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.

Budget for dreamers

What to do when you are broke and don't know what to do...

If you have to flip over every 5o cents a hundred times before you spend it, then practice  teaching yourself a few basic habits. Most people have been poor at some time in their lives. I have slept on a  wooden floor in a room with no curtains in a flat, with no fridge or stove, and no money. It has taught me survival skills that I cannot do without. Don't fall into depression because you are broke. Be smart- it is sometimes a matter of knowing what to do and staying honest that matters the most.

• When you get paid, pay your rent first…always. Look for the cheapest, the smallest and the safest place to rent. Don't worry too much about space when you are starting out. Use it as an opportunity to get yourself set up for something nicer, later. Really, your friends won't care if you use boxes for furniture. 
• Practice different ways of budgeting if you haven't learned how to do this. Some people start out putting a small amount into envelopes and keeping them for bills and essentials. Plan to have a tiny amount of spending money and don't spend it if you don't need to. The mistake people make when they are used to being broke is spending every cent in a few moments as soon as they get some: really, when you put some thought to it, would you walk around a shopping centre and just throw your money at anyone that looks at you then go home? No. 
• Spend a bit longer looking at shelves when you are shopping for food. Larger supermarkets often keep lower priced items on the lower shelves. Cheap bread can be frozen. Trays of chicken wings and legs are often cheap and can  be divided up into 4 or 5 packets and frozen. Bags of apples and bags of carrots are usually very cheap. When you see macaroni and rice on special, get a couple of packets. Forget the biscuits and forget the confectionary section.  

Many large food stores will sell some of their fresh vegetables cheap after 4.30 , especially if it is the day before a public holiday. Remember…rich people also buy "no-mame brands". Things like no name brand serviettes cost about a dollar; no one is going to worry about your tissue box; items like rice, bread, sugar and nappy soak are often much cheaper. You can empty them into other containers when you get home and no-one will know or care. The trick is to spread your dollar as far as it will go. New home owners, travellers and multi-millionaires do this all the time. 

• Stay away from booze and smokes….they are going to make you poor and they are going to make you sick. They can go on your lists when finances are better. When you can afford it, instead of more expensive cans,  a large bottle of beer is about $1.50 and can be kept in your fridge.  
• When making meals, let your food "go the distance". Noodles, rice, potatoes, bread: any of these will make food for one into food for five. 
• Let your family and friend's mothers know that you'll accept furniture and kitchen containers as donations if you are just starting out. There will be someone who would love to give them to you.
• If you don't have furniture, make your own cushions and cushion covers…big ones, small ones, it won't matter. A couple of giant cushions are great. Hunt for cheap fabric (remember, brightly coloured lining is often aound $3.00p/m and some cottons are often quite cheap). Calico (we used to ask for"K-sheeting") is raw cotton: this can be used for anything, including curtains. It usually costs anything from $1.99 to $5.00. If you don't have a sewing machine, just hand sew them at home while you are sorting out your budget. K-mart and Big W have small, cheap cushion inserts at about $1.80. Experiment and you'll be inspired.
•  Look in old second hand shops: a Burmese friend of mine bargains and somehow always gets a couple of dollars off. Sunday morning car-park marts or "Swap-meets" are sensational. They have treasures for a couple of dollars…I have come home with silver goblets and wooden bowls for a pittance. You may be able to source old sari fabric, curtains, wooden boxes, ornaments and small tables. Make an offer: often the sellers just want to make a sale; they don't want to pack up thousands of things when they are leaving.
• Ask a friend if they've got yesterday's paper. Read the news and look for events that have free entry. Most libraries have a newspaper room. Night clubs advertise what time entry is free and there are many, many free art moments.
• You don't need to go to Gym to get fit. Walking up every flight of stairs is a great cardiovascular work-out; telephone books and small, heavy items can be used for resistance training if you want defined arms. 
•  Have a list of 'things to do when I am broke and bored'.  Make things. It keeps you smart... Build a ship from matches or grow some little succulents from cuttings and then use them later for a cool centre piece on a box in your lounge. Get someone to paint a Toucan or an exotic butterfly on your lounge wall. 
• If you are starving and it is 2 days until pay-day, remember…make a huge bowl of salty popcorn. It is really cheap and filling.and it will always make you feel better when you are broke.

Day 4: Tasmanian Devils on the Run....

On Tuesday, Genghis, Scratchy and Itchy, three baby Tasmanian Devils,  managed to break out of Peel Zoo, not far from Perth. Inside, I have been cheering them on. This is a true test of survival. Tasmanian Devils, one of Australia's rare and endangered species, are faced with extinction in our harsh but fragile environment. This little trio are, however, still babies and the perils of a major highway, where kangaroos, boar and other wildlife have perished, is only a single factor in their chances of staying alive in the wild. 


News report:

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/three-tassie-devils-on-the-loose-from-peel-zoo-near-mandurah/story-e6frg13u-1226498579759



* All three babies have now been recaptured: on three different days, in three different places...two of them in late night escapades.  Scratchie chewed up a bathroom wall; Itchy escaped an animal cage ; while Genghis returned a little skinnier and  a little bit wiser after a little bit of rain and a lovely, sunny day on a golf course.