop of Bundy now and then. I might need a bit of practice using the earth oven before trying it myself though as it doesn’t have a temperature gauge. Hmm... I wonder if Dirk could put one into it somehow.”

Sally loved barbeques, she told Reb, because whenever they had one Dirk always did the cooking and the cleaning up afterwards. Reb replied that it was the same with her and Rob, though unfortunately that was only when they went to places that had a barbeque or where they could use their Weber.

Later, after they’d all eaten well but found enough room for a decent slice of mud-cake to go with the bottle of port that Rob had brought, Dirk showed the two visitors the sketch-book in which he had drawn the plan for the cabin they were going to build. When Rob looked at the plan of the small cabin that Dirk wanted to build and said that it looked more like a small house than a cabin, Sally decided it was a cottage, and that she’d think of a suitable name for it bye and bye.
After studying the plan closely and listening to Dirk explain how the now-a-cottage was to be built Rob suggested that the two doors that would open onto the deck from the main living area should be ten-light French doors.

“Why ten-light French doors?” Dirk asked.

“Well, they’d look really nice and would let a lot of light in, but mainly because a couple of sets in good nick were just delivered to the recycling centre and are now waiting for a nice little cottage to house them,” he replied, adding that a set would be going for a ridiculously low price if Sally and Dirk were interested.

“Sold to the lady with the curly red hair!” Sally called, reaching across the table to take the sketch book and pencil the doors into the plan.

“They’d make up nearly half the length of the wall and would certainly let a lot of light in, but I think they’d let a lot of heat out during winter nights,” said Reb when she looked at Sally’s adjustment to the plan. “It’d probably lessen the loss if you drew heavy curtains across them when the sun went down though.”

“Hmm... You’re right, Reb,” said Dirk. “Maybe I could build plantation shutters for the outside too. They’d help prevent more of the heat loss when closed, plus they’d make the place a bit more secure whenever we’re away.”

“They’d look really good too love,” Sally said. “You know, with so much light coming in, those casement windows I thought could be placed at the far end the living area could be used in the loft instead. If they’re not too tall that is, because there doesn’t appear to be a lot of headroom up there.”

“I’ve been thinking about that: My original design was meant to be built as a caravan and because the height was restricted by regulations for towed vehicles the headroom in the loft would have been only just enough to let me sit up in bed. As a fixed structure I could increase the headroom enough to install those windows, but I wouldn’t want to go too high as I think it’d ruin the building’s appearance, so we still might have to stoop a bit upstairs.”

“Won’t bother me ‘cause I’m only five foot three... almost,” laughed Sally.

“How much headroom is there in the living area?” Rob asked as he looked at the plan again.

“Well, the ceiling slopes up from eight foot at the side walls to ten foot six at the centre of the ceiling, though it’s only seven foot over the kitchen because the loft is above that part. The loft’s high enough for me and Sally because neither of us is all that tall, but people over six feet might find it a bit low.”

They all laughed when Sally told them it was no problem for her because when she lived with her uncle and aunty the day-to-day crockery items and glassware they used was always placed on the lower shelves of the overhead cupboards in their kitchen, as neither she nor her aunty could reach the higher shelves easily.

“The deep cupboard over the ‘fridge was the most inconvenient,” she said, “So aunty put all the things she never used up there. I remember once when one of her cousins was coming for a visit, and knowing that she always brought a bunch of flowers with her, auntie had to climb up and dig out a horrible vase that the cousin had given her. When the cousin arrived she was thrilled to find the vase sitting on the dining room table and as expected had quickly filled it with the flowers she’d brought. After the cousin had gone aunty kindly left the flowers in the vase until they died, and then emptied the ugly thing and quickly put it back out of sight.”

Conversation, mostly ideas and suggestions for the cottage and its surrounds, continued until a little more than half the mud cake was gone and the two men had emptied the bottle of port between them when it was decided to call it a night.

“Umm... We have our swag in the back of our ute and planned to stay down at the beach, but I don’t want to drive after drinking all that port so would you guys mind if we just parked here overnight?” Rob asked.

“No problem with that, though unfortunately there’s no shower facilities here.”

“No worries: There are showers at the recycling centre and Reb and I’ll have finished using them long before the regular staff turns up. Hey, why not get up early and come with us? You could also have a look at those French doors at the same time.”

“Yeah. We’ll be in that, won’t we Sal? So Rob, can I presume you have keys to the place?”

“Well of course I do. I am the manager after all,” he replied, laughing at the sudden look of surprise on both Sally and Dirk’s faces.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Not only had they all showered but by the time the regular staff turned up for work in the morning one set of the French ten-light doors had been loaded onto Dirk’s truck, taken back to the camp-site and placed in the shed. Rob had found that there were also narrow glazed panels that flanked each set of doors and he’d put a finger to his lips and given Sally a wink before motioning her to help him slide two of them onto the truck on top of the doors, then topped it off by including the architraves that had framed the set.

After Dirk and Sally returned to the camp and placed everything in the shed there wasn’t much room for anything else, prompting Sally to suggest that it might be a good idea to erect the second of the sheds that Dirk had brought with him. He agreed however added that it would have to wait until after the stumps for the cottage had been put in, and doing that would probably take the rest of the day plus most of the next.

Following a quick breakfast Dirk drove the truck into Brocklesbury, picked up Frank, his post-hole digger and a twenty litre drum of creosote, then together they proceeded to the mill to collect the stumps he’d ordered. Back at the camp the stumps were unloaded and set up where their in-ground ends could be painted with the tar-like creosote, and Sally volunteered to undertake that unenviable task.

With the footprint of the cabin measuring nine feet by twenty seven, Dirk’s plan had a total of twenty one stumps spaced at four foot six inch intervals in three rows four feet six inches apart, and although it may have been overkill he said, he was determined that the cabin’s foundations would be as solid as rock. There would be a crawl space at least two foot high at its lowest point, and Dirk felt that it would be enough room for him to be able to get under to install insulation batts if they were needed. Stump holes for the front deck and the back porch would also need to be dug, but they could be done later.

Before lunch the men laid out string lines to set out the positions for the stump holes then Frank used a spray-can of paint and marked on the ground precisely where they were to be dug out. Once the positions were marked the strings were removed to allow the two men to manouvre the post-hole digger around the site without getting their legs tangled, and straight after lunch they began the job of digging out the holes. As the ground sloped slightly down from the south-west end to the north-east end of the building site they used Frank’s home-made water level to ensure that the depth of each hole was such that the tops of the stumps would be level and match the plan that Dirk had drawn.

Sally had never seen one of the man-portable post-hole diggers being used and watching with interest as it was put into operation marvelled at how easy and fast it was to dig a hole with one. Fortunately, and rather surprisingly to Dirk, the soil in which they were digging was of a higher clay content and was more compact than where he’d put in the posts for the vegetable garden, and as there was no need to add water the job progressed fairly quickly. So quickly in fact that Frank was of the opinion that they could probably dig the holes for the front deck and back porch that day, despite that Dirk had not yet purchased stumps to go in them.

Although she wore gloves and an old shirt, and took care not to get any on her skin, Sally couldn’t avoid the smell of the creosote that she was applying to the stumps, and by the end of the day had developed a headache and was feeling a bit off colour. As soon as Dirk became aware of her condition he called a halt to the work, and as he and Frank had done as much as they’d planned to do for the day anyway, told her to go and lie down while he drove Frank back to the village. When he returned it was with a hot take-away meal, supposedly for two but more than enough for three, which he’d bought at the village’s Ying Wah Chinese restaurant and transported back in the esky.

Fortunately by the time he returned home Sally was feeling much better, probably because rather than lie down in the confines of the tent she had used the hammock under the trees where she could breathe fresh air. She’d also put a couple of L.P’s on the record player, lit the Coleman lantern and after hearing the truck coming down the spur had poured the glass of Rosé that was waiting on the table for him.

“It looks like you’re making a cemetery for a tribe of gypsies,” Sally said as they ate, indicating with her chin to where twenty one stump holes had been dug. “Did you know that gypsies are often buried in a standing position?”

“Are they really? Why’s that, do you know?”

“No idea. My auntie told me it was in a book she was reading.”

“That’s interesting. Well, we should have the rest of the holes dug and all the headstones in place by tomorrow arvo. Frank said that the Kwik-set concrete we put in each hole today will be firm enough to support them so I think most of the time will be spent tamping them in place.”

“The last part sounds OK, but I’m not too happy about the stumps being referred to as headstones; I’ll probably end up dreaming about gypsies’ ghosts lurking under the floor every night,” Sally laughed.

“By the way,” said Dirk. “Frank said his truck will be back on the road on Wednesday and while he could handle most jobs by himself as they’re usually small ones, he reckons being able to go for bigger jobs means he’d make more money and, his words not mine: “A fit young offsider who’s not afraid of hard yakka would be worth employing.” It’d involve some travel to outlying areas at times, but he’ll cover me for petrol money when we need to use my truck, which would probably be often as my truck is bigger and can carry more stuff. Plus he said it’d be cash in hand, so I wouldn’t be paying any tax on it.”

“That’d be good. Mind you, we wouldn’t really need a lot of cash if we could become as self-sufficient as we’d like to be. Speaking of which, I’ve been giving some thought to that, and I think we should go ahead and get some chickens. Do you think digging post holes for the chook run could be included in the deal you have with him now?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. I don’t know how effective the auger would be in the sandy soil over there though, but I’ll put it to him in the morning. Ahh... Do you want the last of that sweet-and-sour pork?”

“No thanks love. It’s really good, but I’m full up to pussy’s bow. You can have it, and you might as well finish off the fried rice too.”

Dirk laughed as he hadn’t heard the expression “full up to pussy’s bow” since he was a kid in primary school, but happily went about emptying all the take-away containers which Sally said she would wash out and keep.

* * *
​

By midday Tuesday concrete mix had been poured into the base of each hole and by Thursday evening all the stumps had been soundly set in place, with an ant cap fixed on the top of each. The poles for the chook run had also been installed, along with their stays, though they still had to install the wire mesh that would keep the intended birds contained, and of course they’d have to build a coop for them.

He’d temporarily placed the bearers on the stumps and laid out the floor joists, though none had been secured as he needed to get some straps and other fixings first and these he purchased early on Friday morning, collecting at the same time the rolls of four foot wire mesh that would be needed for the chicken run. He chose to use the same heavy gauge wire that had been used for the veggie garden for the bottom half of the fence, but a lighter gauge for the top half and the cover as it was meant to deter hawks, crows and kookaburras rather than rabbits and foxes. He also purchased two two-foot wide rolls of the heavy mesh which would be laid flat on the ground around the outside perimeter of both the veggie garden and the chook run, and be clipped to the bottom of the fence to help prevent four-legged critters digging under it.

Although not as much as he feared it might have, the items Dirk had purchased cost a bit, and he thought that at the rate he was going he might soon have to find regular paid employment in order to finish the build. He hadn’t actually mentioned anything about it, however Sally was aware that his purchases of material weren’t something she could just ignore, especially as they were now a couple, and decided that she would contribute to the finance of the build on an equal basis... Beginning from last Monday when he’d purchased the stumps and creosote, plus all the other material he’d bought since then.

It’s sometimes said that if you want a professional job done, get a keen amateur to do it, as they usually go by the book and don’t take the short cuts that tradesmen often do in order to save time and money. This was certainly the case with Dirk, who in Sally’s opinion spent almost as much time reading Allan Staines’ book “The Australian Owner Builders Manual” as he did doing the actual work, and the excellent job he’d done so far reflected the care and attention to detail he’d taken.

Not that Sally hadn’t also spent a bit of time reading the same book, and rather than limit her contribution to the work in hand by simply giving advice, and making large plates of sandwiches and many pots of tea, she had willingly pitched in to help him whenever and wherever she could.

They hadn’t asked him to but Rob suddenly turned up at morning tea time that day and had lent a pair of strong hands to the effort of getting the bearers and joists positioned and secured, and he suggested that it’d be good if floor-boards could be salvaged from the Anderson house, rather than buy particle board flooring as Dirk was planning to do.

When he heard that Dirk and Sally would be going to the hotel at Brocklesbury after the day’s work was done he asked if it would be OK for him to tag along… Along with Reb, of course. They were surprised to hear that despite having seen it he’d never been inside the hotel and told him that he and Reb would be most welcome to join them for a night out, though he’d have to hurry back to town and bring his lady back in time for them to have dinner together. Calling by Frank’s house on their way to the Cock & Bull they invited him to also join them for dinner and a few drinks if he had nothing else planned, and as that turned out to be the case he told them that he’d meet them there in half an hour, after he’d showered and changed.

It was lucky that Dirk had called around, he said later, as he had a job lined up and would require some help. It wasn’t a large job however the customer wanted it done quickly and had accepted the high quote, based on two men doing the work, that Frank had given him.

When they fronted the bar of the hotel, after first booking in and putting their laundry into one of the washing machines, it was no surprise for them to find Bob Watson and two of his mates sitting at their usual position at the end of the bar. At a welcoming wave from Bob they quickly joined the trio, one member of which gave up his seat so that Sally could sit beside her self-proclaimed Uncle. The same courtesy didn’t extend to Dirk who now sat separated by one seat from Sally but at least close to the double-lidded stainless-steel bowl of cheese and crackers put on the bar for favoured regulars, and he happily helped himself to a good handful of each.

Some ten minutes after Bob began telling them about how flamin’ hard his week had been Frank turned up and had a bit of a grumble too, though by their second beer that was all put aside as Dirk and Sally told them about the work they’d done on their cottage. None of the locals had met the bloke who Dirk said had helped them with the work that day; however this was remedied when Rob arrived, Reb in tow, and they were all introduced.

With the group now numbering eight, six of whom would be ordering from the bar’s meal servery above which a chalkboard displayed the day’s menu, they opted to move to one of the long tables in the beer garden, cheekily asking the barmaid if she could replenish the cheese and crackers before taking the bowl with them.

During conversation with her in the beer garden, Sally was fascinated to hear that Reb had enrolled in evening classes at the local TAFE College and was learning how to do lead-lighting. She had already completed two simple projects and was now in the process of undertaking a more complex one of a shade for a Tiffany table lamp, which she would be happy to show Sal when it was finished.

“I remembered you saying last week that you’d be interested in doing some pottery,” Reb said. “They have courses for that too, so I grabbed a pamphlet and an application form for you,” she added as she pulled both from her shoulder bag and handed them over. “It’s only a short course really; one night a week over three months. If you decide to do one, Rob said he could drive you over after he finishes work, then you could do the lesson, stay with us overnight and come back with him the next morning, and as we have a spare bedroom he thinks it’s a good idea.”

Sally read the pamphlet and found that the course was held on Tuesday nights, the same night that Reb did her lead-lighting classes, took two and a half to three hours each lesson, and although materials weren’t included, it wasn’t expensive. Deciding on the spot to enrol for the next available course she filled out the application form and handed it back to Reb along with the required deposit, and asked her if she wouldn’t mind dropping both off at the TAFE for her.

It was as she was passing the papers to Reb that Bron remembered that she and Dirk were supposed to have attended to another application form and she leaned over towards him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Dirk, with all the work we’ve been doing I completely forgot about booking in for our diving medicals! We’ll have to make sure we don’t forget to do that next Monday.”

“Hell! I forgot about it too. We’ll have to try and get a booking later in the week though, because I’ll be helping Frank out for a couple of days from Monday. How about we see if we can book them for Thursday? That’ll leave a day up my sleeve in case the job with Frank takes a bit longer than he thinks.”

“Yeah, that should be alright, although another problem is that you’ll be training with the Bush Fire Brigade on Saturday mornings, so we’ll have to talk to Dai and see if we can work out some kind of schedule.”

Sitting alongside, Reb couldn’t help but overhear some of the exchange and as Sally sat back asked her what it was all about. After Sally told her that she and Dirk were going to do an Open Water Diver course with Dave Morgan, an instructor who had recently taken up residence and had a farm close to Fish Hook Bay, she herself got rather excited about the idea.

“Do you think Rob and I would be able to join? We’ve both done quite a bit of snorkelling, and have thought about going to Queensland and diving on the Great Barrier Reef.”

“Well, I don’t know how many are booked on the course that Dirk and I’ll be doing, but I can ask Dave tomorrow morning. He only has six students on each course and it’d be fantastic if the four of us could do it together.”

“Do what together?” asked Rob, who had suddenly surfaced after a deep discussion with Frank regarding some of the least appreciated policies that the present government and opposition parties were promoting prior to a looming state election. Their conclusion was that nothing either party did would have much effect on the way of life that the village people led, but overall the country wouldn’t be any less screwed than it was now, and he turned his attention to Reb.

“A Scuba diving course,” she told him. “Dirk and Sally are starting one in two weeks and I thought it’d be good for us to do one too. Sal’s going to ask the instructor tomorrow if we can join the same class.”

“Yeah? Hmm, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’m up for it, provided it’s on weekends.”

Frank and Bob decided to call it a night and they left the two couples to calls of “good night,” and in Dirk’s case “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, eight a.m. sharp,” from Bob.

They talked together for a while longer before Dirk and Sally decided to retreat to their room for the night as it had been a long week and Dirk had to be up early.

“Actually, Reb and I will be camping down at the beach tonight, and tomorrow we’d like to have a look around the place, so maybe we could meet here again, say around lunch time?”

“That’d be good. If you’re going to be camping out, why not drive down to the beach at Fish Hook Bay? The road down there was apparently closed for a long time but it’s been cleared recently, and it’s a lovely spot. As far as tomorrow goes, Dirk’s going to be training with the Bush Fire Brigade in the morning and I don’t have any plans, so can I go with you? If you don’t mind of course.”

“Good idea. OK. We can come back and have breakfast here, go for a drive, then come back for a look around the village and have lunch.”

“The brigade usually has a barbeque when they’ve finished training and I know Dirk will want to be with the other volunteers, so how about we join them? I’m sure we’d be welcome, especially if we bring our own meat and donate a few dollars to their unit. First thing in the morning I’ll ask uncle Bob if that’d be OK. Anyway, it’s goodnight for now, and we'll see you in the morning.”

 

[Bidadisndat]

The Cock & Bull gained two more regular patrons later that night when after Dirk and Sally left Rob had a good look around the hotel and discovered the existence of its fishing club, sought out a couple of its members and asked if he could join.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he was told by one member, “provided that you can find someone to propose you and another to second the proposal. You’ll also need to fill out an application form and provide two references regarding your fishing ability and experience; a criminal history report from the state police; a copy of your latest bank statement, and a letter from a priest or rabbi confirming your good character.”

“You forgot to mention the certified copies of his Driver’s Licence and Birth Certificate or Citizenship Papers, and the two passport sized photos, one of which has to be notarised on the back by a J.P.,” said the other.

“Oh yeah, so I did. Anyway, failing that, and also to avoid having to shave off that unsightly fuzz that you probably think looks like a beard, you could instead simply shout the prospective proposer and seconder, which would be us, a schooner of Toohey’s Old each, and be accepted immediately.”

The two members weren’t too surprised when a fully bearded and laughing Rob went to the bar to fulfil the requirements of the second option, but they were when after being introduced to his attractive partner she offered them a second glass each as she also wanted to join the club.

“Well, with you being a lady it might normally be deemed appropriate for you to buy us a middy instead,” she was told. “However our club is a great believer in equality, so it’ll have to be another schooner.”

The men had been joking of course, but within minutes both were nursing a fresh glass, with another to come when they’d finished, and later told their fishing mates that the two newcomers were “good sports who‘ll fit in well, even if they do live on the wrong side of the freeway.”

“How many members are there in your club at the moment?” Rob asked.

“Well, when everyone’s here we could probably fill the place.”

“What, the whole bar?”

“Well, maybe not the whole bar, but now that you and your mate have joined we’d be able to fill all the chairs ’round this table at least.”

“I guess Reb and I’ve joined a pretty exclusive club then.”

“You have indeed. Actually, we’re thinking of having a membership drive if and when the wharf down at the bay is repaired, though the joining fee will go from a schooner of Toohey’s Old to a large bottle of O.P. Bundaberg Rum in order to discourage riff-raff.”

“What sort of people would you consider riff-raff?”

“Well, to start with, those who don’t drink Bundaberg Rum.”

They stayed and talked to the two club members until the time honoured call of “Time gentlemen, please” was made by the barmaids then headed for a night sleeping under the stars at Fish Hook Bay. They arrived there to find that a group of young people had also taken advantage of the cleared access road to the beach and were camped around a large circular fireplace that they’d built from rocks. Rob noted that the group had been well prepared for the camp-out as they had brought along a good supply of firewood rather than rely on finding enough dry driftwood or fallen branches from the trees that backed the beach. Fortunately the group wasn’t a rowdy one and the singing that drifted from the direction of their campfire seemed to be mostly songs from the sixties and seventies. They sang to the accompaniment of two guitars and a set of bongo drums, but before too long everyone on the beach had drifted off to sleep and the only sounds to be heard after that were those of small waves lapping the sand at the water’s edge.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Following an early breakfast at the hotel where the four met up again in the morning they proceeded to the Fire Brigade building to ask if it would be OK for them to join the barbeque when Dirk had finished his training. Rob surprised everyone when at the same time he suddenly decided that if it was OK by the Captain he’d like to stay and join the training session, hopefully learn something new and perhaps also become a member. The Captain, who thanks to Sally arrival in the village was now referred to by his mates as Uncle Bob, was delighted with the prospect of having not one but two new volunteers join his crew, and would be only too happy to have the girls join them for lunch.

Rob tossed the keys of his ute to Reb, telling her that she and Sally could go and do whatever they liked while he and Dirk were training, and after lunch they could have a look around the village. She caught the keys as they sailed across the bonnet and with a grin told him that they’d find some way to fill in the time, although that might involve a drive into town and the spending of a bit of cash.

“No problem,” Rob replied. “Provided you remember it’s your cash you’ll be spending, and that you’ll also have to refill the petrol tank before you get back.”

“Of course. Don’t I always?”

“Well, most times you do. Though I seem to remember a couple of times after you used the ute when I was glad we were carrying a couple of full Jerry cans.”

“Hey! That was a long time ago, and if I recall correctly it hasn’t been only me who’s been caught with a near empty tank. In fact, if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be carrying those Jerry cans anyway.”

Knowing she was right, and before she could get really stuck into him, Rob looked skywards and cried “Scotty, beam me up!” as he beat a hasty retreat towards the group of volunteers now assembling beside one of the fire trucks.

“Round one to me, I reckon,” Reb said with a smirk as she and Sally got into the ute, and followed that with “Damn! Round two to Rob,” as she looked at the petrol gauge to find that the tank was down to just under a quarter full, and would need quite a few of her dollars to fill it. “Enough for a trip into the town and back, but not too much further, the way this thing guzzles fuel. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll find some crafty way to fix his little red wagon before too long.”

“You’re making it sound like you’re often at odds with each other,” Sally laughed, “Though I can’t really believe that of course.”

“Actually, we’ve never had a real disagreement since we met; though I probably tested his patience a bit at first ’cause my head was pretty messed up back then. Strangely enough, I think that helping me helped him too, in a way: He’d only recently gone through a pretty nasty divorce and though he’s never said much about it, I know he was quite bitter about the whole thing. He finding me in the state I was in might have been the distraction he needed to help take his mind off ... things. We’ve pretty much leaned on each other over the last few years I guess, but meeting you and Dirk has been good for both of us.”

“Well, we’re both glad we met you guys too. Look, if you ever need to talk about anything that you can’t talk to Rob about, with him being a man I mean, you can come and talk to me.”

“Thanks Sal, I really appreciate that. I’m glad that Rob and Dirk get on so well together. Surprised me a bit really, especially considering what happened between him and his last best mate.”

“Had a bit of a falling out, did they?”

“You could say that: He caught his mate and his wife in the cot together when he came home early from a trip he’d had to make to attend a conference in Melbourne. He and his wife had been married for less than a year, and the discovery that she was actually a bit of a whore really threw him. More than a bit, if the truth was known. Still, her loss is my gain as far as I’m concerned, and I’ll make sure that he never has to worry about the same thing happening again. Anyway, enough of that: What are we going to do now?”

“First off I need to get in touch with Dave Morgan to see if you guys can join the same scuba course that Dirk and I’ll be on, and then I want to go to the haberdashery here and get some more wool for my knitting. After that I’ve got no plan at all in mind so it’ll be up to you to decide what we do.”

