Wednesday 30 April 2014

Adhesive capsulitis …

Well I guess I gave one too many "cold shoulders" over the years and  I'm paying for it now…


  … I have Adhesive Capsulitis or "FROZEN SHOULDER" as it is "commonly" known!  I use quotation marks  because I had never (pretty sure ever) heard of it before - but am now quickly becoming obssessed with it.  

Firstly:
 I absolutely realize that my teeny-tiny infliction pales in comparison to what others are going through; my heart aches for Debra, Alex et al and my friend Wendy is still having major head operations years (7? 8?) after her catastrophic op to remove her brain tumour, and Jane (Keogh) losing Emily and urgh!  the list goes on …
Secondly:
To stop me labouring on like the cry-baby I am - here is  the link if you want to read about it  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesive_capsulitis_of_shoulder

But of course everything is relative and for me who has a rather nice life, where nothing much really "goes wrong" (sadly my blogs may give a different impression), who usually (always?) gets what she wants (and I want a lot) and is relegated to milking the slightest ache for all it's worth because I am hardly ever sick - it's proving to be a tad tricky to deal with!

The Problem
My shoulder was sore, achey with limited motion and so I did what I always do when I have the slightest ache or muscle soreness - I went to the chiropractor!  But - and this maybe the crucial bit -  I'm missing adorable Ken (Dr. Ken Dick), my favourite chiropractor in the whole world and #1 on my list of "The most important people in my life" (he used to be #2   - right after Ron (Dr. R. Rushworth) who was my most favourite doctor in the whole world (& Australian b.t.w.) ahead of God (#3), and Joseph and family etc. -  but then Ron retired so Ken moved up ) … and then we moved to Adelaide… and I think my body has gone into withdrawal.  I honestly think that Ken's magical hands were responsible for my well-being.
This is how high I can lift my arm on the side...
absolutely no possibility of "maintaining" the
underarm - goodness knows what is growing
in there!

The Eyes
Now I had to find a replacement chiropractor and off I went to see BRAD. 
Brad on the left - Justin on the right.
Get the idea?


BRAD took over from Jim who, amongst other things (like coaching the Australian basketball team) treated most of my family for a million years. BRAD is young enough to be my son and, most importantly,  has the most amazing eyes I have ever seen!  Ken was pretty yummy I might add but OMG these eyes!!    So while Hallelujah! plays in the background BRAD cracked and pulled and then suggested I have a scan that required a doctor's visit for a referral .  Back to BRAD with the scan results and he suggested a visit to the physiotherapist (part of their clinic) for DRY NEEDLES!!  (huh?).  I suggested to BRAD that I was thinking of something a little more enjoyable like a massage, but he explained that DRY NEEDLES work much better/faster etc.  … of course I would do anything those eyes told me to do ...

The Needles
So off I go to see JUSTIN for some DRY NEEDLES!!.  Justin is old enough to be my youngest son - his eyes are OK but nothing like BRAD's.  I chat away while JUSTIN inserts the (100?) needles into my shoulder … no pain, nothing … until … JUSTIN "touches" one of the needles that sends shooting pains up into my head and makes me moan (scream?) in agony, and JUSTIN says that means it is "working" and so "we" leave it in a while longer.  I start doing my childbirth breathing to deal with the pain and he takes out the other 99 needles and finally the painful one is gone as well.  JUSTIN rubs my shoulder (to erase the wounds?) and it is while he is rubbing that I start to pass out … the blood draining,  the blackness, the nausea etc. but I manage to stick my head between my knees and after a few attempts at getting up and going back down, and JUSTIN looking concerned (? me or he needed the bed for his next patient?)  I drag myself out into the waiting room with people staring at me as though they had never seen anything like it before and right there and then I declared I would never, ever have DRY NEEDLES stuck into me ever again!

The Miracle
 Well, I may have felt slightly better from the needles (but I don't think so), but a week later,  on Thursday night after babysitting Jasper all day and being forced a couple of time to reach around behind me (while driving) to give him his cup etc. that the miracle happened!!  There were a few "clicks"- et voilĂ  - my shoulder was better!!! Not 100% but a million times better than it had been.  So no more chiros, physios, doctors I declared - I had healed myself!!  I was pretty excited about all of this until 2 weeks later, just before we set off on holiday in the van,  I was doing the usual body maintenance (legs, arms etc.) and as I maintaining my left underarm - a series of clicks and excruciating pain  - et voilĂ  - my shoulder was back and now worse than before!
The Relapse
There was no time to do anything about it and besides, I'm done with drs, chiros, physios etc. and we are off on our three-week trip in the van where one would think my arm gets to rest, but actually becomes worse because its hard to find a comfortable spot sitting all day and even the slight vibration of the driving seems to annoy it, and our tiny, hard, raised bed seems impossible to find a comfortable spot on (turns out it's not the bed's fault) and by the time we arrive back home I'm ready to see anybody who will help!  One of them, B or J I can't remember, suggests I may have FROZEN SHOULDER (while, I might add, Hallelujah is playing in the background AGAIN!!) !  Huh?  So I start Googling and am dumbfounded to read that it is relatively common in WOMEN (!!!) over 40(!!!), and that people with diabetes(!!!) and thyroid problems(!!!) have a higher risk and that sometimes (SOMETIMES!!) after one shoulder heals they get the same thing in the other shoulder!!  What!!??!!  
This is how I wash my hair




This is how high I can lift my arm in front
(on a good day)










The Diagnosis
The description on Wikipedia describes my symptoms exactly so I am able to self-diagnose my condition and armed with my new-found knowledge after extensive 
research (2 nights, most of a day) I've decided it is a virus and that I'm in either stage one or two (three is easy to diagnose because by then the pain has gone and I know I'm not there yet) so I'm RESTING it - no prodding it, no exercises, no stretching it, just resting … and a massage to help me relax .   




