12/3/10

Today is broken down in three main sections.

Part 1:Road Trip

Part 2:Tour of the Oz Health Care System

Part 3:Night out in Noosa

I was not sure how long I was going to sleep in this morning since the last two days of camping I did not get much quality sleep.I assumed I would be up early and it was nice to have the entire room to myself.I woke up around 6:30 am and decided after showering to pack up my backpack which was a mess since everything was just in piles but at least it was folded and clean.I had that all that arranged and ready to go by 7:30 am so I decided I would take some of the leftover food from our trip and make a proper breakfast for myself.I made a three egg omelet with onions, tomatoes, sausage, and cheese.Ialso had some toast with this.It turned out out very well and I kept the leftover on low in case Jeppe and Stacie would want some when they got up.I also took some of the left over sausages that I had grilled up the previous night and made myself two sandwiches for lunch.I kind of chuckled when I saw weary travelers come into the unit at around 8:15 am.I knew they had just arrived on the overnight bus and were planning on going out on the tour tomorrow just like I had done a few days earlier.After talking with the five that headed into my six share room I found out they were Norwegian University students that had spent the previous semester in Perth studying and were traveling together before they had to return home.I also found out that their Whitsunday sailing experience was very wet.They said that all their clothes seemed like a wet dog and they quickly went to do some laundry.One of the guys was chatting with me in the kitchen as I was doing the dishes and cleaning up the counters and I tried to give him some good advice for the Fraser Island tour.Check out was at 9:30 am and I had went and brought my stuff.While we were at reception we were talking with the other tour guide named Wurm.He had a prosthetic left leg and when he heard about my leg he said that if it was my other leg he could borrow me one of his spares.He also took a look at the massive wound and told me that a chemist would not help me I needed to go see a doctor.They pulled up the address of a Hospital near Noosa where I could go and get seen today.So that was the new plan.

Part IRoad Trip

We loaded up the station wagon which was pretty full but everything fit nicely.With in five minutes I was so happy to be in this car on a road trip.I was super comfortable with plenty of leg room and hanging out with people I really enjoy.I even got to drive which was fun to do on the left hand side of the road.I drove for about an hour and a half or so and the only thing I kept being confused by was turning on the windshield wipers when I intended to signal.At one point while I was driving all 3 of the girls in the back were asleep.We arrived at the hospital at around 12:30 pm and I ran in to see if I could be seen by a doctor.

Part IITour of the OZ health Care System

They told me they would be able to see me but it would be a couple of hour wait.I decided to go for it and Jeppe gave me his cell phone and told me to call when I was ready to be picked up.It turns out we were like 35 minutes south of Noosa but I was happy enough to get this...whatever it was taken care of.I am calling this a tour because it was just as pricey as a tour so I feel better calling it that.I also learned that I should have purchased travel insurance and for my next long trip I will do that since I think that would pick up the charges.My first observation was that the emergency waiting room in OZ was pretty much the same as what I have experienced in the States.I had brought in my small backpack with my lunch, book, and computer since I knew with that stuff I could keep myself entertained.So I sat and sat and sat some more while I read and then wrote some in my journal.I then just started to look around the waiting room at the other people.Wonder what that lady was here for and then I would come up with some crazy answer in my head.I was at least somewhat keeping myself entertained and after about an two hours my name was called.I was excited as I thought soon I would be able to get out of here and go check out Noosa with my friends.I was seen by a male nurse named Sean who was very nice.He looked over my leg wound and my feet and asked a bunch of questions and told me that the doctor would have to make the call be he thought that antibiotics would do the trick but he was not sure if I would need to be hooked up and stay overnight.WHAT..... that was not going to happen I was thinking because as long as I am able to walk no way I am staying in a hospital over night, I don't need that extensive of a tour.I was then sent back out in the waiting room with my hopes of leaving soon dashed.About 45 minutes later I went to the reception desk and asked how much longer she thought I would have to wait.She told me that three people were still in front of me and that if any other emergencies came in they would go in front of me as well.I looked around the waiting room which was nearly empty with maybe five or six people in it and was a bit in disbelief.As I headed back to my seat the receptionist told me that if I decided to leave that I needed to let her know so she could remove me from the list.I told her that I was not leaving, I had already been here for four hours to leave now that time would be a complete waste.I got a text message from Stacey asking if I was still alive and I replied that I was still waiting to see a Doctor.Stacey and Jeppe had made arrangements for my accommodations in Noosa so I was very grateful to not have to worry about that.After about five and a half hours of waiting to see a Doctor my name was called and I got to go see Dr. Will.He looked at my wound and also at my athletes feet which had been bad for some time and he told me that I had a staff infection that entered my body through my toes with the athletes feet.He did not like the size of the infection around my leg wound as it was all red in about an area the size of my full hand.He told me that since I am pretty healthy that I should just be able to take antibiotics and use prescription cream on my toes to clear up the athletes feet.He told me that I need to take better care of my feet, I did not disagree with him.I feet have hurt for the entire trip and I could not figure out why and I was getting wounds on the bottoms of my feet and around my ankles that would show up for no reason I could think of and would just not heal.I am pretty sure I have had this the whole time I have been here and it even started back in MN as my feet killed on the plane ride over when I thought I had a splinter in the bottom of my foot.This is also the main reason as to why my running has been so limited on the trip, I had many days were every step was painful so I would down some Advil and just push through even if at a slower pace.The fact that I have only ran six or seven times and the longest being about six miles is a joke.I had intended on running at least every other day as I find that running on a vacation to be a great way to see new places.I have missed being able to run but maybe somehow it will turn out for the best as it has given my legs a long rest from running.Dr. Will also told me that he thought it would get worse before it got better.He then outlined in marker the infected area and put a date on it was well.I told him I would be traveling and not be able to do a follow up so he took a sample of the blood to be tested and also gave me a note to give to a Dr. if I indeed needed to see one again.I asked him a few questions before I let him go.....the first was would I be good to go in 7 days since that is when I would be in New Zealand and I intended on doing a lot of hiking.....he said he thought it would be better if I took care of my feet and continued to take the medicine....next I asked about alcohol consumption and he went with the standard Dr. answer that mixing medicine and booze is not a good idea even if you are on holiday (No surprise but at least I asked)....then I asked if I could run and he looked at me strange like I had not heard anything he had just told me.....again I had to ask so know I am going to try hard and be healed up for New Zealand and be able to run and hike again.I was given my prescription and 15 minutes later Jeppe and Stacey were at the hospital to pick me up.I am not sure I would have gone without their help and support and I am deeply appreciative of everything they have done for me and feel super lucky to call them friends.They were glad to hear that I was going to be OK and we headed back to Noosa.It did rain most of the time I was at the hospital so I felt a little better that I did not miss a nice afternoon.BYE BYE HOSPITAL!!!!!

