I had the strangest dream the other night. I was with a group of out cast atheists, we were in some sort of benevolent house arrest in the household of a family of fundamentalist Christians. And it was some sort of government policy that we were there. There was quite a group. men and women, all sharing the one room. Anyway after I tried to talk about what atheism was to one of the kids who asked me, the family voted to evict us all.Its was quite 1985ish.

I did lead lighting today at the Health and Well Being centre, finished my lamp shade, turned out pretty well for a very first attempt I reckon. All god and red and blue. Got it on my bedside lamp now actually. The woman who taught it has been doing it for about 25 years...but she refuses to do churches!!!

New car arrived on the barge the other day.. or rather ancient bastard of a car. $1700 for a piece of shit. Serves me right for buying a car on the phone. Lights dont work, brakes dont work, thing is a total piece of shit.

Connected to the world...

Yay, the dude from IT came out yesterday and I now have a fully operational Telehealth unit, as well as wireless INTERNET, nice and fast. I feel like I have stepped into he era of modern technology...

Then I had to go and pick my car up from the barge..everything just happened at once today. All too much to cope with (and it was blazing hot and I had a splitting headache all day, and I got bitten to death by March flies yesterday on the beach, ouch!)

And I felt like I had stepped back in time again. Mind you that is what you get when you buy a car from a guy on another island over the phone without seeing the damn thing.

1975 (For some reason I heard 1986!) Land Rover...I swear I felt like I stepped into an episode of MASH or All Creatures great and small. I couldn't actually work out how to drive it. Let alone depress the hand break. Get into the damn thing was an adventure in itself.

Now there was a day. Weather turned from overcast to sunny and bright, to rainstorms, and sunny, then windy...now sunny.

And I had the oddest dream last night. Dogs woke me at about 4 am. I could smell bush smoke...then by coincidence I discovered that a patient had fallen over and broken her leg about the same time.

And over the weekend I discovered that the latch on the back gate had been unfastened by someone...not us, because of the way it was done. Fortunately both the dogs were within. And later that night I had a dream that Colo was beaten to death by our next door neighbor for killing her chickens...(and thats another story. I saw said neighbor today and told her about my dream and she told me that they had found THEIR gate open on the same day. Weird. And Jane across the road said the same thing happened to her.

I wonder if we were set up by a certain person who shall remain nameless.

Now Fiona has a blog, I think maybe I had better get back to mine...at opposite ends of Australia.

Well first the weather.

HOT hot day today...must have been over 30. Waited for high tide and took the dogs for a swim down the front. The water was lovely and warm. The dogs swam around and around. Diablo especially, he just adores the water. Colo has grown to enjoy it, he used to be very timid, but now he just follows Diablo all the time.

I saw a stingray, quite a small one, with bands of lovely brown on its back. Im not sure if I scared it off and saw the same one a few minutes later, or a second one.

Everyone is getting ready for birding, and there were a few boats moored down the beach...supposedly it is going to be a better season than last year, which was pretty pitiful. I got asked if I wanted some mutton birds but I declined. The first (and last time) I tasted mutton bird was just after we got here, and it stank and tasted like rotten anchovies. Ick.

Doing all the washing today, perfect day for that too. The tea towels dried in an hour flat. Using the clinic washing machine because ours was murdered by the Evil Bush Rat. This rat was regularly visiting us and chewing everything rubber in sight. And a few things that weren't. It chewed RIGHT through an electrical cord that went from the laundry to the kitchen under the door, and left one half on each side of the closed door and a line of saw dust where it had chewed the bottom of the wooden door. It also chewed holes through our mozzie nets to get in and out, and the seal off one of the sliding wardrobe doors. Then if that weren't enough, it chewed several holes and right through the rubber hose bit that controls how the washing machine fills. As a consequence, it kept filling past capacity and flooded the laundry.

So we finally closed all the doors and windows etc, and it had to stay outside, whereupon it ate all the corn right off the cobs still attached to the stalks. Little bastard.

