The legend of Chaplain Peters

Once Upon a time, back in the bush of Australia away from the hustle and bustle of the coast there was a little boy named Chaplin Peters. He spent his days on his family farm playing in the field with his loyal friend; his pet lamb. But every evening as the sun started to disappear, and it was time for dinner and bed, his lamb was locked back up in her cage, where she'd remain by herself until he came to rescue her in the morning. But why was it fair that he got to play in the house until bed and his lamb had to stay locked up? It wasn't Chappy decided, and at at the young age of five he decided he had to do something about it. So one morning he crawled out of bed to rescue his lamb earlier than usual. Today was the day they were going to run away, where they'd never be locked up again. Wearing only an over sized sweater his mum had knit herself he set off, barefoot, down the dirt road, away from his house to a new free world without cages, his faithful lamb at his side.

Fast-forward about twenty years and that's where we met Chappy. Shaking a "Sin Tin," passing around an inflatable Kangaroo we were to christen with a name, searching for his next victim to pour goon down their throats, and yelling obscentities into the microphone on the bus while declaring our next surreal ten days action-packed with promises of plenty of debauchery and shenanigans. To me, he reminded me of Jack Sparrow, how he always seemed a little out of it in a way that made you question his sobriety, yet somehow always on his toes as he was a wit with his words and was somehow always five steps ahead of you. When he spoke to you, he looked you directly in the eyes, a salute to his sincerity, with a piercing blue that suggested his timeless youth despite subtle crows feet by his temples, a tribute to the trying adventures of his past. He had golden curly hair as bouncy as he was and an impermeable tan resulting from his profession, guiding college kids on their Spring Break that perfectly coincided with his ideology of rising early to seize each day.  

Chappy and Frodo at the bonfire, first night.

 
And of course he was not without his sidekick, Benjamin O'Connor who he dubbed Frodo, and so Benjamin was forgotten by "how's the shire" and "where's the precious jokes." In reality Frodo did resemble attributes of a hobbit, specifically Frodo, short with a child-like face and brown messy hair who's eagerness for new adventure differnest from Chappy's in its naivety where Chappy's came with experience. And that of course, he had sought such things from the age of five: the day he escaped the conventionaliy of confinement with his lamb.

Chappy and Frodo by the pool at the resort

The two were a force to be reckoned with, living up to the name 'Extreme Adventures" in every sense of the word. If we were cliff-jumping Chappy was doing a back flip off it. If we were bungee Jumping Frodo was doing it with no clothes on.  But despite all the mischief and chaos of the trip our dysfunctional family seemed to take a paternal guidance in them. If we were scared to push our limits Chappy assured us we could, it would be worth it and we'd be fine, and we trusted that. For some reason you couldn't help but trust him.

Chappy and the birthday girl!

When it was one of the girls birthday's and me and him were secretly planning to surprise her. He ran off during dinner and found noise makers, confetti and even a birthday princess crown that was absolutely perfect for the occasion. Even when things got bad, for example and most traumatically, when our room flooded Chappy was with us all night helping us move our stuff and make sure it was safe. He even chose to spend the rest of his night comforting a bunch of sobbing confused girls devastated that their belongings got wet instead of raging with the others, cutting his night short to make sure we were okay.

But what makes the legend of Chappy such a vital part in our One Fish Two Fish trip is that we can't forget him, his impact and his ideology on life. When we asked him what he was after we parted he said "Dont really know. Might go off to the surf in Thailand got four weeks off. Might go stay with my brother, such a proper bloke, absolutely hates the chaos I bring. Might go stay with some other mates, aw well. Real cool cats." He didn't have a "home," really but that was the trade-off. A little instability, for a life with no cages, perhaps the only real way to live.