There was no answer when Sally went across the street and dialled Bron and Dave’s number from one of the two public ’phone booths outside the post office, and as the haberdashery wouldn’t be open for another forty minutes Reb decided to show her the animal shelter where she occasionally helped out.

The shelter turned out to be the council pound as well, and when they arrived Sally thought that from the number of caged dogs she could see it looked like it must have been home to all the strays in the county. Some of the most recent arrivals were in a sad state of neglect and it was explained that just that morning they had been collected from a property that was supposedly a breeding facility, but not one that would ever have been approved by the RSPCA. That organisation had been called by a potential customer who had been appalled by the conditions of the kennels, and after an inspection of the property the owner had been issued orders to rectify the situation. A subsequent inspection had found that no attempt at all had been made to fix anything, resulting in the raid that had rescued the dogs, and had the owner facing charges of animal neglect and cruelty.

Unfortunately it appeared that some of the dogs were in such bad condition that they would have to be put down, and while that was a little distressing to Reb she was a fairly pragmatic girl and had to admit it was probably the most humane thing to do. Telling Sally that if she ever got the chance to have a dog it would come from a shelter, she suggested that if she and Dirk ever wanted one they could do the same, though as they didn’t have fencing that would prevent a dog from roaming, that wasn’t likely. Not at present maybe, Sally had replied, but in the future she was sure they’d be able to get one, and possibly a cat too if it could be prevented from killing native fauna such as possums and bandicoots, and birds… other than Indian Mynars which are an introduced pest.

The two girls spent about three hours helping gently bathe a number of dogs that appeared to be capable of being returned to the healthy condition that a well cared for dog should be in, and then drove back to the village where Reb pulled in to Jeff Mullin’s garage and filled the ute’s petrol tank.

There were still fifteen minutes before most of the shops shut so Sally was not only able to buy her wool but also show Reb some of the beautiful hand-made garments that had been put on display by the village’s ladies’ sewing club. The amazing artistry of several quilts hanging on one wall seemed to take Reb’s breath away, and she was awestruck to learn that the most beautiful one had actually been entirely hand stitched.

The two ladies running the shop got quite carried away when explaining to Reb how quilting was actually an art in itself, and that some quilts made were often valued much in the way that fine paintings were. In fact, they added, the one that she had been admiring so much was on sale for $1,500, and its maker intended to send it down to a dealer in Sydney who would add twelve percent to the asking price as his commission... and would still have no trouble selling it.

“I think maybe I enrolled in the wrong class at TAFE, Sally. I can’t imagine ever getting that much for a leadlight window or a Tiffany lamp,” Reb joked.

“Don’t sell yourself short dear,” said the lady who had been telling her about the expensive quilt. “Lead-lighting is no less an art than quilting, and if you have a good eye for putting together designs and colours, and go about marketing the right way, you could probably make some reasonable money out of it. Actually you’d probably make more money by custom making and restoring lead-lights: You’d be surprised at the time and effort required, let alone the expense of tools and materials required to make quilts as good as this one.”

“As you could with many other well-made hand-crafted goods,” put in the second lady. “Of course quilts that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into making are wonderful gifts for giving to people that you really care about, plus you’d be helping keep alive another skill that’s slowly being lost in these times of mass production.”

Glancing at her watch Sally realised that the time was already a quarter past closing, and with apologies to the two ladies for having kept them back told Reb that they had better get moving as the men at the brigade would probably be having their barbeque now. As they were leaving it was suggested to Reb that there was no reason she couldn’t do both lead-lighting and quilting, and if she ever decided to do the latter they would be happy to provide her with any help, and materials that she might need.

The barbecue turned out to be little more than sausages held between thick slices of buttered bread topped with a generous helping of fried onion and lathered in either tomato or barbeque sauce, and though not a salad of any description was in sight the men were happy enough to have a few cans of beer to accompany the meat. At one time the delicatessen across the road had tried to persuade the men to take a few containers of potato, pasta or tossed salad, however they’d all agreed that if they wanted a healthy meal they might as well go home and eat. Of course they weren’t averse to devouring a few of the supposedly “excess” pastries and cakes Julius Tan’s wife Mai delivered from the family’s bakery. And just quietly, not a few of those found their way to the wives whose husbands may have felt a bit guilty about having so much fun with their fellow fire-fighters, rather than doing those little jobs that needed to be done around a house.

Dirk and Rob had found that their introductory lesson, which was mostly about how fires started and how they could keep on burning until someone put them out, was very informative, and by the end of the day Rob had decided that he would in fact also join the unit. That decision had nothing to do with the few cans of beer he’d downed at the barbeque, he insisted, though Reb had fun accusing him of agreeing to just about anything once he’d drunk more than a can and a half.

With the barbeque over, the four friends strolled the length of the street, finding that whereas the shops in town, apart from Woolworths and Big W, closed at midday on Saturdays, those in the village stayed open until two p.m. This gave people who worked in town time to get back to the village and do a little shopping on their way home, and was something that everybody showed their appreciation of by doing just that. In fact according to the shopkeepers they did more business in those two extra hours than they did during the whole morning, thus it was worth them keeping their doors open a bit longer. Not surprising that the ladies at the haberdashery hadn’t been disconcerted by she and Reb keeping them open, said Sally

Another ’phone call was made to Bron’s house and this time she was at home, though she wouldn’t be for much longer as she would be beginning a shift at the Cock & Bull quite soon. When Sally asked her if there might be room on Dave’s next scuba course for two more students she laughed and admitting that Sally and Dirk were currently the only two who had applied, because Dave hadn’t promoted it yet, said they’d be most welcome. She could bring a couple of application forms down to the hotel when she came, or if they were in a hurry they could come to the farm and get them.

The men decided that waiting at the hotel where they could throw a few darts and possibly have a beer wouldn’t be a problem, however when they arrived it was to find that the darts club had taken full control of the board and a competition was in progress.

“Not to worry,” said Rob, who had spotted the two fishing-club members that he and Reb had been speaking with the night before. “I’m sure we can find something to keep us occupied until your friend arrives.”

The two members were in the company of three other men who Rob and Dirk recognised as being members of the Bush Fire Brigade, and who also turned out to be members of the fishing club and the darts club, and the four newcomers were quickly made welcome at the table where the members were sat.

Bron turned up with Dave about thirty minutes later and after they were both introduced to Rob and Reb she handed over two application forms for the scuba course before heading for the bar where she would be working. Dave remained with the group, making it necessary to occupy another table as the one they were using was already quite crowded, and gave Rob and Reb an outline of what the course they wanted to do would entail.

As Saturday mornings were to be set aside for training with the Bush Fire Brigade, Dave told them that their course could be conducted on the Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday over two weekends, plus Saturday afternoon of the third weekend if it was found necessary. He had another couple in mind that he knew wanted to do a course, but he wouldn’t know if they were available until Tuesday, and of course it would depend on everyone having successfully completed their medical checks.

With Bron working behind the bar Dave had decided to have a meal at the hotel, and when the fishing club members left a short time later asked the four if they were also dining in. They hadn’t really given any thought to dinner however deciding that it wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially as it was a bit late to do drive home and start cooking something, they accepted Dave’s invitation to join him.

Over a dinner of Coq au Vin, accompanied by a bottle of Chardonnay and followed by Crème Broulee, which they had in the dining room rather than order from the servery in the bar, the topic of conversation revolved mostly around what Dave and Bron were doing with their farm, and what Dirk and Sally were up to with their cottage build. Rob and Reb weren’t left out of course, and Dave was very interested to hear about how Rob was going to demonstrate how Sally’s father’s earth oven could be used as a smoker. Because Dave and Bron had yet to visit their campsite Sally asked him if he’d be interested in coming along when Rob showed them the technique, and if so he should bring Bron with him.

“That’d be fantastic, Sal. I’ve heard that earth ovens are really good and I’ve often thought of building one myself, though I didn’t know that they could also be used as smokers. Is yours very big?”

“Quite big: You could probably cook three medium pizzas in it at the same time. I once read that with a single firing you can use one to bake bread, follow that with a roast dinner, then a baked desert, and use the residual heat to dry herbs.”

“The only problem will be that you’ll have to provide your own freshly caught local fish,” Rob put in. “Fortunately the reef close to the camp-site abounds in quite a variety of those... provided of course that you can catch them.” he added with a laugh.

“That sounds a lot like a challenge, Rob. OK then: Fishing followed by a lesson in using a smoker. So, when are you planning on doing that?”

“How about the Sunday after the weekend we finish the dive course?”

“Sounds good. I know I’ve got nothing special planned for that day so I’ll mark it on my calendar as soon as I get home.”

After dinner it was decided that the day had been long enough without making it longer by joining the karaoke singers in the public lounge, so the two couples decided to head for home. Reb would drive the ute as Rob had had a few drinks more than she’d had, however Sally was unable to do the same for Dirk as due to its size she was under the impression that a different class of licence was needed to drive his truck.

She could probably ask Dirk to teach her but she knew that being taught by a family member or close friend wasn’t always a good idea, and to her mind Dirk was both. That being the case she decided that it’d probably be a good idea to use the services of a driving school, but not say anything to Dirk about it until she actually had the appropriate licence in her hand.

Meanwhile, while driving back to town in their ute Rob and Reb had agreed that living in Brocklesbury would be much nicer than living where they were now, with Rob going so far as to say that it might be a good idea to check with the local real estate agents to find out if there were any affordable rental properties available in the area.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Following a relaxing Sunday when they did nothing much more than go swimming and potter around the camp site, Dirk spent all Monday plus Tuesday morning helping Frank with another fencing job while Sally kept herself busy by alternately working in the garden and knitting, along with a very successful attempt at baking a Mexican mud-cake following Reb’s recipe. Dirk thought that the idea of baking a mud-cake in a mud oven was hilarious but his laughter was cut short when Sally told him if he felt that way there was no way he was going to get a slice.... Not even a tiny one.

On the Tuesday afternoon they drove into town and, along with Rob and Reb, undertook their Diving Medicals, all passing with no problems at all, and did a little shopping. Reb told Sally that when she’d put in the application for the Pottery Course Sally wanted to do at TAFE she’d been told that although the current course had already started only one lesson had been missed and her friend would be able to catch that up quite easily if she joined now. The result was that Dirk and Sally, fortunately having put together BOBs which of course held toiletries and changes of clothing and were now kept in the truck, were invited to stay overnight at Rob and Reb’s so that Sally could attend the course that evening.

It was obvious when the girls returned to the apartment that Sally was very enthusiastic about the Pottery course she’d just commenced, and having seen some of the work displayed by previous course students told Dirk that when all the crockery they had was broken there wouldn’t be any need to buy replacements: She herself would be able to make all the cups and saucers, bowls and plates they might need, not to mention items such as casserole dishes, fruit bowls, wine goblets, cheese plates and any number of other items.

Dirk didn’t think that their earth oven would be able to handle the firing of such a large number of objects, even if it could be used as a kiln, and they might have to build a much bigger one. “About the size of a Volkswagen,” Rob had suggested to the amusement of all.

Over the late meal of pasta that the men had prepared while the girls were at TAFE the topics of conversation included the subject of BOBs and other items of equipment that, following Dai’s lead, Dirk and Sally now carried permanently in the truck. Rob and Reb had always kept their camping gear in their ute but now they too resolved to make up complete BOBs for themselves and also install a First-Aid Kit, Fire Extinguisher and a CB Radio.

* * *​

When Dirk and Sally returned to their camp early next morning they opted to erect the second of the garden sheds that Dirk had brought with him, positioning it not close alongside the first shed but in line with and twenty feet to one side of it. The space between was to be roofed with some of the corrugated iron that they’d salvaged from the hayshed and it would be used by Dirk as his workshop. Because the two garden sheds were on raised floors, the lower ground level between them would mean that he’d have a bit more headroom to work under. A framework to support the roof would need to be erected of course, however he didn’t consider that to be too much of a problem and in fact it might be good practice for when he started work on the roof of the cottage. He hoped that eventually he’d also be able to put down a floor of pavers.

At first Sally thought that perhaps it might be better to concentrate on building the cottage first, however Dirk explained that having a shed to work from would actually mean he’d be able to get a lot more done in a shorter time, especially if the weather became unfavourable. She agreed that in that case putting up a workshop first probably was a good idea, but told him that he had to keep an area free for her to put in a potter’s wheel as she intended to make pottery to sell at the local markets.... Alongside the items he’d be making from all the fence palings he’d gotten from Frank. Because until now he hadn’t been informed of that decision Dirk had been unaware that they’d be operating a market stall, but did agree that it sounded like a good idea. As Reb also wanted to get in on the act by making and selling Tiffany lamps, and displaying some samples of glass artwork in the hope that she might get orders for custom made leadlight windows and doors, Sally had told her that when the time came she could share the stall with them.

* * *​

Very early in the morning but a couple of days later than originally planned Dirk’s truck was backed up close to one of the dunes farthest from the beach and he’d been shovelling sand onto the rear of the truck for nearly an hour. The sand would be laid down as a base for the above ground pool, and judging that he now had enough thankfully tossed the long-handled shovel he’d been using onto the top of the load and covered it with a tarp before driving back to the site. He and Sally had already prepared the area where the water storage pool was to be positioned, having removed all the grass, sticks and large stones and roughly levelled it, but Dirk thought that a good layer of sand underneath would be kinder on the pool liner and would make it easier to work on the installation.

After the breakfast that Sally had waiting for him they both worked hard at shovelling the truck’s load onto the ground and levelling it out, and just after midday they’d managed to have the pool’s wall erected, its liner installed and capping placed around the top edge to both secure the liner and add some rigidity to the structure. Dirk then fitted an outlet pipe and a shut-off valve to the hole in the side of the pool where the return from its filter had once been located, though being about two thirds of the way up its side required the addition of a length of pipe inside to reach down to the bottom, or at least to within a few inches of it. He did it this way in order to avoid putting an outlet hole close to the base where any leak would be a real problem to fix, especially if the pool was full of water. Where the skimmer box had once been fitted he’d cut a piece of metal to blank off the rectangular opening and then added a fitting for an overflow pipe, not that he thought it would ever be needed in this case, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

For the time being the pool’s cover would be left off as he wanted to build a slightly domed frame, probably from plastic conduit, to support it so that water would run off it if it rained. He’d do that fairly quickly because if he delayed too long the pool might collect a lot of debris from the trees close to where it was sited, and cleaning it out would be a pain in the butt. They were in no hurry to fill the pool because the water from the spring was all that they needed at present, however once their cottage was built it would quickly be put into service.

Located on the bank some twenty feet above where the cottage was being built there would be enough fall to obtain a reasonable amount of pressure to its gravity-fed plumbing system. He’d abandoned his original plan to use poly pipe for his plumbing after seeing how Dave and Bron were using an automatic pump for theirs, and decided to install copper pipes that would handle the higher pressure if he was able to do the same at a later date. He wasn’t a licensed plumber however after having successfully if not legally installed the plumbing for an extra bathroom at his parent’s house in the city, he felt himself to be quite capable of undertaking that task when the time came.

Obtaining copper piping for the cabin was not going to be a problem either, nor was the acquisition of floor and lining boards, and a good amount of timber for studs, joists, rafters, purlins plus, not that they needed it, more corrugated iron roofing. Well, apart from several bull-nosed pieces from the front veranda that would be used over their back porch.

Rob had tracked down the Andersons; owners of the partially burned farmhouse on the outskirts of Brocklesbury, and who had been persuaded by the visit of a council ranger to offer the building free to anyone who was willing to dismantle and remove it. The council ranger, Terrence (“call me Terry”) Chappell was in fact a close friend of Rob’s, though his visit to the Andersons’ had been in a strictly unofficial capacity. “Though it’s possible I might have forgotten to tell them that,” he told Dirk and Sally with a laugh when he was introduced to them at the Cock & Bull later.

No pressure had been applied on the owners: The uniformed ranger had merely gone to advise them that their old farmhouse had been subjected to vandalism and in its current state was likely to attract more, with the possibility that it might even be completely destroyed. The owners told him they would like to have the building demolished but at present were not in a position to pay to have that done and were thus quite amendable to his suggestion that perhaps they could have it removed at no cost to themselves by offering it to someone who needed building material. “At least, what’s left of it,” he’d added, slyly implying that the building was now in a far worse condition than it really was.

Of course anyone taking advantage of the offer would have to ensure that all of the material was removed and not just take the good bits. In fact, the ranger had told them, the complete removal of the house might even make the land, which so far they’d been unable to sell, attractive to any potential purchasers who wouldn’t be saddled with the problem of having to demolish the house themselves.

The Andersons, feeling that that was probably the best way to deal with the problem said they would be quite happy to accept his offer to find someone who would be willing to do just that, and Terry lost no time after leaving their house to call Rob and tell him about the arrangement. When he’d finished work for the day at the recycling centre Rob drove to the campsite to give Dirk and Sally the good news and was asked if he could invite his friend to meet them at the hotel and join them for drinks and dinner after work on Friday evening.

That had been on the Wednesday afternoon, and Rob had arrived with the good news at the campsite shortly after Dirk and Sally had finished putting up the roof between the two sheds. It wasn’t bad timing as he was able to help them lift the heavy work-bench off the back of the truck and put it in the new workshop, though it would’ve been so much better, Dirk told him, if he’d arrived a lot earlier and helped put the roof up, because it’d been a mongrel of a job! Especially as he had to suspend long bush poles between the sheds to support it and only had a six foot step-ladder with which he could work on the high parts. He did admit that the structure was pretty rough, and Rob made them laugh when he said that he hoped the roof of the cottage would be built in a more traditional and stronger way.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Over the next two days a very pleased couple had spent most of their time at the partly burnt building checking out and removing some of the material they could use. In the back yard stood an old Hill’s rotary clothes hoist that Sally wanted, however the nuts on the bolts holding it all together were pretty much rusted in place. Dirk, being a great believer in the powers of Penetrene and always carrying a can of it in his tool box, poured a generous ammount of the oil onto the bolts knowing that it would work its way through the threads and make the nuts a bit easier to remove on their next visit.

An old milking shed on the property was also checked out and although its iron roof was rusted beyond salvage Dirk considered the curved hardwood slabs that its walls were made of would be worth the effort of removing, if not for use on their cottage then for other projects that he would probably think of in the future.

They stopped for a bite to eat and went to Jay-Jay’s for a hamburger, then to the hardware store where Dirk purchased a long extension ladder that he could have used yesterday. When they left the demolition site it was, along with other useable material, with the large farm gate that had hung open and unused at the entrance to the property. It would be installed at the top of the access way down to their clearing, and although the wire mesh of the gate looked a bit rusty it would add to the appearance of their newly-built-with-old-material cottage having stood there forever.

As it was now Friday Dirk and Sally would be going to the hotel, as would Rob and Reb, where they were to meet Rob’s friend and thank him personally for his help in securing them much if not most of the building material they needed. The address of the Andersons could be obtained and Dirk and Sally would visit and thank them also, but only after the old house had been completely removed.... just in case the owners changed their minds about the free offer and decided to ask for some sort of payment.

When they’d finished for the day their laundry and a change of clothes more suited to a night out on the town than what their BOBs contained, plus of course Paddington Bear, who Sally had had to say sorry to for leaving him at home by himself overnight when she went to TAFE, was put in the truck and they headed for Brocklesbury. After parking at the hotel they wandered down to the Post Office to check their P.O. Box where Dirk found the Truck’s rego and insurance renewals that his parents had forwarded to him, and Sally her monthly bank and credit card statements forwarded by her auntie. Although of substantial amounts the bills were of course expected and would be paid on Monday after the bank in town was open, plus they’d also draw a bit of folding money from their accounts to cover day-to-day expenses.

Then it was back to the hotel to put their laundry into the washing machine, take a shower and change, then head for the beer garden where they were to meet Rob, Reb and Terry, their council ranger friend. That trio arrived a few minutes before the arranged time and after introductions all sat at one of the garden’s tables, close to the barbeque upon which Terry was invited by Dirk to throw the largest steak he could find in the adjacent refrigerated display case. Terry, both surprised and pleased by the generous offer told Dirk that the arrangement he’d made with the Andersons was really nothing, but was happy to select a large piece of sirloin to go with his choice from the salad bar. Sally also provided him with a seemingly never emptying schooner of beer, telling Dirk that Terry had saved them a small fortune in building material costs.

Although not a regular, at least not yet, Terry was familiar with the hotel and its beer garden, having accompanied the mayor a couple of weeks previously when he’d come to Brocklesbury to personally sort out difficult problem that one of the residents was having with council. As it turned out, Terry himself was able to resolve the problem in a very diplomatic manner, and to the complete satisfaction of both the resident and mayor. As the mayor also wanted to have a word with Dave Morgan regarding council’s decisions on the facilities being installed at the beach at Fish Hook Bay he stopped by the Cock & Bull where Dave was working at the time. Of course that stop had also given him and Terry the opportunity to try out the new barbeque that had been installed in the beer garden.

The ranger had learned two important things during that visit: First was that the mayor had developed a strong bond with the village and was fully supportive of its residents’ efforts to have more done by the council for its infrastructure. Second was that Dave Morgan, who was well regarded by those same residents, the mayor and the council, was a driving force that was able to get things done without ruffling anyone’s feathers.

Terry was astute enough to understand that backing the mayor, and Dave Morgan, would actually be in his own best interests and had decided that the best way to do that was to get himself assigned to the village as its regular ranger. Being a naturally friendly and helpful person anyway, he would not employ the heavy-handed tactics that previous rangers had used when dealing with the locals but rather work with them to resolve any issues with the council that might crop up. When he suggested as much to the mayor it was considered to be a very good idea, especially in light of the way he’d handled the problem council had with the local resident, and shortly thereafter he found himself employed almost exclusively in the village and its environs where before long he became a well liked, trusted and respected member of the community.

* * *
​

Now with access to just about all the building material they needed, in tandem with demolition of the Anderson house construction of their cottage began to progress in earnest, though it wasn’t by any means going to be a very fast build. One of the problems they faced with the demolition of the old house was that its hardwood timbers had become even harder over the years and had resisted being cut easily with a handsaw. Dirk hired a small portable generator for a few days to power his circular saw, and while this made the cutting a bit easier the wood was so hard that by the time he was finished he’d completely worn out two blades and a third looked like it would need replacing before too long. He also dulled two spade bits drilling holes through studs and noggins to cater for plumbing and wiring, though he’d be able to re-sharpen those if he could get his hands on a grinder.

Sally had decided that when they eventually got a washing machine it should be set up on the back porch rather than inside, explaining that she would only be using it when the weather was good and that it would leave a bit more space for storage inside the cottage, plus if they enclosed the porch with lattice-work it’d be reasonably well protected anyway. Dirk went along with the idea saying that it would only need a little additional plumbing which would be fairly easy to do.

A lot of time had been spent carefully measuring timbers and cutting them to the exact sizes Dirk had on his plans, and stacking them in order according to the framing each would be needed for. In the long run doing that had saved him time and effort, especially when as rather than use a hammer when it came to putting the frames together he used a compressor and an air driven nail-gun that he also rented. In fact he was so impressed with the nail-gun that had enabled him to have the framing nailed up so quickly that another item was added to his small wish-list of tools he’d really need for future use. Or so he claimed to Sally, who without his knowledge added it to a list that she was compiling in her journal.

With the occasional help of Rob, and sometimes Frank, they managed to have all the walls framed, plus with the assistance one Sunday of a crew of volunteers from the RFS who helped put the roof up, had the floor laid and the sliding door between the kitchen and bathroom installed, all within the next five weeks. And this was achieved despite taking out six days when Dirk assisted Frank with a couple of fencing jobs, plus Brigade Training, a Scuba course being completed, and a day off for fishing and learning from Rob how to use their earth oven as a smoker.

The day-light hours had become slightly shorter over this period however as temperatures hadn’t dropped much, work on the cottage continued unabated, and Dirk was confident that it would all be finished well before winter.

Reb hadn’t been around for a while as she had temporarily taken on extra shifts at the supermarket where she worked as a check-out chick, and though it would only be for five weekends to cover for two girls who had taken annual leave the penalty rates made them worth volunteering for.

