Now with New Year’s Eve done, we decided to take a small road trip and headed out to Kanangra-Boyd National Park, located in the Blue Mountains, 180 km east of Sydney. We camped there for one night so we would have time to do a couple of walks in the area. It was well worth it. We went for a hike along the plateau top of Kanangra Wall. The wall is a formation of spectacular orange and grey sandstone and towers above the Kanangra Creek gorge. We had fun hiking out to a ledge that gave us a magnificent view (and great pictures)! Another bonus of spending time in the park was that we came across a group of Eastern Grey kangaroos hopping towards us. Once they spotted us, they stopped, we stared at each other for a few minutes, and then they hopped off in another direction.
Neither Emily nor I are campers and our reward for spending the night in a tent was to spend the next night in the historic Caves House Hotel, located by Jenolan Caves, 30 km from our campground. The Jenolan Caves are the world’s oldest and the largest and most spectacular caves in Australia. We took in two tours and learned about stalagmites, stalactites, columns, shawl formations, straws and other rock formations. The caves were massive and quite beautiful. Some of the passageways were quite small and we had to be careful to not bang our heads.
Next, we went from banging our heads on rocks to banging our heads on clouds! Emily went hang gliding at Stanwell Tops south of Sydney and totally loved it!! I was supposed to go next but the winds changed and conditions were no longer favourable. I was quite disappointed but glad that Emily had the opportunity.
During Emily’s visit we also attended a musical called “Ladies in Black”. The musical is set in Sydney in the 1950s, and tells the story of a group of women working in a department store and how their lives are changing. It was the best musical I have seen in a while, the story was good, the tunes were catchy, and the acting great.
The last major thing we did was head to Broadway Tattoo, one of the top five tattoo parlours in Sydney, so that Emily could get inked. She had the following inscription put on her right inner arm, just above the elbow; I>∧∨. The script stands for “I am greater than my highs and lows”.
That pretty much sums up the highlights of what we did. We did also manage a fair bit of shopping, visiting with friends, dinners out, and just some rest and relaxation.
That’s the end of our adventures here and tomorrow we fly back home to Canada.
My daughter, Emily, arrived December 21st and is staying with Sanford and me until January 9th, at which time we are both heading back home to Canada. I’m soooooo excited she is here. She is the first of my kids to come and see where I live my “Australian life”. (Craig should be coming in about two years time.)
It’s fun having Emily here because I’m seeing some of the major sights all over again and at the same time taking in some new sights.
Here are some of the highlights of her visit up to New Year’s Eve:
We did a full day of sightseeing in downtown Sydney. Our first destination was to Circular Quay, a ferry terminal and popular destination for tourists and Sydneysiders alike. This area vibrates with activity, is a great place to sit at one of the many sidewalk cafes, and is home to numerous souvenir shops. It is also home to two iconic attractions, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. From Circular Quay we walked over to the Darling Harbour area and its shopping plaza, and then we were off to The Rocks. The Rocks has historical significance as this is where the convict settlements began and there are still some historic sites nodding to this past, as well as artisan markets and pubs catering to the tourists. Our last stop was to Chinatown and their markets. That was definitely enough for one day!
Sydney has great public transportation that includes buses, trains and ferries. One day, we decided to take the ferry to our destination. We started from a stop in the Paramatta River close to Sanford’s, transferred to another ferry at Circular Quay and travelled to one of the furthest destinations – Watsons Bay. Watsons Bay is a harboured, eastern suburb of Sydney and a well known tourist destination to eat fish and chips at Doyle’s Restaurant. Delicious! While there we also did a short coastal walk past beaches, former armaments, and great lookouts. One unexpected find was the track took us high above a nude beach and of course who can resist checking it out. There were a few people there, almost all old men. One man seemed to like swaggering along the edge of the water “strutting his stuff” looking up at all the people looking down. It was kind of funny and weird at the same time.