The first thing we did in Noosa was stop and get my prescriptions filled so I could start getting better ASAP.

Part IIINight out in Noosa

Once I was checked into the Nomads hostel I was glad to see that the five of us were in a room together so that would be fun.This is the first hostel besides Bungalow Bay at Magnetic Island that said no alcohol in the rooms since the Hostel owned a bar on the property so apparently it is illegal.We had three other people in our room that night a brother and sister from the UK that were nice enough and kept to themselves.The only other guy in our room was name Andreas or something and we would come to dislike him very quickly.We all had drinks but were somewhat crammed into our room as Andreas had invited like 8 people into our room to play drinking games in the middle of the room on the floor.He then left for the most part and we just had a bunch of strangers drinking in our room which was very awkward.We were starting to get ready to go out and when Jeppe came out of the shower they had just left.He was surprised and disappointed because he had worked out what he was going to say to those people to get them to leave while he was in the shower.Wethen sat around for a bit and played a game similar to beer pong but with bottle caps.We had a good time and at one point I was trying to pick up a couple of the empty bottles and put them near the full trash can and they slipped out of my hands and shattered.I could not believe it.....I felt horrible and I had only had a single beer so it was just a freak accident.I went to the bar an borrowed a dust pan and a broom to clean it up since I did not want anyone cutting their feet on glass chunks.We finally were ready to go out and we walked to the other side of town only to find out the club would not let us in wearing flip flops.I was not wanting to walk back so I told everyone we were getting a cab and as I crossed the street not 20 seconds later a guy named Tim came up to me and told me that he was going to another bar and getting a Maxi Taxi and we could ride with him since he would pay.Free cab ride right when I want it...PERFECT.We ended up at Irish Murphys which is located pretty much across the street from our hostel.It was a fun night of dancing and craziness and I took it easy and drank lots of water in between a few beers.We ended up meeting a local guy named Keith.... what a piece of work, to start with I could only make out about 15% of what he was saying, I am not sure if that was due to an outback accent or being drunk or some combination of the two.He reminded me of the old guy from the South in the movie Water boy in which no one can understand.I found it funny that he refereed to his wife as the toolbox.He also made a lot of fists and doing punching motions when he was talking to me so I was keeping an eye on him since I did not want to be caught off guard if he decided to throw one my way.He ended buying me a beer and I tried talking to him but I was not getting anywhere besides the fact that he has no job and has a gambling problem where he losses lots of money.Was a good and fun night and we got kicked out when it closed down at 2am.Jeppe was feeling pretty good that night and was a dancing machine and making some of the older ladies night by dancing with them.Both Jeppe and myself wore green shirts out that night so we said we were twins and went back and forth on complimenting each other on our shirts.Fun night all around!