It had rained lightly several times during the build though each time seemed to be either before sunup or after sundown and fortunately wasn’t enough to hinder activities much anyway. They were a bit concerned, however, after hearing a weather report advising that the long dry spell being experienced by the area would soon be coming to an end, with predictions that a series of cold fronts moving in from the south would bring torrential downpours over an extended period of time. Of course this had added a sense of urgency to the project so Dirk was working flat-out for twelve and sometimes more hours each day, determined to get the cottage to lock-up stage before the heavy rains hit.

One of their first tasks on hearing the weather report had been to gather as much dry firewood for the earth oven as they could and cover it with a tarp, and fill eight of his twelve five-gallon pails with fine mulch gathered from under the trees, to be used for the composting toilet. Not surprisingly, Dirk decided that adding a wood-shed to his list of structures to build in future would also be a good idea.

Having discarded Sally’s idea of using the casement windows in the loft as they were a bit tall and he believed they’d spoil the lines of the cottage, he had instead purchased commercially made hopper windows which would be installed in sets of three on each side. The hoppers were a better size according to Dirk, and would allow a flow of air across the loft when both sides were open, which would be good in summer, and a rising sun to flood the loft with light when the sun rose in the mornings, plus they’d also shed water downwards if they happened to be left open when it rained. Conveniently, one of the windows on the south-west end of the loft would open directly above the roof of the back porch and could if necessary be used as an emergency exit, though Dirk admitted that it had just happened that way and hadn’t been a deliberate part of his design.

She could see now how the wood from the king-sized bed had been used to form part of the loft’s floor, with one side-rail attached to a wall and the other supported by posts and a beam offset two feet from the opposite wall. The legs of the bed had been cut off flush with the side rails, and the lining boards of the kitchen ceiling would be secured to the underside, leaving a gap between those and the slats supporting the mattress. This would allow air to circulate and help prevent condensation and mould, which can happen when a mattress is laid for any length of time on a solid floor.

She was thrilled by the way Dirk had designed the loft so they’d both have full headroom, along one side of the bed at least, and that neither of them would have to stoop when “going a-loft” as Dave had joked when he and Bron came over to lend a hand for a day. An extra twelve inches of headroom had been gained by dropping the ceiling above the benchtop on the side of the kitchen opposite the north facing bay window so that there was a two foot wide walkway above. Dirk called it “The Trench”, and putting it in meant that apart from not needing to stoop when upstairs there’d also be no high kitchen cupboards downstairs for Sally to have to reach up to.

At the moment access to the loft was achieved by using a step ladder, however Dirk had been doing some research and having come across what were termed Jefferson stairs, had decided to construct and install a set of them in the cottage. Although intrigued by the alternate tread design Sally was somewhat dubious at first, however after Dirk built a rough set for her to try out she found that they were just as easy to use as normal stairs and, a side benefit being that they took up a lot less space, agreed to Dirk putting in “a much nicer looking set than your rough demonstration model.”

Now that the roof was on and the windows already in place it only needed the sarking and exterior siding to be nailed on, and the back door and ten-light French doors installed, to make it habitable even if not all that comfortable, but at least it would be better able to withstand the elements than their tent would.

There had been some discussion regarding the use of weatherboards they could salvage from the Anderson house, or the curved timber slabs obtained from the hay and cow sheds, mainly because Sally had seen a beautiful sketch that Dirk had done showing the latter and had been enchanted by how it would look. It was finally decided to go with the slabs despite Dirk thinking that it would probably mean a lot of extra work to put them up, though before starting that job he’d have to go into town and pick up more sarking as what they’d been able to buy in Brocklesbury had been used for the roof.

​

 

[Bidadisndat]

When Dirk returned from the trip into town it was with, in addition to the rolls of sarking, a load of insulation batts which they stacked in the loft and under the cottage. Days earlier Dave had dropped off a small wheeled scaffold borrowed from one of his tradie mates and after Dirk and Sally had assembled and positioned it they felt that by using the heavy duty stapler he’d purchased putting the sarking up shouldn’t prove to be all that difficult. Unfortunately when they began that job they realised that if the door through to the kitchen was closed the only natural light in the bathroom would be from the window in the top half of the back door, so it was back to the drawing board then a quick trip to the recycling centre to find a window that could be placed in the western wall. In hindsight, which of course is always twenty-twenty vision, it was obvious that a window would have been needed and Dirk kicked himself all the way there and back for not having included one in his design in the first place.

Finding a good double hung window that was slightly narrower than wanted but otherwise suitable he decided to construct a box with slightly angled sides and a sloping top that would hold it out from the wall a bit, something like a small bay.

“That’ll look good,” said Sally, “but how about extending it out a little bit more and building the hand basin into the sill. Without the basin intruding into the space we’d have a bit more room for towelling ourselves off when we step out of the shower.”

It was a brilliant idea, Dirk told her, and although the alterations required to fit the window and sink in place put them a day behind the planned schedule they were both so pleased with the result that that didn’t matter at all.

Another feature that Sally adored was the big bay window installed in the kitchen: The angle of the side windows hadn’t needed to be changed and the bay protruded a foot proud of the outside wall of the cottage, making the kitchen look much larger than it actually was. Rather than use the broad sill that came with it Dirk had constructed below the window a deep trough that would hold potted herbs, with the tops of the pots just a little lower than where the sill would have been. Later he planned to put a liner in the trough, with an overflow pipe two inches above its base and leading down to the ground, so that plants could be conveniently watered from the kitchen tap without fear of flooding them. When a tap was installed that is... Along with a kitchen sink, and a bench to hold that.

As using the side panels of the ten-light doors would have taken up too much of the wall they’d been put aside and the casement windows would be used in their previously intended position at the end of the living area

“Ahh... Sweetheart, would it matter very much if our schedule was delayed by another day?” she asked as they were sitting on the floor of the living area having a cup of tea after he’d finished installing the bathroom window.

“Not really. What do you have in mind to do... or more likely, for me to do?”

“Well, I was just looking at the bay window in the kitchen and thinking how much bigger it seemed to make the room, and now I’m wondering if you could do the same with the casement windows in this room as you did with the one in the bathroom.”

Dirk placed his cup on the floor then got up and walked over to the windows where he stood for a couple of minutes giving the idea some thought.

“Hmm... It wouldn’t be difficult to do,” he finally said. “A bit fiddly perhaps, but I can see what you mean about making the room look bigger and I reckon I could have it done before lunchtime tomorrow. Do you want me to just box them in like the one in the bathroom, or would you rather have a bay window like the one in the kitchen?”

“No, a bay would take much longer and anyway I think one in here would detract from the one in the kitchen, so boxing them in would be fine.”

“OK, I’ll get to work on it right away.”

“There’s no great hurry.”

“There isn’t?”

“No: You can finish your cup of tea first.”

With his cup of tea finished he began the job of removing the windows and, as he thought it would, the rebuild took the rest of the afternoon plus a couple hours of the following morning. However by the end of that day the windows were in and they’d managed to put up all the sarking, with Sally remarking that it was just as well they were building a small cottage rather than a full-sized house.

Very early next morning, while keeping an eye on the weather, Sally helped Dirk begin lifting and nailing the slabs to the frame, and because he’d measured them all up very carefully before cutting, plus having pre-drilled holes for the large nails to secure them, they went up without quite as much physical effort as he thought they would. Even so, it was heavy work and it took a full day longer to put them up than Dirk had imagined it would. They’d also had to buy new guttering as what they’d found at the old house was too rusted to be of much use, although with no tank to collect rainwater the best they could do, for now at least, was to direct the outlet from the downspouts away from the building.

To make sure they were weatherproof a lot of care was taken with hanging the ten-light doors around mid afternoon the following day, after the timber slabs had been secured but before the barge boards at the ends of the roof had been nailed on. By arrangement, Rob turned up soon after he’d finished work for the day to help with that job, and by tools-down time that evening the cottage was finally at the lock-up stage of construction... Meaning there was possibly only a month of internal fitting-out, painting and decorating still to be done.

“Plus we still have to build the deck and back porch,” Sally reminded Dirk.

“Do you want those done before we finish the inside, or after?” he asked.

“Before, I think. It’d take what? Three days, maybe four to put up both? It’d probably be a good idea to get at least one of them up before the rains hit anyway. The cottage as it is now provides much better shelter than the tent but having either a deck or a porch would give us at least one covered entrance.”

“You’re right. OK, I’ll go over to Frank’s early tomorrow morning and see if I can borrow the post-hole digger again. He might have a job on and not be able to help, which means you’ll get some experience helping handling one.

“I’m OK with that. Can you go over to the mill on the same trip and get the stumps?”

“I won’t need to if I can get the timbers we need from the Anderson’s house, though we might need to fork out some cash for the boards for the front deck. Those that we can salvage from their front verandah, plus the support posts for its roof would be good for our back porch though.”

“Great. I was thinking that while you’re gone tomorrow I could move all our stuff into the cottage and take the tent down. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea. We should also move the awning to cover the earth oven and move the picnic stove into the cottage too, though without having an extractor fan yet I don’t know how good that would be. Speaking of kitchens, I’ve been so busy working on the build that I didn’t realise how hungry I am until now. What’s for dinner?”

“Lucky for you I keep an eye on the food situation isn’t it?” Sally laughed. “I got a chicken fricassee going in the Dutch oven on the rocket stove when you and Rob were putting finishing touches on the woodwork. It’s probably been cooking a little bit longer than it should, but I think it’ll be OK. There’s also rice to go with it, and if you get the Coleman set up I’ll get the table ready for a dinner under the stars. Well, under the awning anyway.”

With the lighted Coleman hanging on its usual hook Dirk carried the Dutch oven to the table while Sally brought the pot of rice, and after helping themselves to a plateful each sat down to enjoy what might thought to have been an only very slightly overcooked meal had it not been for a couple of glasses of white wine that disguised the fact and made it even more enjoyable.

* * *
​

Because all efforts had been directed towards getting the cottage built quickly no progress had been made on the vegetable garden, although they had managed to get the chicken run meshed in. Actually it was one of the volunteers from the RFS who was mainly responsible for organising that as he had a passion for poultry, (so much so that he’d been given the nick-name Chooks by his mates,) and was always keen to help anyone else who wanted to keep them. Later, whilst the rest of the crew were concerned with quickly getting the sarking and iron onto the roof of the cottage he’d busied himself with the construction of a coop, complete with nesting boxes, using the fence palings that Dirk had gotten from Frank.

At day’s end the coop had yet to be roofed but Chooks said that he could come back the next day to finish the job, and if Sally was interested he could also sell her a few Australorps as he had some that would very soon be coming into lay. Sally, saying she’d have to think about it, raced off to get her purse and returned a few minutes later to pay for half a dozen chickens, a large waterer, and a twenty kilo bag each of scratch mix and pellets, all of which he’d bring with him next day.

When Chooks turned up the next morning with Sally’s purchases as promised, and the bewildered chickens were set free in the overly large run, Dirk gave him a hand to put sheets of corrugated iron onto the roof of the coop and nail them down. The roof extended out over the nesting boxes so that eggs could be collected without a person getting wet if it was raining, and there was space beneath the nesting boxes where the feed barrels were to be kept. Being quite impressed by the design of the finished structure Dirk asked if they were in much demand.

“Not really,” Chooks told him. “At least not around here ‘cause most people are capable of building their own. Why, are you thinking of getting into the market?” he asked with a grin.

“Well, I intend using that big stack of palings to make things like ornamental wishing wells, planter boxes, garden seats, dog kennels and stuff like that to sell at markets, and perhaps I could make chicken coops too, though they’d be a bit on the large side for carrying around easily, and I wouldn’t want to be cutting into your business anyway.”

“You wouldn’t be, Dirk, because I really don’t have the time to make them. Maybe you could build a small portable one, or take photos of this one to show at the markets or put up on public notice boards, and take orders for them. In fact, if anyone asks me to build a coop for their chickens I’ll be only too happy to refer them to you.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Chooks. Perhaps you could also show the photos to your chicken-loving clients. I’d be happy to build coops for them, and the price, when I worked it out, would include a commission on any orders you placed.”

“Nah, no need for that: I’ll be happy enough if you continue to buy your feed from me. Speaking of which, I threw in two cleaned plastic pickle barrels to store your grain and pellets. I get them for free so if you ever need more, let me know. Unfortunately they’re not rat-proof and I’ve had the tops of several of my barrels chewed through by the bastards, so I recommend enclosing the space with small heavy gauge mesh. You could also put down a few concrete pavers for them to sit on. For the barrels to sit on I mean… not the rats.”

Dirk’s sudden roar of laughter on hearing that attracted Sally, who came down to where the men were talking and, after also having a laugh when told what Chooks had said, asked him if he had any coloured leg-bands she could buy: She wanted to name the chickens but as they all looked the same she couldn’t tell them apart, and figured that bands would be an easy way to identify each one. Although Dirk laughed at the idea of naming the birds, Chooks was quick to support Sally, telling him that not only did he give names to his favourite birds; lots of other people did too. “Just be aware though,” he added, “Once you give a chicken a name, it’s off the menu.”

“Unless you give it a name like Drumstick, Fried, Fricassee or Roast,” laughed Dirk, although with Chooks standing there Sally thought it’d best to pretend she didn’t find that at all amusing and kept her laugh hidden behind a straight face. Chooks took the joke in good stead though because unbeknownst to them he himself owned a sheep that he’d named Lamb Chops with the intention of sending it off to freezer camp in the near future.

* * *
​

When Dirk arrived at Frank’s house it turned out that he did have some work on, though as he wasn’t going to be using it loaned Dirk the post-hole digger while at the same time telling him that weather permitting, if he was available next week his assistance with another job would be appreciated.

“No problem, Frank,” Dirk told him, then went on to explain that he and Sally had more-or-less moved into the cottage and could now ease off a bit and take their time fitting it out.

“You’ve both done an amazing job so far, Dirk. I noted when I went there the last time that even with the roof up there’s no sign of the cottage unless you stand on the embankment directly above it, though your veggie garden and chicken run would be clearly seen by anyone nosing around the spur.”

“Yeah, Sally and I already discussed that and we’ve decided to plant a thick row of hedging shrubs all the way along the top of the embankment to act as both a shield and a sun-trap, plus we’re thinking of hanging a gate on posts at the top of the driveway down to the clearing. We probably wouldn’t lock it, but there’d be a sign on it that reads Rear Entrance to... whatever the name of the property opposite the cottage is... when we find out what that is.

“Bob Watson would probably be able to tell you because it’s sure to be on the big map they have at the Fire Station.”

“I never thought of that. Next time I do training I’ll get Sally to ask him because if it’s not on the map he’ll make it his business to find out.” And they both laughed at that as it was no secret that Uncle Bob had a real soft spot for his adopted niece.

When Dirk returned to the cottage much later than planned it was with stumps he’d had to obtain from the mill, having found that those at the Anderson’s house weren’t suitable; however he and Sally wasted no time in quickly digging the holes for them, and by dinnertime they were all roughly in position, though yet to be plumbed and firmly tamped down. Sally had actually enjoyed helping Dirk with the post-hole digger however when it came to using the heavy fencing bar to ram the soil down around the posts next day she was far less enthusiastic, and not surprisingly left that job for him to do. That took all morning, and Dirk’s muscles got a real work-out repeatedly lifting the length of steel before allowing gravity to assist his downward thrust as he pounded the soil around each post. Of course he had already gotten a lot of practice in the technique thanks to working with Frank, and that was probably also why he didn’t wind up with badly blistered palms.

Along with putting in the stumps for the cottage they also installed both a hinge and a slamming post at the top of the drive leading down from the spur, then hung the large farm gate that they’d salvaged from the Anderson house. That, said Dirk, would be more convenient than using the chain across the entrance to the spur.

The back porch was completed first as they were able to use the veranda floor-boards Dirk had retrieved, along with the original support posts that now held up the bull-nosed roofing iron that he’d brought over on the same truckload, however it had taken a lot longer than anticipated and they were now running almost two days behind their self-imposed schedule. Not that they were too worried about that, especially when they looked at the result of their efforts and knew that once again they had good reason to be proud of the work they’d done.

It was well that the porch was finished and covered because in the dark and early hours of the next morning the heavens opened up and the predicted rain commenced in earnest, and the back door was the only way to enter and exit the cottage without letting water in. There didn’t appear to be a great deal of wind that might have been expected to accompany the rain, though the cottage was pretty well protected by the high embankment behind it, and after a couple of hours listening to the hammering on the roof and checking everywhere for any signs of leaks, and finding none, they began to relax and even enjoy the event.

Of course the rain didn’t prevent them from working on the interior and Dirk began installing the plumbing, cutting pipes to their correct lengths and bending them where needed, using the tools he’d purchased when he did the plumbing at his parent’s house three years before and hadn’t touched since. There were fewer pre-soldered pipe fittings in his box of assorted bits and pieces that he needed to finish the job and as that meant having to make a trip to the hardware store he went on to install the electrical wiring instead.

The annoying part of that job was that in order to put wiring for the lights in the loft they had to remove many of the insulation batts that had been stacked there and transfer them to the back porch, though as Sally pointed out they would had to have been brought down anyway. The wiring itself was very easy to do though terminal ends were left hanging as they had yet to buy the light fittings, and Sally decided that as they had to go to the hardware store they should on the same trip go to a shop in town that specialised in lighting and get what they needed.

With plumbing and electrical work on hold and wearing long-sleeved shirts, gloves, safety goggles and dust masks they began installing the insulation, cutting to size and tightly cramming the batts between the studs and, with extra support given by pallet strapping stapled across them, the rafters, but leaving spaces where pipes and electrical fittings would be placed.

 

[Bidadisndat]

After three days of solid rain Dirk began to worry that the road in and out may have become an impassable quagmire despite Sally, who’d taken the opportunity of brief breaks in the downpour to check on and feed the chickens, assuring him that their sandy soil appeared to be soaking up the rain about as fast as it fell. For her part, she was more concerned about running out of food if they couldn’t get to a supermarket, and her saying so prompted a discussion about being prepared for such events.

It suddenly occurred to Dirk that building a fire bunker, which was something he’d learned about during one of the fire brigade’s training lectures, combined with a large storage pantry such as Dave and Bron had, would be a smart move.

“Perhaps we could dig back into the embankment behind the cottage and build a bunker there,” he suggested when he voiced his thoughts. “It might be a bit of a squeeze to get a backhoe into the space, but using one of those would make it a fairly easy job.”

“Gosh, that’s a really good idea! Mind you, we’d have to hire someone to do the digging. And what would we need in the way of materials to build it with?”

“Well, I remember Dave telling me about a friend he’d hired to dig out the pad for his water tanks so maybe we could hire that bloke to do it. And as for materials, I think stone would be a good option for the walls as we can source rocks from all over the place, and that would leave only the roof for which we’d need concrete.”

“It’d need a fire-proof door of course, plus ventilation and lighting.”

“All minor considerations,” said Dirk waving a hand dismissively. “I’ll work it all out, though it’ll have to be a long-term project because I’ve already got a ton of jobs that I need to do.”

“Yes. And because they’re important jobs I don’t want you to be distracted.”

“Oh c’mon now: You know I don’t easily get distract.... Hey look at that: The sun’s come out!”

Sally was sitting close enough to give him a quick cuff over the ear and yell “Clown!” as she burst out laughing at the way he’d just contradicted himself.

“Hmm... I don’t think this bit of sunshine will last very long,” she said. “ Do you want to check the road by driving to the village? I’d like to do a bit of shopping, and it is a Friday and we still have our standing reservation for the Cock & Bull.”

“Plus I can return Frank’s digger at the same time. Good idea.”

Before leaving, an inspection around the cottage, chicken run and veggie garden found that apart from being wet underfoot nothing appeared to have been badly affected by the heavy rain so far. Because it was now a fixed structure the width of the cottage was no longer constricted by road rules and he’d extended the roof out so that it now had twenty inch eaves and these, along with the originally designed overhangs at the ends of the upper and lower roofs, had helped to protect the windows from direct rain. The down-spouting too had directed the rainwater away as intended and though Dirk was disappointed that this time they’d been unable to use the water the plan was to eventually have a collection tank beside the cottage and use a pump to transfer the water to their reservoir. Although he’d been a little concerned that water may have penetrated the soil around the exposed stumps for the front deck, thus making them less stable, his solid tamping appeared to have prevented that.

The sandy soil of the clearing, as Sally had said, seemed to have absorbed the deluge, and when they finally drove up to and along the spur the truck stayed firmly on track. Once on the fire trail it tended to slide a bit on the muddy surface though, and the road to the village now had quite a few large water-filled pot-holes that made for a bumpy ride, but to their relief the road was passable, at least for the time being.

They returned the digger to Frank, who was going to take advantage of the bad weather that prevented him from doing the big fencing job and employing Dirk, by driving down to Sydney to see some mates. After doing the shopping, for which Sally had made a long list of the supplies she thought they’d need to survive forty days and forty nights, and picking up the plumbing fittings that Dirk needed, they drove down to Fish Hook Bay to check out the beach. As suspected, despite being as flat as a pancake the waters of the bay were quite turbid due to stormwater run-off, and they were both thankful that they’d already completed their Scuba diving course.

Because all efforts had been directed towards getting the cottage built quickly no progress had been made on the vegetable garden, although they had managed to get the chicken run meshed in. Actually it was one of the volunteers from the RFS who was mainly responsible for organising that as he had a passion for poultry, (so much so that he’d been given the nick-name Chooks by his mates,) and was always keen to help anyone else who wanted to keep them. Later, whilst the rest of the crew were concerned with quickly getting the sarking and iron onto the roof of the cottage he’d busied himself with the construction of a coop, complete with nesting boxes, using the fence palings that Dirk had gotten from Frank.

At day’s end the coop had yet to be roofed but Chooks said that he could come back the next day to finish the job, and if Sally was interested he could also sell her a few Australorps as he had some that would very soon be coming into lay. Sally, saying she’d have to think about it, raced off to get her purse and returned a few minutes later to pay for half a dozen chickens, a large waterer, and a twenty kilo bag each of scratch mix and pellets, all of which he’d bring with him next day.

When Chooks turned up the next morning with Sally’s purchases as promised, and the bewildered chickens were set free in the overly large run, Dirk gave him a hand to put sheets of corrugated iron onto the roof of the coop and nail them down. The roof extended out over the nesting boxes so that eggs could be collected without a person getting wet if it was raining, and there was space beneath the nesting boxes where the feed barrels were to be kept. Being quite impressed by the design of the finished structure Dirk asked if they were in much demand.

“Not really,” Chooks told him. “At least not around here ‘cause most people are capable of building their own. Why, are you thinking of getting into the market?” he asked with a grin.

“Well, I intend using that big stack of palings to make things like ornamental wishing wells, planter boxes, garden seats, dog kennels and stuff like that to sell at markets, and perhaps I could make chicken coops too, though they’d be a bit on the large side for carrying around easily, and I wouldn’t want to be cutting into your business anyway.”

“You wouldn’t be, Dirk, because I really don’t have the time to make them. Maybe you could build a small portable one, or take photos of this one to show at the markets or put up on public notice boards, and take orders for them. In fact, if anyone asks me to build a coop for their chickens I’ll be only too happy to refer them to you.”

“That sounds like a good idea, Chooks. Perhaps you could also show the photos to your chicken-loving clients. I’d be happy to build coops for them, and the price, when I worked it out, would include a commission on any orders you placed.”

“Nah, no need for that: I’ll be happy enough if you continue to buy your feed from me. Speaking of which, I threw in two cleaned plastic pickle barrels to store your grain and pellets. I get them for free so if you ever need more, let me know. Unfortunately they’re not rat-proof and I’ve had the tops of several of my barrels chewed through by the bastards, so I recommend enclosing the space with small heavy gauge mesh. You could also put down a few concrete pavers for them to sit on. For the barrels to sit on I mean… not the rats.”

Dirk’s sudden roar of laughter on hearing that attracted Sally, who came down to where the men were talking and, after also having a laugh when told what Chooks had said, asked him if he had any coloured leg-bands she could buy: She wanted to name the chickens but as they all looked the same she couldn’t tell them apart, and figured that bands would be an easy way to identify each one. Although Dirk laughed at the idea of naming the birds, Chooks was quick to support Sally, telling him that not only did he give names to his favourite birds; lots of other people did too. “Just be aware though,” he added, “Once you give a chicken a name, it’s off the menu.”