Christmas Eve is Sanford’s annual dinner for his friends. He goes all out and makes turkey with stuffing, baked ham, potatoes and vegetables, plum pudding with sauce, shortbread, and various other dishes. Sanford likes to cook and has, for many years, prepared this dinner by himself. Emily and I decided to be helpful by clearing out for the day while he did his preparations and headed to Macquarie Shopping Centre. This shopping centre is a combination of two buildings and is confusing to navigate. It took us at least an hour to find our way out, and that’s with asking directions several times and consulting the map of the mall!! We had a good laugh over it! Sanford’s party was fun and it was nice to be able to introduce Emily to his friends.
On Boxing Day, Emily and I had the best sightseeing day to date!! We went to Wild Life Sydney Zoo, a small zoo dedicated to the native Australian animals and located in downtown Sydney. Our highlight of this visit was having our photo done with Aaron, the koala. From here, we went on a Sydney Bus Tour and got an overview of the city and some of its highlights. We finished off with a Starbucks coffee/tea and an hour or so in the Queen Victoria Building to shop some Boxing Day sales.
Because we were in a stretch of hot weather – mid to high 30’s – we decided to spend a day at the beach, and what better beach to go to than Bondi! We had great fun jumping in the waves, walking the white sandy beach, shopping in the boutiques and stopping for lunch. Nothing fancy for lunch; we decided on the old standby – McDonald’s!
Bondi from a distance
We took a day trip to Katoomba, located in the Blue Mountains, 102 km from Sydney, to do the Three Sisters Walk. The Three Sisters is an unusual rock formation and the most spectacular landmark in the Blue Mountains. The formation represents three sisters who according to Aboriginal legend were turned to stone. Each of the Three Sisters stand at 922, 918 & 906 metres tall, respectively. We did the walk that starts at the top of the first “sister” and is a Giant Stairway of over 900 steps to get to the canyon floor, then a 1 1/2 hour walk to the Scenic Railroad, known as the steepest railway in the world, that takes us back up to the town. By the time we went down all the steps are legs were like rubber, but as we walked along the bottom we started to recover and were most thankful we didn’t have to climb back up steps and could take a railcar back.
What better to do on New Year’s Eve than take in the world famous fireworks display over Sydney Habour! We picked a spot along the Paramatta River that allowed us to see the fireworks at Sydney Harbour. They were spectacular! The fireworks were set up in five or six different spots with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the middle. The fireworks on the bridge and in the different spots were all synchronized to go off at the same time. It really was something to see!
Happy New Year!!
That’s it for now. That’s about half way through Emily’s visit. I will post the remainder of her trip just before we head back to Canada.
Now with a broken finger and my arm in a sling, my options for exercise are somewhat limited. Long bike rides and swimming are out of the question. What’s left? Walking!
Sydney is a great place to walk and choices of where to walk are endless, from urban coastal walks to treks in National Parks. Today we headed out the door and walked to Field of Mars, a nature reserve a few kilometers from Sanford’s apartment.
Field of Mars is 56 hectares in size and contains around 300 species of plants. There are several trails in the reserve and we spent about an hour wandering around. Sanford is a volunteer here, manning the visitor centre, a couple of times a month.
We had a good walk today, covering 8 km in about 2 ½ hours. It was nice to get some exercise.
Last week I posted about my consult with the plastic surgeon concerning my broken little finger on my left hand. The surgeon had made the decision to put my finger in a cast for there was a possibility the cast might be sufficient to hold my finger in place.
I had a follow-up with the surgeon this Monday and had X-rays done prior to the appointment. The X-rays showed that my finger was not healing in the correct position; it was healing with a slight rotation displacement. This displacement would limit the use of this finger and, to some degree, affect my hand.
Surgery was now indicated and since the break was from May 23rd, it needed to be repaired NOW! Because some healing had taken place, I would need to be put under full anesthesia to have the finger re-broken and wired into the correct position. I was instructed to go from this appointment straight to admitting where I was put on the urgent list for day surgery and was to be slotted in as soon as operating space was available.
My appointment with the surgeon was at 9:30 AM, I then waited in day surgery until 5 PM, at which time I was sent home, as there were no openings that day to fit me in. I was told to return the following morning at 7 AM and again be on the urgent list.
On Tuesday a spot opened up for me at 4 PM. I’m happy to have this surgery behind me and know that my finger will now be okay.
