The barge! ......Week 8

  

The unexpected sound of the air horn startled me. It's 6:15 am, I'm standing in front of the windows staring into the blackness sipping my first cup of coffee, waiting. A beam of light out of nowhere followed by a flood of lights, the barge rounds the corner and comes into view. They have arrived at last!

 

An October trip down the west coast is pushing the envelope. “North Arm Transport” usually does the run to Port Louis end of September so there was a real possibility that they might not make it if a storm front moved in. We got lucky, the day dawned clear and calm, surprising us all.

Before I had even reached the heli pad where the ramp of the barge was now resting 2 of the crew were man handling the fuel hose up the beach. You could obviously tell that they'd done this many times before and Mike and I let them get to it. We had our work cut out for us hauling supplies, 3 pallets worth off the barge.

Up and down, back and forth, lost count early in the game. The 40 50lb water bottles was the killer. Get everything on the dock and worry about putting it away later. Once the fuel it pumped, 18000L and the propane tanks filled they want to get underway. Paperwork complete, 10 minutes of gab time and their heading off to their next lodge.

  It was funny how each of the men commented on the trip they do in the spring to the OP. Now that is a load, which takes 10 crew (young people) 5 hours just to get everything off the barge onto the docks. What a shame that we fly out before that happens!

Christmas in October. One pallet was “stuff” that I had packed way back in August. Remember I wrote that I pack it if there is a slight chance that I may want, need, use, require or can't live without it, well that's what all this stuff was.

If you happened to be with me as I opened 3 large boxes and witnessed them being chock-full of assorted candies, chocolates and odd mixture of food you would wonder about my eating habits. There is an explanation.

Location. Obviously I cannot go to a store and we have to plan on having only 2 -3 planes arriving within our 9 month stay and I wasn't sure when they would be or whether I would be able to get certain items. Sweet chili sauce, sweet soy sauce (really hard to find) sun-dried tomatoes, Thinsation cookies and Swiss Chalet Dipping sauce, but what's with all the bags of mints,licorice, gum drops, ju jubes and hard candies? You'll see at a later date.

Almost forgot to mention a most important item, the ingredients for my Christmas fruit cake. Yes I said fruit cake!

Mike and I are among that small percentage of the population that actually enjoys receiving fruitcake as a gift. What is it about this traditional holiday sweet that makes people cringe. I bet it was one of the first “re gifted” gifts.

Well like I said , I LOVE fruitcake. What's not to love, you take 8 cups, according to the recipe, of dried fruits, soak in 2 cups of rum (my recipe) for a couple of days, add a extremely small amount of flour some molasses, spices, a secret ingredient or 2, bake for 4 hours. Brush with a little more rum while warm than wrap in rum soaked cheesecloth. Tightly wrap this up for a month than unwrap to apply a liberal brushing of rum to the cheesecloth(don't want it to dry out) re wrap.

Enjoy only with other fruitcake(s) lovers. Note: a well soaked cake will last for...... I'm not really sure but the one that I'm eating at the moment for inspiration was made last October and has aged like a fine wine.

From the moment we were offered

the position at the OP I have envisioned the lodge decked out for the holiday season. The cedar lined walls, vaulted ceiling, 2 fireplaces and a wonderful staircase set the stag. Sadly my collection of holiday adornments is meagre but while we were “out” I kept my eyes open for articles that might pass for Xmas decorations. Mid August really isn't a good time for tinsel, coloured lights and shiny red bulbs. Decorating will have to be a combination of what nature has to offer and my ingenuity.

These days as Mike is scouring the forest floor for mushrooms my quest is to find that perfect Christmas tree!

Till next week,

Heather & Mike