Alice Springs
Hello all
well i currently in Alice Springs which is in the Northern Territory. We flew out on friday morning and picked up a rental and booked in, and from then on it has been non-stop
we have three nights in Alice, on our first day we booked into motel, then headed out to a place called Simpsons gap, which was very funky, lots of walking and lots of photos but was really nice. Its about 60km out of town, to the east. Alice is real flat but surround my lots of mountains (sorry about the lack of usual detail but time is money and this is on the go!
After that we then drove round town to get our bearing which was nice and then climbed anzac hill in town. After a long day we decided to crash out, but before we did we booked oursleves on a hot air balloon flight for sunday.
Saturday morning we headed out to the Alice Springs Desert Park where we spend a long period of the day, watched a live bird show, had a bunch of guides talk to us about snakes, aborginal history and survival, plant life and watched a long film (so i'm not really selling it, but it was a park it went around the various deseret climates which are found in central australia, was alot of fun, yes i am a geek!)
then that afternooon more walking and we headed over to stanleys chasm, which is an awesome chasm through a mountain, its vey indiana jones esq, but less sand, more rocks and more hills to walk up. Some friends recommended we headed out here and i did enjoy it! We both did i should say! Once again we took lots of pic but haven't been able to post any up (sorry they will follow!)
saturday evening we headed out to a local resturant (the name i forget) but both amelia and I tried Kangaroo steaks, the tour guide from the park recommended that if you ever have kangaroo to eat it meduim, as anything more is like chrewing on boots! But have to say it was cooked really well, and we both like it!
So today (sunday morning) we both had an early start 5:15am we were pciked up from outside our accomidation and we drove out about 30mins out of town and have an hours flight in a hot air balloon followed by breakfast! And i have to say that it was AWESOME. First thing it was bittetrly cold (about 2oC) and sun rise was around 7ish, which we were in the balloon for! The weather was perfect, clear skies and only not too heavy winds. Wasn;t sure what to expect but was so very gentle and peace ful (expect for when they used the burners but you soon got use to it!) they were big 8 person + pilot balloons, and to see sun rise and just all the wildlife out in the bush at 2000ft was a great experience I do recommend it!
After that we headed into to town and walked round the market and shops 'doing the tourist shopping!'
not sure what our plan is tonight but we are off to uluru in the morning as we only have 2 nights there we planing on starting early and hopefully on the road by 6am!
we have a dinner under the stars booked, amelia wants to walk the base. And i would like to climb the rock (if we allowed) also may take a ride on a camel but i hear they spit......
sorry this is a bit rushed but the cash is running out, hopefully when back in Sydney have a chance to post in more detail plus pics!!
take care and love to all!
--
Jon Garner: Human Kinetics with great gluets
Glenaroo
So after a nice relaxing extra night in Lake Amelia
and I headed up to stay the night with my Clinical educator and i have to say it was such an awesome experience. First of all Cindy and the Family were such wonderful hosts, and amelia and I really enjoyed ourselves.
To set the picture Cindy lives with her husband and three kids on a property which is about 7000 arces, which they use to grow crop and cattle.
Well on the first night I watched Gordon (Cindys husband) and Gordons mum and dad drafting out the weeners, which is seperating out young sheep now big enough to be on their own.
That evening some friends came round we had a birthday party for another birthday on the friday (one of cindys kids), had a lovely country dinner followed by a few drinks and a fire out under the stars, great company.
The next morning we got up and Gordon took me out and i helped out round the farm, we strained some fences after removing some gates. Then had to feed some sheep which the second pic is showing.
Then the lambs which were drafted needed moving into a paddock only about 400metres away, and i helped do it while on a four wheeler (top picture) with much help from a couple sheep dogs Gordon, Cindy and amelia. And although i was rubbish at it was a good laugh very enjoyable. Sheep are very scatty animals and never go where you want them too
When i do get over here next and its harvast time you may just find me up on Glenaroo....
