Hello again!
Well...where to start...I had two fabulous weeks in Perth with Mary after I left Port Hedland where we spent lots of quality time catching up on the last couple of years! I did a couple of shifts at Princess Margaret Hospital which was an interesting experience, I was mildly terrified before my first shift as one would be going into another new environment in a country that does many things different from the NZ Health system, and then absolutely shaking with fear when I was told I was going to be working in the Neonatal Unit where I'm not hugely experienced (does a couple of shifts helping out back home count?)! But it all went well, I had lovely babies all shift who did exactly what they were supposed to do and didn't give me any grief, thank goodness. I also managed to catch up with Bernie and Kate from Hedland for a night too!
Mary and I headed down to Margaret River (wine region) for a lovely 4 day weekend (oh the luxury!) where we holed up at her aunt and uncle's new mansion in Dunsborough and drank copious amounts of fabulous wine while having bubble baths in their giant old claw-footed tub (such a hard life!) and we were even visited by kangaroos in the garden. We spent the next few days trucking around the winery's, tasting everything on offer, eating fabulous meals out, stopping at all the lovely gourmet food shops, the cheese factory, the chocolate factory, the fudge farm and Ye Olde Lolly Shoppe. I think for a couple of days there we thought that life really couldn't get any better! We also had a wander through Lake Cave, one of the caves in the Margaret River area where we saw some really stunning stalactite and stalagmite formations, watched a beautiful sunset at Yallingup Beach, and came across a bush fire! This trip had everything! And on the way back to Perth we stopped off in Bussellton to have a look at the Jetty. Now you would be thinking I'm nuts looking at a jetty but this is no ordinary jetty, its the longest jetty (1842m i think) in the Southern Hemisphere and has a cool Underwater Observatory at the end that you can go into - after you walk all the way out there! But it was a
lovely day, with a beautiful if crisp sea breeze and the walk was most pleasant to stretch the legs.
So we headed back to Perth with a car full of gorgeous wines and went back to work - well, sort of...one more shift at PMH! And then I found out I had a new contract in Derby up in the Kimberley, how exciting! I caught up with friends Neil and Clare from Hedland on the friday night in Perth and enjoyed the luxury of the Super King Size bed in the hotel we stayed at in the city! Then Saturday morning rolled around far too quickly and it was time to farewell the Super
King Size bed and head to the airport to fly to Broome. After saying goodbye to Mary, Neil and I headed through all the security checks (Neil was flying out to Melbourne) and goodness me, that's the last time we travel together! Whether we looked dodgy, I don't know, but the security people seemed to be going out of their way to harass us. I apparently had a pair of scissors in my bag but after re-scanning ten thousand times and making me unpack my whole bag, they discovered that I was actually right, I did not have scissors in my bag and they had made an error. We thought that the ordeal was over, but no. One more step and we were pulled aside again because Neil had to go through an explosives check! We finally cleared the security area and I was called to board my flight, so it was a very quick goodbye and goodluck to Neil and onto the plane, headed for Broome! Yay!
Arriving in Broome was fabulous, a kind of realisation of my dream to finally make it to the place I'd been looking forward to seeing for so many years...until i stepped out of the airport. The first thing I saw was a giant McDonalds, not quite what I imagined would be my first impression of Broome. Then I saw a giant Eagle Boys pizza, and then a giant Chicken Treat, hmmmm. But I focused on the oasis ahead of me, the Kimberley Klub, the backpackers with all the extras. I dumped my pack and headed straight to the bar for a very refreshing cold one, realising with satisfaction that I was back up north, back in the red dust, back with the bugs and most of all, back in the warmth! I hadn't coped too well with the chilly temps down in Perth, so what a
relief to be back up where any temperature in the 20's is considered cold! After demolishing my lovely cold beer with surprising haste, I headed out, away from the pool that was beckoning me coz I had something more urgent in my thoughts...pearls. Yes, I needed to get into town and have a look at the pearls i've been dreaming of for so long...so I trucked into town, enjoying the red dirt already sticking to my feet, and found to my distress, most of the shops were closed on
Saturday afternoons! How inconvenient. So I wandered China Town, and Pearl Luggers Terrace and window shopped at all the beautiful pearl galleries. It was a most pleasant afternoon seeing the sights, and when I eventually headed back to the backpackers, you could imagine my
delight when I saw on the big screen the Super 14 Blues vs Chiefs rugby, I was stoked. So that was me till the end of the game, just chilling out by the pool watching the rugby, drinking cold beer and thinking about the poor buggers at home that looked so incredibly cold, all rugged up at the game with jackets, scarves and beanies, while I was watching it in my singlet and jandals!
So the rest of the day passed quickly and it was time to jump on the bus heading to Derby! While waiting on the side of the road, sitting on my pack, got talking to a couple of guys also sitting on their packs and was relieved that I didn't have the same bus trip they did - they were headed all the way to Darwin, a very enjoyable 27 hr bus trip, bugger that! So the bus pulled up and we all hopped on and settled in for what I thought would be just another bus trip...well, it was, apart from the emergency braking and swerving that occurred about every 10-15mins or so to dodge the cattle on the road. Then there were the regular thuds of kangaroos colliding with the front of the bus, and imagine my delight again as I sat looking out the window just to see the poor roos somersault past, usually landing under the back wheels of the bus just to make sure they really were history. I guess its all just part of the Outback experience, by the time we reached Derby, the regularity of the thuds were just about sending me to sleep!
