The coolest dude in Alice, Henry Macey [graded readers .txt] 📗

to be piled on the side nearest the camp, it was to house the generator unit. Then there was to be a pit for the fuel tank, which had to be buried to keep it cool. As I was finishing the generator pit, three trucks pulled in each loaded with units. We backed the first trailer down the ramp. I hooked the chains onto the first unit and pulled the generator into its pit. On the same trailer was a twenty-foot chill room, loaded with all types of stores from potatoes to beer, its small engine running to keep it the right temperature.

 

It was dragged into its pegged out position, the second trailer held the dining room; it too was positioned parallel to the chill room some twenty feet from it. Now came the cookhouse or galley, forty feet long, one end was the servery, a large deep-freezer at the other end it's engine also running. It was pulled across the ends of the dining and chill rooms. Some panels were removed from the galley, and then both chill and dining room were pushed until they locked into the galley sides. Soft rubber buffers, on the ends, sealed the units together. The main part of the camp was now set-up. There would be thirty living units in all, each with five single rooms. Also, shower and toilet units would be needed. In the failing light, two living units arrived and were pulled into their allotted position. It was now after five, the generator was working and hooked up to the galley. And the cooks were busy preparing us a meal; John the camp boss was well pleased with the way things had gone. As we were eating our meal he ordered a carton of beer and put it on the Bell’s tab.

 

Saturday we awoke to find three trucks with units that had crept in overnight, we unloaded them before breakfast, as we had been told we were all going to Alice for the festival. In Alice, I watched camel, and donkey racing. Also, sheep with rag dolls, tied onto their backs as jockeys, were raced. But the highlight of the day I was told would be the boat race. I laughed when I heard this. “Where,” said I “In the swimming pool,” “No,” said they “In the river.” The river or creek was bone dry, it looked like there had not been water in it, for years. I got up, and walked away still laughing, and came across a happy bunch of Jackaroos. (‘Australian cowboys.’) I got talking to one of them; he told me they had come in from their station a hundred miles away for the day’s festivities.

 

Then I told him that my friends had tried to tell me, there would be a boat race here in the river today. He smiled and said, “That’s right sport; there are the boats down there.” I looked to where he was pointing and saw the row of gaily-painted hulls. I shook my head in disbelief grinning I said, “No water.” He leaned forward and called out, “Hay Jack-O’; this bloke reckons there's no water in the creek.”

 

A very old battered Australian bush hat leaned out of the crowd, beneath it an ebony face, with a distinctive flat nose, and two bloodshot eyes looked at me. Then the face split into a grin, a grin that I could promise you would never be used in a toothpaste advert. Then he spoke; “That because him white feller, only people in touch with mother earth can see water. The rainbow serpent, (‘mythical serpent from the Aborigine Dreamtime’) him lives upriver he drinks all the water. When he pees, it becomes Dreamtime water. You can’t see it but you can feel it, you walk into the creek and see.” I just sat there, I had fallen for some things in my life, but I was not falling for this one.

 

He got up, picking up the cool box beside him as he did so. Walking into the creek he shivered, saying how cold the water was. Then tilting the container, he made to force it under the surface to fill it. He then staggered up to me, straining under its imagery weight. I sat there with a silly grin, knowing full well that it was empty. When the deluge came, it took me completely by surprise. The shock of it left me spluttering and gasping for breath. The water was so cold it still had ice cubes in it, plus some beer bottle labels. I had fallen for the, ‘not as empty as you thought trick.’

 

All around me people were standing clapping, and roaring with laughter. Some, (‘my new found Bells work-mates’,) were rolling on the ground in hysterics. It seemed I had become apart of the day’s entertainment, but I can tell you this. I bet I was at that moment, ‘The coolest dude in Alice’.

 

When the crews for the big race stepped into their hulls, they knelt down and pulled, what looked like braces over their shoulders. Then holding onto the crossbars, which held the two sides together, they stood as one hoisting the hulls off the ground revealing their legs. Walking to the start, they formed up in line. A gun was fired, and off they went. The crowd went wild, shouting encouragement to their favourite crew. Now don’t ask me the rules, I don’t think there are any. I don’t know if the winning crew; was the one who past the finish line first. Or the one, who sank the most, boats. One boat finished in two, the stern twenty feet in front of the bow. It came in fourth and sixth.

 

By Tuesday morning most of the camp was complete. I was to drive the Ute to the airstrip, followed by the station wagon. The men arriving on the plane would use it to carry their gear back to the camp. As I was tossing my swag into the Ute, John came up to me to say goodbye. He asked me if I wanted to change my mind, and stay to work with him. He had said he would give Jane a job in the camp, and the boys could go to school in Alice. At the interview to Immigrate Jane had said she wanted to go to Alice Springs, but I did not think she would like the heat. I thanked him again, saying I would talk to Jane about it.

 

I arrived at Bell’s yard that afternoon and reported to Owen that I was back. He told me to have a couple of days off; he would ring me when he needed me. Getting into my car I drove to the immigrant camp at Graylands, which was our temporary first home in Australia just in time for tea. I had been away for eight days; it seemed more like a month.

 

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Publication Date: 11-09-2017

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If you are interested in the construction of large products go to youtube and search BELL BROTHERS ENTER THE SEVENTIES.