Turning off the engine I closed my eyes and sat, listening to the sounds of birdsong, cicadas, and the ticking of the motor as it cooled. In the distance was the sound of the river splashing over its rocky course. Apart from the occasional rustling of the leaves in the trees outside my window, that was all that could be heard. I had arrived at our favourite camping site.
My wife and I had been coming here for years, our nearly private sanctuary at the end of a long, winding, unsealed road following the twists and turns of the braided river. Ours was the last campsite, close to where the gorge narrowed allowing for only foot traffic. Very few people came up this far; in fact in all the years we had been coming here the only people we saw were the occasional families out for a walk, or Council workers doing maintenance. We had never had neighbours in our grassy oasis.
The main camping ground was quarter of an hours' drive up a back country road which started about 7 kilometres from the nearest small town, and our spot was twenty minutes further on with maybe a dozen or so smaller camping areas along the way, depending on how the river had behaved during the winter storms.
The schools had re-opened for the new academic year in the last week of January, meaning that now, being February and the hottest month of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, the area was practically deserted. In my drive up I saw two sites being used, both in the main camping area, all the others were vacant, the grass recovering from the tents and campervans of the previous months. Guess why I always took my holidays in this month.
I owned a fully self-contained converted bus which was now all but invisible from the track, screened by a row of bushes and trees. On previous trips I had spent time evening off the area where I parked up, and all I had to do was lower the support struts and my home away from home was level and stable. The only other tasks left were to attach the awning and its insect screen sides and put out the table and chairs.
"Well, that was done out of habit," I said to myself, looking at the second chair. "Two chairs for me to use, now, depending on where the sun is. As if I needed another reminder."
I was alone this year, for the first time since we married twenty something - no point counting now - years ago. Rachel, my wife, had been promoted a couple of years ago and with the new role and new responsibilities was unable to take February off and would come join me on Friday nights and drive home on Sunday afternoon. Last year she made it out only twice. Looking back I shouldn't have been surprised when she left me for a fancy Italian suit wearing wallet who preferred five star hotels and top class restaurants. In Greece, or the Côte d'Azur. I made good money but that is hard to compete with. Anyway, I hoped she was happy, and cynically wondered how long it would last before he upgraded to a newer model.
Grabbing a cold beer from the fridge along with a book I had been wanting to read for a long time, I relaxed on the sun lounger and absorbed the serenity.
Lunch was a hot sliced beef and mustard sandwich - yes, I used the microwave to heat it, sue me - and a freshly brewed coffee, followed by more reading, a nap, another few chapters, another nap, all the while relishing the serenity.
My evening meal of smoked chicken breast and a salad I washed down with a glass of merlot, and after tidying up the kitchen, washing and drying the dishes, I settled on the couch, read more of my book, had a shower and went to bed.
To some this may sound tedious or boring, but to me after the busy and emotionally hurtful year, it was bliss, just what I needed.
***
Being a creature of habit, the next morning found me up and showered and dressed and ready for my daily routine - breakfast, work, lunch. The afternoon I would vary, depending on the weather and how the morning had gone, being a choice of more work, reading, swim, prepare the awning and bus for the evening mozzie onslaught, dinner, read and bed. Rinse and repeat.
Apart from the isolation of this site, it had a couple of other benefits: where I parked was line of sight to a cell tower on the hill behind me, and the positioning of the parking spot aligned the solar panels on the bus to get the maximum effect from the nuclear reactor in the sky. This allowed me to check emails, review my team's designs, respond to customer requests, and the million and one other tasks that go with owning and running a successful landscape design company, and a separate and also successful landscape contracting company, without having to run the bus engine or a generator to keep the batteries topped up.
After a breakfast of chopped banana and muesli with yoghurt I settled down at the outside table with my laptop and spent the rest of the morning on-line. As the sun climbed higher in the sky so the temperature increased, meaning I was stopping more regularly to fetch an icy water and rub a towel over my face and hands.
There was hardly a breeze in the narrow valley, and it became too hot to concentrate. "Right then, Davey Boy, lunch time." I said, shutting down my laptop and packing it away in the bus. Making a sandwich and grabbing a couple of cold cans I walked the twenty or so feet across the rocky riverbed to the water and carried straight across to the other side. Previous campers had dammed the river, and the pool was waist deep in places, deliciously cool and refreshing, and the north side was shaded by trees. Finding a large flat submerged rock by the bank I stripped off my shorts, sat, and enjoyed my lunch and a cold beer.
The day grew hotter still, and with a full stomach, the effects of the beer, the restful sound of the river gurgling over the rocks, and the occasional buzz of insects I zoned out, not asleep but not aware, half dozing.