But we must have killed it, cause it hasnt been back. Though there have been two mice. One I found already mostly dead on the bathroom floor and threw out into the buses. The other which I stomped on the head (and it crunched)in the same place. I am a cruel mouse murderer!

Weather update

And it continues.

Last night we were woken by two massive claps of thunder. Must have been right on top of us. Sounded like oil drums rolling along the street. A huge flash of lightnning, and the power went off for about 30 seconds. Fortunately it came back on before I had woken up enough to find my shoes to go and turn the generators on.

Today it dawned reasonably clear. But cold.

But it didnt last. Its been raining on and off all day, and a very black cloud has just rolled in and is proceeding to dump its load on us.

I have had only the one patient all day.

Mayb I should do some work?

Meh.

Horrible Horrible day today.

Mail plane made it in, but barely.

Three patients all day cause no one wanted to go out in the rain. Beige mud everywhere.

ICK!

Weather....

Horrible weather today. Actually the last few days have been pretty dreary, but today it really blew up a freezing driving rain.

The Airlines of Tas flight barely made it in. There was a bunch of us waiting for it to land to pick up people, and few to fly out as well. I thought I had heard the plane go over at 11, and in fact I had, just that it was going the wrong way and didn't land!

When I got up there L was on the radio. Everyone waited and waited. Finally the radio crackled to life and the pilot announced they were making their approach. Asked what the conditions were like. L said that the strip was VERY VERY wet, and for the plane to keep to the right, and that there was a cross wind.

Coming in the plane was practically side on, every one was holding their breath and waiting for things to go wrong. He was coming in pretty fast too. But he righted himself up and came in pretty hard. There was a veritable bow wave of water behind the plane as it landed. But everyone got off safe. And the new passengers got out safe. A few hours later the weather really closed in. Poor puppies were very wet and sorry for themselves.

But then the barge came in. Mauro went down to lend a hand with unloading. He said that the barge made four tries to dock, and ended up hitting and breaking one of the supports.I'm just glad I wasn;t out in it!

Doctor's Day

Well today was a full on day, Sonia reigned supreme in the surgery, and we had a flat out day...while Tony the pilot and the two cops from Flinders read the paper in the unit!

Tomorrow I have a bit of organising to do as well.

MMM, tonight Mauro is cooking chicken casuela. Yum! I can smell it cooking now.

Cape Barren Island, 1 year on

Well it has been a whole year since I arrived on Cape Barren Island. Time certainly does fly when you are having fun! I lived through the first winter, and then the summer...got pretty hot here, temps up to 44C!

On the way we managed to get ourselves two dogs, Colo Colo and Diablo...and they give up a lot of joy...and frustration!

I will try to keep up with this a bit better from now on. I literally forgot all about the damn thing!

Well I just returned from a week long sojourn in my former home town of Sydney. Had a three day feastfest with my dearest friends Nicole and Debbie, it was Debbie's 35th birthday, and we went all out. Spent most of my time eating and drinking with the two of them. A fantastic time was had by all!

On the way back we got stuck at the airport for most of the day due to a thick fog covering the whole of Launceston and stretching right out over the Bass Strait and the Islands. Flinders and Cape Barren were both completely covered. Finally we were able to take off for Cape Barren, which was relatively clear, but just across the strait, there was Flinders, still covered!

Back to the Barren

Sorry peeps. It has been a wee while since I posted I know...

A lot has been happening, and not happening that SHOULD Be happening. But that would take me all night to tell you about. So I'll just go for the highlights.

I got a puppy. His name is Colo Colo. Son of Colin (Short for Collingwood) and Bella. One of a litter of six. 3 Fluffy and 3 short haired. All black and white. There is some border collie in there somewhere I'm sure of it. Anyway, Colo is one of the fluffy ones. He is very cute. We called him Colo because there is a soccer club in Chile called Colo Colo. And we thought it would make a nice link with Collingwood. Of course the club is named after a Mapuche Chief who fought the Spanish.

