Day 46

Hello from Queensland! Apologies for the lack of communication in the last week, somehow time has run away from me! I hope you are all enjoying the first week of March... does that mean it's spring?

Where to start in the last few days?! The last couple of days at the clinic were really good, and busy as usual! I did my first bit of minor surgery and am very proud of my endevours! I'm not entirely sure how the patient feels... but she was happy at the time, so hopefully it won't come back to haunt me! Otherwise I saw lots more ears, a 3 year old with heading for 500 nits/lice and open infected sores from scratching and we evacuated a broken femur.

My last day at the clinic was lovely; they through me a party with all the staff and a select few of my favourite patients (obviously no-one has favourites... that would be shocking!) and we had jelly and ice-cream which was fun:) They also bought me an aboriginal dot painting which one of the women I know in the community had painted, it is really lovely and I was so suprised! Thankfully I managed not to cry with the shock!

The journey back to Alice Springs was somewhat on the eventful side... the doctor had agreed to give me a lift as he was heading back into town anyway, and told me at about lunchtime that he had to put fuel in the car - the petrol station (also the general store and community meeting place) is open until 5, and I naively assumed he had been out in the afternoon! Apparently not.... and at 6.30 when we got in the car to drive home, he let out a long list of four letter words... and announced we would have to drive back anyway. Those of you who have ever been in a car with me will know I am PHOBIC about running out of fuel... so you can imagine how I felt. A hundred kilometres of dirt track with nowhere to stop, no chance of filling up and the high liklihood of not encountering another living soul until the morning if we were to brake down (there is no phone reception for most of the drive).... Anyway, he was determined (I'm resisting the urge to say "only a man!") and we set off in a cloud of dust; he assured me that driving at about 170km/hr was the most fuel-economic speed, and despite my protestations that I thought 60miles/hour was more economical, we persisted at breakneck speed down the track. I fast stopped worrying about running out of fuel - I was going to die first! Imagine a gravel/sand road with pot holes big enough for me to climb into, a 15 year old toyota landcruiser at that speed, and live cattle all over the road..... surely we were certain to either roll or have steak hanging off the bullbars!

Amazingly (on both counts) we made it to within a couple of kilometres of the tarmac which signifies the arrival at the outskirts of Alice Springs and the nearest petrol station. And we ran out of fuel. On a hill.

Out we get (why, oh why, was I wearing a skirt??) and push... me and a guy in his late fifties with a beer gut pushing a four wheel drive up a hill. mmm. We succeeded! Go us! We were then able to roll the car back down the hill and most of the way to town - we then walked the last bit to the fuel pump and back to resolve the problem! Suffice to say I slept well on Thursday night..

Friday was good, and I had a didgeridoo lesson which was great - and SO difficult! Getting the first "drone" note was not too bad, but changing noise or making any other sound is impossible! I resisted the urge to buy one (they are really expensive) and remembered that shipping it home would likely double the cost!

Flew to Brisbane today, and am a little overwhelmed by city life! I need to readapt from living in the desert! The wagamama's I ate for dinner was the best meal I've had in ages:) Yummy!

Sightseeing tomorrow, and some damage limitation with my wardrobe (I would recommend the desert diet!).

Lots of love

Keep smiling,

Miss you all lots and lots

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx