Dinner Guest

I have had yet another snake incident. I went over to my friend Gina's house for dinner tonight... all was going well, brilliant in fact!! We were siting outside, enjoying a glass of wine before firing up the barbie. All of a sudden her dog went berserk, and hanging out under the table was a giant king brown!! (Only one of the Pilbara's most deadly... just the norm really:) It curled up in the corner and we had to keep a flashlight on it until the snake man arrived (Jim and Dot, your friendly household snake removers...). It was well over a metre when Jim fished him out... Apparently he releases them back into the wild, out at the airport. I won't be wearing thongs when I next catch a plane!

It actually made for a great night. A perfect accompaniment to our fresh salmon from the fish truck!

I have also attached a photo of a regular Pilbara grasshopper. (The one I ate was about half this size...)

Mons Grylls...

I'm not even sure how to begin this entry... I've probably had the strangest weekend of my life.

So it all began with the touch wind-up last night. I went in sunglasses intent on leaving as soon as it got dark (I didn't want to have to remove my sunnies as this would likely scare away the children) Suffice to say I didn't leave, nor did I drink wisely! The night took a turn for the worst when someone dared me to eat a grasshopper...'only if it's a green one' was my STUPID response to that! SO when someone gave me a green grasshopper half the size of my palm I felt obligated. There would be nothing worse than being known as the chick who got dared to eat a grasshopper and didn't, right? I wrapped it up in a lettuce leaf and put a bit of tomato sauce on it... and down the hatch it went! It was foul, and very crunchy! Not something I'd do again... I did win $75 though, so I feel I came out on top in that situation! I further disgraced myself at the pub for karaoke night... where I danced, had the time of my life... and spent most of my winnings! On arriving home at 2am, I promptly updated my facebook status to 'mons grylls'.. I've got my priorities straight.

I woke up today with a raging headache... and now no visible right eye! I went over to see my boss, smelling like a brewery, for advice re the eye. She took me straight to the hospital where they inserted a cannula and gave me 200mL of hydrocortisone. I'm heading back this arvo for more.. let's hope it works as I'm quite over looking so ugly. The picture above doesn't even do the rash/swelling/eye situation justice as my eye has now deflated. How much does one have to endure upon uprooting her life... surely it should be getting easier by now?

Spelling Bee

Just a quick note to let you know that after nearly 8 weeks of being in the Pilbra, I have realised it is actually spelt Pilbara. Well you learn something new everyday they say...

I'd also like to inform you that my face may actually be worse. Could this even be possible you ask? Well yes... this morning I almost couldn't open my eyes, they were swollen shut. My eyelashes had disappeared under skin folds.. truly! I can actually see my bottom eyelids as I write this, never a good sign. I look like I've been crying for hours... and for once, this actually isn't the case!

Tom Price, I think you may hate me? Don't worry, the feeling is mutual.

JUST SAY NO

I have a new steely reserve...

I think I may have let people take advantage of me here, and I'd better put a stop to it now before I spend the rest of the year doing people 'favours'. Now I don't want to go into details over the internet, but I seem to be saying 'yes' a lot to things I don't actually want to do!

This doesn't just go for people, it also goes for food. I have eaten SO much since I arrived, it's actually crazy. On my birthday alone I ate 2 packets of crown biscuits... granted I was a bit sad, but there is no excuse for this. JUST SAY NO! What happened to coming back from Tom Price the athletic, fit, healthy and hot woman I know I can be? Instead, I'm the plumpish local with the face rash.

Tomorrow thus marks the start of my one month challenge. No over-eating, minimal chocolate, exercise and no free-loaders. Watch out world!

The Phantom of Physiotherapy

It seems I am OFFICIALLY allergic to Tom Price. There can be no other explanation for the rash that has now spread to cover my entire face and has forced me to take a day off. I could not be uglier, I am actually scaring people away and feel I may need to resort to some type of mask? The phantom of physiotherapy?

And all this just as things were looking up! Firstly, and most proudly, I sobbed on the phone to Telstra. These tears brought about action, and my phone line was repaired on Saturday the 19th of March! It only took 7 weeks... BUT I AM NOW CONNECTED!! Secondly, I set up my own table and chairs, without step-by-step IKEA instructions. Practical much!! And lastly, I won two awards at uni... a research award as well as the graduating award. I'm not too sure what I'll do with my brand new ultrasound machine considering my thoughts on electrotherapy.

Despite my ugliness, this is week is the first week I have been able to say I'm glad I'm in Tom Price. That's a pretty big plus:)

See insert for my rash face..

Labour Day Long Weekend

I'm writing this entry after a really fantastic long weekend with Curo! It was so nice to have a non bogan/ non pregnant friend around! We drove out to Dales Gorge on Saturday. It was the most magnificent thing I've ever seen! I'm glad I didn't go alone though... I led us off the track for a bit and we came across a snake... typical, I seem to attract the native wildlife! Only a baby snake, but it was more than enough to put me off being the team leader. (We went with a locum doctor from Canada and I was quite glad to have her expertise...). We got down to Circular pool first, which was a category 4 walk and required a fair bit of fitness. We even had to climb down ladders cemented into the rock face! It was so boiling so we decided to have a swim in the pool, it was beautiful! Feeling like we were in the most secluded spot ever, I decided to get changed where we were. I I took my top off and was standing there completely nude, when I looked up to see 2 English tourists. I'm sure they raved about the sights the Pilbra had to offer!! They must have thought we were very knowledgable Australians and so followed us into circular pool... When we eventually got out the English boys were covered in leeches!! Very small ones... still foul! We looked back into the water and noticed that the hundreds of black smears were not the black 'leaves' we originally thought....We were ok though, I think because we were slathered in sunscreen. Why the pasty Englishmen were not so sun smart is beyond me? After that, we headed to fortescue falls. I never dreamed I'd see a waterfall in the middle of the Pilbra?? We made sure to double check the water before swimming here...

The next day Curo and I decided to 4WD up Mt Nameless. (We weren't 100% sure how to put the car in low gear (it was an automatic 4WD) so I was a bit anxious to start with, especially seeing as it is the boss' car! Driving up was an absolute nightmare!! Some of the path had been washed away with the ridiculously long wet season Tom Price has had... we even got momentarily bogged. I was SHITTING myself, I actually didn't even look out the window. When we got to the top I cried, out of sheer relief to be alive! It was SO worth it though, the view was phenomenal.

We also went out to the lookout, ate at the local Thai restaurant and spent a couple of nights at the pub (mostly drinking with my patients... small towns can be very awkward!). I think Curo's best moment was finishing the 500 piece puzzle I started a couple of weeks ago, and promptly gave up on!

As lovely as it was, I'm feeling a bit sad again, and rocking the 'punched in the face' look I've made famous here. I was just getting into a rhythm, and having damn entertaining Curo here has thrown that out of whack. I'm back to square one tonight... wondering why on earth I did this to myself? Did I want to have the hardest year of my life???