And later Mauro found out that it means "Mountain Cat". Oh well.
I have been taking him for a walk most evenings. And taught him a few tricks already. We have had him four weeks now.

My friend Nicole came down for a short stay. She seemed to like it. And I kept Colo as a bit of a surprise, because she loves puppies. She adored him.

We took a long trip down the other end of the island to visit some friends, and the puppy came with us. He was sick in the car, poor baby.

Its spring here now, and the Island is coming to life. We are seeing a lot more wild life than we did before. Lots of blue tongue lizards, and birds nesting and other strange lizards and critters. Soon it will be warm enough to swim too.

Tonight we went and saw the play the kids at the school put on, it was hilarious....a rip off of Pirates of the Carribean...called Pirates of Cape Barreon...hehehe.

Im still laughing.

Back to the Barren

Man im a lazy SOB...oh well, I have a good excuse, my internet has not been, well, usable. Not that we were unable to use it, just that we were too scared to. You see, my partner wandered into the clinic a few weeks ago, three weeks ago to be precise, and announced that he was unable to get on the net. So I rang Telstra....three hours later, after talking to about 10 people and being cut off three times, I was told that there was a credit ban on my phone because we had a bill of almost $4000!!!!

My jaw almost hit the ground...but it turned out to be a big mistake, on Telstra's part. And we don't have to pay it. But now we have a new connection.

And then of course I have a brief escapade to Sydney...for Uni ostensibly, but I had fun catching up with some dear friends and getting drunk on green plum wine and eating yummy Korean BBQ. And then of course it was my little redheaded cousins 1st birthday, that was fun!!!

Anyways, now I'm back home on Cape Barren. Another Doctor's day behind me. And all is well. Well apart from the fact that I have to write a 2000 word essay in two weeks!!! EEEK!

Well an update on our food finding and foraging abilities. Mauro brought back some fishing lures from Sydney...and some squid lures. So we decided to try them out and went down to the docks at sunset last saturday...after some kerfuffle with the fishing rods (Muuro had neglected to put any line on mine0 and then managing to get the lure stuck in the net...I went merrily casting off the dock with the other line...and managed to pull in two nice fat squid.

Of course, never having caught a squid before, it took some working out haw to manage them. Very strange creatures. You know you have one because when you pull it out of the water you can hear it blowing ink out. Lovely thick black ink that goes on everything.

When we got them home we then had to figure out how to clean the buggers...an experience in itself.


But I figured it out on the first one and the second one went much better.

And we had calamari for dinner.

Yum.

Foraging for food.

Yesterday we went back to Ned's Point, where I found a bed of mussels last week. I printed out the tide charts so we would know when it was low enough to get to them.

Well I managed to get a bucketful, not very large but plenty of them. A bit later, after I had filled my bucket and was busily trying to wash the worst of the sand and grit away, Mauro found another bed, a bit further out, with larger ones. I got a few of those too, but next time I will make sure I get those ones.

They took forever to wash...but finally I got them decently clean, and found a recipe in one of our ancient books, handed down from Mauro's Dad...British Food would you believe. It was for Mussel Brose, and though I adapted a few ingredients (we had no leeks!) it turned out pretty well. But still a bit gritty.

I ended up shelling all of the mussels. Although Mauro doesn't like Mussels, he did like the broth itself. Made himself some instant noodles in it...sacrilege!

Today was one of the warmest days for quite a while. I spent most of the morning cleaning the kitchen...I had made a bit of a mess making the Brose, lots of Pots to clean. EEKS! Then decided to make Banana Pancakes, was half way through he first one (and it was yum!!! Lots of cinnamon) When I got a call out to the clinic, someone had managed to plant a splinter deep in the fleshy part of their had...couldn't find any bloody tweezers. Was rather embarrassing actually. Couldn't get it out though, had to bandage him up and send him off to Launceston...

