Sunday, 8 September 2024

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (041) At Hastings Lake

 


The damp and fog of the previous day had given way to a glorious cold and crisp day, with a bright blue sky, all too soon Sam, Emma and the boys’ stay on the Island had come to an end, the time had come for them to return to the mainland.

They were to spend the next two weeks visiting Emma’s family and catching up with friends.

Molly and Danny would meet up with them on the 17th in Abbottsford and they would spend three days seeing the sites of the Town before their guests had to return to Australia.

 

Arielle Nicolas had been standing on the quayside for about ten minutes, she was always early, when she saw Harry approaching and then her heart sank when she saw his brother Sam and Nikki Harrison following him, she had hoped it would be just the two of them.

However, she was much happier as soon as she found out that Nikki and Sam were just going to the island to fly the drone and get some shots of the landmarks, Cabot Point Lighthouse, Cabot Town, St Giles Chapel, Norman Rock, the Seaview Hotel for Sam’s business and nature and landscape shots for her artwork.

 

So as Phil Holgate started the engines of the Ocean Breeze Water Taxi, they got aboard, and she and Harry sat together as the boat moved off down the Spanish River towards the open water and it was a smooth ride across the dead calm sea.

 

The Shaw Brothers ferry, the Empress Victoria, was on the jetty at Cabot Town, and Phil brought the launch to a halt beside the small quayside.

Cabot Town itself was actually just a hamlet, with a café, and a General Store/Post Office, from there Sam and Nikki went to the North of the Island where they were going to start filming while Arielle and Harry went South to the farthest end of Broad Beach Sands, then they walked back up the full length of the beach and back up the rocky path to the lane past the Seaview Hotel which led to the meteorological station and then they walked inland to Hastings Lake to have their picnic lunch.

 

Nikki and Sam meanwhile had worked their way down to Cabot Point and filmed the Lighthouse and were making their way back to the café to get some lunch.

When they got to the southern end of the lake, they put the drone up again to get some shots of the lake and the woods from a different angle.

“Oh my God!” Nikki said, “I wasn’t expecting to see that.”

“See what?” Sam asked.

“Here have a look” she said.

“Bless me” Sam said as he saw the image of his big brother kissing the Vicar by the water’s edge. “Good for him”

“Good for her” Nikki corrected him.

 

An hour later they were sitting in the café eating bacon sandwiches when Nikki gave Sam a nudge and nodded towards the window where she could see Harry and the Vicar walking along the lane holding hands.

“I bet he’s glad I made him come to the island now” Sam said.

“So’s the Vicar” she said, and they both laughed.

 

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