More Port Hedland photos!

Anzac Day brekkie after the Dawn Service - Emma, Neil, Chris, Simon & Naanke

Kate & Bernie's farewell

Kate, Corinne, Bernie, me & Claire

Birthday celebrations at House 7

Just another low-key BBQ at the Quarters!

Emma, Corinne & I at

Staircase to the moon

Lessons from the Outback: #3 Beware of giant red rocks that jump out and bite you!

Hello again!

Wow, my time in Port Hedland has come to an end! I'm on my last shift at work and fly out tomorrow night back to Perth, to the bright lights of a big city, which I'm sure will be very bright compared to what I've had for the last two months! I am amazed that I'll actually say this, but I'm feeling a little sad to leave, I have had such a blast, have met so many cool people and have really thrown myself into the adventure I'd say! At the moment though, work is becoming a little scarce in the Outback so I'm gonna keep the income rolling in by picking up some shifts at Princess Margaret (the Children's hospital in Perth) until another rural contract comes my way :) I'm also going to use it as an excuse to catch up with fabulous Mary (thanks for the accommodation babe!) and also see some of my friends from Hedland that have already left, can't go wrong!

I haven't had too many more crazy spontaneous trips since the last email, and there haven't been any more cyclones through the area either! But I did survive one crazy, liver-thrashing 3-day birthday celebration (apparently compulsory in Hedland) and a fabulous (planned!) camping trip to Karijini National Park.

Easter was a bit of a de-tox weekend as all the pubs were closed and there's no such thing as a restaurant in Hedland, so we were left with only casual BBQ's at the nurses quarters which ended up being crashed by all the bouncers from the pubs (lovely Samoan blokes they are!) on the Friday night. We were lucky enough to get beautiful clear skies on Saturday night for the phenomenon Staircase to the Moon which is (quote from a postcard!) "a spectacular sight created when a full moon rises over the shoreline at low tide. The rising moon reflects in pools of water left by the receeding tide creating the illusion of a golden staircase to the moon." It really was beautiful, the photos that we tried to get just didn't do it justice, it was amazing, and a sight that is only seen in Western Australia so I was pretty stoked to see it. And then come Easter monday night the birthday celebrations began...

My birthday was a serious event, starting at 0001 on the 18th and finishing at 2400 on the 20th! I did manage to continue working through it, but there wasn't a lot of sleep had in between shifts, mostly spent socialising with one event after another! I also think it was just a good excuse for everyone else to have another party as well! There was much silliness involved, much champagne, chocolate and some bizaare presents but I can guarantee a good time was had by all. :)

We survived the farewell for the Irish girls with much laughter, drinking and general craziness, and headed off the next day (after a few hours recovery time) to Karijini National Park (about 4 hrs drive) to go camping for 3 days. There was an interesting mix, 2 girls and 4 blokes, 4 aussies, 1 scotsman and a kiwi, and between us there was a pharmacist, a doctor, speech pathologist, teacher, engineer and of course a nurse! It ended up being a fab group to go camping with, everyone blended really well and we had the most fantastic time. One of the more entertaining things on the trip was the two internationals teaching the local aussies how to camp - including how to put up their own tents and connect a gas bottle to the bbq! We were wrong when we thought that they'd teach us a thing or two, we ended up being given awards at the end of the trip for being the best and most organised at camping! Karijini is known as one of the most beautiful places in Western Australia with its amazing gorges that you climb through, swimming holes and waterfalls. We spent our time there climbing along crazy tracks into the gorges where you climb down the cliff to get into the gorge and then have to scramble over, under or around giant red rocks to find the swimming holes and waterfalls, but all of it was so much fun. The weather was perfect, beautiful blue skies, really warm but not so hot that it was uncomfortable and the water temperature was so nice and cold compared to the sea here, that it was refreshing when you got in! The only bummer was at the end of the second day of tramping when I rolled my ankle when a great red rock just jumped out and bit me! Now if anyone remembers when I hurt my left ankle last year, I did a great job of it, 10 months of physio, cortisone injections, accupuncture, you name it, I had it. Well, I've done my right ankle now! Its a real bugger, black up to my knee, really swollen and hurts like hell, but such is life! Didn't stop me enjoying Karijini, probably added more to the experience, really getting up close and spiritual with Karijini, and it just meant that instead of doing the vertical climbs on day 3, Neil (the scottish pharmacist) and I went and did the easier gorges that no one goes to and it turned out to be more beautiful than some of the harder ones! Plus the fact that there wasn't anyone else there for a lot of the time! The best thing about the gorges and pools in Karijini is that at this time of year there is a lot of water, and if you ignore the fact that you're at a higher risk of flash floods wiping you out, you get to enjoy the amazing waterfalls that cascade down on top of you at every pool. There really is nothing nicer than sitting under a waterfall after a long hard climb! So we thoroughly enjoyed Karijini, found the gorges gorge-gous! Saw lots of beautiful things, encountered lots of bugs and even more lizards too! Still no snakes though except a dead one, so keep your fingers crossed!

