So… this happened today, my first solo as pilot in command! The three together are warmup runs with the instructor, and my first solo wa a right circuit off Runway 01 at Townsville International.. YBTL.
This year has slipped away and I’m now in my last rotation as a JHO. In on rural relieving, where they send juniors out to cover positions that are either remote and have visitor locums as their only doctors, or that the regular local doctor has requested relief for some reason, like taking holiday leave. Right now I’m on Palm Island for a week. It’s a nice place with a storied history to say the least. I’m very glad for this opportunity to see this place and how healthcare works out here. I’ll be back in January as well, so it’s nice to get to know places, people and things I will see again.
I was babysitting last night and we made a cake. I think it is officially a chocolate eggshell cake… named after its two main ingredients!
Coming home from work last week I found this little guy hanging out at the front gate…
On the very last flight of my most recent holiday, the title of this post passed through my mind. I had been on 11 individual segments in the last five weeks. I had skipped across the world and back, one more time. I had been in three countries, across an amazing diversity of landscapes. Sometimes when that happens to me I just can’t believe my eyes are seeing the things they are seeing… I just keep moving and the scenery in front of me keeps changing wildly. The islands of the south Pacific, California, the Great Plains, the foothills and Rocky Mountains. It was a lot to see. And in between it all are my family and friends. It was great to see those that I could. I am thankful for the time I was able to sneak away from reality and tour around. I am blessed with the opportunity to make this happen every now and then. I don’t know if visiting makes it easier or harder to be away. Either way, I’m glad it happened.
Well it wasn’t exactly the plan to sleep over on Maggie this weekend, but it happened. Sean and I have been working up the courage to take my canoe across the 8 km of open water to the island that beckons from the shores of Townsville. We have driven the distance along the shore to see how it would go running that far. No problem. We had water, sunscreen, food, phones, lifejackets, people who knew where we were going and of course, paddles.
We had initially talked about staying over, but didn’t prepare enough to make that the plan. Too bad! We set of in the late morning. We had a bit of a choppy ride over, but we made good time nonetheless. The trip takes about an hour. There were swells to about 1 metre and some whitecaps, but if you watched where they were coming from they were easy to handle.
We pulled up to the beach and the water was absolutely crystal clear and warm. It looked like we were floating on air above the sandy beach below. We pulled up on the sand and had a look around. We climbed the hill nearby, caught some fish off the rocks and took it pretty easy for the afternoon. It was a tropical paradise and we were the only ones on the beach. About 2 hours before dark we though we should start heading out. Pulled the boat out into the water and had a quick pull of the starter. Usually the motor starts with one pull, maybe two. No luck this time. I think there was some water that got in on the way over, and it settled into the lines. I thought I would be able to pull it through and fire it up. I was wrong. An hour of pulling later, we resolved to paddle over to Nelly Bay and see what to do, even thinking that would could just wheel the boat onto the barge like a car and get home. It was 1.5 hours of heavy paddling till we were pulling into harbour. Shops were closed, the last barge had left and we ended up getting a pizza and spending the night. The night was a bit rough, to say the least.
In the morning I had to give a little more effort on the motor. I foolishly left on this trip with only a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. I should have tucked in a crescent wrench, and I honestly thought of it, but decided not to bother. I bought another from the grocery store, spent 20 minutes cleaning the sparkplugs and with two pulls we had action again. We drove home across a glassy morning stretch without issue. The ride home was quite nice. It looked like this Trip home from Maggie
We took a trip up to Little Crystal Creek, which is not to far from here. It was a perfect day, hot and lots of people out enjoying the place. Sean, John and I dammed up the stream a little. We raised the water quite a bit up the top. I’m certain our efforts are not to last, but such is the nature of an ever running stream…
Let your heart hold fast (click the blue triangle to listen)
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All my days are spent
All my cards are dealt
Oh, the desolation grows
Every inch revealed
As my heart is pierced
Oh, my soul is now exposed
In the oceans deep
In the canyons steep
Walls of granite here I stand
All my desperate calls
Echo off the walls
Back and forth, then back again
To believe I walk alone
Is a lie that I’ve been told
So let your heart hold fast
For this soon shall pass
Like the high tide takes the sand
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
At the bitter end
Salt and liquid blend
From the corner of my eyes
All the miles wrecked
Every broken step
Always searching, always blind
Never fear! No! Never fear!
Never fear! No! Never fear!
So let your heart hold fast
For this soon shall pass
There’s another hill ahead.
My good friend John came up from Brisbane this weekend. No occasion, just a chance to check out how I live up here and hang out.
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