Anyways, when I got back there were a couple of the local kids who had invited themselves over. Mauro was in the middle of getting his fishing kit ready, I think he was jealous of me Mussels! Actually we had decided the day before to try out luck fishing at Porky's Point...had even gotten some limpets to use as bait.

Well after a few hints and a glass of cordial each the kids finally took themselves off. And we went fishing. Beautiful day...but no fish. Managed to lose a sinker off the first rod and the thingy whatsit you use for squid on the second. I went wading in the cold water looking for more limpets to use as bait...and then I saw them, two sharply curved fins and sleek dark bodies cresting out of the water...a pair of dolphins swimming by...it was a lovely moment. Almost made up for not catching any fish.

One month on...

Hmm a month in.

Well, getting pretty comfortable. It is so nice to be able to get up in the morning walk two metres through the garage to the back door of the Clinic from the back door of my house. Generally the usual routine3 is that I wake up at about 7:50, get dressed, gather up my phone and keys. Go next door to the clinic. Wander through into the clinic turning on lights and heaters and computer. Go through to the Unit, make myself some coffee and watch a wee bit of morning TV. This is mostly because my partner usually lies abed until about 11, so I avoid waking him up.

Then about 8:30 I unlock the front door and take the closed sign down.

Then I will check if there is any mail to go out (the mail plane comes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.) And process any drug orders I have to make, and check the temp on the vaccine fridge.

Once a month on Mondays the Aboriginal Health Doctor flies in for a clinic, so those days I usually get some extra milk and bickies when I wander down to the store after I post my letters (next door).Then I go an pick her and the pilot up from the Airstrip. Generally the pilot buzzes the clinic so I know its him coming in.

On Thursday fortnightly, the other doctor comes over from Flinders. They get catered, because the hospital on Flinders provides sandwiches and biscuits. There is also an arrangement for the nurses to be able to have fresh fruit and vegies brought over from Flinders on that plane (cause the barge only comes once a month and the fresh fruit and vegies go in about an hour flat), so generally there are a couple of boxes of goodies for me.

Then most other days I just wait for people to turn up...

Mostly they just want their pills, but sometimes they want a chat, and then every now in then I have to do some proper nursing. The other day I had a guy who had a fight with a wall, and gave his wrist an almighty whack.

The hardest thing is trying not to take sides, because there is a lot of politics going on, and hidden agendas. And if it's seen that i'm particularly friendly with one person or group, then another takes it badly.

But I'm not really missing Sydney much. Mostly what I have is a sense of prevention, I don't really WANT to go anywhere, but I'm more aware of NOT being able to more acutely. I keep thinking of what I will buy who who I will visit or what movies I will see when I go into town. The anticipation is greater I guess.

But I got to tell you, it gets more beautiful every day. I mean I wake up, and I look out the window, and there is this gorgeous mountain across the strait. Mostly the weather has been clear and sunny, with only a handful of rainy and windy days..quite usual so I'm told. It has been cold, but you dress for it, and theres a wood fire and a heater in the clinic.

I have also started going for a walk at lunch time, because it has been quiet, and it's usually too dark by the time I close the clinic.

It really is VERY nice.

Post Naidoc Weeks

Well last week was NAIDOC week...for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it started out as a government initiative to celebrate Indigenous Australian culture. They take it very seriously on CBI.

J. organised a fantastic week, and its one of the reasons I haven't updated my blog! Basically there was a flag raising on the Monday, then a BBQ on Wednesday for the kids, and I got my first taste of mutton bird.

Mutton bird is a bit of a staple of the Islanders. It's actually a Shearwater bird, a migratory sea bird that eats a lot of fish, and roosts on the smaller islands around here. Every year the Islanders go out and harvest the half grown chicks. They do this by reaching down into the burrows and pulling them out, then wringing their necks. There are cool rooms on the larger islands where they get stored. They are very fatty birds with a very pungent, distinctive fishy smell when cooked. Actually they really stink. Ick!

