Big Sky to Big Surf - A Bondi Rescue Story

First Day in Bronte

The plane finally touched down in Sydney. I was able to get off of the plane fairly quickly due to the fact everyone wanted to get off after such a long flight. I waited out in the terminal for Chappo, he was one of the last ones off the plane. "Hey Tori, thanks for waiting for me." "Of course, I need someone to show me where to go from here." "Ah, so you're just using me because I'm a local, huh?" "You caught me." I said as I started to walk toward the baggage claim area. As we were waiting for our bags, well Chappo's one and my 5, we decided to get to know each other a bit more. "So, you mentioned you were coming here for school, what are you studying?" "I'm going to study Criminal Psychology." "That's cool, but why come to Sydney for that?" "I wanted a change of scenery. I love the country but I needed to get away for a while." "Ok, so that's school. What about work? What do you do?" "I'm a horse trainer and riding instructor, I'll be working at a centre in Bronte." "So you'll teach me how to ride a horse then right?" I chuckled a bit at that question. "Sure, if you have the time. I'll have to clear it with my bosses first." "Cool." "So now that you know about me, what do you do?" "I'm a lifeguard for Waverly Council." "So you sit at a pool and watch people all day? Doesn't that get boring?" I asked him. He started laughing after I asked him that. Wiping away the tears in his eyes he said "No, no. I work as a lifeguard at Bondi Beach and sometimes Tamarama and Bronte." "Wow, I feel a bit stupid now."

It was after this that our bags finally decided to show up on the carousel. We picked up the bags and started to head to the door when Chappo stopped and turned to me. "Hey, here's my number. Call me if you ever need a tour guide or a fun day away from work." "I will, once I get an Australian number." "Well, it looks like this is where we part. I'll see you soon Tori." "Thanks Chappo. See you soon." I said and gave him a hug. As he walked through the doors I thought I just made my first friend here. Go Tori!

After Chappo left, I went down to the Animal Center to pick up my boys. Well two of them at least. I had to wait for about 2 hours before Cap and Bucky were clear to leave. I don't think I have ever seen those dogs so excited to see me. I finally calmed them down and hailed a cab to take us to our new house.

A short ride later, the cab pulled up in front of a small two-story house with a nice front yard and a great backyard for the dogs. (AN: Media is what I imagine Tori's house to look like) I paid the cabbie and started to bring all my things inside. I immediately went to the patio to take a picture of the view. It was amazing! The house overlooked Bronte beach and I could see everything from here. I then remembered I needed to get a new phone number. I went down to the local store and did just that. I texted Tim to let him know that I made it to Bronte. Jet lag hit me as soon as I got back home. I let the dogs out one more time and then went up to my new room and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.

The Next Day

I woke up to my phone ringing and Bucky licking my face. "Ugh, Bucky stop!" I pushed him off of me and went to answer the phone. "Hello?" "Hi Tori, its Tim. I was wondering if you could come down to BTC today to take a look around." "Of course, I can be done there in about an hour if that works?" "It sure does. See you soon." We hung up and I immediately jumped in the shower to wash away the smell of travel and got ready for the day. An hour later I was walking into the office at BTC. "Hi Tim, I'm Tori. It's nice to finally meet you." "Hi Tori. It's great to meet you too. Come on in." "This place is incredible. I can't wait to bring Marvel up here." "We can't wait to have him, but we are more excited to have you. You have an impressive reputation up in America." "Thank you." "Have you only worked with quarter horses?" "Mostly, occasionally we would have a client bring their own horse for a lesson. But I mainly work with quarters." "Alright, well let me give you a tour of our facility." Tim introduced me to some of the staff, and showed me the horses, and gave me my lesson schedule for the next month.

When I got back to my house, I let the dogs run around in the back yard for a bit before I decided to go and check out Bronte Beach. I changed into one of the bikinis I brought and threw on some shorts and sandals. I walked down to Bronte and was in awe as soon as my feet hit the sand. It was later in the day so there weren't lots of people around. I put my stuff down in the sand and walked toward the water. "I wouldn't go in there miss." Someone said from behind me. I turned around a saw a man in a blue lifeguard shirt. "Oh, sorry." "It's fine, there's just a nasty rip running right there. Don't want you getting dragged out to sea." "Well thanks for the warning." All of a sudden I heard a shout from behind the lifeguard. "TORI!!" I looked around and saw Chappo running down from the lifeguard tower. "Hey Chappo." "What are you doing here?" "Same thing as every other tourist down here. Taking in the beauty of Bronte Beach." "Ok no need to be sassy." The other lifeguard looked at us like we were crazy. "Hi I'm Tori. I met this weirdo at the airport in LA." The other lifeguard started to laugh and then introduced himself. "Hi Tori, I'm Maxi." "It's nice to meet you Maxi." Just then a swimmer started to go under out in one of the rips. "Sorry guys, duty calls." Maxi said running off to save the swimmer. "Well I should head home, I have to let the dogs out and check in with the quarantine place to see how Marvel is doing." "Alright, well if you ever want a tour just give me a call. I'll be down at Bondi tomorrow." "Cool. I will try to make it down." Just then another swimmer got into trouble and Chappo had to go and rescue them. Well I guess I'm going to Bondi tomorrow.