I was jerked awake by a woman's exclamation. Standing on the opposite shore, maybe 25 feet away, stood a youngish lady of average height with long, strawberry blonde hair and a slender build wearing a white sun dress and generously sized floppy straw hat. Her large sunglasses made it difficult to guess her age, but I thought late twenties, thirty tops. She looked flustered as she stood there looking at me.
Remembering I was naked, and my shorts were on the bank behind me, I covered myself with my hands and said hello.
"I didn't see you at first. You startled me."
"Sorry, I was half asleep and didn't hear you approach. What time is it?" I said, noticing the watch on her wrist.
With a quick look, she said, "A little after 3." After a pause during which her cheeks flushed, she said, "Did you know you have no clothes on?"
"It's too hot for clothes today. There usually isn't anyone here this time of the year so I go au naturale when I can. Are you camping near here?"
"No, I'm down at the main camping area."
She was standing in the direct sunshine, and the large sweat patches on her sundress were growing. Becoming concerned about her, I suggested she find some shade before she passed out. "You are welcome to join me in the water, there's plenty of room, and if you turn around for a minute, I will make myself decent."
With a brief nod, she turned around, then with another exclamation she turned back to me saying, "Is that your house bus ... Oh!" and quickly turned away again. I had just stood up and she caught me full frontal. Picking up my shorts I pulled them on and told her it was safe to turn around as I sat back down again.
"Yes, that's my home away from home. I've been coming here for a few years now and this is my favourite spot. Anyway, get yourself out of the sun and cool off. You'll either get sun stroke or sun burn, and maybe both if you aren't careful. I'm David, but most people call me Davey."
"Elena." She said, wading in with a sigh as the cool water climbed her legs. "I must have walked right past your campsite without seeing it." She stood close to the bank in the shade of the trees, seeming to assess me, then said, "I have a bikini on, would you get all weird if I took this dress off? I need to cool down, but I don't need anything else."
"Elena, I can't guarantee I won't look, but you have my word I won't get all weird." I turned away, looking downstream while she found herself a place to settle. I heard a couple of rustles and some quiet splashing, followed by her letting out a groan of pleasure.
"Thanks Davey, you can turn back now. That was nice of you."
Her sundress was tidily folded on the bank behind her with her hat and sunglasses sitting on top. She was laying back, up to her neck in the water, and I could make out her long, tanned limbs and a couple of bands of pale blue under the water, but her face was still very flushed.
"You still look like you are over-heated. Put your head under the water and get your hair wet. That will cool you down quickly."
She slid down under the water then sat back up, wiping the water from her face. "Oh, that feels so good. I didn't realise how hot it was when I started walking up this way."
"You walked a good distance, too. Did you not bring any water with you?"
"I left in a bit of a hurry, to be honest. I told you I'm in the main campground? The area is set up with small clusters of sites in little clearings, fairly private and close to the amenities. I was the only one in the group of sites I'd chosen and was enjoying the sun when a couple of cars loads of youths arrived. I heard them driving around looking for somewhere to set up camp, and there were plenty of empty clearings available but they decided to park in mine. They pulled out some chairs and a cooler and started drinking. Once they fired up their sounds with death metal I decided it was time to go for a walk. I didn't realise how far I had come, or how hot it was getting. I'm sorry to interrupt your solitude but grateful for the pool."
"It's a public place and you have as much right to be here as me."
Elena looked at me with a smile. "I know how I feel about those buggers parking up in my area so I can guess how you feel about me gate crashing your spot."
"Well, to be honest, in all the years I've been coming here I seldom get any visitors. That's why I feel safe stripping off." Giving her an apologetic smile, I said, "I'm usually a bit more aware of my surroundings, though, and cover up before people see me."
"I'm pleased to hear it." She said with a laugh.
I stood and told her I would be back in a minute, and walked to the bus, returning with a cooler box which I placed on the bank, opened it and handed her a bottle of water. "This will be safer to drink than the river water. That's probably OK if boiled but I wouldn't risk it straight. I have a beer keeping cool in the river, and there are a couple more in the box if you want one once you have re-hydrated."
Standing beside her while I handed her the drink, I could see the shape of her body distorted by the ripples, and when she sat up to take the bottle the water was across her midriff, and the bikini top contrasted nicely with the pale bronze colour of her skin. One knee broke the surface as she steadied herself, and I looked away rather than have her deem me a lecher.
"You really are a life saver. Thank you, Davey."
We sat companionably in the pool, sharing little pieces of our life stories. She was single. Elena looked straight at me when she that she'd had a girlfriend, Zoe, but Zoe's ex-boyfriend didn't like being dumped for a girl and ended up killing her.
"I am so sorry, Elena. What a terrible thing to happen. How long ago was this?"