“Unless you give it a name like Drumstick, Fried, Fricassee or Roast,” laughed Dirk, although with Chooks standing there Sally thought it’d best to pretend she didn’t find that at all amusing and kept her laugh hidden behind a straight face. Chooks took the joke in good stead though because unbeknownst to them he himself owned a sheep that he’d named Lamb Chops with the intention of sending it off to freezer camp in the near future.

* * *
​

They returned the digger to Frank, who was going to take advantage of the bad weather that prevented him from doing the big fencing job and employing Dirk, by driving down to Sydney to see some mates. After doing the shopping, for which Sally had made a long list of the supplies she thought they’d need to survive forty days and forty nights, and picking up the plumbing fittings that Dirk needed, they drove down to Fish Hook Bay to check out the beach. As suspected, despite being as flat as a pancake the waters of the bay were quite turbid due to stormwater run-off, and they were both thankful that they’d already completed their Scuba diving course.

On the way back to the village Sally looked down at Dave and Bron’s house as they were passing and seeing both their vehicles parked outside told Dirk to turn in. She jumped out and opened the gate and waited for him to drive through then after closing it behind him ran down the driveway ahead of the truck instead of climbing back into the cab. Dave, who had been tinkering with an old piece of machinery in his workshop, heard them coming and wiping his oily hands almost clean on a rag stepped out to greet them.

“Hullo and welcome,” he said with a broad smile as he shook hands with Dirk and gave Sally a peck on the cheek. “Glad to see you guys out and about: We were wondering how you’d fared with that heavy rain and had planned to come and see you this afternoon. Everything OK at the cottage?”

“All good, Dai,” answered Sally. “We found no leaks at all, though we might’ve had a different problem if we’d gotten stuck there for any length of time. We have an idea and thought you might be able to give us some advice, and as we’ve just been down to have a look at the beach and were passing by thought maybe we could ask you now, if that’s OK.”

“Sure. Why not come in and have a cuppa? Bron will be happy and relieved to see you both.”

They all trooped into the house, changing to house slippers as they entered, and were met in the kitchen by Bron who, sporting on her forehead a patch of flour that matched another on the back of her right wrist, gave them a big grin as she was taking the second of two freshly baked cakes from the oven.

“Well, well, speak of the devils,” she laughed. “I’m so happy you’re here: Apart from seeing you’re OK, it saves me from having to drive over to your place with one of these cakes,” then asked “Tea or coffee?” as she began filling the kettle.

“Tea for me, please” replied Dirk, with Sally adding “And me too, thanks.”

While Bron was setting out cups and saucers Dave slipped out to quickly wash his oily hands properly before returning to sit at the table where he asked them what sort of advice were they seeking. When over cups of tea they explained what they were thinking of doing, and the reason for it, both Dave and Bron were eager not only to give them advice but also offer them all the help they could give.

“What you’re thinking of doing is actually something that I’m familiar with, or reasonably so,” said Dave. “It’s what is known in some circles as ‘prepping’, and it happens to be something that both Bron and I are keen on promoting.”

He paused a moment as Bron placed a large plate of slices of cake on the table, telling them that it wasn’t one of the cakes she’d just baked as they were still a bit warm, but one she’d made the day before yesterday.

“First time I’ve made this and it’s a bit of an experiment, so give me your honest opinion of it because if it’s not all that good I won’t make it again... unless it’s to discourage Dai from eating too much cake.”

The cake, they assured her after trying a slice, was excellent, although they couldn’t quite work out what type of cake it was.

“It’s pumpkin,” she told them, and when an amazed Sally asked for the recipe added “the cakes I baked today use a different vegetable and are also experimental, but I’m not giving you the recipe until after you’ve taken one home and tried it.”

“Getting back to your plans,” said Dave as he interrupted the interruption to the conversation about prepping, “It might be a good idea to ask Darren, the contractor who did the excavation work here, to have a look at where you want to dig and see what he thinks. He also did the clearing of the road to the beach and the extension of the carpark. He really knows what he’s doing and I’d have to say he’s worth every cent of what he charges, not that that’s over the top anyway.”

“Sounds like a good idea: Do you have his number handy?” Dirk asked.

“I’ll give you one of his cards: I took several from him to hand around because I was pretty impressed with his work.”

“His wife is the local hairdresser, by the way, and she does a top-notch job too: Both ladies’ and men’s’,” put in Bron. “You have to make appointments though because most of the locals go to her and she’s always busy.”

“Getting back to prepping,” Dave continued, inserting “which is what the subject at hand is supposed to be about” with a meaningful look at Bron who simply smiled innocently in response, “as you’re getting into self sufficiency maybe your fire bunker could also be used as a root cellar.”

“We’ve already thought of that, Dai. In fact that would really be its primary purpose. Uncle Bob told us that they’ve had the odd scrub fire out our way but it’s a rare event so having the root cellar serve as a bunker is the way we’ll go.”

“And if you were ever forced to hole up in there at least you’d have plenty to eat,” laughed Bron.

“Don’t think we’ll have to worry about bush-fires for a while,” said Sally as another heavy downpour began drumming on the roof of the farmhouse.

“Gosh, that reminds me: Dirk, Uncle Bob said to tell you that brigade training’s off tomorrow, and that he also ‘phoned Rob to let him know. Funnily enough, it seems training’s always put off whenever it rains heavily enough to prevent the boys from having a barbeque afterwards, though you’ll find a lot of them finding shelter at the Cock & Bull.”

“Well how about that? A day off and it’ll be too wet to do anything with it.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Dave. “Bron and I are both on late shifts this weekend so why not come over to the rifle range with us in the morning and try your hand at shooting? The club’s having an open day and we can lend you a couple of our rifles to use, though you’ll have to sit through a short lecture first and then shoot under the supervision of the Range Officer.”

Both Sally and Dirk broke into delighted grins as they eagerly accepted the offer then, after making arrangements for meeting up in the morning, left the farm and headed for the hotel where they picked up the keys to their room, put their laundry in the washer and had a long hot shower. Having already finished reading them they took the books they’d exchanged the last time they’d visited and ambled down to the café where four more books were chosen to read whilst waiting for the sunshine to return, which hopefully would be before the five days predicted by the latest forecast. They also decided to have lunch there, and some time was then spent chatting to Julius and Mai Tan, and their daughter Julia who, when they left, Sally described as being both very intelligent and extremely beautiful.

After collecting their room keys at the hotel they found Uncle Bob and some of his mates gathered cosily around the large open fireplace of the lounge where the dancing flames of burning logs were radiating warmth into the room.

“Hi Uncle Bob. Just the man we wanted to see,” said Sally as she planted a now expected kiss on his cheek.”

“Hullo Sally, Dirk. Good to see you. Hope you don’t want anything that requires me moving from this comfortable warm seat,” laughed Bob in reply.

“No. Well, we do want some information, though we’re in no great hurry for it. We were wondering if you know the name of the family who owns all that acreage between Brocklesbury and our cottage.”

“Why? Thinking of buying it, are you?” Bob asked with a big laugh. “I don’t know off-hand, but if memory serves me right I think it’s written on the area map we have at the fire-house. The map’s pretty old though, and a lot of the writing’s barely readable. Do you want to see it?”

“What, now? And have you move away from your comfortable warm seat? No, there’s no hurry,” put in Dirk, who then quietly explained to him how he wanted to put up the sign that he’d spoken to Frank about.

“I just want to put a sign-post pointing down the spur and saying Rear Entrance to Whatever Farm, with Private Property in brackets under that. Of course we know the property it’s referring to is on the opposite side of our clearing, but only people knowing the area would be aware of that and most passers-by would simply assume the sign refers to the spur as well. Well, hopefully they would, anyway.”

“You’re a cunning bugger, Dirk. It’s not a bad idea though; especially as the people knowing the area that well are few and far between. In fact I think even the local council’s not all that sure of the boundaries. I know you guys are staying here overnight so you can have a look at the map tomorrow ‘cause I’ll be at the fire-house most of the day.”

“What, no day off for you?”

“Yes and no: I’m restoring a Lister hit-and-miss engine that’s over eighty years old. Up until thirty years ago it was used to run a generator that supplied power to a dairy before the farm went on to the national grid, and it hadn’t been used since. The building housing it got burned down several years ago and I found it when we attended the fire. The owners didn’t need it so they gave it to me and I’ve been using the brigade’s workshop for the restoration. A couple of the guys there are into the same sort of thing and it’s become a bit of a club I suppose.”

“Sounds interesting,” said Sally. “We’re going to the range with Dai and Bron early tomorrow morning so we’ll probably come around midday to have a look at that map, and your engine too, if that’s OK.”

“No problem. There’ll be a few of us there so you’ll be able to see a couple of old machines that the other guys are trying to get up and running for a display over at Woodburn Village next month.”

 

[Bidadisndat]

Their conversation was interrupted by the unexpected appearance of Rob and Reb who approached the fireplace in the hope of quickly drying the clothes that had borne the brunt of a heavy shower that suddenly fell as they left their ute to make a run for the dry cover of the hotel.

“Hey guys! Didn’t expect to see you here tonight,” said Dirk. “What’ve you been up to?”

“House hunting,” replied Reb a bit morosely as she and Rob arranged chairs so that they could sit a little closer to the fire. “And with no luck, I might add.”

“Oh? I wasn’t aware you were going to move from your apartment so soon.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t planning to,” said Rob. “At least not just yet: We were hoping to find a place somewhere around here before giving notice, but one of the estate agents stuffed everything up for us.”

“How so?”

“We’d gone to two agents and one of them asked us to fill out an application form before they’d even consider showing us what they had on their books. We filled out the form but explained that at the moment we were only looking for what might be available, and we’d prefer it if nothing was mentioned to our present landlady until we found a place. I think the first thing the agency did was contact her and ask for a reference because when we got home this afternoon the old cow was furious and told us that we had to move out straight away. I was able to point out that under the terms of our lease she had to give us at least one month’s notice and she told us that she’d have her agent do that come Monday.”

“I think I destroyed any hope of her changing her mind over the weekend too,” Reb put in. “I completely lost it and told her in no uncertain terms that she was a miserable old cow at the best of times, and we’d be only too happy to find a new apartment. One that had a reasonable landlord who’d allow us to use our Weber.”

“How’d she handle that?” a laughing Sally asked her.

“She had a shot at us for living together without being married, which is none of her damned business but something that’s probably been on her tiny mind from the time I began hanging up double bed-sheets instead of singles when I did the laundry. It’s a bit inconvenient at the moment but the truth is we’d be much happier living somewhere else anyway.”

“We did look at a couple of places on the far side of town but they were both in really grotty areas and the neighbours appeared to be rather unsavoury characters,” said Rob, “And the only house available in Brocklesbury at the moment is way above what we can afford to pay.”

Archie, a young red-haired volunteer of the fire-brigade, chipped in after overhearing the conversation and said that if they were really desperate his family had a caravan parked at the back of their house and they’d be welcome to borrow it for as long as they needed because it was never used.

“It has a large annexe but doesn’t have a shower or toilet, so you’d have to find a caravan park where you could put it,” he said. “I know there’s a good one down near the end of Nine Mile Beach, though from what I hear its weekly rates are a bit steep. The van’s unregistered at the moment, and I have to warn you that it’d need a good airing out and maybe a lick of paint to make it decently liveable, but it’s there if you decide you can use it.”

None saw Sally cock her head, raise her eyebrows and look at Dirk when the offer of the caravan was made, or see him grin in understanding and nod with agreement to the silent question directed towards him. Excusing themselves for a moment the two went into a huddle and quickly decided that one of the small clearings close to their own would be an ideal place for a caravan to be parked... if it could be towed there, though that was a something that could be looked at later.

“Nothing to do with caravans, but are you two having dinner here tonight?” Sally asked Reb when she and Dirk turned their attention back to the group conversation.

“Yeah. In fact we were thinking of booking in for the night rather than drive back to town in this rain.”

“That’s good: Dirk and I have an idea we’d like to run past you, though it might be best to go and find out if there’s a room available for tonight first.”

“I’ll go and do that now,” said Rob, standing and heading for the door leading to the accommodation wing. “Want me to book a table in the dining room too?”

“Good idea: It’s a lot quieter there than eating here.”

When Rob returned ten minutes later it was to find that the brigade volunteers, including Uncle Bob, had finished their drinks and were taking advantage of a lull in the rain to head for their vehicles in the carpark, though before Archie left Reb thanked him for the offer of the van, asked him for his ‘phone number and told him they’d keep it in mind.

“OK, so what’s the idea you want to run past us?” asked Rob when later they all sat down to a three-course dinner of roast beef and vegetables, preceded by cream of cauliflower soup and followed by a desert of steamed pudding with custard.

“Before we go into that,” replied Dirk as he poured a house red wine into each of their glasses, “Can you both give us an honest opinion of Sal’s and my attempt to live off the grid and become self-sufficient? That is, do you think what we’re doing is practical, or perhaps that we’re a bit crazy?”

“Actually, Rob and I already discussed that between us some time ago,” began Reb in reply, “and we decided that what you’re doing is a bit crazy but fantastic at the same time. It’s a bit like that old TV series “The Good Life,” but for real.”

“Well, you probably are more than just a bit crazy,” Rob said with a grin, “but we’re right behind you, which is why we’ve been helping you as much as we have. Sounds like you have another project in mind that’ll require more of our help, so out with it.”

“Not really a project. At least, not yet. You guys haven’t seen them, but along the path that leads from our cottage to the beach there are three small clearings that Sally’s dad put in for family friends to camp on. Though they’re small, each one is still large enough to site a cottage like the one we’re building,” said Dirk, adding “Or perhaps a borrowed caravan” in a way that left no doubt that he was referring to the offer made by Archie earlier that evening.

“No toilet or shower there, of course,” added Sally, “But putting up a small shed to house a composting toilet and a solar shower would be easy enough to do.”

“Very easy. The van could be jacked up a bit and a deck built alongside, with the shed sort of like an ensuite at one end. And as the van has an annexe it could be placed over the deck too.”

“Wish we’d had that sort of comfort when we were building our cottage, Dirk,” said Sally.

With the emphasis she’d placed on the word “our” when referring to their cottage the inference that they should also build one was pretty clear and both Rob and Reb looked a little stunned by the proposition, but while Rob finally came out with “Are you suggesting that we become neighbours!?” Reb looked as though she was about to start laughing.

“Good God! Wouldn’t that be terrible?” laughed Dirk at the expressions on their faces. “The clearings are close, but not so close that we’d be living in each other’s pockets, and it doesn’t have to be permanent. Plus there’d be no caravan park fees to worry about and that’d save you quite a few dollars. Of course, it’s only an idea, but it’d be worth having a look at the site, don’t you think?”

“Rob, I know we’ve been doing OK,” said Reb, “but it’ll still be a few years before we’ve saved enough for a decent deposit on a place of our own, so I think we should at least have a look at the site and give the idea some serious thought.”

“I’m already thinking of other advantages, love: Close to Brocklesbury, close to work, and most importantly, close to the beach for fishing. Downside for you is that instead of me driving from town to work, you’d have to drive to town.”

“Be well worth it to be free of that old bitch who owns the apartment we rent.”

“Now that’s not nice, Reb, even if I do happen to agree. Speaking of driving: Dirk, what’s access to those clearings like? We’ve only ever driven as far as the teardrop at the end of the spur and I didn’t see any signs of a track going further.”

“My dad and uncle cut a track so that friends could drive to them without having to go through our clearing,” put in Sally, “and while it’s overgrown now it should be quite OK to use once it’s been cleared.”

“That reminds me Sal: Remember how we were thinking of having Dave’s contractor friend Darren dig out a hole in the embankment for our root cellar? He has a bob-cat as well as an excavator so if the track is in poor condition maybe we could get it levelled with that at the same time.”

“Good thinking. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though: Perhaps we should all go and have a good look at the clearings and the access to see if it’s doable first, then Rob and Reb can have a think about it and decide if they want in.”

“Honestly, if you’d asked us a couple of months ago I’d probably have said we’d be nuts to try doing same thing, but after seeing what you guys have done so far I reckon I’d be willing to give it a go. What do you think, Reb?”

“You know I’d be with you whatever you decide to do, but I agree that it’d be worth having a shot at. We could at least live in the caravan for a couple of months and if that went well go to the next stage of building our own cottage. Dirk, right now Rob and I know absolutely nothing about what we’ll need to do so we’re going to rely heavily on you and Sal to show us the way.”

“Don’t worry sister: We’ll lead you to the path of freedom and happiness,” laughed Sally who finished by raising her arms high, shaking her hands and crying “She has seen the light! Hallelujah!”

“We have plans for tomorrow, so how about you guys come over to the cottage on Sunday morning? The forecast is for occasional showers but having a look at the site in less than ideal conditions would actually be a good thing.”

“I can see the wisdom in that, Dirk. OK, we’ll be over in time for morning tea, so make sure you’ve got the billy boiled.”

“We’ve done quite a bit of work on the cottage but you’d better wear something warm as it hasn’t been fully lined yet,” suggested Sally. “That’s a job we’ll be finishing after Dirk’s completed installing the light fittings and the plumbing for the kitchen and bathroom.”

“Well, at least the work you’re doing now is all under cover so I guess it hasn’t been too difficult to keep to the tight schedule I bet you’ve set for yourself.”

“Rob, he’s spent hours madly drawing up highly detailed plans of jobs that need to be done in a specific order,” Sally said with only a slight roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, though there’s method in my madness. After the electrics, plumbing and insulation we’ll work on the bathroom so that we don’t have to use the outside loo and shower. Next will be the kitchen, for the same reason, then the loft, and finally the lounge area. By the time it’s all finished, which by my reckoning should take about three week if we work at it full times, the weather should have improved and the ground dried out enough so we can go ahead with putting up the front deck.”

“There’s no power supply out there so what electrical wiring are you doing?”

“It’ll mostly be for 12 volt lighting, Reb, though there’ll be a couple of inverter supplied 240 volt outlets in the kitchen plus one each on the back s porch and front deck. Power will come from large truck batteries which we can charge by hooking them up to the truck’s electrical system. Later I want to get a generator for running my power tools and a washing machine, and the batteries could be charged from that too.”

“Dirk, you said something earlier about digging a hole in the embankment for a root cellar. What was that all about?”

With the vast knowledge gained from studying his three books on gardening, plus two more on self-sufficiency, Dirk was able to explain what a root cellar was and why he felt they should have one, and from there the conversation drifted to gardening, poultry keeping and other homesteading pursuits.

“Do you think there’d be enough space at the clearing for us to have a small vegetable garden?” Reb asked.

“A small one maybe, but why go to the trouble and expense of putting in a veggie garden when you can simply help us in ours and we share the produce? Same goes for poultry: Rather than build a coop and run of your own you could just get a few brown chickens and pop them into our chook run, which is much larger than we presently need anyway.”

“Why should I get brown chickens?”

“Because then we’d know who owns which, because all our chooks are black.”

As Dirk and Rob burst out laughing a surprised Reb squealed "You’ve got chickens already!? How many have you got? Do you get many eggs from them?”

“We’ve got six Australorps but they’re still about three weeks away from beginning to lay. We’ll probably only get a few eggs each week to start with, but when they get to full production we’ve been told that six a week from each bird during summer is average. Apparently they need twelve to fourteen hours of sunshine to lay so we can expect far fewer in the winter that’ll soon be here. Bit too late this year but that shouldn’t be a problem for us in the future because one of Dirks books on self-sufficiency describes how eggs can be kept fresh for twelve months and longer... and without refrigeration.”

“For twelve months!? Without refrigeration!? Get outta here!”

At this point Rob volunteered that his grandmother used to preserve eggs and at one time had broken a freshly laid egg into a bowl beside another into which she broke one that she’d preserved nine months before. He hadn’t been able to see or smell any difference in the two, or taste after they’d been poached and served up on toasted slices of the wholegrain bread she baked.

“The eggs were fine,” he said, “but I didn’t go much on her wholegrain bread.”

“My mother baked bread in our earth oven whenever we came camping,” said Sally, “She never did it at home because going to the supermarket was easier, but I do remember that the bread she made here was really good. Reb, why don’t we try our hand at baking a few loaves one Saturday when the boys are at fire training?”

“Hey, that’d be fun! I suppose there’ll be some how-to-do-it instructions in one of Dirk’s books?”

“Yes. I saw something about it in one of the books though I don’t recall seeing any recipes. I’ll need to get some loaf pans too because we don’t have any of that type of cookware. Hmm... I bet I’d find some of those at the Brocklesbury Trading Post: Dirk and I had a look in there once and it seemed like it had just about everything a homesteader would ever need. If they do have loaf pans they might also have a recipe book that has something about bread-making in it. If we get back from the rifle range before they close tomorrow I’ll go and check it out.”

“You mean you’re going shooting?” asked Reb with a look that was hard to interpret as it could have been one of amazement, shock or horror... Or all three.

“Well... yeah. We’ve never been before and Dave and Bron invited us to go with them. They’re members of the local rifle club and apparently there’s an open day where people who are interested or curious about the sport can go for a look-see. Ahh... You don’t like guns?”

Reb’s answer of “Well they are dangerous, aren’t they?” sounded more like a statement that needed confirmation than a question and though he wasn’t a shooter, for some reason it put Dirk on the defensive.

“Not at all: It’s the type of people who hold them that can be dangerous,” he put in hurriedly. “Admittedly there are criminals and occasionally people who aren’t quite right in the head that have used firearms, and we know there’ve also been a few genuine accidents that have caused serious and sometimes fatal injuries, but by and large the majority of guns are in the hands of responsible persons, which is more than can be said for automobiles for example.”

When Reb still looked a little sceptical Sally took the baton: “It’s true, Reb. In fact official records show that illegal use of firearms has actually been decreasing for some years now, despite the misinformation always spouted by the anti-gun lobby. A lack of education is probably the biggest hurdle the shooting fraternity has to face, and one that to my mind they themselves should be more active in redressing. As for us: Dave said that under the club’s rules we, together with a few others interested in the sport, have to sit through a short lecture on firearms safety before shooting, and when we actually get to fire a rifle we’ll be closely supervised by the club’s Range Officer.”

“And probably by Dave and Bron too as they both offered us the use of their rifles for the event,” added Dirk.

“Dave and Brown have rifles? Gosh, I’d never have thought so.”

“According to Bron most of their friends do too. You’d probably be amazed by the number of people you know around town who are licensed shooters.”

“An open day you said? I really wouldn’t mind having a look myself. Can a person just turn up or do you have to book?” Rob asked, making Reb’s eyes widen in surprise. Or perhaps, as before, amazement, shock, horror or all three.

“I’m not sure Rob. Dave asked us yesterday morning and didn’t say anything about having to book in, but he could have done that for us after we left. You could ask him or Bron now though because they’re both working tonight.”

“Excuse me guys. I’ll be right back,” said Rob as he got up and after quickly heading for the public bar returned a few minutes later with a smile on his face.

“All fixed,” he said, and before Reb could make any objection added “We’ll be there, and Reb will bring an open mind, won’t you love?” the last three words being directed meaningfully at his partner who otherwise might have bailed out.

Knowing he was now skating on thin ice Rob thought it might be a good idea to change the subject and began by asking Sally if she had any ideas for painting and decorating the inside of their cottage, and while nobody was fooled by his clumsy attempt to prevent an argument between himself and Reb it was successful enough to do just that. In fact so successful that by the time they all headed for their rooms at the end of the night Reb appeared to have fully embraced the idea of moving temporarily into a caravan, building a cottage and becoming a homesteader... and also to have accepted the fact that she’d be going to the open day at the range.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

When the two couples met up for breakfast in the hotel’s dining room in the morning they decided that they should all go to the range together in Dirk’s truck then come back and visit uncle Bob at the fire station, and have look at the old engines he and his mates were working on. They’d work out what to do about lunch when the majority felt hungry Dirk had said, however the girls claimed that might be too soon as both men were always hungry. The two men would ride in the front and the girls in the back seat of the truck, and when they climbed into the cab Reb smiled at the sight of Paddington Bear sat on a small booster seat that Sally had made for him, and the little girl in her decided that never having had one she really wanted a Teddy Bear of her own.

