Ahhhhh, a whole big bed to myself...

WOW.....Townsville...

Hi Everyone,
Here I am, finally in Townsville- but only for a night. I feel like I have been travelling all day, a 1 hr drive to Newcastle airport, a tiny de havilland aircraft to Brisbane and then a bigger plane to Townsville. The dash 8 aircraft seemed to take forever and the second plane could not be quick enough. The reason being was that i was in a 3 seat row- in the aisle- next to a mother and daughter who would have to have been the dirtiest grubs I've ever seen. So much so i was tempted to ask if she had nits! From the minute she got on she was scratching and rubbing her nose right up her arm,,,the little girl was the same. Needless to say i have a stiff sore neck from trying to keep bent out into the aisle! Anyway, apart from that it was a safe and uneventful trip. Straight out to the balmy tropical weather of Townsville that instantly took me back to New Guinea. Oh how i love this environment. Jumped into a taxi and direct to the Mecure Inn, only about 5 minutes away and even they had me all booked and done- no problems!
Tomorrow is another adventure, I am off in a tiny little plane to a tiny little place- Richmond QLD. I shall be there for 6 weeks and cant wait to look around at the kronosaurus exhibits, the beautiful man made recreational lake, Lake Tritton and to discover what sort of accommodation i shall have as my home. So much to see and do...take care all, Love Colleen

Christmas Time and a new Job in the works.

Well, its a rainy, cold and dismal day here in NSW. I returned last week to have Christmas with my family and although it has been warm enough today is freezing and reminds me of why Id rather be north! Not long to wait though as my next post is supposedly at a place called Richmond (QLD). A small town east of Mt Isa and west of Townsville. In a few words- the middle of nowhere! I am really looking forward to the next adventure and strangely, cannot wait to be on the road again. At the moment it does not seem like I will be driving anywhere due to the heavy rains and flood situation all over Qld so I am patiently awaiting news from my agency to see if I am to fly up on the 31st. If this happens Ill be flying to Townsville and then by a small plane into Richmond---on NYE! Could be fun and certainly on my adventure list- but i do hope the cyclone has passed through by then :)
My new job is bound to provide me with blogg updates as it is a post where the RN role is varied and includes duties such as driving the ambulance, a tiny 10 bed hospital and no doctor- gulp! It's all terrific experience and I am careful to make sure the agency knows my limitations etc.
One real good thing about this year is that I am starting my Masters degree and more importantly majoring in remote and isolated practice. Woo hoooooo, by mid year I should be able to suture and manage in an outback emergency....hopefully. For this reason I have chosen to try and get a short 3 month contract at Charters Towers Hospital so I can work in a rural ED dept and gain some helpful experience.

Heres to an exciting and safe 2011....and many more stories/ pictures to blog about...

I hope the Christmas period has been kind to you and your families, Take care, Colleen xox

Happenings...

Hi All, as I suspected, life settles down no matter where you are and so not much has been news worthy to blog about.
I have been getting mainly the evening or night shifts at work and i have to say I am really enjoying it. The nights are not so bad because I have nothing as such to come home to except my big lonesome bed, quiet little cabin and a cool air conditioner. I am getting all the sleep i need :)
Last week end i packed up and went for a drive. I didn't know where i was headed but i ended up going as far as Kilkivan which was about an hour away. It doesn't sound far but i stopped along the way at various tourist spots and ended my trip with a splurge. I bought a gorgeous macadamia mini tub of ice cream and a cappuccino then headed back to Kinbobin Falls. It was so peaceful there in the bush, reminded me of why I wanted to have this experience in the first place. Then i thought of brown snakes and decided it was all peaceful and romantic but could be dangerous so off i went :)
Other things of note this week was my night out to the Carolee Hotel in Kingaroy. It was to watch a workmate get auctioned off. It was all for a good cause- the McGrath Foundation- raising money for breast cancer research. It was a good night, noisy and flashy. The girls all looked wonderful- well done Rachael- she topped 1000 dollars. Not a bad effort!
Other things that are big in my life this week are diet and health issues. Without going into to much detail I had a bit of an eyeopener this week so alot has changed in the last couple of days. Nothing overly serious, but enough to make me realise I certainly do not want to be on medications for life. Anyway, this lead me to a book called "Take control of your life and escape the sickness industry" bu Elaine Hollingsworth.Now the book is very anti pharmacy and most doctors and certainly pulls no punches when it comes to industry and manufacture of food and drinks. It is such a scary book and way to involved for me. To live like this book suggests we would find it hard to cloth ourselves, house ourselves or eat. However, some things i can change and adapt in my odd little life- anyone can. I urge you to get a copy of the book if you can and have a read- it is enlightening, scary and encouraging. It does provide answers and remedies so it is not all bad. The website that she is affiliated with is below

http://www.hippocrates.com.au/index.htm

Anyway, I am now off to cook my orange and coconut sweet potatoes...a recipe i found that suits my new lifestyle....all organic and unprocessed!
Have fun everyone....good health and take care
Love Colleen

THE GREAT PILLOW MYSTERY

It would seem that no matter what hospital you work in there is always a shortage of pillows. It becomes a struggle to actually keep the pillows on one ward so each patient has this most basic of comforts. How is it then that each ward/department is continually on the scrounge for these items, stopping any bed that leaves their ward to whisk "their" pillow back from underneath an unsuspecting patients head? Where do they vanish to? Unlike the missing socks in a washing machine mystery...I think i have found out a piece of the pillow jigsaw! They simply go on adventures! They travel around the country side looking for places to be of use, they travel by ambulance, car, plane...whatever it takes...they go adventuring. One thing can be said though, they outlive their home based cousins by far. I am surprised by the original date on this pillow as being 2005! Surely that is a long time to be in the health industry doing its duty! At least one can not say that hospital staff are careless with, or ruin their precious pillows and deliberately squander budgets unnecessarily...

THE BEST THINGS...

One of the joys I have had is when this nurse came to work with her other charges....2 absolutely gorgeous baby joeys!!! The other one didnt even have any fur yet. Oh My Lordy I am in love!!! They just sit all curled up in her backpack hanging on the chair :)