Chapter 2
I wasfive hours into my drive from Adelaide to Haven Bay. The towns on the dusty highway were few and far between, each one smaller than the last. Trees with tall, thick trunks and branches, and a head of leaves reminded me of gangly teenagers.
I’d asked my phone for information about the area as I drove, and it told me this was a wheat farming area. The soil here didn’t look like it would sustain much life. It was pale and dry. But what would I know? My life was on the water, not the land. I studied the horizon. The land was as flat as the sea on a calm day. Nothing like San Francisco with its continuous hills. Everyone who lived there knew where to walk or bike to avoid the hills. It’s a skill well learned.
I pulled into a gas station and a man in his fifties with a cap pulled down low on his head came out. I hopped out of the car and headed to the pump.
“I’ll do that for you, mate,” he said as he reached me.
I handed the nozzle over. It was rare to get this service back home.
“Where ya heading?” he asked as he started pumping the gas.
“Haven Bay. I’ll be working there for six months.”
He gave a low whistle. “That’s out woop woop.”
“Woop woop?”
“Yeah, beyond the black stump.”
What black stump? Was there some famous black stump I should know about? Nothing I’d read had mentioned it. I must have looked confused, because the man cracked a grin. “It means the middle of nowhere.”
“Oh, right.” Of course, it did. They had weird sayings here. Like calling the truck I was driving a ute.
“Somewhere Bay is the closest town to it. Decent-sized town. Half-hour drive.”
I cocked my head. It was a strange name for a town.
The man chuckled. “I get that look a lot when I say the name. The ship that explored those waters had no idea where they were. So, they called it Somewhere Bay.”
I nodded. When I’d googled Haven Bay, all I’d found was that it was situated close to a national park and a marine park. I didn’t pay much attention to the surrounding area, including Somewhere Bay. The sea lions were what I was interested in.
“What are ya going to be doing there?” he asked as the nozzle clicked in his hand.
“I’ll be studying the sea lion colony. I’m a marine biologist.”
He nodded and headed inside. I followed. “Popular tourist thing, that. They have tours taking people to swim with the sea lions.”
I had read about the tours and tried to withhold my reservations until I saw them in action myself. My first reaction was negative. It sounded like something that would disturb the natural order.
I handed over my credit card and paid for the gas before heading back to the truck. When I pulled out onto the road, I made sure I was driving on the left-hand side. It was easier to remember when I was in traffic and just followed the flow.
I’d done plenty of research on the sea lions, but obviously not enough on the area itself. I hadn’t realised that it was so remote. It didn’t matter, it was the sea lions I was interested in. And six months in woop woop was well worth the sacrifice. I had a lot planned, and it all revolved around my research. I was leaving nothing behind in the States except my job, but that was being held open for my return.
The six months I’d be spending on this research project was the last thing I needed to complete my dissertation to get my PhD. This would open the door to me becoming a professor and furthering my research.
I took the turnoff to Haven Bay onto a dirt road, smooth in some areas and bumpy in others. There were low shrubs on both sides. These plants were well adapted to the sandy soil and salt air. Low to protect them from the wind, with small spindly leaves that conserved water because there was less surface area for evaporation.
As I drove towards the town, the land on my right thinned until the road was only fifty feet from the water. Pristine white sand stretched down to beautiful, calm blue water. It was nothing like most of the beaches in San Francisco, which were rocky and cliffy. I opened the window, allowing the salty air to fill the cabin.
The classification of the middle of nowhere was correct. There were no buildings or manmade structures in sight. No cars or humans. Finally, I reached the town of Haven Bay.
There wasn’t much to see. Twenty or so houses hugged the road further along. I passed a general store. It was two floors, probably the store on the bottom level and living quarters upstairs. A man and woman were clearing sand from the front stairs with a broom and shovel. They waved as I drove past.
Opposite this was a jetty where a boat was moored. The words on the side said South Australian Land Management.
A café came next, the sign advertising the best fish and chips from Friday to Monday. It was a small building with tables and chairs out the front. A small shop that offered equipment hire for the beach and camping, and doggy day care followed. Smart. Tourists could visit the national park and leave their dogs somewhere safe.
The last building before the row of houses was a small office attached to a large shed. The sign out the front read South Australian Land Management Ranger. This would be the office I would share with the other ranger.
The instructions I’d received were to drive to the last house. I was looking forward to settling in and getting myself set up. I could keep my research and laptop in one place for a change and spread it out for easy access. Splitting my time between the university and the aquarium had meant living in two places and transporting what I needed from one place to the other. Here, it would be different.
As I pulled into the driveway of a small house and parked, two brown-haired children zoomed out, followed by an orange kitten. A woman appeared in the doorway and yelled something about the kitten. The young boy turned, picked the kitten up and kept running all in one fluid motion. The woman blew her long hair out of her face and spun to go back inside. Her eyes caught sight of the car and froze when they landed on me.
I sat rooted to my spot as I took her in. Her long brown hair complemented her long tanned legs. Her short t-shirt revealed a hint of golden skin at her midriff. Words swam through my head——wild, free, calm, confident, beautiful, strong, gentle, familiar, enduring—and I tried to grasp one that would best portray her—untamed. Like the ocean.
What was she doing at the house I was supposed to be living in?