Amelia and I then took the quad bike for a bit of a ride for about 25km in and around the property exploring, was serious fun. After about 30sec driving i stopped turned round to amelia and told her i want one!
It would of been great to stay longer but we were on a tight schedule and had to be on our way. This last picture her is to show the types of roads we have been travelling on. And this is in good condition as it was being redone, but some were crazy with big pots holes, as the further west you go into 'the bush' the less sealed roads (tarmac) roads there are!
All in all was a great time, although farming is a tough and difficult industry to work it, we both had a blast! I think i can do this country life....... the people next door lived about 35mins down the road, nice!
End of PLACEMENT
first of all this photo was from my birthday with the two birthday boys (tom and myself) but back to business....
So 151hrs later all I can say is my first prac of year three: just done it!
And the good news is I passed! This placement is marked just as a pass or fail with comments from my educators and in the end I complete 116hr in Bathurst in 4 weeks dead, with 5 visits out to Lake Cargelligo with 35hrs = START OF THE TRAVELLING!
Both of the placements were muscloskeletal but in completely different setting. The first in Bathurst was a private practice. The other was based in a multi-purpose health centre (hospital v.small) out in a town of about 2000.
And I have to say that this has been an amazing experience for me, both with knowledge of physiotherapy intervention and the logistics of healthcare in a rural setting. To give you an idea I was talking to a neurologist who was based in Orange (yes that’s the name of a town). And although there is a similar number of neurologists compared to England (about 1 to every 150000 people) geographically he covers an area large than England!
Now all that is left is a bloody reflective essay, and on top of that from what I understand Paul Armstrong marks all coursework in the third year and he is a difficult marker (as to be expected with the third year but we do this reflective work because they (UEL) want to push learning through reflection and feedback which is all fair game. The only problem is after we had work in the process of getting feedback is a bit like trying to get blood from a stone….) anyway enough UEL I’m on holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!
The plan is…………..
July 31
Last day in Bathurst on placement. Travel to lake
August 1
Last day in lake, last day of placement
then spend extra night in lake and have a wonder round, next stay with my clinical educator on her property "glenaroo". Then head over to warren for a few nights, this is the town where amelia grew up. Spend a few days there then head back to Bathurst, via West Plains Zoo which is in Dubbo.
After that spend a few days in bathurst, maybe pop over to mudgee, then head to sydney to catch a flight to alice springs. We have three nights in alice and then drive up to Uluru (formally ayers rock) have two nights there then flight back to sydney.
Spend next 5-6 days in sydney doing the tourist thing then head back to bathurst. After that we'll have about 10days left not sure if we have anything on but sure it will be busy!
So that’s the plan for the next few weeks will post as I can……. Remember the exploding trucks people!
Garner Day
Ok so I know I haven’t been posting much and that’s my bad! So I’m typing this up in a word document and when I can post it either via email or what ever.
But over the weekend was my birthday, from days gone by at camp it was declared this day (the 30th July) Garner Day, where fun and celebration should be had by all!
Just wanted to wish my ‘other half’ (chris my baby twin brother) a happy birthday too! But wait the birthday greeting don’t finish there! By design its also Amelias brother Tom’s birthday too so all that is left to say is happy birthday to all!
Over the weekend we had a few people over and had a big lunch accompanied by some adult beverages, was a real nice day and I must thank Amelia, Lyn, Tom, The Smalls, the Sterlo’s + steve, and anyone I missed out. Thank-u for the gifts they were awesome and had a great day!
A few adult beverages later I managed to fall asleep on the couch. That night the Wallabies were taking on the All-Blacks so we headed down to the pub to watch the game which was a lot fun.
On the Sunday (my birthday) it was a quiet affair with Beck coming round for Brunch, then I worked all day on a presentation I was giving on the Monday.
But all-in was a great weekend hope your all well and don’t forget to keep an eye out for exploding trucks!
Be good…………..
