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!