This finger is filling my social calendar. Presently my whole hand (except the thumb) is in a plaster cast but a little later this morning I have an appointment to remove the cast and it is to be replaced with a splint that will only bind my little finger and the one next to it. I’m looking forward to that, as right now I can barely do anything with my left hand. Then in another week and a half, I go back for another follow-up with the surgeon, and in four to six weeks, once the break is healed, the wire will be taken out. Apparently this is done in the office, I’m not looking forward to that appointment, sounds painful.
Just a note about how I’m recovering in general. The scabs are all gone from my face so I’m looking more normal, but the bridge of my nose is still quite tender. My right hand too is still quite sore. Other than that, each day I’m getting better.
With my hand in a cast and a minor bout of food poisoning, our options for activities in the last week were quite limited. However, that being said, we did go one evening to the Sydney harbour area to take in some of the Vivid Sydney Light Festival.
This annual festival encompasses light art, music, public ideas forums, creative industry workshops and conferences at various venues throughout the city.
Sanford and I just took in the light art aspect of the festival and enjoyed the many light sculptures and grand scale light projections on various buildings.
Below are some of my pictures of the event, starting with a selfie of us in a lighted photo booth.
I finished off my last post saying I was waiting to find out if I could have my hand surgery in Sydney or if I would have to fly home. The insurance company would base the decision on the cost of the procedure and I was to find out Monday morning.
Monday morning I was contacted by the insurance people and they had been in contact with the Concord Hospital finance department to get the cost estimate. Turns out their finance department could not provide a cost as the price is set by the plastic surgeon as he/she must assess the complexity of the fix prior to setting a price. So I was requested to go back to the hospital emergency department for a consult with the surgeon.
The surgeon had consulted with others in his department and it was decided that I didn’t require emergency surgery and perhaps would not require surgery at all! What about everything they said to me before? What about the function of my finger? Well, he is the specialist and the ER doctor that told me those things does not know all the intricacies of my finger.
The decision was made to put my finger in a plaster cast for more stability and I have been given an appointment for the hand clinic next Monday when they will do another Xray and determine the next step.
So maybe things will work out and I won’t require surgery.
Many of you posted comments or emailed me directly with your condolences, get well wishes and prayers. I want to say a big THANK YOU, it was much appreciated.
I spent most of the afternoon in emergency waiting for a consult on my hand today , and this is the outcome…Suddenly I did not need the surgery by this Friday. They decided instead to put my finger in a plaster cast and will be giving me an appointment to the hand clinic next Monday when they will do an Xray and determine what needs to be done. There may be a possibility that the cast may be sufficient.
So that’s where I am now. I will keep you updated along the way.
My weekend was not as expected, I had an accident on my bike.
I was going down a hill and applying pressure on the brakes to slow down. I really don’t know what happened next. I don’t know if there was something on the road that caused me to lose control, or if something happened with my bike. Next thing I know, I’m falling. I fell off the bike on the side and my face and hands met the pavement and bounced and scraped along.
Luckily there was no car beside me and I was not hit by the car behind me as we were on a very busy thoroughfare. The female driver behind me stopped, and the man in the car in front of me stopped, and they both helped. Sanford was a distance in front and didn’t know what happened, but another driver caught up with him and told him I was down.
The two people that stopped were concerned about my neck and back and kept me immobilized. The man called an ambulance and disentangled my feet from my bike. The female had some blankets in her car to cover me and she held my hand. When Sanford arrived, he got my bike off the road, collected my belongings which were scattered, found my travel health information in my purse, and made sure I had what I needed for the hospital.
I actually felt not too bad but I could taste blood and knew my face was in bad shape but what was most painful were my hands. I was also shivering uncontrollably.
Once the ambulance arrived, they put me in a neck brace and then the ambulance attendants, plus the two people who stopped, plus Sanford, put me onto a backboard and then lifted me onto the ambulance trolley.
I was taken to the hospital and Sanford was left to contend with the two bikes and all our stuff (we had been shopping at a market and had lots of produce).
At the hospital, they determined my neck and back were fine and no neurological issues. They didn’t think my nose was broken but my face had some nasty scratches. I had a lot of bleeding from the bridge of my nose because I think my glasses dug into that part. My hands were badly scraped at the knuckles and my little finger on my left hand was thought to be broken and needed to be X-rayed. Other than that, I had a few scrapes on my legs, but the brunt of the fall was taken by my face and hands.
