Side of the road
East of Melbourne
Australia
What a vortex! A week in Wellington, then 11 days here. Whew! Thought I'd never break out:). Pat Ruys, my Warmshowers host in Melbourne made it all so easy and relaxing. I had gear to fix, a body and teeth with issues, and sights to see. Plus I just needed down time. And I got it all done.
In addition, a couple that I'd only known on Facebook were staying with Pat when I arrived. I was tickled pink to cross paths with John Butcher and Anna Dingemans! So fun to have people pop off Facebook into real life. We shared stories and food and hugs. Wonderful to connect. Have fun in the Netherlands and maybe I'll see you again in Darwin. Anything's possible!
I needed to follow up with a dentist in Melbourne but by this time I'd had time to get smarter about what was going on in my mouth and options. And I needed antibiotics in case I had a flare up. So I saw the one the Wellington dentist had hooked me up with. I liked him. He seemed acceptable of my approach of doing approach nothing right now since everything seemed quite all right. And he gave me antibiotics to carry. Ok. That's done. Then, he agreed I needed to see a doctor because my popeye elbow was getting hot and red...septic. Not sure why this elbow has deformed over the last 18 months. But infected us not good. The dentist said got to A & E. Accident and Emergency. For bursitis??? Yup. So his receptionist helped me find one one the train line (my means of transport around Melbourne). So off I go.
Met a beautiful African woman and get baby on the train to the dentist. Kinja was the little girl's name.
At A&E, the woman explained this was not where I needed to be. $400 to walk in. Go to a medical clinic. Ok. She explained there would be one when I got off the train back in Noble Park, home. Found it. Walked in. Got appt in 1 hour. Went for lunch at Vietnamese restaurant. Very Asian neighborhood. Back to clinic. Saw elderly doc who chatted mostly about my trip and his horses:). Got more antibiotics. Done.
Another chore to address was my stove and lack of a pump and fuel bottle that the airline confiscated. There is a Backpacking Light store in Melbourne that Bob from Big Sky International, my tent supplier, asked me to say Hi to. While there, drooling over Big Sky's tents on the floor getting more excited about my new one coming, they showed me a Muka stove made in Japan. Very similar to the MSR International that I had except no priming, no soot, adjusting valve that bleeds the fuel line and pressure and emergency shut off. Well designed and smaller! Running on unleaded gasoline now.
And while with Pat, he gave me a tour of the Dandenongs, a hilly range east of Melbourne and another day, a tour of the coast line.
And finally the time had come for me to move on down the road and say goodbye to Pat.
Livin' the life,
BagLady
Facebook: Kathryn Mossbrook Zimmerman
