Meet Me At The river

Chapter Eighty-eight

Chapter Eighty Eight

Junior Carrington

We were sitting around the dining room table, tucking into some Australian stew and deciding on what to do for the rest of the day, but having never been to Australia before I left that to the experts.

Harrison began to speak, ‘We can either go to the cinema or go karting, and when we get back we will have a look online to see what else we can find, but at the moment that’s all I can think of.’

I decide to speak and get my point across, ‘I reckon we should just agree on either the cinema or go karting for this afternoon, and when we get back we will get the laptops out and find other places to visit for the rest of the week.’

No one was listening so I told everyone to be quiet, then I said, ‘We’re not getting anywhere arguing, so shut up for a minute and put your hand up if you want to go go karting…’ I put my hand up, closely followed by Harrison and Stuart, I continued speaking Well, three votes to two so go karting this afternoon and when we arrive back here we’ll have a look on the internet and see what else we can find for the rest of the week.’

*

We jumped in the car followed by Harrison’s mum who was escorting us to the go karts, dropping us off, and then returning to pick us up later.

After Harrison’s mum dropped us off, she said to Harrison, ‘When you’re done give us a call or sends me a text, and I’ll be on my way.’

‘Sure thing mum, see you later,’ Harrison replied.

‘See you later, and remember to give me a call or send a text,’ she said before driving off.

We entered the go karting centre and headed straight towards the reception desk, when we reached it Harrison pressed the bell and an elderly looking guy came out of a door at the back of the reception area, walked towards us and said in a distinctive Australian accent, ‘Good day mate, how can I help you?’

‘I was thinking, can I book the track for an hour, so my mates and I could go on,’ said Harrison.

‘Sure, they’re just finishing a session at the moment. So if you’re ready, I’ll sort you out some driving suits, helmets, then I can go through the rules and regulations with you.’

After Harrison paid the guy he led us through a door at the back of the lobby, and into a room where driving suits ranging from extra small to extra, extra large hung from coat hangers surrounding the room.

After we had our driving suits on we were fitted with helmets, and led out to the tracks just as the session before us were finishing their race.

We were told to form a horseshoe and listen as the guy we met at the reception began to speak, ‘Go karting is a fun sport, but can also be a dangerous sport, so extra care must be taken when participating. The rules are straight forward really, listen at all times and pay attention to the flag and signs used by the race marshals but the main rule is enjoy yourself. Okay, we’ll now get you measured up and into a kart and we will start your race.’

*

The go karting was a success with everyone enjoying it, but on the drive back to the villa the day’s events had taken a toll on us all and we were all half asleep by the time we got back.

We pulled ourselves out of the car and made our way into the villa. Without saying another word kicked our shoes off and collapsed on the many sofas that lined the lounge. Soon we were all flat out asleep, only to be woken again when dinner was ready and we were told to sit at the table.

We all sat down at the table and waiting in anticipation to see what Australian dish we were being served today, and when it arrived, I noticed it immediately another one of my oriental favourite beer and pepper steak with chunky chips and mushrooms.

Full up from the amazing dinner we all collapsed back on to the sofas and watched reruns of some Australian reality TV show that no one seemed interested in, so we decided to call it a day and retired to bed.