Redefining The Future

First Destination; The Blue Mountains

Chapter 23 - First Destination; The Blue Mountains

"How much further, Dad?" whined Tony.

"Five minutes less than when you last asked," replied a tired and frustrated Gibbs.

Trying to navigate the highways around Sydney while still getting used to driving on the left had been stressful enough, but having Tony and Ziva call for a sit rep every five minutes was beginning to wear very thin.

He heard Tony give a long, exaggerated sigh.

"Where are we going again?" asked the boy.

"The Blue Mountains," replied Gibbs, Jenny, Abby and Tim in unison.

Ziva giggled.

"Well, I keep forgetting," defended Tony, his cheeks blushing a deep red. "I'm tired and bored. Why can't we take off our seat belts? No one would know."

"Do not take off your belt Tony," growled Gibbs from the front. "It's against the law just like it is in a car."

"But what if we need to go to the bathroom?" asked Ziva.

She, too, was in full sympathy with Tony on this seat belt rule.

"Then you let me know and I stop the van," replied Gibbs.

"I need to go to the bathroom," called Ziva, her eyes focused on Tony's in a secret sibling pact.

"Yeah, me too," added Tony.

Gibbs looked at Jenny and rolled his eyes.

Turning in her seat, Jenny fixed the two children with a stern look.

"Do you really need to go or is this just an excuse to stop the van?"

Both children opened their mouths in anticipation of answering her but Jenny cut them off saying, "Because if Daddy stops this van and it turns out that neither one of you needed to go, we will both be very cross and disappointed in you. Besides, the more we stop, the longer this journey will take us."

Ziva and Tony looked down at the table.

"Guys, this is the shortest journey we're probably going to have to take," continued Jenny. "We've only been travelling just over an hour and according to the GPS we have about fifty minutes to go. Some of our trips are going to take us six or seven hours."

Both children sighed dramatically.

"Now, do you really need to go to the bathroom, or do you think you can make it until we get there?" She looked at both children.

"I can wait I suppose," said Ziva, huffing loudly.

"Me too," added Tony.

"Thank you," said Jenny before turning in her seat and facing the front again.

After a few seconds, the short lived silence was broken when Tony asked, "So why are they called The Blue Mountains anyway?"

"Hang on," said Abby, searching next to her through a pile of brochures. "I can answer that. Just let me find it... here it is," she said happily, finding the 'Things to do around Sydney' brochure.

Flicking through the pages until she found the one she wanted, Abby cleared her throat and began reading the information.

"Ah hem, The Blue Mountains are so named because, from Sydney, they look blue. They are clad in vast forests of eucalypts (commonly called gum trees), which in the hot sun discharge a fine mist of eucalyptus oil from their leaves. The mist refracts light, which makes the haze look blue at a distance."