I was pretty keen to get my first taste, and to be honest, I'm not sure i like it. Its a VERY strong fishy taste. Even more so than you get from just eating fish! The meat is quite dark too, and I was surprised by how small the bird was, smaller than a quail, but with longer bones, and a lot of them. Mauricio didn't like his at all. Maybe I will grow to like it... S. was sitting opposite to me, and she had two servings, she said she loves them. A few of the kids went back and had more too. It's supposed to be pretty good for you, even with the high fat content, because the oil from it is all fish derived, so its very high in Omega 3 fatty acids.

On Thursday it was Kids day, and we went over to the High School for a BBQ (Gee they feed you well here!) Mauricio took his kite and flew it really high with a few of the kids. Unfortunately one of the kids got a bit possessive, and swore at Mauricio...and of course Mauricio, being SO good with kids (!) swore back at him.

Friday was the fancy dress ball...first of course i had to make it out of the clinic!!! A couple of people turned up needed some patching up, but it was all fine, and I rushed home (next door) to get changed. First of all I had to decide what to go as. I ended up wearing this black beaded headdress thing I bought YEARS ago, and a long red beaded dress that again I have literally had for years (I met Mauricio in it!) And called myself a flapper...actually everyone said I looked really good! Mauro went, predictably, as a Chilean! He wore my poncho and his hat and took his woven bag etc. And his guitar.

F, who is the grand matriarch of the Island, and a lovely wry funny smart woman she is too, at 80! Rang me up and told me to tell Mauricio to bring his guitar, cause he was going to play. J. had already mentioned it, but wanted to check with the woman who was meant to be the entertainment first. Gina Timms, supposedly a Country and Western singer. Mind you she had a great voice, but she didn't play anything remotely Country to my ears...(thankfully!). F. told Mauricio to get up and play when she was having her break, but Gina wasn't too happy with that, and asked him not to play until the second break, and put a tape of her own music on instead. And then wouldn't let him use her microphone when he started to sing.

Oh well.

S dresses up as a Gorilla, no one recognised her at first. Her son B, wore a sheik out fit and looked brilliant. F. was Friar tuck, and also looked very funky, and his Daughter M, went as Pocahontas, and looked pretty spec too.

Everyone got very merry, and much enjoyment (and alcohol) was had by all.

So we slept rather late on Saturday.

Sunday we went back to Ned's Point again, and walked ALL the way down the other end of the bay to some rock, and Mauricio almost lost his pocketknife amongst the rocks.

Then when we got back we realised the tide was coming in, so Mauricio attempted fishing, after I managed to prise some limpets off the rocks for bait, and also found a bed of mussels!

But nothing was biting. I tried to go back to get some mussels to take home and eat, but by then the tide had covered them.

Monday was mail day, and I had a couple of boxes to bring back so I took the truck. Getting them out of the back I turned and managed to bring my leg down on the edge of, and trip over a log that Mauro had left in the drive way. Took all of the skin off the front of my shin. Bloody hurt too! Now I had a bloody graze over the bottom half of the front of my leg, and my whole leg is swollen and bruised.

Today there was a post NAIDOC week BBQ for the awarding of the prizes for the art competition the kids did last week, and for the Fancy Dress prize. B. and F and M won. F got a Donut maker....

And we won a $50 fuel voucher, but since we get our fuel for free I donated it back to the community.

Tomorrow is Doctors day...busy busy busy.

Ouch!

Our house...

Well the barge finally arrived. It got to Flinders on Tuesday night, but there was an absolute gale blowing, winds up to 100km and hour, and it couldn't come across to Cape Barren. So it sat at anchor at Lady Barron for two days waiting for the weather to improve. Finally I heard it coming in on Thursday morning about 9. And the guys unloaded our stuff about midday. It was all loose boxes in a container, we had though it would be on a pallet...which would have made it easier to get to the house because the forklift could have just pick it up and then left it in the garage.

As it was we had to get most of it ourselves, with the truck.