Back in Hedland, I have worked steadily for the last week, and have had 2 farewells already this weekend, the last being tonight once I finish work! Then a girls breakfast tomorrow morning, after which I will hopefully pack my things and I fly out of the Pilbara tomorrow night. I have had a fab time here, and will miss the friends I've made, but no doubt, it'll just mean more adventures to catch up with everyone! Who knows where I'll be when you get the next Lesson from the Outback!?!

Take care everyone, love to all!
Red Ron of the Pilbara xxx

Marble Bar

Kate & Bernie

Fording the river, check out the rapids on the left!

Bernie & I changing shift, no need to worry about traffic in the Outback, you could have a picnic in the middle of the road!

Kate & I in the town where the best pick-up line we've had in Port Hedland originated - "Are you from Marble Bar? 'Coz you're so hot!"

Some pretty stunning scenery

The Marble Bar Nurses Post

Lessons from the Outback: #2 Always look before you step with lizards in the house

Dear all,

Well, I think I have found my feet in Port Hedland. I wouldn't say that the red dust has gotten into my blood just yet, I'm not disillusioned and by no means have fallen in love with the place, but I've meet a lot of fabulous people who all seem to be just as crazy if not more crazy than me!

So what have I done since the last 'Lesson from the Outback'...

I went on a mad overnight camping trip with a group of BHP engineers, 2 nurses and 2 doctors. We went camping on Downes Island which is a short boat trip off the shore from Port Hedland and what at experience. I have never seen so many hermit crabs in my life! Now everyone knows I'm not a big fan of creepy crawly things and hermit crabs definitely falls into that category coz those suckers bite! What I learnt about camping on a sandy island is that there is no place to esape them especially when you are sleeping on the beach! The other thing about camping on a sandy island is that the only light you have is the camp fire and that makes it especially hard to see the little nippers too! There were a few nibbling surprises in everyone's swag that night - not pleasant! So needless to say, there was not a lot of sleep had that night by me and a few others. The blokes didn't seem to mind too much, and I just tried to keep it very quiet that I jumped at every sound overnight wondering what the heck it was! We were up early with the sun at 5.30am - another side effect of sleeping on the beach, and it was 40 degrees before lunch even. The plan was that when it really started to heat up we would head back to shore before we all slow-roasted, but unfortunately the best laid plans are not always such when the boys forget to take into account how much petrol they use up with wakeboarding etc and you run out of petrol in two of the three boats before you've even left the island! And they tell you engineers are intelligent...? So it was many slow trips backwards and forwards to get people and gear off the island, and we were almost on the home stretch, when the bloke with the remaining boat decided to stick a rather large and meaty fish-hook through his finger! After some handy first-aid (yes mum, I did need to bring all that first aid stuff), we were on our way back to shore. You would've thought that was enough drama but alas, given that much of the coast of Western Australia is all tidal flats for a good 1-2km out, the tide was out so far we were in less than a metre of water by half way in. We would've been happy to jump out and walk to the shore, however shallow waters don't bother sharks either and I certainly wasn't going to take any chances considering how everyone else had to turn their heads away at the fish hook, there would've been no first aid for me! So you could imagine that with 4 people and a reasonable amount of gear we were sitting pretty low in the water when something hard hit the prop and we lost one of the blades. Down to two blades on the prop it was a VERY slow ride back to shore but we did make it reasonably intact, just very well roasted, missing a prop blade and with an extra fish hook.

Following that was Severe Tropical Cyclone Glenda headed straight for us for a couple of days then deviated off and headed along the coast so we only wore the side of her, but the side of a category 5 cyclone is still strong enough! We literally were tying down the hospital - a very new experience for me, and everyone in the nurses quarters were on alert to come into work before the cyclone hit so that everyone with families could go home and be with them. We didn't end up with too much damage just a lot of flooding and a few trees blown over. But in our efforts to cyclone-proof the quarters we thought we might bring the outdoor furniture inside, wee bit of a mistake that was. Jaimy and I decided that because I still had my jacket on after getting home from night shift, I would be the one to go outside and throw the stuff back inside for Jaimy to catch. We got organised and stood by the door waiting to see if the wind would die down a little. Thinking it had, we opened the door a smidge and both of us literally were sucked outside by the wind gusts and in less than 1 second we were both soaked to the skin. Not surprisingly we abandoned the outdoor furniture, deciding that us staying dry was more important than the possiblity of a smashed door or window from a flying table! So we went to bed, sleeping with our bags packed, passports in plastic zip-lock bags under our pillows and water flooding in under the door in the lounge and above the window in the kitchen! Despite the wind whistling through the quarters we did get some sleep and by the time we rose the worst was over.

