The man sucked air in through his teeth. ‘Now you’re asking. Confidential information, ha! It’s very complicated. Business owners, seventy-five. Permits, free.’
‘Right, I see, I think.’
‘Where are you off to on this fine day, then, my lover?’
Nina gazed down at her phone. ‘A shop I’ve seen on Instagram.’
The man nodded knowingly and the wrinkles at the side of his eyes creased even deeper. ‘Thought as much. A certain shop with flowers out the front would that be?’
Nina laughed. ‘How did you know? Do I stick out like a sore thumb?’
The man tapped the side of his temple again. ‘Ahh, we know everything on this floating bridge also known as the Darling Punt. We control the comings and goings of Darling on here. Always been the same, so watch what you get up to.’
Nina laughed. ‘Right you are.’
The man went to move to the next passenger. ‘Have a lovely day on Darling.’
‘Thanks. Will do.’
After they’d disembarked the chain ferry, Nina walked along the road, hand in hand with Robby, and for a second they turned around to see the old floating bridge start to load with passengers going the other way.
Nina gazed out at the estuary. ‘It’s so lovely here. The hazy blue colour really is a thing, isn’t it?’
Robby nodded. ‘Yes, and I thought Lovely Bay was nice.
‘This has to be up there with the Lovely Bays of the world,’ Nina noted. ‘Nice way to arrive, too.’
‘Indeed. The good old British seaside. You can’t really beat it on a day like this.’
They strolled along in the direction of the tram station they’d read about, where they would be able to jump on a tram that ranup through the centre of the island. Nina couldn’t believe quite how pretty everything was as she watched an old blue and white tram trundle down on the right-hand side of the road.
Robby looked down at his phone. ‘Darling Street is where the shop is and then we need to go a few streets back to find the coffee shop called Darlings that Colin told us about.’
Nina pointed over to a tram shelter where a queue of people was waiting and smiled as she saw a tram approaching. When she’d read about the trams, she’d assumed they would be modern train-style affairs, but as an old-fashioned carriage with the same white and blue livery as the floating bridge made its way down the road, Nina was captivated. She watched as a conductor stood on the back of a tram, a bell rang, and someone in a tram shelter on the far side waved to the conductor going past.
After finding the correct shelter, they stood in the sunshine in the queue for the tram, and watched as trams pulled in and out. The sun caught the tramlines and a small digital sign told them they had a few minutes to wait. The sign flicked a few times and orange letters announced that a Darling Main tram would arrive in two minutes, a Bay tram in eleven, and a Castle tram was cancelled. A few minutes later, with the orange letters on the sign informing them that the tram was approaching, an old tram trundled up to the shelter. A woman in blue trousers and a white polo shirt with aqua blue epaulettes called out from the back of the tram.
‘Darling Main! Watch yourself on the steps here. All stops, Darling Main. Mind the steps!’
Nina and Robby took a few steps onto the tram. The woman in the white shirt flicked her eyebrows upwards and smiled. ‘Morning, love. Resident?’
The resident question again. ‘No, nope, we’re not.’
The woman’s face cracked into a friendly smile. ‘Sorry, I have to ask. It’s a Darling byelaw. No doubt you were just asked the same thing on the punt. Just tap your card.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Where are you two off to? A day out on our lovely island, is it? You chose the right day for it. Blinder!’
‘Yes, loving it so far.’ Nina jerked her thumb back. ‘The colour of the water. It’s taken our breath away.’
‘Oh yes, on a day like this we aim to please with that. There’s nothing like it when the sun is shining. Have you been to Darling before?’
‘No, we haven't. This is our first visit.’
‘Off to the beach, are you?’
‘Actually, I’ve come to do a spot of shopping.’