Unpacking took us most of Thursday night, and Friday. WE had to hold off with the unpacking on Thursday cause it was Calcutta night at the Hall. They had a BBQ, with Wallaby mince hamburgers (yum!) and lettuce that the kids grew in the community garden

Unfortunately I managed to sink the black on my second shot, so that was me out. Mauro also got beaten in his very first game. Oh well. It was a bitterly cold night too. I kept my new red parka on all night along with gloves and fleecy scarf.

Things in the clinic have been pretty busy too. Got some deliveries of stuff I had ordered, all very exciting. First Doctors day on Thursday, it went pretty well I thought, only one late person and one no show. The Dr was itching to get out of there because evidently there were a few people sick on Flinders she needed to look at.

There have been a few more mishaps with the car. Mauro went looking for some pieces of wood and stuff at the tip so that he can build our garden beds, and he got bogged. Couldn't work out how to use the 4 wheel drive and the diff lock. So L had to come and pull him out with one of the forklifts. The I got stuck too, after going over a log.

Then the next day we discovered that somewhere during that time we had gotten a puncture. The lovely L to the rescue again.

Ayways, we went off driving again today. Freezing cold day, but clam and quiet as anything. We drove down to the Pebble beach ad collected some rocks for the path that Mauro is making, then drove back the other way and down this side track through some amazing rick formations. Great colours too. But I forgot to take my camera, so It will have to wait for next week for pictures.

So we drove back through the Corner and took Rooks river road along the other side of the Island, down through Prickly Bo9ttom, where F lives...named so because of all the Tea Tree's that grow to about bum height. Prickles your bottom. (Nah, its because a bottom is a flat area or valley). Cheeky!!!

Very nice spot. So we drove through there and down to an abandoned shack on the beach...water was so calm, and it was completely silent. Only sounds were us walking and talking and the occasional bird. Although once I heard a wallaby thump away into the bush.

Mauro wants to go back there and try his luck fishing.

There was also the most amazing piece of wood there, long dead tree all gnarled and twisted in the most amazing shapes, and the salt water and exposure had polished it and carved it. It would make a lovely piece of something...

Argy Bargy...

Started to come down with a sore throat on Friday...there it was. I knew what was coming next. Sure enough, despite my best efforts...a cold. So now I have a racking cough, sore throat and a voice that sounds like a rusty saw.

Ah well, I was bound to get it.

On Saturday we went for a drive back to the beach we had visited before, Mauro wanted to find some flat rocks for the garden path.

No more shells though.

Then we went exploring down another track, big mistake. We got stuck at one point and had to back up, and to top it off we hit a tree branch which swung back and smashed the left side mirror. Broke the glass and took the mounting off. That was fun to tell my boss about this morning.

Then the track just stopped at the top of a hill and went through what looked like private land. There was a gate at the bottom. Closed, and it took s a hell of a time to get it open. WE saw a car and a motorbike go by in that time. (A lot of traffic for an island with a population of about 70, considering no one lived up the end we were).

Actually it turned out that were not that far from The Corner, because we soon came across the airfield. Home again!

So the NEXT day, Sunday. With me dosed up on panadol, cough syrup and vitamin C, we set off again. Originally we wanted to go the other side of the island, but Mauro was navigating, and he is more useless at reading maps than I am. We ended up going back the way we had come home the day before, but continued on past the point here we had come through the gate and followed the surfaced road to the end, where it ended at a beach with an iconic tin shack on it. I found out from one of the locals today that it had been specifically built for BBQ's, and there were plans to put a water tank there too.

Then we drove back a bit and went down the side road, which eventually turned into a dirt road again. But signs of civilisation, there was some road grading machinery lining it. They had been putting in some concrete culverts and bridges.

After driving for a while we came across another four wheel drive coming towards us. It was K, who is one of the people to go to to get things done. (I have a collection of them now). He told us to watch out for a swarm of native bees that had attacked him. Fortunately they don't have stings, but one of his dogs had snapped one out of the air. The dog's name was Colin (Colin?)