I was given some pain killers and a tetanus shot. They also drew blood for a blood alcohol level as this is mandatory in Australia for the driver of any vehicle (in this case a bike) in an accident on the road.
Sanford arrived and I was in good spirits that nothing bad had happened. Things changed though after they did the X-ray of my finger. My little finger has the two narrow bones at the base completely fractured. This type of break can’t be set, it requires a hand surgeon to open it up and fix it. If it is not fixed, I will lose function of that finger and some function in my hand.
I knew that I would have to contact the travel insurance company to discuss this, so the hospital froze my finger, pulled it straight and splinted it as a temporary hold. I was told I had to have something done with that finger by Friday or I would have complications. I have two scenarios. If the insurrance agent will allow the surgery here, I just present back to emergency and it will be done. If the insurance agent says no, I need to immediately fly back to Winnipeg, and present myself to the emergency department there. The ER Doctor gave me a copy of my X-rays and a letter of referral for Winnipeg, if needed.
I have already been talking with the travel insurance agent and supplied all the information they requested. Before a final decision is made, they need to know the cost of the procedure here and they can’t find that out until Monday as the hospital finance department has to answer that question and they don’t work on weekends. I will be told Monday morning the decision.
One of the things I’m doing while in Australia is getting involved with some of the activities that Sanford participates in.
One such activity is bush care. The purpose of bush care is to restore the natural environment in urban and coastal areas across Australia. This is a very popular activity in this part of the world and there are hundreds of volunteers. Sanford volunteers in groups formed from another organization he is involved with, Coast and Mountain Walkers.
I have participated twice so far. The first time I was part of a group of 8 volunteers that went to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. Our purpose for the day was to clear patches of land of crofton weed, an invasive weed, not indigenous to Australia. We arrived at the park around 9 am, hiked about 5 km in, learned how to identify the weed, got to work pulling this weed, and then hiked out. We took breaks for morning tea and lunch, which we had brought with us.
Crofton WeedVolunteers clearing a patch of land.
The second time I went, it was to Green Gully in the Blue Mountains, about 2 ½ hours from Sydney. Green Gully used to be farmland, which the government purchased and turned into a national park. Along with 6 other volunteers we planted an assortment of trees, about 80, on a hillside. To do this, a hole had to be dug, silica gel put at the bottom to retain water, the tree planted, two posts hammered into the ground to support a plastic mesh cage used to protect it from hungry kangaroos and wallabies, mulch added and finally the tree is watered. In the afternoon, we went to a different part of the park where previously planted trees were outgrowing their plastic mesh cages and now needed larger wire cages. This required removing the plastic mesh cage, removing the two posts that supported the plastic mesh, hammering in three stronger posts around the tree and finally putting larger wire mesh cages over the posts.
Sanford digging the hole.The tree being planted.Hillside with newly planted trees with plastic mesh protecting them.Before – A tree that has outgrown its plastic mesh.After – Same tree in larger mesh.
Bush care is quite physical and is tiring work. But the work is interesting, the company is good, and it feels wonderful to be doing something constructive for the environment.
Day is done, job complete!
Next week we are off to Ku-ring-gai Chase again and the park ranger is going to take our bush care group by boat to a remote area to pick weeds. Should be fun, just hope he remembers to pick us up at the end of the day!
I was really curious to see what the scale would register after this trip. Would I be down a huge amount or just a little? I was pretty sure I was down something because my clothes were looser but I find it hard to gauge how much. In the beginning of the trip I was so sick and nothing I ate stayed with me. Then for a lot of the holidays I was having trouble finding food I liked and that helped to keep my portions small. But as the trip progressed and particularly in Sri Lanka, I did find more and more things I could eat and my intake was back up. In terms of exercise, sometimes we did lots and other times we did very little. What would the scale say?
Down 13.2 lbs during the six and half weeks on the road! My weight is now 166.8 and I am down an incredible 117.2 lbs!! In my whole life, I never thought that I would be able to achieve such a loss. It truly is exciting to have lost this amount of weight.
Mag's Journal 