Their time at the range turned out to be quite a lot of fun for the two girls who, after listening and actually paying attention to the firearms safety lecture, seemed to treat the practical firing session that followed somewhat like the shooting gallery at a fun fair, and Reb, using Dave’s ·22, turned out to have a surprisingly good aim. He’d persuaded her to “give it a shot”, a pun that made Bron’s eyes roll, by showing her the “little bullets” that didn’t look as lethal as the ·308’s that he was using, though they all had a good laugh at the look on her face when she was informed later that a ·22 was a favoured calibre of many hit-men and assassins.

Their partners took the event a lot more seriously though, and after telling Dave that they’d like to purchase more ammunition than the ten rounds they’d had to buy from the club for the shoot, settled down to very carefully and deliberately put another four magazines each through both his and Bron’s ·223’s.

While Dave was content to empty two magazines of ·308 Bon was more than happy to blaze away with her 30-30 without seeming to care too much about the cost of the lead she was sending down range, neither of them knowing that in the following years the price of ammunition would sky-rocket to the point where such extravagant use would be very limited. Not that ammo was cheap now, and Dave was careful to pick up all their used casings, plus a few more that other shooters either weren’t bothering to save or were giving to him directly, for reloading.

When the four friends left the range, after thanking Dave and Bron profusely for the invitation to attend plus the loan of their rifles, and drove back to Brocklesbury Reb was tightly clutching the paper targets she’d been shooting at and which had been handed to her by the Range Officer after her shoot. She was pretty proud of the high score she’d achieved and if her happy chatter was anything to go by she seemed to have completely reversed her stance on firearms... And Rob was now no longer in danger of being punished for getting her to do something that was against her normally placid nature, which, he jokingly told Dirk later, was probably a good thing as she now knew how to use a rifle!

Dirk parked the truck close to the Fire Brigade building however before going inside they decided to have something to eat at the café across the road. Julius Tran was behind the cash register as they walked in and smiled ruefully at them, explaining that as brigade training had been cancelled he’d been left in charge of the shop while his wife went to support their daughter’s netball team in town. He was pretty proud though, because Julia was now the team’s captain and whilst he wasn’t really interested in the game felt he should also be there to support her.

Rather than sit out the back under the wisteria vine and risk getting wet if hit by a sudden shower they stayed inside where for the first time Rob and Reb saw and were impressed by the collection of books that were available for sale or exchange. As both were avid readers and had quite a collection of paperback novels that would have to be disposed of if they moved into a caravan, they decided that donating them to Julius’ library would be the best way to divest themselves of the books, and asked him if he’d be willing to take them.

Depending on their condition, he’d told them, he’d be quite happy to buy them outright or give them credit towards meals or bread and cakes produced by the café or bakery, and if they brought the books in for him to look at they could probably work out a reasonable deal. They were pleasantly surprised by the offer and told him that they’d bring the books the next time they came over to the village, which hopefully would be very soon as they were thinking of becoming residents.

With lunch out of the way they headed to the Brocklesbury Trading Post to see if loaf pans were available, and to let Rob and Reb have a look around. It turned out that not only did the store sell proper bread loaf pans, eight of which Sally purchased along with a recipe book devoted to the craft of baking breads of every type imaginable, but also the various flours and yeasts called for in the book’s recipes. They were there for about twenty minutes longer than the five it took to buy the bread pans and book as there were so many things that they wanted to look at in the packed aisles, and they might have stayed longer if the store wasn’t about to close.

Crossing the road back to the fire station they entered the building and followed the sound of voices and metal hammering on metal to the rear of the building where Bob and his mates were working on various projects. Bob was in the process of polishing his hit-and-miss engine and after taking time out to try and explain the intricacies of its operation finally decided that “it’ll be much easier to just start the bloody thing and show you how it works” and swung a large crank handle a few times to set it in motion.

It was pretty impressive the four visitors assured Bob as they watched its single piston thrusting back and forth, spinning the heavy flywheels around, and while the speed of its revolutions didn’t appear to be as constant as they thought it would be his explanation of the reason for that was better understood when they could see what was happening as he pointed things out.

Once the engine was shut down the other men present were keen to show off their own particular machines and it was another half hour before Sally was able to ask Bob about the map that he’d told them the brigade had. Leaving the two men to talk with the enthusiasts about their machines Bob led the two girls to what was essentially an Operations Room that had a large central table and against one wall a long bench that had several telephones and radio transceivers spaced along its length. The map that was the primary reason for their visit was spread out on the table and, obviously not soon enough as it was stained here and there with the ring marks of the tea or coffee cups that had been placed on it, was protected by a clear sheet of Perspex. It was an army topographic map that covered the brigade’s area of responsibility and over several years it had been updated by people who had penned in extra details, at different times if the colours of ink were indication.

“It’s a bit hard to read in some places because of all the stains,” said Sally as she searched the area around Brocklesbury trying to find the tract of land where their cottage was located.

“Yeah,” agreed Uncle Bob. “We’ve got a couple of new maps but we haven’t had time to copy all the details over from the old one. Well, I guess we have had the time, but it requires a neat hand and nobody seems to want to do it.”

“I’d be happy to do it,” volunteered Reb. “I’ve got a neat hand and I do a little calligraphy so I could do it on a Saturday morning when Rob’s doing fire training. Here, I’ll show you.” Picking up a pen and pad from beside one of the telephones she wrote out the alphabet, both upper and lower case, in a beautiful copperplate script that convinced Bob that she was up to the task, and asked him if the next Saturday would be convenient.

“Do you think you could do a half a dozen of them? They wouldn’t all need to be done at once, but there’s one of these at each of the police stations here and in town, one at the town’s brigade headquarters and two at council. Mind you, I reckon ours is more up-to-date than any of the others but they should really all be the same.

“That shouldn’t think that’d be a problem, unless the other maps have details that aren’t shown on this one. Can you get them all together so I can check?”

“That’ll be easy. I think I could have them all here by next Saturday.”

While Bob and Reb were talking Sally had found the property she was looking for, as well as its boundaries, the southern side of which ran along the top of the gully’s ridge opposite the cottage, thus confirming that they were squatting on Crown Land. The name written on the map beneath a line of letters and numbers signifying who-knew-what was “M. Stringer”, presumably the name of its owner or title holder, so Stringer’s Farm was what would be painted on the sign at the entrance to the spur leading to the teardrop.

A short time later the girls dragged their partners away from the historical machinery and after thanking Bob and his friends they drove back to the Cock & Bull where Rob and Reb had left their ute. In Dirk’s case it was actually with a piece of history as he was borrowing a WWII era fire-fighting stirrup pump with which he could test the joints of his plumbing.

Too early for dinner but too late to make an inspection of the clearings, which was planned for tomorrow anyway, they decided to drive into town, take in a movie and have a late meal, after which Dirk and Sally would crash at Rob and Reb’s place for the night. That plan came a bit unstuck when they found there was nothing that appealed to them showing at the cinema so dinnertime found them at the Thai restaurant having an early meal instead. When they arrived at their friends’ apartment later Dirk took two of the novels he and Sally had swapped in the village plus his two books on self-sufficiency and the rest of the night was spent quietly reading and, with coffee, sampling the cake that Bron had given Sally when she’d left the farm the day before. The cake had a very lemony taste however while they weren’t able to identify the vegetable Bron had used all agreed that it was very more-ish and that Sally should get the recipe from Bron as quickly as possible, especially as before they all turned in for the night the entire cake had been eaten.

* * *
​

Next morning the track leading to the small clearings was found to be no more overgrown than that of the large one was before the cottage had been erected, with Dirk, Rob and Reb wading through the long wet grass in gum-boots to see if it was also driveable. Sally had decided that with three people doing the job there was no need for her to get her trousers soaked through too and elected to stay at the cabin and prepare something for lunch.

Having made their way to each of the clearings and finding them all to be large and flat enough Dirk suggested that the first clearing should be used to accommodate a caravan and, if they went ahead with it their cottage could be built in the next clearing. That way the caravan would be equally accessible from either cottage, making it convenient if either couple had guests staying over. At present it was far too wet to attack the growth of long grass and short bushes though a day or two without rain would probably be sufficient for Rob to begin the job, using the brush-cutter and mower that Dirk would lend him.

“It’ll most likely take you all of a day to get that done,” surmised Dirk.

“Not if I can avoid it. A good mate of mine has an old Fergie tractor with a PTO and a three-point-linkage, and as he sometimes earns a few bob slashing grass I’d be more than happy to pay him to do it.”

“Can you trust him to do it on the quiet? The fewer people who know about this the better.”

“Absolutely. I think he has a post-hole digger attachment too, and using that to put our stumps in would be even easier and faster than using a hand-held petrol-powered one like you did.”

As they were talking the rain started again and they made a bee-line for the cottage where, managing to arrive before they were soaked through, they kicked off their gum-boots and hung their raincoats beside the back door before going inside to find that Sally had a meal ready for them.

Reb hadn’t seen the cottage since work on the framing had started and was all “oohs” and “ahhs” when she walked in and saw what had been accomplished so far. Despite lining boards having yet to be installed the exterior cladding and insulation had made a big difference, but it was the bay and boxed in windows that seemed to impress her the most. Sally had arranged large cushions on the floor along the wall opposite the ten-light doors and under the boxed window, and described how they wanted to have a sofa-bed, with storage drawers built under it, or perhaps a pull-out double bed for visitors.

When Rob suggested that “It’d be easy enough to build a sofa with storage drawers that pull out to support the backrest cushions like a mattress,” paper and pencils were produced and several ideas were discussed before a final design was decided upon, with Reb saying that two would have to be made because she and Rob would also need one for their cabin.

Although it took quite a few ups and downs of the Jefferson stairs to convince her that they weren’t difficult let alone dangerous to use she already had her mind set on a Japanese kaidan dansu style of combined steps and storage which, Sally said with a laugh, would be at least one difference in their cottages.

Looking around the unfinished cottage Reb said that she was able to see how it would look when the work was complete and hoped that she and Rob could build one as good, to which Sally replied that it would be as good because she and Dirk would help them every step of the way. Dirk’s advice was that as soon as they moved into the caravan Rob should start gathering material from the recycling centre and the Anderson’s farm house... If there was any left of that by the time he and Sal had finished... and get cracking on the build.

“Because we decided to use the timber slabs for our cottage there’ll be plenty of weatherboards from the Anderson house for the siding of your cottage, and as I’ve kept all my sketches, plans and measurements, copying our basic design would make the job easier. To make the two appear even more different you could turn the plan over so that the east end becomes the west end and that wouldn’t affect the amount of light coming in. A bit of landscaping and some shrubbery around it, along with painting and decorating could also make the two look completely different, and I know Reb would be a whiz at that.”

Reb smiled at the compliment. “If it takes a bit of work to get the clearing and track into shape I’m up for it because I’ve already decided that we will be moving into the van, and Rob won’t have to con me into it... Like he did with shooting at the range.”

“Like she was so upset about that that she framed her targets and hung them on our lounge-room wall like they were valuable paintings,” Rob revealed to Dirk and Sally, who laughed and applauded her for doing so.

A few more ideas were tossed around, not so much about building cottages but about other projects such as building a larger workshop where Dirk could use his fence palings to make things and perhaps Sally could do her pottery.

Not to be left out Reb insisted that her lead-lighting should also be catered for, thus leaving Rob to try and think of something he could do in order to claim a corner of the work-shop. If he couldn’t, Sally told him, he needn’t worry too much as they could always build a triangular shed.

Not long after lunch Rob and Reb headed back to town whilst Dirk got straight to work and by evening the plumbing, complete with insulative foam sleeving and including that needed for the washing machine and laundry tubs on the back porch had been installed, at least to the point where it would be connected to the external water supply. Initially the system would be gravity fed from the reservoir but as they hoped to put in an automatic pump in the future Dirk used the fire-pump to pressurise the pipes to ensure there would be no leaks, and finding none bragged jokingly about his prowess as an all-round handyman.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Friday morning had begun with a few brief showers but by midday the sun was out in full force and with no rain forecast for the next few days they were looking forward to spending a bit of time outdoors, even if Saturday morning would be spent by Dirk at fire-training. Together they checked the vegetable garden beds, which hadn’t washed away as Dirk had feared they might have and were showing vigorous growth, and the chickens, who had managed to thoroughly saturate the straw in their nesting boxes by going in and out of the rain. Replacing the straw was quickly and easily done, with Dirk remarking that the old stuff was ideal to put in the first of his three very large compost bays which now stood side by side in the chook run.

When passing their spring-fed pond he noticed that the water coming from the pipe above it was a bit more forceful than usual and following a hunch he made a quick foray down to the bottom of the hollow and found that what was normally a boggy depression was now filled with water. A dozen or so wood-ducks were enjoying themselves, chasing each other and splashing about in water that he knew would eventually drain away, and he wondered if there might be some way to prevent that happening.

Then, remembering that their reservoir had not yet had its cover placed over it he went up to see how much water was in it and found to his surprise that it was half full, and that very fortunately the only debris in it consisted of a couple of handfuls of green leaves that had sunk to the bottom. These would be easy to remove with the leaf scoop he’d gotten with the pool but to be on the safe side and prevent any more contamination he and Sally decided that as quickly as possible they’d make up and install the slightly domed frame he’d designed to cover it.

That evening when they booked into the Cock & Bull it was to find that Rob and Reb had decided to follow their example and reserve a room for several Friday nights while they sorted things out with the caravan. They’d managed to contact Archie earlier that afternoon and after inspecting the van and finding it to be as he’d described: In need of a good airing and a splash of paint to make it liveable, had accepted his offer to lend it to them. Although the wheels, tyres, brakes and electrical connections seemed to be in good condition and the van was ready to be towed to its new home-site as soon as that was ready, it was out of registration so the move would be done on the quiet. The deal was that Rob and Reb would undertake the repainting and foot the cost of any repairs that might be required, plus organise its towing.

“We figured your truck would be ideal for that job, though we weren’t sure if you knew how to tow a trailer with it,” Rob said to Dirk with a grin.

“I have to admit I haven’t done much towing but it shouldn’t be a problem. Hmm... I think to be on the safe side I’ll just lend you the truck and you can do it yourself. How does that sound?”

“Considering I’ve had plenty of experience driving trucks and towing trailers I think it sounds like an excellent idea, though I’d better wait until my mate Richie’s slashed the site first. The van’s been jacked up and it’s sitting on besser blocks at the moment, and as Archie said we could take those too they could be carried on the truck when we do the move.”

“Sounds like it’ll take the best part of a day. Sally and I’ll help of course, but when do you reckon you’ll be able to do it?

“Depends mostly on the weather but we sure want to be able to move in before we’re chucked out of the apartment.”

“So I gather the landlady hasn’t had a change of heart?”

“No, though the agents managed to persuade her to give us six week’s notice so they could find somebody else to move in, otherwise she might find herself losing income. It wouldn’t matter if she changed her mind anyway: Reb’s really excited about moving into the van and has already begun downsizing by chucking out everything she thinks she’ll never need.”

“What about your furniture?”

“We don’t have lot, but I’ll store it at the recycling centre. If somebody wants to buy some of it we’ll probably sell it to them. Would it be OK if we borrow your truck to move our stuff?”

“No problem. In fact, I’ll help you.”

Reb’s excitement about moving into the van had percolated through to Sally and while the men had been talking the two girls had put their heads together and were discussing ways in which they could give it a good make-over.

“Despite what Archie says I think a mess at the moment, especially the floor as they were using it to store engine parts or something. It’s not falling to pieces though he said one of the roof hatches leaks a bit and you can see that the ceiling panels either side of it have been water damaged. It’s under a carport at the moment but we’ll have to fix the hatch before the move. With Rob and I having full-time jobs, building a cottage like yours will take us a lot longer than you guys and we’ll be living in it for some time so I want it to be reasonably comfortable. A bit of work should see it fixed up OK though and the only real concern I have is keeping warm through the winter: It can get damned cold here and caravans aren’t all that well insulated.”

“Yeah, I suppose they aren’t, seeing as they’re usually built more for summer holidays. A lot of people do live in them full-time though, so it might be worth talking to some of the permanent residents in the local caravan parks and find out how they handle the cold.”

“Maybe. Thing is, permanent sites have power supplied so ninety five percent of the residents would probably simply flick a switch and turn on their heaters... and their electric blankets.”

“Not to mention their kettles, percolators and toasters in the mornings.”

“Toasters! I never thought of that, and I have toast almost every morning.”

“We sometimes do too but Dirk has a little toaster thingy that sits on the picnic stove and it works well, so maybe you could get one of those. I assume the van has a fridge?”

“Yes, though it’s only a small one. Not much bigger than the little fridge in our rooms here. Archie said it’s a three-way, meaning it can run on mains power, twelve volts or gas. His dad built a battery box that sits on the A-frame and holds four car batteries but they’re apparently on their last legs. Rob said he’ll replace them with bigger batteries to use for lighting but we’ll run the fridge on gas.”

“Well, you’ll be a lot better off than we are then: We’re stuck with using our eskies at the moment and we have to keep buying ice, but we’ll probably get a gas fridge when the cottage is finished.”

The men came in on the conversation at that point and Rob suggested that it might be possible to pick up a reasonably priced second-hand gas fridge from the caravan repairs place over at the industrial park on the other side of town as he’d seen several wrecked vans there being cannibalised for parts. It was a good idea so along with buying conduit with which to build the frame for the cover of the reservoir, it went onto the list of things that Dirk had to do next Monday.

Most of the conversation when they all went to dinner seemed to involve vans, cottages or self-sufficiency and despite it being pointed out to Rob and Reb that their fishing might have to be cut back while they were working on it, the evening ended on a really positive note.

* * *
​

Following training and the barbeque at the fire-house on Saturday morning Dirk and Rob spent the afternoon working on Archie’s family’s van which they’d had to jack up in order to remove the besser blocks that were supporting it. When the van was lowered onto its wheels a problem immediately became clear: Not so much because the tires on the left side were flat, as they could simply be pumped up, but because the leaf springs on that side had collapsed and would need replacing. Archie hadn’t been aware of the problem and was most apologetic however after deciding that replacing the springs wouldn’t be too difficult the van was jacked up a besser block higher than it had been previously and after making sure it was safe Dirk and Rob worked at removing them. A trip into town would have to be made as replacement springs of the correct size weren’t available locally, however as the Caravan Spares and Repairs business in town was closed on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday Dirk would get them on the following Monday.

While the men were busy with the van Reb had enlisted Sally’s help to work on the topographic map held at the fire station, and while Uncle Bob had managed to get all copies of the maps held elsewhere Reb thought it might be best to do just one and have him check it for any errors before producing the extras he wanted. She’d brought her calligraphy pens and bottles of ink of various hues and the map to be worked on was laid out on the centre table, with the original and the other copies being laid out on the long bench against the wall behind.

They decided that the best way to copy the details from the old map to the new was to do it grid by grid, finding as they did so that while there were a lot there weren’t quite as many additions to be done as they feared might be, and most of those were pretty close to the town or each of the few surrounding villages. Even so, it was still going to be quite a job as each of the maps they were copying from had additions pertinent only to the areas from where each came. They decided that Reb would do the lettering and Sally would use a rule and a French curve to draw boundaries and roads or tracks that weren’t shown on the new maps they’d been handed. It took a little over four hours of intense concentration; examining each individual map, combining the details to be transferred and cross checking, then careful penmanship before what they called the Master Map was complete. Finally they were able to call Uncle Bob away from the engine to which he was making final adjustments and when he walked into the control room Reb handed him a couple of blank sheets of paper on a clipboard and asked him if he could check the map and write down any mistakes he found that might need to be corrected before it was duplicated.

After they’d left and were headed to the Cock & Bull where they were to meet the men Bob spent some time going between maps to see if there were mistakes and was surprised to find that there actually was one. He was about to write it up on the clipboard but when he double checked to confirm its position he stopped and began to chuckle, then a moment later began to roar with laughter.

“You crafty devils,” he said to the empty room when he realised that unless it was corrected the mistake meant that M. Stringer would now appear to be in possession of fifty acres or so that he didn’t have before, and that Dirk’s and Sally’s cottage was located on private rather than Crown Land. The hope was of course that council would leave it to the land’s owners to decide what to do about any squatters who were found to have taken up residence there.

The owners of the property would know where the true boundary was and if they knew the cottage stood on Crown Land wouldn’t be likely to bother doing anything about them either, so unless the land was rezoned or put up for sale, both of which were highly unlikely events in the foreseeable future, Dirk and Sally were pretty much safe staying where they were. Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes he finally decided that he hadn’t really found any mistakes at all, and even in the event that one was to be discovered later, it was after all simply just a mistake... wasn’t it?

“So how did it go?” Dirk and Rob were asked when they turned up at the hotel not long after the girls had arrived.

“Well, not as good as I hoped, but not too bad,” said Rob. “I have to get some new springs for the suspension on one side but Dirk’s going to pick some up on Monday for me and I can install them after work on Monday. Tomorrow we’re going to remove and fix the leaking roof hatch and replace the two water-damaged ceiling panels. Archie and his dad said they’d help though I think Dirk and I can do it by ourselves. What do you girls want to do?”

“Well, since you won’t need us,” said Sally, “we’re going to try our hand at baking bread in the earth oven.”

“I know we collected quite bit of wood and covered it before the rain hit,” put in Dirk, “though I don’t know if there’ll be enough to keep the oven going long and hot enough to bake bread and leave enough for our cooking.”

“I already thought of that: If we go back to the cottage now you guys can unload the dry firewood Reb and I bought from the hardware store this morning while you were at training. Don’t worry Rob: We put down lots of hessian bags to protect the back of your precious ute. Rob, if you and Reb take off now Dirk and I’ll be right behind you... after we pick up the take-away food I ordered earlier.”

By the time the truck arrived Rob and Reb had not only begun unloading the wood from the ute and stacking it close to the earth oven but they’d also dragged from where they’d been stored a couple of sheets of roofing iron to cover it. Dirk took over from Reb and the men soon had all the wood stacked and covered before going to the cottage where Sally had everything laid out for a Chinese banquet.

During the meal the girls explained how they had slightly altered the map at the RFS building and after the men had finished laughing it was decided that from now on they would all refer to the land they were on as Springers Farm, and encourage those friends who knew what they were doing to do the same. This, Sally said, would no doubt include Dave Morgan’s tradie mates in town who had offered their services but probably only half the population of Brocklesbury.

After dinner it was decided that rather than drive back into town and then return next day Rob and Reb should stay overnight, so with the loft now being clear of the insulation batts that had been stacked there Dirk and Sally moved their mattress and bedding upstairs so that Rob and Reb could spread their big double swag out on the lounge room floor

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

Sunday turned out to be quite a busy day: Dirk and Rob removed, repaired and replaced the van’s roof hatch, though not before having to cut out some dry rot they’d found and build a new housing for it, and replaced the two water damaged ceiling panels with thin sheets of plywood. They left the damaged linoleum floor covering intact for the present, though it would be replaced later with cork tiles which while not exactly cheap would provide better insulation. Despite that cork tiles were quite flexible and could probably handle the move without being damaged that job would be done after the van was installed at its new home and its interior had been repainted, mostly by Reb as she, unlike Rob who had to admit to being a bit rough with a brush, wouldn’t get drops of paint all over the floor.

Rob checked the gas bottle mounted on the A frame and found that it was not only empty but that its test date was long expired, which meant that it would have to be replaced, so it was taken off the van and put on the truck so that he could drop it off at the recycling centre next day.

Having given it some thought he’d also decided to replace the springs on both sides of the van as the condition of those still in place was uncertain, so an hour was spent removing them, along with the equalisers, shackles and bolts. It was well that they did so as it turned out that, as with the first set they’d taken out, the shackles were badly worn and the bushings practically nonexistent. According to Archie’s dad, replacement kits were available, and while he didn’t have any idea how much they’d cost he thought they shouldn’t be too much, so another set was added to Rob’s list of items he had to pick up.

Stepping out of the truck when they returned in the late afternoon the men were greeted by such a tantalising aroma of freshly baked bread that it was obvious that the girls’ efforts at using the earth oven were highly successful, and this was borne out by the array of loaves, plaits and baguettes they’d laid out when they heard Dirk’s truck coming down the track.

They’d also used the Dutch oven to prepare a lamb, vegetable and barley soup, simply because they wanted a dish they could all dunk chunks of the home-made bread into, and it was clear from their first bite that both the earth and Dutch ovens were going to see a lot of use throughout the coming winter.

“You obviously got the temperature right but how you did that is beyond me,” said Dirk as he began to hoe into his second bowl of soup.