He showed it to us rather proudly, and we leant out our car windows having a chat...I felt like a real local. He had just been down to the beach at the end of the road, a place called Battery Bay, looking for shells. "You won't find any, I took em all" he said.

I told him about my finding of the Paper Nautilus, he trumped me by saying he had 14 (mind you he has lived there his WHOLE LIFE). And then told us that he had been out on Key Island last week and got a bit hungry, so picked some limpets off the rocks and ate them raw.

Yum!!!!

When we got to the beach (eventually) we could see his footprints and the dogs in the sand.

No shells.

But a nice view.

Then we drove back a bit and took a track coming off the main road. It led down to a dried out lagoon. We followed it over the lagoon and up a rise. Good thing I stopped on the top of the rise, cause it went very steeply down the other side and into another lagoon, not a dry one this time.

So ten point turn and retreated.

Starving hungry so home again.

Anyway, the whole issue about the barge was in the news today.

I might be asking for food packages soon!!!

Two weeks in paradise.

Blew up gale yesterday. Squalls of rain, then the sun would come out.

All night the wind was howling down the flue of the wood fire stove. Mauro asked me if I had heard the house creaking during the night.

But it dawned warmish and sunny. Still windy though. I had to turn off the heater mid morning because I was getting too hot.

At midday a guy from the Dept of Infrastructure came to talk about the "Barge". The barge is the lifeline of the community. For the last year it was coming fortnightly, bringing food supplies to the store, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables, and other goods such as building supplies to other people on the island.

It seems that the company who runs the barge has an exclusive contract with the State Government, which ensures that the service runs at least monthly. For some reason, there was some "misunderstanding" by the guy who owns the company where he thought that the government was going to pay him to run it fortnightly. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and when he discovered that the government was not going to pay him for that, he stopped the service.

So now it is back to monthly.

Which means that now fresh fruit and veggies and other groceries will only be delivered every month... obviously this means that storage is now an issue too.

And it also means that my and Mauricio's worldly possessions, which we were expecting LAST Tuesday, will now not be arriving until NEXT Tuesday.

Another few days without Age of Empires, woe be Mauro.

Finding the nautilus...

Turns out that on of the shells I found on the beach the other day was a Nautilus. I mentioned to L. who runs the store, and she looked at me in amazement. She has never found one after living on the island her whole life, and supposedly there is only one found every seven years.

Cool.

I also found three cowrie shells, also quite rare.

I went through all the stock today and made a list of stuff I need. While I was doing that P. was cleaning. Lovely woman. She told me about her garden, her handicrafts and the library. She runs it. (For an hour every week!!!) and also works as a teachers aide at the school.

Today at the Health and Weinberg centre there was a guy who does community development and mental health. Turns out he lives in Leichhardt, one suburb over from where Mauro and I have just come from... We had a chat about getting some community projects and Mauro put forward his idea of getting a community radio up. He thought it was a great idea, and so did Judy, who is the High School Teacher...could be something there.

Everyone has been asking about Mauro's music, and it sounds like there might be something there for him...has always been a major worry, what he could do here.

MMM, cooking lamb shanks, hungry.

Tomorrow!!!

Day at the beach...

Well the weekend was for exploring our new home. On Saturday we went for a walk around "The Corner", which is what the locals call the town...well village really. Since there is only about 60-70 permanent residents on the Island, you can't really justify calling it a town.

"The Corner" is a collection of buildings, mostly on the "Esplanade" (only used on maps and by the Post office, no streets REALLY have names here).

Overlooking the beach is the post office, the "store" and the Aboriginal Association office.

Up the hill a bit on the left is he maintenance depot, which includes the Fuel dump. (Diesel is more than $2 a litre, good thing I don't have to pay for it!) Up the road and perched on the side of the hill to the right is the school, a building for the Primary (with 6 students) and the High school (currently with one, but s couple more are due to turn up). Each with their own teacher, and a teachers aide for the primary school. And the building they use for the library, which is part of the old school, or so I am told.

