Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“We don't have much in the way of tools I'm afraid. I think we have a little camping spade,
and a couple of big knives,” Gavin chimed in helpfully.
“Bring whatever you have; we'll all meet at 10 a.m. on the east side of the strip.”
Gavin and I duly arrived at ten, armed with a wood saw, camping spade, and the knives.
The others were there already, and we waved hello to Mike and Tony. I noticed the con-
spicuous absence of Harry. I couldn't imagine him and Steve in the same work party.
The airstrip was surprisingly large but was in a very sad state of disrepair. The tarmac was
cracked and washed away in several places. Hundreds of large trees and shrubs had grown
out through these breaches, and it was these we now started to hack and clear away. Mil-
lions of nesting boobies swirled around us as we began, and clouds of frigates also hovered
overhead as well as darting swooping petrels. The dogs were with us when we arrived, not
to be left out of any excursion on the island, and they ran about eating the abandoned booby
eggs. They had done this when they first had showed us the strip a few days before.
It was hot and humid; we were all wearing shorts and tee shirts. Linda was the only woman
there, and she wore a bikini top and shorts, much to Gavin's and my approval. We were all
sweating within minutes of starting, and we knew it was going to be grueling. Shirts were
soon removed, and we got stuck into hacking, sawing, and chopping down a sizable area
for the large helicopter due to land the following day. By around midday we had a sizable
circle cleared away and piled up out of the choppers way. We surveyed our handiwork with
some satisfaction.
“Thanks guys, that will work just fine,” Steve said with unnecessary authority. Apparently
he still felt the U.S. officer in him, even though he had been retired a couple of years.
“Any idea what time they are arriving?” asked Gavin, shouldering the spade and puffing
on a smoke.
“No idea, but you'll hear it when it comes,” he said sardonically.
“Yeah, I guess we will,” Gavin replied shortly. I could tell that there was a bit of friction
brewing between them.
The Japanese arrived in due course; they had sent in the chopper while the frigate remained
out at sea. We heard the rotors roaring over the trees at around noon the following day. Je-
sus had visited us the evening before, thanking us for our help in the clearing of the strip,
and had asked if we would help carry the stretcher from the little shack on the beach to the
airstrip. We obviously accepted immediately, only too happy to help the poor man.
When we heard the helicopter clipping loudly overhead, its huge blades spinning around
and ruffling large branches and leaves about, we rowed ashore with the dogs and went north