“Well, you could put it down to experience I suppose, but since I don’t have any of that when it comes to earth ovens, I used a temperature gauge I bought from the Trading Post. Alice told me how it could be mounted in the oven door so I used your cordless drill and one of your hole-saws to do that. Made a pretty good job of it too, even if I do say so myself.”

“Oh you do, do you? That wooden door has a sheet-metal backing so what sort of condition is my-hole saw in now?”

“It’s good: I put the door wood-side down and drilled through the metal then the wood with a drill the same size as the threaded end of the probe close to the gauge, then flipped it over and used that hole as a pilot for the hole-saw. Drilled that down carefully until I heard it touching the metal and when I pulled it out the plug of wood came with it. Then I just pushed the gauge into the hole in the wood with the probe going through the hole in the metal, put a washer and nut on the back and tightened it, and that was it. Job done. Simple.”

“You’d better pray she doesn’t buy her own tools, Dirk,” laughed Rob. “Or you might find she doesn’t need you around anymore.”

“Oh, I’d always need him around even if I owned a shed full of tools, Rob: We’re partners no less than you and Reb are.”

“Yeah, I know that Sal. You know, I’ve gotten rather jealous of Dirk’s tools: I don’t own many myself and while I’ve got access to those at the recycling centre few of them are of good quality, and all the power tools are corded. Not a cordless drill or driver on site, probably because Council’s afraid someone might pinch them... Which some probably would do if given half the chance.”

“Every man should own at least one cordless drill,” said Dirk. “In fact, I reckon every man should own a good tool kit, and know how to use the tools in it. And if you really want to become self-sufficient you’re going to need one, that’s for sure.”

“Apart from the cordless drill you say every man should have, what sort of tools should we get?” asked Reb.

“I think it depends a lot on what you’re most interested in doing: Would it be mostly woodwork, or tinkering with engines for example. Whatever you do, start with a good solid lockable tool-box. As for the tools, it’d be probably best to have a look at the tools I’ve got and slowly build up your own set of the same things. You don’t have to buy the most expensive tools but my advice is to make sure you get good quality tools and look after them. And don’t ever brag about what you’ve got because that’s an open invitation to thieves.”

“We won’t even be telling people where we live, let alone what we’ve got mate: Reb and I had a talk about it and we decided that if we could drop of the grid and become self sufficient like you guys want to do, we’d be better off.”

“You’ve been reading those books I lent you, haven’t you?”

“We both have,” said Reb. “And after today’s effort with the earth oven and helping Sal with the garden I’m really convinced we can.”

“If we all worked together it’d be easier too,” added Sally.

“Yeah, I agree. In fact it’s really the only way to go: Combine our resources and skills to build things, like a big greenhouse for example, and work on the veggie garden, look after chickens, and in the future do canning and preserving.”

“Yeah, well, step by step: Reb and I have to build our cottage first and that in itself will take some time. And speaking of time: It’s getting late so we should take off now and we can catch up again tomorrow. At least I will because I need to go over to Archie’s and fit the springs on the van, if Dirk can get them.”

“Don’t worry: If they have them in stock, I’ll get them,” promised Dirk.

As Reb walked out to the ute ahead of him Rob turned and out of her hearing said quietly “Don’t say anything, but it’s Reb’s birthday next Saturday and I’m taking her to a French restaurant, and you guys are invited.”

“Ooh, nice,” said Sally. “Have you got her a present yet?”

“Ahh, not yet. Truth is I haven’t a clue as to what she might want. Whenever I ask her she says she has everything she needs in me, which may be good for my ego but makes it damned hard to find suitable presents.”

“Well, winter’s coming up so you could give her some warm clothing because I know she’s a bit worried about being cold out here. Leave it to me, Rob. I think I know what would thrill her to bits. I’ll have a look in town tomorrow when we drive over to the van repairs place. I can bring it to the restaurant for you if you like, so she won’t see what’s coming.”

“Thanks Sal, I really appreciate that,” replied a relieved Rob as he handed over three twenty dollar notes. “That’s all I have on me at the moment but if it costs more than that I’ll have to pay you back the difference at the restaurant,” he added before heading off.

* * *
​

Their visit to Cavan Spares and Repairs in the industrial estate on the other side of town in the morning was rewarded by the acquisition of a mix of second-hand and new lights that they thought would be suitable for what they wanted. There would be a single oyster ceiling light in the bathroom area and two in the living room, with four down-lights each in the kitchen and the loft, plus an exterior light for the back porch and two for the front deck. There was a really nice ceiling fan that could have been installed in the living room however it was prohibitively expensive for what it was so they decided to find something cheaper a bit later.

Unfortunately there were no suitable ‘fridges available however Sally was able to find in a catalogue one that she considered to be perfect, and while Dirk was busy looking for the springs and replacement parts for the van’s suspension she quietly ordered one and paid for it with her credit card. Her plan was to ask Rob if he could pick it up and take it to their cottage in his ute when Dirk wasn’t around, knowing that once it was installed he wouldn’t have an opportunity to object to her spending so much, as the fridge was in fact quite expensive.

Dirk already had all the switches and power points he wanted to install thanks to his kerb-side collections, and after stopping at an auto wreckers on the way back to town he came out with a 12-volt auxiliary radiator fan which he would try and swap out for the 240-volt one in the extractor fan he’d brought with him, and mount it in the bathroom ceiling.

Their next stop was in the town’s retail centre where Sally was able to find the birthday present that she believed Reb would be really happy to receive. As that was to be a present from Rob they purchased as a gift from themselves two sets of winter-weight pyjamas, two pairs of thick bed socks and a pair of Ugg boots that she could wear around the van if it got as cold as she said it could. Keeping that in mind they decided that it’d be a good idea to get the same for themselves, plus ski parkas and pants to wear outside.

The last stop was the hardware store where sufficient sheets of compressed fibre cement to line the bathroom were loaded onto the truck, along with backing strips, sealants, fixings, spacers, a tile-cutter and a few more odds and ends that would be required, and it was at that point that Dirk realised that it’d take a lot more time to do the job than he originally thought it would. He had just walked out when he suddenly remembered the conduit he needed to build the cover for their reservoir so it was a quick about-turn and ten minutes after loading that they were on their way back to Stringer’s Farm.

“What say we take our time to do just the bathroom this week and the kitchen next week?” Dirk suggested on the drive back. “Considering all the fiddly bits that need to be done in both I don’t think we’d be able to do them faster anyway. At least not if we want the cottage to be as comfortable and look as good as what we’d like it too.”

“I agree Love. I already figured that things might take quite a bit longer when we agreed to help Rob and Reb with the van anyway, and I’m OK with that. By the way, and speaking of kitchens, do you mind if I set out the floor plan, seeing that I’ll probably be the one using it most.”

“I thought we already had it planned but if you need to make changes it’s OK by me. Unless you need the plumbing, lighting and power outlets changed because that’d be a real pain in the butt.”

“No. The original floor plan is good but I just want to make a couple of small changes to some measurements. For example, I’m thinking that the benchtop where the gas cook-top will go could be a couple of inches lower than standard to make it easier for me to check pots and pans or use a wok.”

“Fair enough. We don’t have a wok, do we?”

“No we don’t, but I want one. Don’t worry about me getting more stuff than we’ll have storage space for because I’m taking the minimalist approach and only buying what we really need.”

Finally back home Dirk began unloading the materials for the bathroom and stacking them on the back porch while Sally carried the clothing, the boxes of lights and the present she’d bought for Reb on Rob’s behalf into the cottage before heating up what little was left of yesterday’s soup for a late lunch.

It hadn’t rained for three days now and around two p.m. they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Rob’s friend Richie who’d parked his Toyota Stout and a tractor-carrying trailer at the teardrop and found his way down the zig-zag path to the cottage. He’d come to do the slashing that Rob needed doing and wanted to know exactly where he should begin and how far he should go, so Dirk went up to the teardrop to show him where the track and clearings were to be cleared and stayed long enough to see just how effective the slasher was at doing the work. Not only did it turn out to be very effective it was also fast, especially when compared to Dirk’s brush-cutter and mower efforts, and less than two hours later Richie returned to tell them the job was finished.

Keen to see for herself, Sally went with Dirk to check out what had been done and both were more than pleased to find that not only had the two clearings and the track leading to them been cleared but Richie had also done a quick pass over the third clearing “to make it easier if you want to extend a bit more in the future.”

Rob turned up in his ute as they were talking to Richie, telling them that he’d had to work back a bit and didn’t think he had enough time to fit the caravan’s springs today, so he’d have to do it tomorrow.

“Still plenty of time Mate,” said Dirk. “I’ve got the springs, new shackles and bushes in the truck and I reckon if we go over to Archie’s now we could do the job in less than an hour. By the way, the shackles and bushes are new but the springs came off an almost new van that’d been written off in an accident. Apparently its owner didn’t have much experience in towing and forgot about the length of the van when he pulled onto the main highway from the intersection at Albert Street. Got hit by a pantech truck and rolled on its side.”

“Blimey,” said Richie. “Hope he was at the end of a holiday rather than the beginning. I bet his insurance company wouldn’t have been too happy.”

“Actually it was the pantech driver’s fault because he misjudged the timing of the lights controlling the intersection: Thought he’d catch them going green and was so busy watching for that he didn’t realise the car coming out was towing a van. Anyway, he got charged for neg driving and it was his insurance that had to pay.”

“Fair enough I guess. Anyway, I’ll be off now, but when you’re ready give me a call and I’ll come back and dig your stump-holes.”

With Ritchie gone the two men headed off to Archie’s and an hour and a half later the besser blocks supporting the van had been removed and stacked on the back of Dirk’s truck, and with its suspension fixed the van had been lowered to sit on its wheels, the tyres of which had been properly inflated. Also placed onto the truck were the large pavers that went under the blocks and the lengths of lattice that had skirted the van and prevented Archie’s dog from hiding under it, as it was inclined to do when it knew it had done something wrong and was now in trouble, which by all accounts was more often than not.

Archie’s dad had come out of the house when the lattice was being placed on the truck and suggested that as there was still a good hour of daylight left and the van was ready to move maybe they could take it with them now, especially as he knew that that local constable would be sitting down to dinner about this time and wouldn’t see them towing the unregistered trailer.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Dirk agreed and turning to Rob added “We could park it on the track at the entrance to the clearing tonight and position it tomorrow afternoon after we’ve put the pavers in place. What do you think?”

“I wasn’t expecting to move it before Wednesday but doing it now would put me ahead of schedule so yeah, let’s do it.”

The van was hitched up and the safety chain and electrics connected before Rob eased the truck out of Archie’s back yard and with Dirk keeping a watch rearward drove carefully back to Stringer’s Farm, arriving twenty minutes later having suffered no mishaps. They decided that they might as well take the van to the clearing where it was to be set up and position it, despite their not yet having put the support pavers for the besser blocks down as that job would be easy enough to do later.

Having heard the sound of the truck returning Sally had come to the clearing to watch as Rob manoeuvred the van into place, and after it was unhitched from the truck joined him as he had a quick look around inside and tested the interior and exterior lights for the third or fourth time, noting as he did so that the power seemed to be getting low. Looking at the interior it was obvious to Sally that it would certainly need quite a bit of work done to it before anybody moved in, but of course she’d be only too happy to help Reb with the painting and decorating. Opening the door of the small three-way fridge under the kitchen bench she knew the first job that needed doing was to give it a good clean, and that was something that should be done as soon as possible; like tomorrow.

Leaving the fridge door open when they left the van Sally joined the men in the truck for the short drive down to the cottage and after saying good night to Rob when he drove back to town in his ute went inside to find Dirk cutting a thick slice from the last loaf of bread from yesterday’s earth-oven baking.

“Hungry, are you?” she asked him with a grin.

“Just a bit: Probably couldn’t eat much more than half a horse,” he replied as he took butter from the esky and spread some on the slice of bread he was holding.

“Sorry: You’ll have to settle for zeppelins in fog because I haven’t been able to catch a horse lately.”

“What in blazes is zeppelins in fog?”

“Sausages and mashed potato,” Sally laughed. “My dad called them that, and said that the peas and diced carrot that he mixed into his mash was the flack that was put up when zeppelins over London during the First World War.”

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

A cloudy morning greeted them and rain had been forecast for the afternoon so it was decided that rather than begin work on their bathroom straight away they’d first help Rob and Reb out by putting the pavers and besser blocks under the van, and cleaning its fridge. Following a quick breakfast the tools and cleaning gear needed were taken to the van and a few hours later it was sitting solidly and perfectly level on the blocks with its lattice woodwork installed around the bottom, whilst inside there was now a thoroughly cleaned fridge, the door of which Sally left open so that it could air out.

An hour after they returned to the cottage the forecast rain began to fall, though it wasn’t nearly as heavy as it had been a few days previously, and work began on the bathroom. It was just as well they’d decided to take their time doing it as after lining and sealing the walls, a box to hold the composting toilet and a mulch bucket needed to be constructed, plus the shower base had to be installed, and both tasks turned out to be slightly more involved than he’d thought. Dirk was able to replace the 240-volt motor of the exhaust fan with the 12-volt radiator fan he’d gotten from the wreckers and that had been installed in the ceiling, with a duct leading to an outlet in the gable end of the roof above. By the end of the working week the bathroom had been lined and sealed, the towel cupboard had been installed, and before painting it only needed the shower recess to be tiled, for which task Sally was going to enlist the help of Reb.

“You’ve seen some of the beautiful things she’s done with her lead-lighting,” she explained to Dirk. “And I think she’d be great at doing the type of mosaic I’d like to have in the shower recess.”

“A mosaic? What sort of mosaic do you have in mind?”

“I was thinking of one that’d make it feel like you were standing in a waterfall in a rain forest.”

“Hey, that sounds neat! The white base would seem a bit out of place though.”

“Yeah, I thought so too, but I spoke to a bloke at the hardware store and he said it could be painted with an acrylic and be sealed. Maybe if it was painted to look like stones in a riverbed it’d look good.”

“Or you could tile over it, though you’d have to rough up the surface a bit so the adhesive would take to it.”

“Either way. I’ve also been thinking about the cork floor tiles Rob wants to put in the caravan: Do you think they’d look good in our kitchen too?”

“I think so. And they’d be nice underfoot: Warm in winter, cool in summer, and they deaden sound too. In fact, we could probably do the living area too and save us having to sand and varnish the floorboards like we were thinking of doing.”

“Works for me, though I think flooring will be the last thing on the agenda. What are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to relax and do nothing until it’s time to go to the Cock & Bull. After all, we’ve been working flat-out for the whole week so we deserve a break, don’t you think?”

“I do. How about we go to the pub now?”

“Can’t go just yet: Rob said he’s bringing Reb over to see the van in its new home after she finishes work, which will be about an hour from now, and we’ll all go together. He also wants to put in the new gas cylinder he bought, and hook up the range and fridge to see if they work properly, though according to Archie there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. We’ll be using my truck tomorrow to pick up some more besser blocks and timber he ordered for their deck so we’ll all go to the hotel together, unless you and Reb have plans and will need to use the ute.”

“No, nothing planned. While we’re waiting how about we go down and see how much water there is in the dam you showed me? With any luck it’ll still be full.”

The dam was full, or as full as it could be given that its lower side had had a small channel cut through it by fast flowing water, and they were pleased to see that the wood-ducks were still happily swimming and playing around in it.

“It’d be really nice if it was always full, wouldn’t it?” said Sally. “Do you think there’d be some way to stop it draining out, like putting down some sort of liner?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. We’d probably have to wait until it dried out a bit before trying to line it, but there are other ways: We could spread some Bentonite clay over the surface and hope that does the job when it sinks to the bottom, or we could gley it.”

“What do you mean ‘gley’ it?”

“Basically it means having to drain the pond, line it with animal manure and organic matter then trample it into the mud. After the pond is refilled anaerobic decomposition turns it into gley which stops the water permeating into the soil. It’s an old Russian method from what I’ve read, and by all accounts it seems to be pretty successful. If I was going to do that I’d probably build a wide wall across the gully a bit further down and make it a larger and deeper dam.”

“Hmm... I think I see another project on the horizon,” Sally said as they walked back up to the cottage.

“Well, I’ve already thought of putting mulched swales along the opposite side of the gully and planting rows of fodder and fruit bearing trees on them. Excess water from the swales could be directed to the dam when it’s raining heavily, or water could be pumped back up to them during dry conditions.”

“Pretty ambitious plan. We might have to consider buying a tractor.”

“Be nice to have one I suppose, but in the short term it might be cheaper to hire Richie to do it, or Dave’s friend Darren if it needed an excavator. That’s looking well into the future though because at the moment we’ve already got plenty to do.”

“True, but once Rob’s and Reb’s cottage has been built we should have two extra pairs of hands to help.”

“We’ll have one pair for sure: Rob said that after reading those books I lent them Reb told him she’d be quite happy to chuck her job in and live a life of self-sufficiency. He said he’d be OK with that because without having to pay rent they could live on his wage quite easily.”

“Especially if the veggie garden produces decent crops.”

“I’m sure it will: Have you seen the way a lot of the seedlings I planted are coming up? I think some of them are almost ready to harvest.”

“You think so? I’ve already started, at least with the lettuces. Reb had a look too and was very impressed, and once she and Rob get established they’ll help with the planting and whatever else needs doing. By the way, there’ll be more birds in the run soon because Reb managed to find some New Hampshires and I think she’s going to get them this weekend.”

“She’s really flinging herself into it then, isn’t she?”

“Actually, I think they both are. And speak of the devils; their ute is just coming down the drive now.”

As soon as the ute pulled up alongside Dirk’s truck Reb leapt out and called “Hi Sal, Dirk. Can you give us a hand please?” as she pulled the cover off the back to reveal two bags of feed and three pet carriers each containing two chickens.

A grinning Rob got out and called a greeting to them as he took a bag of feed under each arm and headed towards the chook run, with Reb trotting alongside with one of the carriers. Dirk and Sally each took a carrier and a few minutes later the six new residents of the chicken run were facing off with the established birds, each group, as is normal, being a bit wary of the other. Rob added the feed to the barrels that were there and stacked the pet carriers alongside them, saying that he’d found them at the recycling centre and thought they might come in useful if he was to become a farmer of sorts.

Reb was keen to see the van in its new position so they all headed towards it, with Rob carrying one of two new gas cylinders he’d purchased. Due to the bad weather Rob hadn’t been back since he and Dirk had reversed it into position so he was surprised to find that the van had already been jacked up onto the cinder blocks, levelled, and had the wooden lattice put around its base. Dirk had left his spirit level in the van and a quick check found that the blocks hadn’t settled into the ground and the van was sitting on an even keel, or would have been if it had been a boat, said Rob with a laugh. It took him only a couple of minutes to connect the new gas cylinder and operate the igniter for the fridge then check that it, the cook-top and the small oven were working. It would take time for the fridge to get cold of course, but at least he could see that the small flame that made it operate was burning, and also not failing to see that the fridge had been thoroughly cleaned thanked Sally for having done that for them.

He went back to the cottage then drove his ute up to the van in order to swap out the four old car batteries for the four new large and heavy truck batteries that he’d purchased and made sure were fully charged. When he bought the batteries the staff at Repco had also sold him a power level indicator which he was going to install inside the van next to the main power supply switch, and a smoke detector which would be mounted on the ceiling. Dirk helped him with the removal, replacement and connection of the batteries, and it was clear that they’d been fully charged when the lights were switched on and glowed far brighter than they had before.

A five litre tin of primer/sealer/undercoat and a number of brushes was taken from the ute and placed in the van ready for Reb to begin painting, and it was obvious that had they not been going to the Cock & Bull tonight she would have begun doing that right then. Her plan after applying two coats of the primer was to paint the interior in the same colours that she wanted to use in their cottage; just to be sure they were what she and Rob would be happy with in the long term.

“Since we’re both into fishing and are close to the beach I’ve been thinking of decorating it in a nautical theme,” said Reb. “As for colours, a flat white for the ceiling and a pale teal with white trim for the walls and cupboards would look really nice. I had a look at cork tiles at the flooring place in town and found some that are like a golden sand colour that would be perfect so I’ll have to measure up the floor so I can order the right number of boxes.”

“Cool. We’ve decided that a cork floor would be good in our cottage too so I’ll have to have a look myself,” replied Sally as together she and Reb walked back along the beach path to the cottage leaving the men to finish up what they were doing. “You’re lucky that the van is white and has blue trim so it won’t be a mismatch of colours like it is now.”

“Yeah. Archie told us that when his family first looked at the van they thought the colour scheme inside was right off, but it was going really cheap so they bought it with the intention of repainting it. It was used quite a lot until his mother had a spinal stroke that paralysed her from the waist down and after that it was just parked up and eventually used for storage, and the painting never got done.”

“Dirk thinks it should be covered with a carport like it was at Archie’s place, and he reckons we’ve salvaged more than enough roofing iron to do that.”

“I know: The boys have been working on plans to cover the van and the deck before we start work on our cottage. I do like camping, but I have to admit that I’d rather have the warmth and comfort of a van rather than live for months in a tent like you and Dirk did, especially with winter just around the corner.”

Sally laughed. “If Dirk has anything to do with it you’ll find he’s most likely drawn up a step-by-step schedule of everything that needs to be done, and in the proper order, though I found that if I want to make any changes to his plans it isn’t too hard to sweet-talk him into doing whatever I want him to do.”

“Same with Rob, though I always try to make sure he thinks that any changes I want to make are his idea.”

By the time the girls arrived at the cottage, having stopped for several minutes at the chicken run so that Reb could check that her birds were settling in alright, the men had arrived too, so it was only a matter of putting bags of laundry on the back tray and Paddington in the cab before they headed into Brocklesbury.

After checking in at the hotel and having a shower a move was made towards the bar where as expected they found Uncle Bob and a couple of his cronies enjoying a beer. Archie was there too and asked how things were going with the van. He’d felt a bit embarrassed by the fact that the springs had had to be replaced and after discussing it with his father the family had decided that when Rob and Reb had finished with the van they would put it on the market and reimburse them as soon as it was sold.

“Not necessary, Archie: We’ll have saved a lot by way of not having had to hire it, or pay rent for the apartment in town, so we think we’ve already got the best part of the deal. By the way, the old car batteries were dead so we chucked them out and replaced them with new batteries with more amp hours, though we intend using those for our cabin when that’s finished, and as the empty gas cylinder was way out of date we replaced that too.”

While the men were talking about the van Sally and Reb asked Uncle Bob if the map they’d worked on for him was OK, and if it was did he want them to do the remaining maps.

“You won’t need to,” he replied. “I took your copy to the council on Monday and gave it to the General Manager to check. He gave it a quick look over and when he saw that it had far more details on it than the one council had had before he was happy enough to send it to a printing outfit that does large scale copying. The old maps you two worked from are rolled up in my office, and copies of the new one have already been sent out to all those who need them.”

“Oh good: I was worried you might have found some mistakes that needed correcting.”

“No, though if I’d thought of it sooner I might’ve suggested you re-label the fire-trail that leads to the beach Fisherman’s Reef Road or something like that.”

“Why would you have wanted us to do that?”

“Because that might have made it easier to con the council into maintaining it. The brigade has to make sure that all the fire-trails are clear but roads are council’s responsibility.”

“Well aren’t you a sneaky one?” Sally stated more than asked. “Any chance we can have the old map that you used here? It’d make a nice decoration in our work-shed.”

“Of course you can, though I’m not sure that it’s as accurate as the maps the council now uses,” Uncle Bob said, and from the smile on his face and a wink of an eye the girls realised that he had found, and, more importantly, had ignored the small ‘mistake’ they’d made.

Uncle Bob wasn’t at all put out when the men had begged off training for the next day and told them that if they needed any help he’d bring the crew over when their barbeque was finished.

“Thanks Uncle Bob, but that won’t be necessary: The job isn’t all that big and that much help would throw Dirk’s carefully planned schedule out,” laughed Sally, making Dirk pull a face at her before grinning and agreeing.

 

[Bidadisndat]

Following the usual Friday routine of dinner in the dining room, a couple of hours of dancing and listening to the band in the lounge and an early night, the next morning found the men picking up the material that Rob had ordered for the deck to be built alongside the caravan. The girls had asked to be dropped off at the shop where Reb had found the cork tiles she wanted to use in the van as Sally wanted to have a look to see if there were any that would suit the décore of the cottage. She found that the floor tiles Reb had chosen for the van would be exactly right for what she wanted too, and the sales clerk, pleased to hear that enough tiles to floor a whole cottage would be needed offered them a substantial discount.