In between times there have been cyclone parties, pool parties, and bbq's at the quarters spaced out with nights at the local 'sweat-pit' The Pier, good times. It was at one of these bbq's last week that the two absolutely crazy irish nurses Kate and Bernie and I decided to do a day trip to Marble Bar. Now Marble Bar is famous not for its actual Marble Bar, but more for being the hottest town in Australia, and is only just over 2 hrs drive from Port Hedland. We set off the next day in the morning with a gallon of water and a full tank of petrol. After dodging road trains, stray cattle, dead cattle, snakes on the road and fording rivers flowing across the road, we made it to Marble Bar only to find that the road to the mine there was closed due to flooding and slips, the road to the actual Marble Bar was closed due to flooding and slips and the 'beautiful swimming hole' (according to the Lonely Planet) was a gushing river flowing downstream at a brilliant pace and wasn't really suitable for swimming unless you don't mind crocodiles! We thought we'd take a drive around town instead where we found a large digital thermometer at the park which told us that it was only a mere 33 degrees in Marble Bar that day, a bit disappointing, and the Nurses Post that looked like old deserted army barracks! We found the local pub called the Iron Clad Hotel where we stopped for a drink and bite to eat and on meeting the owners discovered that the husband was a Kiwi and the wife Irish! What a coincidence! We cruised around for a few more minutes - not a lot else to see in Marble Bar, and then headed back on our merry way to Port Hedland. The destination wasn't fabulous, but we had a wicked time getting there and back! Probably one of the highlights was being able to drive again - its amazing how much you appreciate something when you no longer have it!

The very next day the next Tropical Cyclone made its impression by dumping bucket-loads of rain on us and causing even more flooding but nothing else. We spent the weekend in the pub and in the pool and am now back at work, on the dreaded night shift.

Now onto Lessons from the Outback #2 - we have resident lizards in the house. They are hideous creatures called Tartars and they jump up and run incredibly fast on their back legs. They are all named Jimmy and so far we're up to Jimmy #3. Jimmy #1 was discovered when I was on night shift, midmorning got up to go to the bathroom and the little blighter was in the doorway - I almost wet my pants there and then! We then discovered him next in the kitchen when Jaimy almost stood on him, then in the bathroom as I went to have a shower. His luck ran out when he decided to make his home in our pj's that were drying on the clothes rack in the lounge during the cyclone. I walked into the lounge and was talking to Jaimy who was sitting on the couch a foot and a half away from the rack when I noticed a tail dangling down inbetween our pj bottoms. I calmly pointed it out to Jaimy who disagreeing leaned forward and took a closer look, then practically jumped backwards into my arms when she discovered that it was indeed our friend Jimmy. Luckily one of the blokes happened to be around and gleefully pulled Jimmy out of our pj's by his tail and then heaved him outside.

Jimmy #2 appeared a week later in the lounge, happily making his home on the couch. I let out a rather loud scream, almost wet my pants again, and hid on the other side of the room. Then suddenly remembering I'd left my bedroom door open, I booted it up the corridor to close it, only to find Jimmy #2 had beat me to it and was on my bed! There was another blood-curdling scream loud enough to wake our male and hung-over-at-the-time housemate Matt who happily picked up the literally 'scared-stiff' lizard and threw him outside.

Jimmy #3 was spotted yesterday at the side of the fridge and hasn't yet made another appearance, but you can be assured that my bedroom has been thoroughly gone over by Matt incase he's hiding in there, and the door has remained firmly shut at all times.

I think that that's about all my news for now! Time here in Hedland is flying, only 3 weeks to go in this contract and then who knows where I'll pop up. For anyone who wants to see photos of what I've been doing, I've set up a blogspot website that you can look at to save me filling up your inboxes with photos. The website is www.nurseroni.blogspot.com . I'll also post my emails on there.

Thanks to everyone who's been emailing me, its so awesome to hear from everyone.
Take care everyone, keep in touch!

Love Roni xxx