Sky for dolphins

Every morning, towards the end of night-shift, I would see a different sky from the window of the hospital I worked at. One year, a small duck that had lived near the pier, found a mate. I would sometimes notice a group of dolphins  cut through the water and move amongst the yachts, feeding quietly. As though they  recognised certain birds and animals that fed in the area, I remember seeing the largest dolphin sometimes diving beneath the surface for a few minutes and coming up underneath a large pelican, almost playfully, disturbing the resting bird, causing it to ruffle it's feathers indignantly. Another dolphin would follow one of the Sunday morning walkers along the course of the jetty while she walked her Alsation. The large dog would would stop occasionally and the dolphin seemed to slow down and make a few seconds contact...a "dog-dolphin connection".

The newly paired ducks were seen paddling amongst the boats with about sixteen tiny,  ducklings behind them and every morning I would look for them. As they started growing, the ducks let the ducklings swim around the pier in a little group without supervision and the dolphins would dive gently around them. When they ventured too far one day, three pelicans round them up into a "V" and guide them back to their mother. 

The group began to look a little smaller so every day so I began doing  a daily duckling-count. Day by day they were disappearing and, at first, I suspected that the dolphins may have been eating them for breakfast...this wasn't the case. In fact, one Friday morning I saw a small pod of dolphins surrounding the small group of ducklings in a circle and they seemed to be rising out of the water. After a short wait, disbelievingly, I saw a scrappy group of seagulls  attacking the ducklings from the air. As they tried to dive into the ducklings, the dark, majestic dolphins  reared up, preventing them from harming the babies in the water. Since that day, I have always thought of the dolphins as the unspoken guardians of all sea ducklings. 

The Humble Swag...

If you haven't ever owned a "swag", you are never going to miss it but it may be time to consider this sturdy and clever companion.  A swag is a sturdy, lightweight roll-up mattress with a zip-up camouflage canvas that can be thrown on the back of a ute, in the back of a car, and in the luggage section of a bus. Some have flaps for wind shelter; some are waterproof, and some have rope holes for securing to your tent, your car or a tree. The mattress needs an easy to wash cotton cover and many travellers will fit a summer-weight sleeping bag inside as well, but this is not essential. When the weather is a bit wild and wet, small roll-up ground-covers can be bought for about $10 at most large low-priced department stores, to place underneath. They are more expensive than a simple sleeping bag but are a  life saving investment when camping on someone's floor, sharing a room or "roughing it" outside. Seasoned Australian  travellers have been known to have custom - built double swags for the back of their utilities and use them year-round. Most Australian camping shops will stock them but if you are in Perth, the Army Surplus store has a good range and will usually have a few in both khaki and black canvas.


Swags are not just for campers…I have used mine when I have stayed over at friend's places when I've known that they are going to have large gatherings. They can be used on top of a linenless single bed and when  you'll want a few hours sleep before driving home at dawn. One New Year's Eve, it fitted easily into a small borrowed tent and I was able to sleep outdoors next to a stream instead of in the cab of my small truck.  It means one less bed or stretcher that the host has to worry about and it's yours. In summer, sleeping outside on the back of my ute in a sheltered spot on someone's block can only be described as blissful. 



 If you can afford it, go for a heavy duty, high quality swag. Prices can be as high as A$600. When you are not using it, your swag can be left rolled up and used to sit on. It will be a place to rest your head when you are sick of the heat and you are sick of the flies.

Beautiful, deadly little things...Australian Red Back spiders

The bite of an Australian Red Back spider won't usually kill you but the unbearable, sickening pain will often last for hours. Most victims will remember briefly noticing a tiny, shiny bead-like black spider  vanishing moments before the pain set in. They drop off postal sacks; they run over suitcases;  they hang, suspended behind television sets.  It's  characteristic vivid post-box red back - stripe on a  small, glossy body is the only warning you will get. The bite may simply make you feel a little unwell for half an hour and leave a terribly itchy, sometimes lightly blistered patch on the site. If it is unusually large, you may experience an overwhelming urge to just lie down and die. Relentless, unforgiving pain, slight nausea, a slight sweat and a high pulse are common symptoms. If the pain does not settle within an hour, you may face hours of agony at the site of the bite. 

