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.