So now we're in Derby, and yes, it is pronounced Derby not Darby, as most normal people would pronounce it. Derby is the regional centre for the Kimberley and is a working town of about 5000 people, lots of stations around, and lots of fishing. Its situated at the bottom of the King Sound and has the secondest largest tidal range in the world, a stunning 11 metres. Its also lays claim to the fastest tidal range in the world, another useless fact for everyone :) But seriously,
watching the tide come in and out from the jetty is a pretty cool sight and you can top it off by seeing the most beautiful sunsets. I'm working in the hospital here in Derby in the Children's Ward, which is another totally different experience. Its the first time that I have worked on a ward where you are by yourself for the whole shift, literally, there is only one nurse rostered on per shift and you can have up to 10 kids in the ward at a time. Luckily so far we've only gotten up to about 7 kids, but that was pretty manic! Its a challenge at times, not having anyone to bounce ideas off or discuss an issue but its also quite nice having the run of the place to
yourself too! Probably what i'm enjoying most here is that all the patients and the parents call me 'Sister' or 'Sister Roni' instead of just yelling out 'Oi you!', funny eh? Apparently every nurse to the Aboriginal people up here is just known as 'Sister', something they've kept from the old mission days maybe...
Derby's a pretty friendly town, everyone talks to you when you walk down the road, including the aboriginal dudes that sit under the trees, you don't even have to be in your uniform and they'll still recognise you and call out 'Good morning Sister!', its kinda nice. Its been a very positive experience so far, especially seeing the difference in the aboriginal population here compared to Port Hedland, there isn't the same displacement here as Hedland, the aboriginals are much more part of the community and in turn because there isn't as much bitterness and conflict, they are a much friendlier group of people to work and live with, what a refreshing change. Its also a much quieter town than Port Hedland and definitely doesn't have the
same social scene, but my wallet and my liver are enjoying the relative holiday/recovery period!
So what have I been up to here in Derby...? Not a lot really. Lots of working, working, working. I'm living in the nurses quarters here again, and my housemates are Tash, a nurse from Canberra, and Pauline, a nurse from Melbourne. Pauline was headed down to Perth for a course
last week so we went with her in her car to Broome where she flew out of and we therefore had her car while she was away. Tash and I enjoyed our day in Broome where we went to the markets, I got to see some pearls (although none that tickled my fancy enough for the price
of them!), and we spent the afternoon roasting on Cable Beach reading our books and swimming. As the sun dropped we headed up to the Sunset Bar above the beach and watched the stunning sunset with a lovely glass of wine as the camels sauntered along in front of us, perfection. It was then time to head back to Derby, watching anxiously for the cattle and roos from the week before but all we saw were a couple of baby roos hopping along not bothering about us.
Now last week was shaping up to being another quiet week in Derby until...they announced the Boab Ball was happening on Saturday night. Well, tell me, where do you find a ball dress and pair of high heels in the Outback??? Shopping in Derby is basically non-existant, there is no clothes shop to speak of, but there is the Derby Emporium, where nothing is over $10...do they have high heels though? Hence the latest Outback lesson. I gave up very quickly the idea of finding a dress to wear and settled for my denim skirt and my one nice 'going out' top I brought with me, but thought that a pair of heels rather than my jandals might dress it up a little...I had to laugh when I found myself in the Emporium, staring at rows and rows of rubber jandals, and then after a little detective work found a pair of strappy sandals - one colour and two sizes only, but one size fitted me so I was done! Delightful. The ball turned out to be a great night, lots of fun, even if I was one of the most under-dressed there! Imagine my surprise when everyone showed up in REAL ball dresses! Where did they get them??? I laughed when I found out some girls had had their mothers/friends/flatmates mail dresses and shoes to them, far too much effort for the Outback if you ask me... But yes, it was a great night, not so great a time the next morning when I had to be at work by 7am...at least I was looking a little better by the time I
got home from work in the afternoon only to find my housemates all still lying about in their pyjamas feeling sorry for themselves!
The latest development in my future plans is when I finish this contract in Derby at the end of June, I'm heading to South-East Asia, taking in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos over about 5 weeks, how cool is that?! The idea was started when Bernie and I were talking back in Port Hedland about how we both wanted to travel through those areas but didn't have anyone to go with. Bernie mentioned that her return ticket to Ireland stopped off in Bangkok, and well, the idea was there and grew and grew so we got the ball rolling, booked our flights and applied for our visas. Neil was also going to be around the same area at the same time so he's deciced he might tag along with Bernie and I for a while too...so watch this space, South-east Asia,
we're on our way!
That's about all my news for now, have just finished day number 7 at work and feeling a little ready for some days off now...I wonder what kind of mischief I can get up to for two days??? I'm sure you'll be hearing about it in the next installment whatever it is...!
Love to all, missing everyone and everything but having a fab time anyway!
Red Ron of the Kimberley now! xxx
p.s. Thanks to everyone for all their emails, its so good to hear from you all and i'm sorry if i haven't replied to you personally yet, i'm trying to get through them all with limited time!
R xxx
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