Most rural nursing posts and hospitals keep Red-Back anti-venom. A doctor familiar with the symptoms can insert an intravenous bung and have an infusion of anti-venom running fairly quickly. The pain and any symptoms usually settle rapidly. In cases that I have seen, the pain has almost settled by the time the small infusion has completed and this can only be compared to heaven if you have suffered up to eight hours of agony from a previous bite. 

One of my patients told me of how he had been discharged from a hospital following a bite from an unfamiliarly large Red Back while working up North. Six hours after the event, he experienced ascending (slowly travelling up from the place of the bite to his respiratory muscles) paralysis and made a brush with death when he was unable to breath. Getting back to an emergency centre at the onset of the secondary set of symptoms can account for his survival. 

Red Backs love quiet spots like shed roof corners but they get inside homes and fence crevices and really, if you think about it…they don't have ethics or a conscience, so if they are there, there is always a danger of being bitten by this beautiful, deadly little  thing. If you are small enough and it is mature enough...remember....death is it's only intention.

Photograph: Young wild kangaroo.

This is a photo taken years ago on a small Fugi camera while on my way to a friend's bush wedding in Western Australia..

*the pixallation is from scanning the original photograph

If you ever considered becoming a blood donor...

Wildflower garment: five of us (students at W.A.S.A.D) did this as a group piece in 2003 for a one week outdoor exhibition at King's Park in Perth. The garment was constructed from tiny pieces removed from branches and Australian spring wild flowers. At the time, I thought it rather lovely and serene.

BECOMING A BLOOD DONOR

I have been donating blood since I was eighteen years old. The older nursing students came into the student nurses tea lounge and told us to go and have a look. As it was classed as our first visit, a simple blood test was done and a few weeks later our cards arrived with our blood groups on them. From then onwards, as we were now classed as "blood donors", it was simply a matter of  just going in to the next clinic (buses used to go to all the hospitals and clinics were set up). 

When I went flatting, the donor clinic was a 5 minute walk away. Every 12 weeks, a friend of mine and myself would walk over and give a pack of red cells. We never had any difficulty remembering in those days- it was usually when we were hungry. While the blood was filling up the bag on the side of the electronic chair, we would eat a plate of sandwiches, some cheese and crackers, some sweet biscuits and a cup of coffee or juice. As we were young, we had no problem accepting a second serving of anything that was offered. I only felt faint on one occasion. That was a few meters from the front door and my two 'Alternative' friends sat on the path with me until I had recovered. We just looked like a couple of punks hanging out on the pavement...except my blood pressure had nearly rendered me unconscious.

Before I went today, I had nearly ten glasses of fluids and six eggs for breakfast. I felt really good! Once at the blood donation centre, I completed a check-list and attended a brief consultation in an interview room. After a finger prick for my Hb (haemoglobin), a blood pressure reading and a final check that I hadn't been to Papua New Guinea, I was taken to the blood taking room. No more than about five people are bled at one time, each with their own nurse. With a soft foam ball in my hand to squeeze occasionally, the needle was taped and I could watch T.V quietly or listen to the patient next to me chat to one of the nurses while my blood filled the bag. This part only takes about 10-15 minutes. Once my nurse was happy that all was well and I hadn't passed out or felt unwell, I was allowed to go to the waiting area. Here, a tray with a warm cup of coffee was brought to me and I enjoyed a chocolate muffin (apparently, dark chocolate helps you keep your Haemoglobin up) and read today's newspaper. 

I can only say that it is usually a pleasant and peaceful experience. The blood products are used for post-operative blood transfusions, for burns and for emergency trauma. For the price of having  to sit and have a drink with a chocolate muffin, it is an easy commitment: a commitment that is exchanged for saving a couple of lives.