Lessons from the Outback: #7 Outback girls don't cry...

Hello!

It been a busy few weeks since the last lesson, in fact, I have barely had time to breathe! In between working my butt off trying to earn lots of money to spend, a group of us nurses managed a fabulous trip up the Dampier Peninsula to Cape Leveque for a few days which was bliss.

Rosanne, Sarah, Emma, Naomi and I all scored days off together after much begging, pleading, and bribing, and headed off to Broome for a night of glitz and glamour, well, cocktails and a fancy dinner! We wined and dined at the Mangrove Resort in Broome while we watched the last Staircase to the Moon for the year (unfortunately it was a bit of a fizzer really), and lived it up as we were all suffering from a bit of Derby-itis. Early the next morning we were picked up by Rodger, our guide/driver/cook/general slave, and got loaded into the back of the old Land Cruiser, balanced precariously on the bench seats lining the sides. Once we were all buckled in, it was north up the Dampier Peninsula with our first stop being Beagle Bay. Beagle Bay is an Aboriginal community made famous because of the settlement of French Pallotine monks there back in 1890, and it was the monks that made the beautiful work of art that people come for hundreds of miles to see - the church, and more importantly, the altar inside which is decorated from top to toe in pearl shell. It really is quite a sight to behold and a magical experience for me, seeing something I read about years ago and have been dying to see since.

After Beagle Bay we headed straight for Cape Leveque and the beach! Yes, the afternoon was spent relaxing on the pure white tropical sand, sunbathing, swimming, croc spotting, and a fun game of spear and throw the jellyfish which I avoided as much as possible. We visited Hunters Creek but the crocs didn't want to come out and play (something i was personally quite pleased about!), and then it was back to Kooljamon at Cape Leveque where we set up camp for the night. We managed to climb over and around and under the rocks from the Cape round to West Beach to watch the sunset which threw the most amazing colours onto the red rocks there. Almost all of us made it through intact, only Sarah and Emma both managed to fall over, only Sarah did the most damage really. Being cocktail hours we were all carrying our beers with us and Sarah was carrying hers in her back pocket as we climbed. It was almost a very sorry state of affairs when she fell and landed straight on her butt and therefore the beer bottle, but somehow the bottle didn't break, she just scratched the label and got a hole in her shorts! A miracle beer bottle, and an excellent advertisement for Pure Blonde Beer - try it, you'll love it! The rest of the sunset came and went with no major incidents, was another west coast stunner.

After a very comfortable night sleeping in our tents with all the sides open and breathing in the fresh sea air, we were up early and down to the beach swimming before breakfast, then it was off to see Eric, our Aboriginal guide who took us around Swan Point where we saw turtles, mullet, dancing fish and a lot of sharks. We went fishing - very unsuccessfully, and got all our lines snagged on the rocks, so Eric and his grandson had to jump in and try to unsnag them for us, which they did! It wasn't soon after though that we had to abandon and make a run for it as we were getting caught in the tide, and I ain't swimming back to shore when there's crocs and sharks around thanks!

After another swim, it was morning tea time - fresh damper and billy tea plus two fish Eric caught (us girls were all a bit useless), and some fresh shell fish, yum, yum, yum. I have to say, I think I could get used to the whole bush tucker thing! And then back to Cape Leveque for lunch, another swim and off to Lombadina further back down the Peninsula. Lombadina was fabulous, a beautifully looked after Aboriginal community, loved the art centre there, and the beach was another hit with us. After hanging out there for a while it was back in the truck, onto the bench seats and on our way back to Broome where we went into recovery mode for the evening! It was such a great couple of days, we came back exhausted but feeling like we'd been gone for a week!

The next morning, the girls all had to head back to Derby for work in the afternoon but I wasn't starting til the day after so bought myself a bus ticket for that night and stayed on in Broome for the day - shopping! It was a long morning trawling through the pearl shops, but eventually found the one that was to be mine, and what a beauty it is! A stunning Australian South Sea gold pearl from the gold-lipped oyster, it was made for me. After only a slight hesitation it really was mine, and what do you do when you've just bought a gorgeous pearl and are carrying it around in your bag??? You head straight to the beach for some necessary sun time! The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging on Cable beach, taking in my last Cable beach sunset over a lovely cold Pure Blonde, and then a cocktail at the Sunset Bar before jumping on the bus back to Derby, ahh, a perfect day.

My surprise when I got back to Derby was that I had a visitor! Practically the whole town was out looking for me coz my friend Matty from Hedland was up in Derby but had arrived while i was away, and had visited I think every hospital employee looking for me - which of course in a small town means that everyone was now looking for me! So i arrived off the bus back in the nurses quarters to a very agitated bunch, waiting for me to arrive, and then it was off to find the said radiographer in Derby somewhere at 11pm. Proved pretty easy to find and there followed a long night of catching up and gossiping!

My last week in Derby was a rush of 7 shifts at work and much socialising and not much organising of leaving - a recipe for disaster some might say. Naomi and I were both finishing at the same time, so the night before we were due to hope on the bus we had a great night out with half the town showing up! It started with drinks and nibbles at the jetty to take in our last Derby sunset which was beautiful and then it was down to our local watering hole, the Spini, for dinner and drinking and dancing, and more drinking, and more dancing. There was a live band playing, and after they finished, Damian (one of our nurses) got up and did a few numbers for us which was a great send off. Steve, the owner of the Spini kept it open late for us and we eventually closed it down at about 1am by which time we were all dying of heat exhaustion and the only cure was going to be a swim in the hospital pool! So in we piled there, and what a fabulous way to cool down. We made it home just before 3am, did a very hasty throw-everything-in-together pack and was up again at 5 to get on the bus. Now that was painful. The bus was chocka-block and behind Nomes and I were 4 screaming, smelly, dirty, revolting kids that just wouldn't keep to themselves, and that's never enjoyable at anytime, but its sooo much worse after only 2 hours sleep and with an overhang! But we hung in there, got to Broome, grabbed a coffee, and things started to look brighter after that.

Matt arrived in Broome at lunchtime (yes, radiographers get flown, nurses get bussed), and we flew down to Perth together and Emma picked me up and we had an excellent night of catching up over cocktails! Saturday morning was a very exciting occasion - a haircut! Such a luxury that you're not aware of til you can't get one! And then it was back on the plane, across to Sydney and a reunion with mum - every girl nomad needs a courier! Mum and I have now had a few days in Sydney to do last minute shopping, organising, sorting, stressing - just the usual, but we did manage a great trip to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the stageshow and it was worth every one of mum's pennies to see it - thanks mum!

So now we're at the end, Red Ron of the Outback will be no longer and I have to say, its quite an emotional experience saying goodbye and closing that chapter. I have had an amazing experience so far this year, I have met fabulous people, I have seen (and done) crazy things, and I have grown in so many ways. It has been overwhelming at times, lonely too, but it has also been some of the best times of my life so far and I don't regret a second of it. It has been sad saying goodbye, or see you later, to so many new friends,but now I farewell Outback Ron, I also get to look forward to the next adventure that starts tomorrow. Tomorrow I fly out of Sydney and across to South America where I'll be for the next few months. I get to meet up with Mary, and together we travel through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, wow. And I thought the Outback was an adventure...I wonder what on earth is to come???

So here's Red Ron of the Outback signing off,
Love to all and talk to you soon!