“It probably wouldn’t have been so substantial had he known how big, or rather how small our cottage will be,” Sally said with a laugh when they teamed up with their partners at the hardware store.

“Oh, I don’t know: The more I think about it the more I’m inclined to put the same tiles in our cottage too, so it’d still be a decent order.” said Reb as she passed a couple of sample tiles and a catalogue to Rob. “What do you think Love?”

“They do look good in this catalogue. Would you want the same colouring as what we’re putting in the van?”

“Not sure yet: I’ll make up my mind when I’ve had a look at Dirk and Sally’s tiles after they’ve put them in.”

“Rob, one thing you’ll have to remember is that you’ll have to take off your work-boots whenever you go inside otherwise you’ll ruin the floor’s surface. Same goes for you Dirk.”

“Hmm... Rob, do you think checker-plate steel flooring would look good?”

“Yeah, but steel might be a bit heavy Dirk. Aluminium should be OK though.”

“How would you guys like to live in the work-shed,” asked Reb ever so sweetly before snarling “Because that’s where you’ll be living if you keep that up.”

“And doing your own cooking and laundry,” added Sally.

“Cork not only looks good, but it’s supposed to be an excellent insulator according to this catalogue,” said Dirk, backpedalling furiously.

“Which neither steel nor aluminium is, so cork is obviously the best choice, and we really don’t mind having to take our boots off before going inside, do we Dirk?” Rob quickly added.

Opting for fish and chips for lunch in order to save time, they made a brief stop at a takeaway shop in town before heading to Springer’s Farm, arriving just as the men were finishing off the last of the chips. The truck was quickly divested of its load then while the bases were being prepared for the besser blocks that would support the deck’s bearers Sally and Reb got stuck into preparing and undercoating the woodwork of the van’s interior. So well did they all work that just before five-thirty Dirk and Rob were able to step from a deck which had been completed, apart from handrails that Reb wanted, into the van and admire the job that the girls had done with the paintwork. They were impressed to find that there was no sign of the brush marks they had expected to see around fittings and were told that before painting began all the cupboard door and drawer handles had been removed, as had the metal trims around the ceiling lights and the mounting for the fire extinguisher.

It was good timing because Rob, who hadn’t told Reb that he’d invited Dirk and Sally, wanted to go home and shower before going to the restaurant, however Reb suggested that as Dirk and Sally would probably like to have a shower too it would be just as easy to use the facilities at the recycling centre. Rob hadn’t stopped to think about that and was quick to agree so a dash was made to pick up their toiletries bags and a change of clothes before following Rob’s ute.

Before leaving the centre after they’d all showered Reb noted that Sally was wearing a dress and that Dirk was also more dressed up than she’d seen before, and they told her they’d decided to go to The Brumby steakhouse to see if it was as good as Dave had told them it was. It would also explain why they’d be driving into town rather than heading back to their cottage.

Concealed in a cardboard box on the back seat of the truck were the birthday cards and presents that would be given to an oblivious Reb, and arriving at the restaurant ahead of their friends they were taken out and taken inside to be placed under the chairs that Dirk and Sally would occupy at the booked table. Although Rob had paid Sally for the gift she’d purchased on his behalf, and had also given her a shopping voucher to go with the card he’d painstakingly hand-made himself, she hadn’t divulged exactly what the present was, but said that while it would be a surprise for them both he had to promise to act as if it was all his own idea. Unless Reb didn’t like it of course, in which case he could blame her, though she believed the odds of that were so remote they could be disregarded.

Arriving at the restaurant ahead of their friends they ordered pre-dinner drinks and had barely taken a sip before Rob and Reb arrived and made their way to the table, with Reb being slightly confused to find Dirk and Sally sat there when they were supposedly going elsewhere. Rob grinned and admitted that he had invited them to help celebrate her birthday

With a deft bit of footwork Sally surreptitiously managed to move Reb’s present from Rob from behind her own chair to the side of his without the birthday girl being aware of it, and when the call of “Happy Birthday, Reb!” was made he was able to pick it up and pass it to his very surprised partner. Encouraged to open it as soon as she’d finished reading the attached birthday card she quickly tore off the wrapping paper and found the box it covered contained a lovely dark brown and furry Barnaby Bear, with a red ribbon around his neck and a gift card wedged between his paws. Although able to conceal his surprise at Sally’s choice of gift he was a bit put out when Reb burst into tears as she took Barnaby from the box and held him in her arms, but was greatly relieved to find that they were tears of sheer happiness.

“Oh Rob, he’s just beautiful! I’ve always wanted a teddy bear, and I almost bought one after I saw Sally’s Paddington, but I was afraid you’d think I was being childish if I did.”

“Well, I do seem to remember you waffling on about it after you’d seen her bear sat in his own seat in Dirk’s truck. I suppose I’ll have to make a seat for him in the ute now, though it might be a bit of a squeeze to fit one in,” said Rob grinning at Sally as unseen by Reb he gave her a wink and mouthed a thank you.

“Are you going to give him a new name, or stick with Barnaby,” asked Sally.

“Barnaby is fine, though I’ll probably end up calling him Barney, just like you shortened Paddington to Paddy.”

“This is from me,” interrupted Dirk, with Sally adding “And this is from me,” as after fishing out the gift-wrapped parcels concealed beneath their chairs they each handed one to Reb.

“Oh honestly guys, you really shouldn’t have,” exclaimed Reb who despite the feeble protest took the parcels eagerly and with a broad smile hefted each in turn in her hands, thinking perhaps she might be able to guess their contents by their weight and feel.

That both parcels contained some type of clothing she was fairly sure but was surprised to find that rather than a sweater or some such, one parcel contained the mismatched top and bottom of a pair of winter-weight pyjamas, and likewise a pair of thick bed socks in two different colours, and the left foot of a pair of Ugg boots. Needless to say the second parcel contained the tops and bottoms needed to match up the pyjamas in the first parcel, along with another pair of odd coloured bed socks and the right foot of the Ugg boots. Rather unusual, said Rob, but all good fun.

“And very practical too, with winter to face,” Reb added. “I’ll probably want to stay inside the van all day once I’ve got these on.”

“You can’t afford to do that if you want to keep the farm going, Reb. Sally and I decided that if it does get really cold we’ll wear ski pants and parkas when we’re working outside, and we were lucky enough to get some of last season’s stock for a reduced price at the sports store.”

“Gosh, I didn’t think of that; Rob and I each have a set of pants and parkas. We bought them a couple of years ago when we went down to Kosciusko on one of those ski tours, and we haven’t used them since. We might as well use those though we’ll have to give them a good airing before we wear them because they’re packed away with moth-balls.”

“You could wear them and air them at the same time by standing in the veggie garden to keep the cabbage moths away,” suggested Dirk with a laugh.

Rob laughed at the joke too but the girls just stared at Dirk as if he was some kind of idiot, then after telling him as much suggested that perhaps he and Rob could stand in the garden in their normal clothes and keep the crows away.

“Are you suggesting that we normally look like scarecrows?” Dirk asked.

“Good heavens no: That would be demeaning to real scarecrows,” replied Reb, and this time it was the girls’ turn to have a laugh.

They hadn’t had a chance to have a good look at the surprisingly extensive menu so when the waitress came around to take their orders she was asked if she wouldn’t mind coming back a little later... Unless there was something good that she could recommend.

“I don’t mind coming back, though I should warn you that some of the dishes can take a very long time to prepare,” she said. “We have a brilliant chef though he’s finicky to the point of madness at times I’m afraid, but while there’s no such thing as fast food here, I can recommend several very good dishes that won’t take an hour or more to prepare.”

They were quite amendable to the suggestions she made regarding the menu and when she returned to the kitchen to hand in their orders the conversation continued, not surprisingly about Rob and Reb’s imminent move to Springer’s Farm.

“You guys have done so much to help get us set up that we both think it’s about time we spent a bit of time helping you with work on your cottage,” said Rob.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Dirk replied. “Honestly, the help you and Reb have already given us is far and away more than the little bit we’ve given in return, and I’m sure that in the future we’ll all continue to work on things together anyway.”

“Actually,” put in Sally. “I’ve been thinking that it might be a good idea if Reb and I did the painting and decorating of the van while you guys work on installing the cottage’s kitchen: That way both projects would be done by those best at doing them.”

“It is a good idea, Sal, said Rob. I know that Reb doesn’t want me to start swinging a paint brush around the van and I’m sure I’d be of some help to Dirk, like passing him tools and stuff as needed. What do you think mate?”

“More like lifting and holding fixtures in place while I secure them. Which reminds me: I was planning to build the kitchen cabinets from scratch, or refurbish some from the recycling centre, but now I think it’d be a lot easier and faster to use flat-pack carcases that the town’s hardware store has in stock.”

“No problem. We can drive over in your truck and leave the ute for the girls.”

“That’d be good,” put in Reb, “I don’t have paint in the colours I want yet but I don’t think the paint store’s open tomorrow. The garden centre is though, and as Sal wants a few more plants we can go and get those instead. That OK by you, Sal?”

“Sure is, but how about we swing past the hardware store too: They have a large paint section and maybe you could find the colours you want there. It might even be a bit cheaper there too.”

“How about you hit the hardware store at the same time as Rob and I are there so you can pick out a nice bench-top for the kitchen? There are several patterns available but if you left it up to me I’d probably pick one you didn’t like.”

“I doubt that love, but we’ll come at the same time anyway.”

Whilst they were talking the waitress arrived with the first of the three courses they’d ordered, plus a bottle of an appropriate wine that she thought they would all enjoy, especially, she added with a wink, that it being a birthday celebration it was ‘on the house’.

The meal, plus the bottle of wine and two more that followed, was excellent, and when they finally left the restaurant, though it was not overly obvious that Dirk had consumed more alcohol than would be considered by the police to be safe to drive back to the cottage, he and Sally were invited to stay over at the flat

Sally having anticipated that such might be the case had had the foresight to ensure that Paddy had accompanied them in the truck, and when they all arrived at Rob and Reb’s apartment he was sat together with Barney on the sofa between the two girls. While the girls chatted the boys got comfortable in the two arm chairs on either side of a small round wine table and while talking of manly things managed to get through nearly half a bottle of port before being persuaded by their partners that enough was enough and they should all get some sleep.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

When the girls returned to the cottage, following a lengthy shopping expedition after leaving the boys at the hardware store next morning, it was to find that they had already returned with the kitchen cabinets that Dirk wanted, and had begun installing them. A short break was taken from the job to help unload the ute which, apart from the plants that Sally bought, also carried quite a few big pot plants that Reb bought to place on the caravan’s deck.

“I saw some very nice planter boxes, but they were a bit on the pricey side,” said Reb, “so Sal suggested that maybe Dirk would be able to use a few of his fence palings to make up some that would suit the look of the van.”

“Good thinking,” replied Dirk. “I should make up some for our deck too. It’d be good practice for making those we could sell at the markets... Don’t suppose you could use a wishing well too, do you?”

“I could,” said Sally. “I think one would look really nice in the garden near the bottom of the zig-zag path. Oh, and that reminds me: I think we’re going to have to make a proper path from there to the cottage.”

“Why’s that?” Dirk asked.

“Because when it rains the path becomes just a muddy track. I thought perhaps a path of wood-chips might be good, but do you think they’d get washed away?”

“No; they’d be OK, provided they were put down thickly and kept contained by, say, logs of wood for example. It’s something that’ll have to be put on the back burner for a while though because there are several more important projects that need to be done first.”

“Oh sure, I understand that, but I thought it was worth mentioning.”

“Once the bathroom, kitchen and front deck of our cottage is finished we’ll be able to get stuck into things like that so just write it down on the list and we’ll get around to it eventually. Speaking of the bathroom, how long do you think it’ll take you and Reb to tile the shower recess like you wanted?”

“We had a discussion about that and decided that it’d be more practical to tile it the usual way because doing the mosaic I wanted could take weeks. Reb and I’ll do that, plus paint the kitchen after you and Rob have finished installing the floor cabinets and counter tops.”

“”Dirk, do you think you could make up a schedule that includes Rob and me helping with everything?” Reb asked.

“I’ve pretty much done that already,” Dirk answered. “You and Rob should be reasonably comfortable in the van while we all work together to build your cabin, but that’ll have to go hand in hand with building the workshop and working on the vegetable garden.”

“Perhaps you and I could build the workshop while the girls work in the veggie garden’” put in Rob. “You also mentioned some time ago that we’ll need a green-house, so maybe we could build one of those too. Do you have any plans to work from?”

“Won’t take me long to draw up a plan, Rob. I wasn’t planning to build a fancy one like the one that Dave and Bron have though. I was thinking of simply using poly irrigation pipe arches to support lengths of shade cloth, much like a tunnel.”

“I know someone who has one like that. Maybe we could go and have a look at it sometime.”

“That’d be good. Now that we’ve stopped work we might as well have some lunch and afterwards get stuck into finishing the kitchen.”

They were all in agreement with that plan and by Sunday evening the girls had finished the main painting of the van and the kitchen cabinets had been installed in the cottage by the boys, thankfully in the precise positions dictated by Sally who was pleased to note that the countertop where the gas range would be fitted was also at the height she wanted. She was very impressed that Dirk had chosen to buy units with pot drawers rather than shelves as it would be much easier to find things without having to kneel on the floor and look through cupboards. Although there were a number of styles of facing available for the drawers, Dirk intended to make his own from wire brushed and painted fence palings, and Sally agreed that that would be more in keeping with the rustic appearance of the cottage.

All in all, they decided, it had been a good effort over the weekend, with Rob claiming that he really needed to go to work next day so he could have a rest!

* * *
​

Because he’d been asked on the previous Saturday morning if he’d be able to help Frank with another fencing job and would be out of the picture for a few days, it had been left to Sally to paint the kitchen and bathroom. A fit and healthy Reb, who had supposedly developed a raging fever and had applied for a couple of days of sick leave from her job, was able to help her with the final touches. Together they also finished the painting in the van, and on the Friday carefully laid the cork tiles in both van and cottage, and while they made a really good job of it, the smell of paint and adhesive was so strong that all were glad they were booked in to the Bull & Bush for that night as usual.

With Saturday morning and a bit of the afternoon taken up by training and the barbeque afterwards for the two boys, Sally took advantage of Dirk’s absence by having delivered the gas fridge that she’d ordered, and which had arrived at the store on the previous Tuesday. It had arrived there damaged, with several long deep scratches down one side, and although that didn’t affect its operation in any way it was thought by the store to be bad enough to warrant knocking a hundred dollars off the price. When Sally told them they might as well send it back and have it replaced they upped the refund, first to a hundred and fifty dollars and then to two hundred, which she decided to accept as the damage wouldn’t be seen when the ‘fridge was in position anyway.

The driver who delivered it was able to assist in installing and connecting it to the gas line that protruded from the wall behind into the cupboard beside it, where it fed the gas range on the bench above. He fitted a ‘T’ piece into the line and drilled a hole through the side of the cupboard to take the flexible gas hose that came with the ‘fridge, and after testing for leaks and finding none the fridge was put into operation. Sally immediately stocked it with all the food and drinks from the esky, and also placed all the ice into it too, hoping that doing so would help it reach its operating temperature well before the boys returned from fire training.

When they did return, neither had a chance to see the new fridge anyway as they were directed by Sally to go straight to the van where they were to get stuck into erecting, lining and fitting out the 5’ x 8’ shed for the bathroom and toilet on one end of its deck. By working hard for the rest of the afternoon and most of the next day they were able complete that job, and though Rob and Reb would initially have to use their solar hot water bags for showering at home, they had ready access to the facilities at the recycling centre so weren’t too fazed about that.

In fact, on the Saturday night they all took advantage of the unlimited hot water supply at the recycling centre to shower, and it wasn’t until the next morning when he came down from the loft for breakfast that Dirk pushed past a grinning Sally, who was blocking his view until the last moment, that he saw the new ‘fridge for the first time. She laughed at the amazed look on his face when he saw it, then proudly opened the door to reveal that not only was it already stocked but was even colder than she’d hoped it would be.

“We’re going to need a larger gas cylinder than the one it’s hooked up to now,” she said. “They do use quite a bit of gas so it’d probably be a good idea to get one at least the same size that Dave and Bron have at their house.”

“Two, if we can afford it. Maybe I’m developing a prepper mindset, but I think it’d be wise to have an extra cylinder in case there was a problem with supply.”

“Yes, I think so too. The guy who delivered the ‘fridge said that you can buy cylinders outright and it works out to be a lot cheaper than renting them, but the downside is that the gas companies won’t swap out cylinders that aren’t rented, so we’d have to take them into town for refilling.”

“I’d be doing that anyway: The fewer people coming here the better.”

“Absolutely. The delivery guy was quite surprised to see this place and said that he never knew it existed,” Sally said with a laugh. “And after the tip I gave him for coming all the way out here in his own wagon he promised me he still doesn’t know it exists.”

“That’s good… What tip did you give him?”

“You mean apart from advising him to always be kind to his mother? I gave him the slab of beer I bought just for that purpose.”

“Strange, isn’t it?” Dirk replied, laughing at Sally’s advice to the driver, “But when it comes to a reward or a tip, a slab of beer always seems to be worth a lot more than the dollars used to buy it.”

Rob had managed to source four clean blue plastic barrels which he and Dirk plumbed together before running a hose down from the bank above the van where they’d been placed and finally, after filling them with water obtained from the recycling centre’s mains supply, the van was ready for its occupants.

The four friends celebrated the occasion of Rob and Reb’s move into their new but temporary home by having an evening barbeque on the van’s deck, where the very happy couple had placed their Weber.

“You know, I think it’d be good if together we could purchase the van outright and keep it here even after our shack is built,” said Rob. “That way we could use it to accommodate friends who wanted to stay for a weekend.’”

“Excellent idea, Rob,” agreed Dirk. “Archie said they were seriously thinking of selling, so maybe the four of us could make a collective offer to buy it.”

“I agree,” put in Reb. “But maybe we should do that before Archie or his dad sees the van as it is now because it’s possible the asking price would go up some once they saw how good it looks.”

“No, I don’t think Archie and his dad are the type of people who would do that. Why don’t you guys ask them at training next Saturday?” Sally suggested. “If his family is agreeable and the price is reasonable give them a deposit and shake on it. And as our cottage is finished, apart from tiling the shower recess and putting up the front deck, which we’re doing over the next two weeks anyway, we could invite the brigade to have their barbeque over here on the following Saturday. We could use that as a house warming party.”

“Even if we invited only the people who know about the cottage it’d be a pretty big party,” said Dirk with grin. “Apart from the brigade we’d also have to invite Dave and Bron, Frank, Richard, Terry, and probably a few others.”

“You know,” said Rob, “While all those people know about the cottage, apart from the four of us plus Archie, his dad, Richard and Uncle Bob nobody else actually knows the van is here too. I’m thinking that it might be a good idea to keep it that way, at least for the time being.”

“At least until you’ve got your cabin built,” Dirk suggested after a little bit of thought. “And when it is, it might be explained that it had once been an old fishing shack that had been put up a very long time ago, and that you guys had simply found and refurbished it.”

“Though it’ll still be a fishing shack,” Reb laughed.

“Ooh, yes!” Sally cried, “With perhaps an old anchor and a few crayfish pots at the foot of the steps leading up to the deck as decorations.”

“And a lifebuoy hanging on the deck’s railings would look really good,” added Reb as she warmed to the idea.

“How about a ship’s bell mounted somewhere close to the top of the steps?” Dirk put in, “So that visitors could announce their arrival?”

“Before asking for permission to come aboard!” added Rob gleefully.

“Not to put a dampener on things, but there’ll be a lot of work to be done before that,” Dirk warned. “Probably about six months worth, and that’s only if you can apply yourselves fully to the project during your days off. And keep in mind that you’ll have to add extra time to that every time you take a day off to go fishing.”

“We’ll be pitching in to help of course,” Sally added, “but remember that to become self sufficient we’ll all have to spend time working in the veggie garden and on several other important projects too.”

“That doesn’t bother me at all, Sal. But I reckon a day off now and then to go fishing could easily be justified by Reb and me putting our catches on the menu.”

“And because we’re both really good at it, I guess you’ll have to get used to eating lots of fish,” Reb added.

“Sounds good to me. Don’t forget that we’ll be able to raise chickens for meat too. And Dirk’s seriously considering raising rabbits for the same reason.”

“Why not just set traps for the rabbits that live in the bush around here?”

“Because we don’t know what, if anything, they might be carrying in the way of diseases. I’d be especially worried about myxomatosis, and while it’s not supposed to be able to be passed on to humans, the sight of rabbits that do have it is very off-putting Anyway, that’s won’t be for quite some time yet: We’ve already got too much on our plates as it is, pun intended,” laughed Sally.

After another hour of conversation they decided to call it a night, and Dirk and Sally headed for their cottage and a good night’s sleep, though of course not before they’d all hacked out a rough plan for the work to be done in the two weeks before the house-warming barbeque/party.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

“You guys’ve done a wonderful job on your cottage, Sally. Seems incredible that you got all this done in such a short time too,” said Uncle Bob as with a can of beer in hand he and a couple of mates sat on plastic chairs that the brigade had brought along for the house-warming. “It’s only been... what?... about three months since you and Dirk came here?”

“Yes; a day short of twelve weeks,” Sally replied. “We’ve worked really hard to get it all done but we couldn’t have done it so quickly without all the help we’ve had from the friends we’ve made around here, and that includes you and the brigade of course. Mind you, we used some of that time to do things like go fishing and diving, and even go shooting once, plus Dirk’s being doing a bit of work for Frank. Don’t tell him, but when he was away working with Frank I managed to get my MR Licence, which means I’ll be able to drive his truck now. I actually pinched it a few times when he was training with the brigade and drove it around the village and even into town to get enough confidence to drive it on the main highway. Mind you, it turned out to be a lot easier than I expected and I reckon I could go on and get an HC licence.”

“Good on ya. You’re certainly not Silly Sally now! And we really appreciate Dirk training with the brigade. So what’s the plan now that you’ve settled in?”

“Well, we have a number of projects in mind, but I guess most of our time now will be spent getting the vegetable garden ready for a big spring planting. Feeding ourselves will be the first priority of course, but we figured that if we go about it properly we might eventually be able to supply a couple of restaurants in town with fresh organic produce.”

“Why not the village? There are Jay-Jays, the Cock & Bull and the Tan’s cafe who’d all probably buy your veggies.”

“Because the local shop that already supplies them relies a lot on their orders to survive, and we don’t want to get off-side of anyone in the village. If the town’s restaurants aren’t interested Dirk has the idea that we might be able to supply individual households with boxes of vegetables in season on a weekly basis.”

“You could supply them with eggs too, seeing as you have quite a few chickens. Mind you, all that’s probably going to mean a lot of hard work.”

“You know hard work doesn’t frighten us Uncle Bob, though once everything’s in place it really shouldn’t take all that much to keep it going, especially with Rob and Reb helping. Providing eggs is a good idea, but to maintain a regular supply I reckon we’d probably have to double or even triple the number of chooks we have at the moment.”

“How’s it going with those two?” Bob asked. “Rob and Reb in the van I mean. They showed it to me when I came over to top up your reservoir so I refilled their barrels at the same time, and they seem to have made it pretty comfortable.”

“They love it, which is just as well because building their own place is going to take a bit of time considering they both have full-time jobs.”

“Well, Rob’s a reliable member of the brigade so the boys and I’ll be happy to pitch in and help where we can, same as we did with your place. What’ll they do with the van once the fishing shack’s refurbished?” Bob asked, going along with the entirely fictitious story that was now quietly but cleverly being spread around about ‘one of those old fishing shacks down by the beach’ that was being done up by the pair.

Dirk had suggested to the other three residents of Springer’s Farm that if people were led to believe that there were two or three old shacks there it might be easier for them to “refurbish another one” in the future, and though Sally reminded him that he had said when they first arrived that he wasn’t intending to start a commune, they agreed that it might be a good idea.

