The Journal of Paul O'Leary: From the City to the Outback Page 6
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It’s now August and time for my eleventh birthday. Dad bought me a helicopter to put together. When I’m home I always rush out to watch the planes flying over. Dad has taken me twice to watch them landing at Broome airport. For my next birthday he’s taking me on a helicopter flight up the coast to Cape Leveque and back inland. Not too far but it’s a great present.
Mum gave me a skim board from Sportspower in Chinatown. I can’t wait til our next beach trip.
Now that it’s the school holidays, Dad played footy with me in the park nearly every day. We still play DONKEY though the road is wider outside our place. I walked Lassie all the way around the park and it took about 15 minutes. There are seven rain gardens catching the rain running off the roads and funnelling the water into the dug-out drain or channel in the middle. It’s not the only one as there’s another long one to the east of our estate.
It’s pretty impressive with some of the rain gardens lined with boulders to catch the rubbish. I can’t wait until it rains to watch the water run off our roof and along the road.
Marcus is away visiting his family near Wyndham. He had shown me where he can hide in the bushes at the bottom of one of the rain gardens. They must have a heavy rainfall as the trench is like a dry creek bed with bushes growing out of it. It’s a great place to hide though I wouldn’t because of the snakes.
“I’ve never seen any snakes here,” said Marcus. Another time he showed me a track to the water tanks and a pump for when the creek gets too high.
I could see the tanks from my side where we lived but I didn’t know how to get there. It was pretty ordinary and I said so.
“Not much to get excited over,” I said.
“Wait until it rains! Then you won’t want to be anywhere near the park,” said Marcus.
“Come on, let’s play some more cricket. It’s my turn to bat,” I yelled.
Later that day, when I took Lassie for a walk, I went close to the creek bank so I could see if anyone had made a hidey-hole there. I imagined someone down on their luck making camp there though walkers would see you when you came up. If they had sausages they could cook them on the outside BBQ.
I did see some old bedding once which may belong to a tramp. If anyone was there, Lassie would bark. So I felt safe for now and moved away to the middle of the grass area.
13 Holiday Fun.
There was no tennis in the holidays but now that I’m eleven I can join the Scouts. Marcus belongs and I hope I get to work with him on knots and things. We’ll have lots to talk about next term. Dad will want to meet his parents so he can organise a roster with Marcus’ parents and not have to drive there and back every week for the Tuesday and Wednesday meetings.
In the second week of the holidays Dad took me to the cinema to see Monsters University. There were lots of kids there so it was pretty noisy. Dad found his way there alright and parked in the cinema car park. Where we went for the movie was a regular place with two cinemas. Across the road, and up a bit, in Chinatown, was the open air one but we haven’t been there yet.
There is a movie coming up about the Kimberley so I’ll get to see how the open air one is arranged, like deck chairs at Kununurra, as explained by Dad. “I went a couple of times when I was in Kununurra and we sat on deck chairs. We had to wait until the sun went down so it was dark enough for the projector. My only memory is getting a tick from sitting on the deck chair.”
“How did you get rid of it?” I asked.
“My girlfriend at the time noticed it when I got undressed, and being a nurse, she used tweezers to remove it. I didn’t feel a thing.”
“Lucky you. I thought ticks only harassed animals like dogs.”
“There’s always a first time for everything,” he said.
The next Sunday, before school returned, we all went to the BRAC to check out prices and times for tennis lessons. It was an Open Day, but we couldn’t stay long as Mum had to make some work phone calls and do a bit of shopping. I was hoping for an ice cream, but I was disappointed because they didn’t stop for coffee at the Echo’s café as it was closed on Sundays.
Dad had written down what the president had told him and then the two coaches turned up. They taught about 100 students Monday through to Friday after school from 2.30 pm. In the tropics, school finishes an hour earlier. The membership for me was $33 and $8 a lesson. Mum thought that was reasonable and wanted to know when I could start. After that was arranged, I was to begin on Wednesday of the second week of term. Dad wrote down the prices for an adult ($88) and $200 for a family.
“I don’t think I want to join,” said Mum, when we were back in the car.
“Me neither,” said Dad, “I prefer watching the professionals on the television.”
“So, are you okay with me joining up?” I said.
“Yes, Paul. I just need to have the car on Wednesday to drive you there. It’s not far and I can watch you learning or help out if any is needed,” said Dad.
“That’s okay, so long as you get up early enough to drive me to work,” said Mum. “You can pick me up on the way home. I’ll finish early on those nights unless I have to go bush. Then I’ll get a lift from one of my colleagues,” said Mum.
“Thanks, Mum. I can’t wait to swing my racquet and hopefully not knock someone out.”