Still Alive!
Hey there flist! :D
Made it safely up here yesterday, with Jasmine and Tabitha. Had a bit of a chuckle over the light refreshments on the Air North flight, that turned out to be a mini sausage roll and a packet of sauce. The view flying in to Broome was spectacular! In the way that miles of red dirt ending in long stretches of beaches next to a brilliant, turquoise ocean can be. Sun was out and a wave of heat hit us as we walked off the plane and over to our connecting flight.
Was a bit alarmed at what would be waiting on the other side of the flight (tbh this was exacerbated by the demographics in the plane and the curious looks we got), but the lady who picked us up was absolutely lovely. Turned out she normally works in the laundry, but as they were short staffed, she was stuck with being the courier. Learnt a fairly substantial chunk of her life story on the trip - a lot of the people I've met here seem to have the same story as her - they'd set out on plans to travel around Australia, hit Kununurra and never left o_O We picked up a patient as well and then split up - J was staying with me in the nurses quarters before driving to Wyndham the next day, and Tabitha's on another health service and gets an entire house to stay in. Don't really get to see her so it's like I'm here alone, but with the faint reassurance that someone from home is somewhere close by.
It is so freaking hot here - even though we've apparantly come at the best time as its the end of the wet season and hasn't hit the unbearable temperatures of the dry. The nurses quarters look like a shed from the outside, but thankfully its pretty decked out inside (my room has AC and a fan lol). I'm staying with two nurses and a nursing student (who also started this week). I was told on Monday that the nurses here were real characters - but Sue's lovely and we bonded over Masterchef. M, the other nurse, doesn't say much and can usually be found draped over a couch, fast asleep, but she's going on Thursday and I bumped into Rose for the first time when I went to grab some tea this morning and she seems pretty cool. First day - no, morning, at the hospital was a bit crazy and far from what I expected. Turned up to theater and ended up scrubbing in to assist a vaginal wall repair with a doc from Sydney. Then I was raced over to ED with my preceptor and given a consultation room and set to seeing patients o_O Then got to plaster a guy who'd fractured his ulna and only turned up for treatment after 4 weeks lol. Lanced cysts, got a tute on back pain and escaped for lunch, which is probably more than I'd do in a week of GP back in Perth. Haven't pissed anyone off yet (woo!) and people are generally being really helpful. One of the doctors in the ED is wearing shorts and a shirt and looks like he's just wandered in off the street, now I'm feeling a little overdressed :P Preceptor offered me his car and his house for a week as he's headed off on a trip somewhere... This was roughly around 10minutes after I'd met him so I became very confused and gaped at him for a bit before my brain kicked back into action and forced out some vigorous nodding :P. Also got told that he'd take me to see the gallery of a local Aboriginal artist, and was told that I really should do this 3 day canoeing/camping trip everyone keeps talking about so really excited about that though a little wary of all the crocodiles. Important thing, he told me, is that no one's been eaten yet. And that, folks, is where I'll leave you.
Made it safely up here yesterday, with Jasmine and Tabitha. Had a bit of a chuckle over the light refreshments on the Air North flight, that turned out to be a mini sausage roll and a packet of sauce. The view flying in to Broome was spectacular! In the way that miles of red dirt ending in long stretches of beaches next to a brilliant, turquoise ocean can be. Sun was out and a wave of heat hit us as we walked off the plane and over to our connecting flight.
Was a bit alarmed at what would be waiting on the other side of the flight (tbh this was exacerbated by the demographics in the plane and the curious looks we got), but the lady who picked us up was absolutely lovely. Turned out she normally works in the laundry, but as they were short staffed, she was stuck with being the courier. Learnt a fairly substantial chunk of her life story on the trip - a lot of the people I've met here seem to have the same story as her - they'd set out on plans to travel around Australia, hit Kununurra and never left o_O We picked up a patient as well and then split up - J was staying with me in the nurses quarters before driving to Wyndham the next day, and Tabitha's on another health service and gets an entire house to stay in. Don't really get to see her so it's like I'm here alone, but with the faint reassurance that someone from home is somewhere close by.
It is so freaking hot here - even though we've apparantly come at the best time as its the end of the wet season and hasn't hit the unbearable temperatures of the dry. The nurses quarters look like a shed from the outside, but thankfully its pretty decked out inside (my room has AC and a fan lol). I'm staying with two nurses and a nursing student (who also started this week). I was told on Monday that the nurses here were real characters - but Sue's lovely and we bonded over Masterchef. M, the other nurse, doesn't say much and can usually be found draped over a couch, fast asleep, but she's going on Thursday and I bumped into Rose for the first time when I went to grab some tea this morning and she seems pretty cool. First day - no, morning, at the hospital was a bit crazy and far from what I expected. Turned up to theater and ended up scrubbing in to assist a vaginal wall repair with a doc from Sydney. Then I was raced over to ED with my preceptor and given a consultation room and set to seeing patients o_O Then got to plaster a guy who'd fractured his ulna and only turned up for treatment after 4 weeks lol. Lanced cysts, got a tute on back pain and escaped for lunch, which is probably more than I'd do in a week of GP back in Perth. Haven't pissed anyone off yet (woo!) and people are generally being really helpful. One of the doctors in the ED is wearing shorts and a shirt and looks like he's just wandered in off the street, now I'm feeling a little overdressed :P Preceptor offered me his car and his house for a week as he's headed off on a trip somewhere... This was roughly around 10minutes after I'd met him so I became very confused and gaped at him for a bit before my brain kicked back into action and forced out some vigorous nodding :P. Also got told that he'd take me to see the gallery of a local Aboriginal artist, and was told that I really should do this 3 day canoeing/camping trip everyone keeps talking about so really excited about that though a little wary of all the crocodiles. Important thing, he told me, is that no one's been eaten yet. And that, folks, is where I'll leave you.