The lady that cleans the clinic once a week is also the librarian...it opens for one hour on Tuesdays, and yo can order books in.

Behind the school is the Hall. I haven't been in there yet, but they had bingo on there yesterday, and we half considered going. (no! Really!!!)One of the locals stopped around today and told me to let Mauro know that they have a game of 8-ball there on Thursday nights. (Cause the weekend is for drinking!)

Behind the hall, on the same side of the road, is the church.

WE met the priest/ vicar...what ever she is called, last week. Funnily enough her surname is Chick...so does that mean we can call her Vicar Chick?

Or the Chick Vicar?

She seems very nice, but definitely living the delusion. She reckons that she was "called to minister" on Cape Barren by god, signified though a series of coincidental meetings.

Oh my lordy!!! For some reason I keep picturing Dawn French, but unfortunately she looks nothing like her, and isn't half as funny.

Well I'm afraid I won't be going to HER services. Prefer bingo.

So, we had a walk. And it was nice. Though I managed to scrape my leg on some rocks.

On Sunday though we went adventuring in the Beast...the 4 wheel kind. Turbo diesel V8 Totota Landcruiser 70 series.

Ouch! Bit of a change from my little Daihatsu Charade.

Found a track and followed it down to the beach on the southern side of the island till the track stopped. And then had a walk around. Collected some shells. There are cuttle fish shells EVERYWHERE, and I picked up a massive one, long as my forearm.

Rafts of seaweed actually prevent the waves creeping up the beach. But it was a fairly sunny day. Mauro found a pair of sunglasses just lying on the sand, and he had just been talking about needing a pair.

The universe will provide, eek, I'm sounding like Vicar Chick.

The day after the day after the night before...

Mark left on Friday. I felt very proud driving back from the airfield in the beast by myself.

I pottered around the clinic for a while, opening drawers and trying to figure out how I was going to reorganise things. Cleared some crap off surfaces, and rearranged the script drawer. Lovely warm afternoon.

Then there was a bit of a rush as people came in for their pills before the weekend. I met a few people I had been told about, had a few chats. Everyone was very nice and understanding while I was trying to work out the documentation etc.

So then before you know it it was time to lock up. Got everything sorted, put the newly washed sheets on the bed in the flat, and started checking windows and closing blinds.

Then the clinic bell rang. It was a fellow who had been chopping wood and a splinter went up into his eye.

I flushed it out with saline, but he could still feel it. So rang up J. Told me where to find the fluorescing, and had another go. Had him sat up in the dental chair washing out the fluorescing (nice fluoro yellow streaks everywhere) when the bell went again.

There had been a car accident, 4 people in a ute, lost control going round a bend and flipped. This was one of hem...flung out of the ute and landed on his belly. Thought he might have cracked a rib...obviously in some pain.

So onto the bed he went, on went the monitor (first use) and checked him out. All ok on the surface, but yeah likely a cracked rib. On the phone again to J, told me to keep an eye on him for a bit.

Tummy got tighter and more rigid...hmmm, maybe a slow bleed?

Rang the doc, told me to get him the helicopter.

Finally after much toing and froing and changing of plans, the copter turned up to take my fellow to the hospital.

Very proud of myself cause I managed to get a line in, only on my second attempt and with minimum fuss (though I couldn't find the NS injection ANYWHERE).

They very lovely L. general maintenance and person in the know got the lights set up down at the pad.

When the ambos turned up, we also found out the another person, a girl in the front seat of the ute, who had been knocked out, then promptly went AWOL with her boyfriend, had turned up.

So they decided to take her as well. Oh that is when the drama began.

Then yesterday. They discharged her, so had to arrange to get her back...everything ok, just a knock on the head.

But the fellow with the abdo injuries had discharged himself against medical advice. Ho hum.

But everyone seemed impressed with me. I stayed calm, I did things logically.

And my friend with the splinter in the eye went home and I haven't seen him since, so hopefully he is ok as well.

Talk about a baptism of fire!!!