Yes, it’s been a week off – not necessarily because I haven’t had anything to post or that I’ve been particularly slack either. At first, the jet-lag essentially caused all systems to fail come 8 pm in the evening and keeping my eyes open was literally an onerous task – this lasted a good 3 nights! By the time I was able to stay awake to write something I was lacking in muse. It was like I had come back to a place that I already knew so well and saw from an already pre-conceived perspective – so nothing really shone out to peak my creative forces. Lots had changed though and we did pack a few things into a week including a couple of visits to the Emergency at the local hospital, not for the kids, for Jen and then, me (yet another excuse for my dismal blogging). A couple of days after arriving back, Jen began getting this nagging global headache which seemed to sharpen whenever she altered position and resolved – albeit reluctantly, with large doses of Aspirin. She couldn’t seem to get adjusted to the only slightly cooler temperatures (21-25 deg. Celsius) and shivered now and again without any real fever to speak of. Being the tough, child-bearing-without-pain-control Iron Woman that she is, she let it slide for a couple of days until one night when she was literally completely debilitated by the pain. Being a good doctor (or so I like to think) I knew this wasn’t right and trundled her off to the local walk-in clinic for assessment the next day. Two and a half hours wait later (and some coffee, a new phone and some movies) and she finally saw the other good doctor who quickly put her in the too hard box and drafted a note for her to attend the local emergency for a work up. Yet another 3 to 4 hours later she was finally assessed, stabbed by the nurse, given a single dose of Stemetil (an anti-nauseant) and, as they say in French, voila – she was all better but none the wiser as to the cause as our busy emerg doc wasn’t so much interested. That evening as we were enjoying the company of some Swedish friends, I began getting light nagging pains to my head and just the hint of heaviness in the neck. By mid morning the next day it was obvious I had never laboured for 16 hours and pushed a watermelon out my backside, as I was in a sordid heap and not wanting to be there any longer, announced that I was going to the hospital for the magic jab. Whereas Mondays are usually the slowest and busiest days (at least when I was in Narrandera) I seemed to have inadvertently found a day (Tuesday) of usual ease and fluidity in a state of stasis at the local ER and waited what seemed to be an eternity just to make it into an overflow room. The doctor did eventually catch up with me and in seemingly slow motion, had a nurse set up an IV, dose me up on Stemetil – to no avail – and sequester some blood for testing. The infectious disease expert in the big smoke was consulted and all worries of cerebral malaria or Japanese encephalitis were cast aside. Apparently, within the past 2 weeks there had been a spate of viral meningitis and was the most likely explanation for both Jen and I’s demise. A dose of the big guns (Toradol) and the threat of a lumbar puncture/ CT later and I was good to go. I suffered for another day or so much to Jen’s chagrin as it got me out of packing up the beast for our imminent departure across this great land.
It seems appropriate that one great journey should be followed by another, and in that the first was left slightly incomplete, so shall this one. Whereas the iconic trip for Aussies is the circumnavigation of the country/continent, the cross-Canada tour (from Coast to Coast) is the ‘piece de resistance’ for Canadians. Our stead is a 31 foot Ford Econoline powered monster with a side extension, 2 double beds, and two twins – sleeping up to 7 (or 8) people. It has all the amenities – shower, toilet, kitchen, TV/DVD and A/C. Owing to the source of funds used to finance the monster, it has been named in honour of our former and now deceased world-wandering Scottish friend (Mary King) and has been christened the ‘Be Mary’. Although I missed much of the first day of the drive, virtually cemented to the plush mattress at the back of the beast, what I did see at times of manageable head pains was magnificent. Although I’ve driven much of this province in my pre-Aussie days, I had nothing by which to compare it to – nothing to give it contrast and reality. Sweeping canyons, pointed-hat-like mountains jutting out around almost every bend, seemingly painted in virgin forest and unpolluted clear running streams, lakes and rivers bordering the drive. The people have been incredibly kind – nearing Japanese placability – polite, conscientious, etc, etc. I’ve also been impressed by a near integrated consciousness of healthy living with good nutrition and lifestyle virtually oozing from adverts, local restaurants and general populace at local markets. Boston Pizza (a franchise restaurant) even offered whole-wheat pizza crust and steamed veggies for the kids’ meals – it left me agog with surprise and awe. Environmentally, garbage is now divided three-fold – one bin for organic debris, one for solid but recyclable waste such as paper or plastic and one for non-recyclables – all retrieved from the curb once a week! There are also free recycling depots where different sorts of materials can be separated and regurgitated into the system of consumption.
Our drive took us through Nelson, BC, deep in the hinterland of the province in what the natives formerly referred to as the Valley of the Lost Souls – fabled to be a sort of purgatory for those who died and were unable to make it to whatever their cosmology dictated as the promised land. It has now erupted into a sort of hippie/organic/hemp/outdoor adventurer happy go-lucky young family enclave where my best friend from medical school and his family have come to reside. It’s been a few years since our families have met and it was a great, albeit short, reunion – but plans have been loosely set in motion for future reunions and adventures now that we’re back on the north half of the equator. The kids have been taking it all in and aside from some blonde-ambition attention-seeking and the occasional backyard minor brawls (as expected from their kind) we’ve been in auditory/visual overload. We’ve made it through the Rockies (catching glimpses of deer, bears and mountain goats on the way) and are now in a place called Lethbridge to visit some family before trekking further up the road through Canada’s dinosaur territory and onward to northern Saskatchewan for a family reunion. It’s all on the up and up.
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