Not that anybody could ever remember having seen or known of any such shacks before, but while it would eventually become an accepted fact that they had stood there for many years, the hope was that people would think the place was too far out of the way to be worth checking out anyway. Of course if anybody did want to have a sticky-beak they’d have been hard put to find any type of structure at all as, apart from a pile of stumps and pegs marking the positions where Richard was to use his tractor-mounted auger to dig the holes for them next week, there was nothing to see at the moment.

“Archie didn’t tell you? Last week the four of us here got together and bought it outright so that we’d have somewhere to put up guests in the future. Before then though, I’m thinking of asking Uncle Geoff and Aunt Eileen to come and stay in the cottage for a while, and Dirk also wants his parents to come so he can show them what he’s been up to for the past few months. Which reminds me: We’ll be travelling down to Sydney next week to visit our families so Rob and Reb will be looking after the place until we get back.”

A couple of weeks previously Sally had written a long letter to her aunt and had included a large number of photographs of herself and Dirk working on the cottage and its gardens, and described in some detail what she’d been doing since leaving home. The response she received from her auntie after revealing that she was in a relationship with the handsome though bearded man in the photos - auntie disliked beards - probably wasn’t quite as bad as she’d feared, but nevertheless included what amounted to a summons to return as soon as possible with the partner she and Uncle Geoff would like to meet. And no doubt closely interrogate, thought Sally to herself with an inward grin.

Dirk’s parents were more sanguine in their reply to his letter and the photos he sent them however, and they immediately expressed the desire that he bring his lady home to meet them soon, and hopefully be able to stay for a few days at least. That being the case, he suggested to Sally that, in light of the letter she had received which did not offer any such invitation it might be a good idea for them to stay at his parent’s house and visit her auntie and uncle from there. Sally, having re-read the letter from auntie several times, agreed that that would probably be best, and Dirk made a quick ‘phone call was made to advise his parents that they would be able to meet their favourite son’s lady sometime around mid morning on the following Monday, and that he and Sally would be able to stay for a week, if that was OK.

The fact that Dirk was their favourite son was due solely to the fact that he was their only son, though any advantage that that might have had was removed by his having three older sisters who each seemed to believe he was their personal lackey. During the trip down south his wildly exaggerated stories of the torments he’d had to endure under their reign when living at home had Sally in stitches; however it was obvious to her that Dirk had a lot of love for them, and in fact it appeared that he came from an altogether very close family. And one that she was suddenly very much looking forward to meeting.

* * *​

 

[Bidadisndat]

The front driveway gates of Dirk’s parent’s house had been kept open so that he could drive straight in when he and Sally arrived, and no sooner had he entered and turned off the truck’s engine that his mother, wreathed in smiles, appeared on the front porch and ran excitedly down the steps to embrace them both. His father followed at a more sedate pace a minute later and shook hands with his son before giving Sally a bear-like hug, which seemed appropriate as his nick-name was Bear, and a kiss on both cheeks before his wife ordered them all inside.

“I’ve just put the kettle on so there’ll be a cup of tea coming shortly. I suppose you’ve been on the road for quite a few hours so if you need to use the bathroom Sally, it’s the second door on the left down the hallway there,” she said, using her chin to point the way as both her hands were supporting a large plate of cakes.

“Thank you Mrs Fischer, but we made a potty-stop less than an hour ago and I’m OK for now.”

“Mrs Fischer!? Good heavens Sally, I think only the students I once taught at primary school ever called me that. And the headmaster too of course, because he was very Old School, and a thorough gentleman to boot I should add. It’s Bryony, though of course all the family calls me mum. Dirk’s father’s name is Björn but he’s known to everyone as “Bear”, which is really not so much a nick-name as what Björn actually means in English. And “potty-stop?” I must admit I’ve never heard a rest-room stop called that before.”

Sally laughed and said that she hadn’t either; it was just something that had suddenly popped into her head as they were driving down the highway and she needed to go, and it had made Dirk laugh too when she asked him to stop.

From her writing desk Bryony retrieved the photographs that Dirk had sent her and laid them out on the kitchen table, and was now directing a stream of questions at both him and Sally regarding the goings on at what she called their little farm, despite having been informed that it was known as “Stringers” Farm. She and Björn had been quite impressed when they saw the photos showing the cottage and its gardens as several that had been taken before work had commenced were also included, and they both seemed keen to take a drive up north as soon as possible to see the real thing for themselves.

Sally was happy to hear the questions directed equally towards her and Dirk, with any worries she may have had about meeting his mother quickly dispelled by the happy chatter that accompanied them. Later, after they got to know each other, Bryony confessed that at that time she was probably talking twenty to the dozen to hide the nervousness she felt when she met Sally. Surprisingly, she’d never given too much thought to the inevitability that Dirk would eventually meet a girl and actually settle down, however now that it had happened she was glad that it was with Sally as it quickly become obvious that they were well suited to each other.

Björn was equally impressed with his son’s choice of partner, not just because she was intelligent, well spoken, and of course quite attractive, but also because she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into the physical work needed to help construct the cottage and the gardens he’d seen in the photographs. She also appeared to be completely at home in a kitchen too, helping Bryony with preparing meals during the time she and Dirk were staying at the house, and on the last evening had taken it upon herself to turn out a beef stroganoff for the family. This also included Dirk’s three sisters who, after hearing from their mother that Dirk had brought home a lovely young lady had “just dropped in to say hello”, and then stayed on for dinner. It was a dish Sally had never made before however all agreed that she had done a marvellous job and that it was absolutely delicious.

Out of earshot of the couple naturally, mother and daughters agreed that Sally was a much better choice for a partner than the glamorous harpy that Dirk had previously dated, and even Björn chipped in with his opinion that she would also be a good mother sometime in the future. And whilst beforehand that idea had been even more remote than the thought of Dirk finding a girl to settle down with, it did set Bryony to thinking about the likelihood of having grandchildren.

Dave Morgan had previously phoned the owner of the hardware store where he had once been a manager and had asked him to look after his good friend Dirk, who with his father was looking at the range of generators on display. Dirk didn’t think he’d need one quite as big as the unit that Dave had towed to Brocklesbury, however he did want one that generated a decent amount of power and would be able to run for extended periods without interruption. Bjorn, an engineer with a wealth of experience gained by working at remote sites, had quite a good idea of what was needed and after some discussion it was finally decided that a second-hand 8Kva diesel-powered unit standing at the rear of the shop would be a good choice. It turned out to be an ex-military unit though it had been fully reconditioned and came with a full twelve month warranty, and would be capable of powering the cottage and his tools at the same time plus still have power to spare, which meant it wouldn’t need to be flogged.

While he also spent time checking out petrol engine driven air compressors, and did find one that would have been ideal for what he wanted, he decided against purchasing it at this time as the generator he was definitely going to buy would consume a considerable ammount of his now fast dwindling finances. Björn had other ideas however, and despite Dirk’s protests had the shop staff load it onto the back of the truck, along with two air hoses on retracting reels and both a brad and a framing nailer.

“You can pay me back if and when you start earning money with it,” Björn told him. “I think your idea of making furniture from fence palings is a good one, and the brad nailer will be much better than the framing nailer for that type of work.”

“Dad, I appreciate it, but it really isn’t necessary for you to buy it, especially as it’ll probably be some time before I get into the furniture making business.”

“That’s OK: You can pay me back over time. You told us you and Sally will be helping your friends build a cottage, and I imagine the framing nailer will come in handy for that,” said Bjorn, deliberately ignoring the protest. “And the money saved by not having to hire one could be put towards the payback.”

Dirk laughed. “I’m sure Rob and Reb would be happy to go along with that when I explain it to them. I think you’ll like them both when you get to meet them. Speaking of which, do you have any idea as to when you and mum might be able to visit us? Stay for a while perhaps?”

“If we go up there for a weekend we’d be able to do it just about any time. We could leave here on a Friday and return on the Sunday. I’ll talk it over with mum and see what she wants to do.”

It turned out that mum had already decided what they would do as when the men returned to the house they were told that she and Bear would be following Dirk and Sally when they left for home. They’d be leaving very early on Friday morning rather than the afternoon and would stay with the couple until midday the following Monday because, she reminded everyone as they’d obviously forgotten, it was the Easter weekend and holiday traffic would be quite heavy.

Sally was thrilled with the plan, especially as she felt that her Aunt Eileen and Uncle Geoff wouldn’t be nearly as keen without first having time to plan for such a trip... And for a hasty retreat if necessary. Of course, she needed to introduce Dirk and gauge their reactions to meeting him before inviting them to visit, and so it was that the following morning found her knocking on their front door, with her man standing two metres or so behind... And to Sally’s mind looking like he was ready to make a run for it should her uncle appear at the door with a shotgun.

Dirk’s initial reception was somewhat cooler than the warm welcome Sally received when the door was opened, however it wasn’t too long before he had her aunt practically eating out of his hand. His politeness, good manners and the fact that he was well presented in clean shirt and slacks - and although he did have a beard it was neatly trimmed and actually suited him well - soon mollified most concerns that she and Geoff had about Sally’s wellbeing. Most concerns that is, as Dirk was to them still an unknown quantity at this stage, and they both felt they would need to visit the cottage to find out for themselves not so much about where but more about how Sally now lived.

Fortunately, considering Dirk’s family would be visiting at that time, Geoff and Eileen had already made plans for the Easter weekend so they decided that they would make the trip up north on the Queen’s Birthday weekend in June. Sally was pleased with that idea as it would give her ample time to organise things so that their visitors would hopefully be impressed by her and Dirk’s efforts to become reasonably self-sufficient.

During conversation over lunch it turned out that Uncle Geoff, also being an engineer, had actually met Dirk’s father at a convention some years previously. Apparently the two had spent several hours together discussing and helping each other successfully resolve a couple of problems each had encountered on projects they were separately involved with. Not that it should have made any difference where family is concerned, but human nature being what it is; it seemed to be enough to tip the balance just a little more in Dirk’s favour.

However it was quite obvious to Sally that her aunt still had reservations about her and Dirk’s relationship, and despite the offering to make up a couple of beds for them she could sense that auntie was not put out, and if anything seemed quite relieved when told they’d be staying overnight at Dirk’s parent’s house. Geoff’s attitude, as he firmly told Eileen right there and then, was that Sally was old enough to make her own decisions, and as they had done their best to instil in her the morals, ethics and values needed to live a respectable life, he was confident she’d do just that… Even if her chosen partner did have a beard!

That she was old enough to make her own decisions was Sally’s opinion too, and by the time she and Dirk returned to his parent’s house she somehow felt that now, thanks to Uncle Geoff’s words of support, she was really free to do so. Not that she hadn’t been free before of course, but for some reason she’d always had a vague feeling of needing her aunt’s approval to do anything that was, to her aunt’s way of thinking at least, out of the accepted norm of society. Maybe, she thought, she was a lot like Dirk, who wasn’t anti-social but simply felt that keeping away from the rat-race made life a lot less complicated, and she too wanted to keep pace with the beat of her own drum. And after thinking about it she realised too that her own parents had been much the same way, so perhaps she had inherited the trait from them, which in itself was somehow a comforting thought.

On Thursday Dirk hied off to catch up with some of his old workmates, leaving Sally to go shopping with Bryony who wanted a new front-loading washing machine. Her old machine wasn’t really old - in fact she’d only had it for eighteen months - however she knew that she couldn’t just up and buy a new machine for the couple because Dirk would reject the idea as being too expensive, so this was her way around that problem: Dirk would be hard put to refuse the offer of the not-really-old second-hand machine, especially as he and Sally now had a generator with which to power it, even if he did suspect that it was the main reason for his mother buying a new machine for herself.

Sally had found a camera shop and although her intention had simply been to buy a flash unit she walked out with a new Minolta 110 SLR MkII which had several features that her old camera didn’t have and would be more versatile, lots of film, and of course a flash unit that would go with either camera.

Whilst the girls were engaged in shopping Dirk was ensconced in the upstairs lounge bar of the Metropolitan hotel on the corner of George and Bridge streets, a stone’s throw away from where he used to work. His old work-mate Liam met him there for lunch and deciding that he’d take the rest of the afternoon off asked one of his co-workers to let the boss know that when he went back to work. Dirk grinned and said that Liam was lucky that his position was secure enough in the company to get away with doing it.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Liam replied. “Though to be quite honest I’m getting jack of the job. Have been for some time I suppose. I often think of chucking it in and heading for the bush like you did. Must admit I was pretty envious when I looked at the photos you sent to show me what you’ve been up to. You seem to have quite a large veggie garden, and your cottage looks really neat.”

“Were you impressed with the cottage, or the girl sitting on the deck?”

Liam coloured slightly. “Well, I have to admit I think she’s quite a stunner. How you managed to catch her is beyond me, what with you being so ugly and all, but at least it gives me some hope for my future.”

“Well, you aren’t quite as ugly as me mate, but I reckon you’d have a much better chance of finding a girl if you spent a lot less time on programming and kow-towing to management, and more on what you want to do for yourself. At least, leaving all that sort of stuff behind seems to have done the trick for me.”

“You make it sound easy. Problem is that whenever I voice any thoughts of leaving the department manager tells me how important I am to the company and how my going would be a big set-back for them. They’ve even given me a couple of raises in pay in an effort to make me forget about leaving.”

“Do you really believe all that crap? Look at it this way: If you were run over by a bus on your way home today, how long would it take for the company to replace you? Within two days, three at the most, they’d have your position filled, and a month later you’d be a distant memory with the company still raking in its obscene profits without the slightest pause.”

“Now you’re beginning to really depress me. How about giving me some ideas about how I can go about doing what you’re doing?”

“It’s not all that hard Mate. Look at Jimmy Owen who left the company about three months before I did: Chucked it all in and now runs a nice plant nursery in Neutral Bay. I dropped in there to see him this morning and he reckons he couldn’t be happier.”

“You mean that place on Military Road that used to be a Shell or Caltex petrol station? Jimmy owns that?”

“Yep, though I think it was owned by an independent and because there was too much competition from the big companies the operator finally sold out. Anyway, Jimmy bought the site and appears to be doing pretty well for himself. Even I bought a few bare root fruit trees from him while I was there. Didn’t let on that I already knew of course, but the all advice he gave me about how to plant them out was spot on.”

“You’re a master of diplomacy Dirk. Anyway, what helpful advice can you give me?”

“Depends on what you want to do: If you want to do something like Sally and I are doing I’d suggest you start building up your bank account as much as possible because without a regular income you’d find it hard to survive for long. You know, it might be a good idea to come up and visit us for a couple of days when you get the chance and that way you’d be able to see for yourself what it’s possible to do with relatively little coin. Our cottage is pretty small but we have a lounge we can make up as a bed, though we also have plenty of camping gear you can use if you want to rough it a little.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that. Probably do me good just to get out of the city for a while anyway, and I’ve never been camping before so that’d be an experience in itself. Ahh... Any nice girls up that way?”

“You don’t have to go that far to find a nice girl mate: There are plenty right here in the city, though I can’t promise you’ll find a girl like Sally as quickly as I did of course. Luckily for you sometimes they don’t care too much if their man isn’t all that good looking... provided he’s a decent sort of bloke like you are, so don’t give up hope.”

“I won’t. By the way, speaking of nice girls, your old flame Veronica found herself a new beau. He’s a professional footballer and she was bragging about how fit and strong he was, not to mention also how handsome, thoughtful and kind, until one night he got drunk and punched her in the head a few times. Broke her nose, gave her a black eye and supposedly knocked out one of her front teeth. Her picture was in the papers and in the photo taken just after the beating she looked a terrible mess. Boy friend was arrested and charged with assault of course, and he’s been suspended by the team he plays for.”

Dirk was shocked: Vicky may have had her faults but he didn’t believe any woman deserved that sort of treatment. His father had long ago taught him that a man never strikes a lady.... unless she strikes first, in which case she’s no longer considered to be a lady and all bets are off, however despite being able to antagonise people he couldn’t imagine Vicky actually striking anybody.

It might have been sobering news had they not made a spur-of-the-moment decision to visit a few of the drinking holes they used to frequent before Dirk left town, and during what in essence became a pub crawl they managed to cover six more bars, having a middy of beer in each, before parting company. Unfortunately more than a little worse for wear than he’d been for quite some time, when Dirk finally arrived at his parent’s house his gait showed that his condition hadn’t improved much since boarding a train at Wynyard and then walking the two miles from the local railway station.

On the positive side he’d arrived in time for dinner, over which he was able to tell Sally and his parents about his venture into the city without slurring his words or rambling on as the not-so-sober are often inclined to do. Not that he fooled them into believing he was even half sober, and soon after dinner he was packed off to bed for a good night’s sleep before attempting to drive back to Brocklesbury in the early hours of the morning.

 

[Bidadisndat]

Came the time he was roused out of bed he looked, as Sally teased, like death warmed up, and was told that Bear and Sally would be driving in the truck and he would be getting a bit more shut-eye by travelling in the family car which would be driven by his mother. He was about to protest that he was fine and would be OK to drive however when Sally crossed her arms and he saw the set of her shoulders he reluctantly agreed, but not before suggesting that after he’d rested a bit perhaps they could swap around at one of the truck stops along the highway.

With one person in each vehicle knowing the way it wouldn’t be absolutely necessary for them to travel together, and if they did happen to get separated the plan was to take a break at a half-way stop where they could meet up again. When they left the house Bryony took the lead driving towards the highway in the family car, with Dirk settled back in the fully reclined front passenger seat and Bear at the wheel of the truck behind. Not that Bear was to drive very far because as soon as Bryony had driven through a set of traffic lights that halted the truck and was out of sight he and Sally quickly changed places, thus putting her in the driver’s seat.

It took Bear less than half an hour to feel completely relaxed with Sally at the wheel, and whilst she took great pleasure in driving the rig it was nothing compared to the pleasure she got from seeing Dirk’s face when she drove into the truck stop to find him and Bryony waiting for them.

“What’s up, Love?’ she cried out to the jaw-dropped Dirk through the open window of the driver’s door as she eased to a stop alongside the car beside which they were standing. “Never seen a girl drive a truck before?”

Grinning broadly she leaped from the cab and before he could say anything waved her recently and secretly obtained Medium Rigid Driving Licence in front of his face. Bear then added to his obvious astonishment by declaring that he’d found Sally’s driving to be extremely smooth and at least the equal to if not better than Dirk’s.

“I suppose she could demonstrate her ability for you too, but you have to show mum the way to your farm and as Sally’s a good driver there’s really no need for you to swap around anyway, is there?” he said.

“You could travel with mum while I drive the truck,” Dirk suggested rather hopefully to Sally.

“Or you could travel with Bear in the car while your mum comes with me,” was her reply. “But whoever’s in the passenger seat, I’m driving the truck.”

“How about Bear and I travel with Sally in the truck while you take the car?” Bryony asked, and although Dirk wasn’t sure if she was joking or not it was obvious that his parents were siding with Sally and either way he’d be travelling in the car. “It’s an automatic but I don’t think you’d have too much of a problem with it if you want to drive.” she added, and when they all laughed at that the issue was settled.

Following a big truckers’ breakfast at the stop and after filling petrol tanks and checking the truck’s load, during which Dirk discovered the washing machine that had been loaded but about which he hadn’t been informed, their trip was resumed. Dirk drove the car - checking the rear vision mirror for the truck more than he would have if Sally hadn’t been driving it - but the rest of the trip was uneventful, and despite the increasing holiday traffic they arrived at the farm well before midday to find that everything was as they’d left it. There was no sign of Rob or Reb but the growling sound of Richard’s tractor coming from the direction of the fishing shack site indicated they were probably working there.

The first job was of course to get Dirk’s parents settled in, and to that end their luggage was hauled from their car up onto the deck and then inside, where Sally found a basket of multi-coloured dyed hens’ eggs, an Easter card from Rob and Reb attached, sitting on the kitchen bench. Luckily she’d thought to buy several large boxes of chocolates when in the city and would hand one of them over on Sunday, knowing that they’d jokingly complain about having their figures ruined despite the fact that both had about as much fat on them as would, say, a skeleton.

As Bear climbed the steps and entered the cottage he was quite impressed by the joinery that his son had done both inside and out during its construction whilst Bryony was equally enthusiastic about its interior layout and decoration, with the kitchen’s big bay window and its built-in herb garden drawing her immediate attention and admiration. Dirk admitted that many of the ideas plus a considerable amount of work was attributable to Sally, and having got to know her they were not at all surprised.

A covered Tupperware cake tray which Sally found in the fridge also had a card attached and finding that the zucchini cake on it was an Easter present from Bron and Dave it was decided that a cup of tea was in order before a tour of the farm was made. The cake was just as good as the first one that Bron had given them not long after they’d first arrived and after having a slice Bryony immediately asked Sally if she had the recipe. She couldn’t remember exactly where she’d put the copy that Bron had given her, but was sure she could find it before the weekend was over.

Following the tea and cake they donned warm jackets and commenced a tour of the veggie garden, chook pen, other bits of infrastructure that had been either finished or were under way, and the fishing shack site, where they found that their friends had not been idle whilst they were down in Sydney. During the afternoons after they’d finished work Rob and Reb, with the help of Richard and his tractor, had managed to dig the holes and put in the stumps for the fishing shack, and were now in the process of putting the bearers, joists and perimeter beams in place.

A lot of the work had been done but after introductions all round Dirk and Bear offered to help, leaving Reb free to join the girls at the cottage, and with four men on the job that comparatively easy task was completed in a little over an hour. Dirk had returned to the cottage and driven his truck up to the shack site where Rob was astounded to see the generator, compressor and air tools loaded on the back.

“The compressor’s light enough for two people to lift off,” he said, “though the jenny’s heavier and will need three of us to lift it off safely, so I’d like some help to do that when we go back down to the cottage.”

“Why not leave the compressor on the truck?” Rob asked. “I wouldn’t be running it without you being around, and it’d save us having to lift it back on again when we’ve finished using it.”

“Nah... It’s a key-start model and pretty simple to operate so there’s no reason for you not to use it if I’m away, helping Frank with a fencing job for example. Anyway, we’ll take it off now and see how well it works.”

After unloading the machine and setting everything up they found that the framing nailer was powerful enough to drive the large nails securing the joists to the bearers, and they all had a turn at using it just for the fun of doing so.

“Look, Sally and I will be showing my parents around the village and some of the outlying district tomorrow but the nailers will save us a lot of time when we put down the floor and knock up the framing, so why don’t you and Reb take the day off and go fishing,” suggested Dirk when they’d finished.

“You talked me into it when you said go fishing, Mate,” said Rob with a grin.

“How about you, Richie: Want to go fishing with me and Reb tomorrow? Invite Linda and we’ll go to the Cock & Bull afterwards.”

“Yeah, I’ll be in that. Linds was thinking we might take in a movie tomorrow night but there’s not much on so I think she’ll be OK with going to the pub.”

With the work finished for the day Richard was left to load his tractor onto its trailer while the others piled into the truck and returned to the cottage where Sally and Reb had fired up the earth oven and were demonstrating to Bryony just how effective it was by preparing a large beef casserole with an herbed savoury scone topping. Rather than just sit and look at the oven they had arranged themselves around the table on the cottage’s deck and were busily engaged in conversation whilst at the same time slowly lowering the level of wine in the glasses they held. Not that the men-folk had been forgotten of course, however while the large esky on the deck at one end of the table held a dozen stubbies of beer with which they also could relax they decided to join the girls in having a glass of wine.

After Rob suggested that it might be a wise move to lift the jenny off the truck first the three men unloaded and manhandled it onto a small slab of pavers that Dirk hurriedly laid down to accommodate it, and then cover it with a tarp. It was only a temporary position he said, and later a proper concrete base and a shelter would be built to contain it though he hadn’t decided where it would go.

The washing machine was also unloaded and positioned on the back porch beside the twin laundry tubs, reminding Sally that the Hill’s Hoist that Dirk had finally managed to unbolt and remove from the Anderson’s property would need to be installed sometime soon.

The casserole turned out to be a great success and as Bryony and Björn had never tried let alone heard of using herbed scones as a topping before it wasn’t surprising that Sally was asked for the recipe. It was a good way to end the day and after the meal was finished and Rob and Reb had gone the pull-out bed in the living area was made up for Dirk’s parents. Bryony having decided that the Jefferson stairs might be difficult to use in the middle of the night if she needed to go to the loo had declined the not-really-serious offer of the bed in the loft, thus she and Bjorn were the first to experience how comfortable the pull-out bed was.

* * *​