The Massage
I "explain" to DAVID (m.t.)  what I think the problem is, what my plans are, what I'm doing, what I am not doing etc. and then he gives me a very nice 1/2hr massage concentrating on my shoulder area (including my throat??) and I am a lot more relaxed… but before he lets me out he goes on for ages telling me that I really shouldn't stop moving it completely - that I should move  it a little bit everyday. He obviously wasn't listening properly to my "explanation" - i'm pretty sure I didn't say that!!
David - who didn't listen to my "explanation"!!
…but gave a very good massage.


Anyway - here I am doing what I do best … 


resting and relaxing… 
and I can tell you that it's pretty hard trying to rest and relax more than usual these days
 … but I'll let you know how it progresses!

Wednesday 16 April 2014

A bit further north (east) ...


We have a few extra days (thanks to Jane doing extra (extra) babysitting duty) so we keep on driving north and get as far as Nambucca Heads … 


and yet another amazing beach just over the sand dune in the caravan park (and again there were no mosquitoes!! ).  


He still loves the rocks!

An uneventful stay and  we leave the coast and head inland up through the mountains ...

-with water falls 





… and a rainforest with a (short) tree-top walk...


... and if you are travelling with a birdwatcher you also do the walk down into the forest and if he is a  good birdwatcher he will finally (even though he ends up with a leech on his tummy!!!)  find his devoted wife a Lyre Bird Yippee 

She's in there - very blurred with her tail pointed towards me
… they scratch around in the undergrowth
and my iPhone (&me) could do no better than this :(
  (I was a Lyre Bird in a school play when I was eight - hence my fascination!) 

… and if you are travelling with a birdwatcher who is also an astronomer-wannabe you then drive even further up (way up) the mountains to see the big microscope at the Observatory.  





The drive up was rather morbid because just a year earlier there had been terrible bush fires in the area, and even a couple of the buildings in the observatory complex were burned to the ground (they managed to save the telescope).  


 The only nice consequence (for us) of that horrible event  was the spectacular views that we wouldn't normally have because the trees had little or no leaves.





We drive out of the mountains and the scenery starts to get more like I'm used to...



We stay in Inverness where nothing happens because the free bus to the RSL only runs on Thursday and it's Wednesday! 
 Next day we are pretty excited because we are headed to Dubbo (in the middle of nowhere)  where we stayed 35 years ago and we are pretty excited because we are going to the open plains zoo just like we did back in '79!  No RSL bus tonight but we are in walking distance of the bowling club (these are huge concerns in NSW) - where the dining room is packed but the chook raffle isn't until Friday night and Joseph only wins $5 on the pokies!  Still we're up (fairly) bright and early for the zoo and are there right at opening time but alas! they no longer have the tandem bikes we rode 35 years ago and the bikes they do have are pretty crappy for $15 each so we decide to just drive through.  

We are still pretty excited until we arrive at the actual entrance and find out we should have bought our tickets before!  (Note: nowhere on the map does the word "ticket" appear) Joseph "explains" to the girl how poor the signage is, but she just tells us to "chuck a uwey"!  Joseph "explains" that we can't just "chuck a uwey" in this  van and asks if this happen often (that people arrive ticketless) and of course she has to admit it does so we create the most hugest coffuffle while we shunt back and forwards and make our way back to  …  the red building!  Urgh! Who knew? I confirm with others that it is almost impossible to find "the red building"  to buy the stupid tickets but we decide against "explaining" to the ticket agent what their problems are and off we go and we are now just a little bit excited!   





It seems that maybe our memories are a tad more spectacular than they should be (or perhaps the zoo has changed a bit since our last visit ?) because the herds of wildebeest just aren't sweeping majestically anymore 
Zebras - but no wildebeest
and although we enjoyed our visit ...
it turns out that the highlight (for us) was the copulating Galapagos Turtles!!
This trip down memory lane means we won't  make it to Broken Hill tonight and we won't be able to make the birdwatching stop Joseph had planned (sad face)  so we stay in Cobar - a town I had never heard of before.

Between Dubbo and Cobar - they are growing COTTON!!??

Nice! :(

  Woah - Cobar is a fairly major (for Australia) copper-mining town and how did I not hear of it before?  I learned all about Broken Hill in school  - but not Cobar - both of them way out in the middle of nowhere!  




The mine actually goes underground now
(waaay at the bottom)

Still no RSL bus but we have to eat our fruit and veg before Broken Hill (quarantine restrictions) so we sit inside the van while it pours outside and eat as many potatoes and onions as we can (these are the same onions a man gave us in Mildura because he couldn't take them into S.A.!).  

The road to Broken Hill reminds us of the Nullabor, and although the signs warn us about  "Kangaroos next 126kms" it's the GOATS that bother us!!.  They are everywhere - herds of them - and we think they should have a sign warning about them. But as it turns out the goats do actually run away when they hear the traffic, unlike the kangaroos who run alongside and then in front of you (or just bound across in front of you) .  Still we can't believe the numbers of goats and Joseph figures there's a business in selling goat meat and the manager at the caravan park in Broken Hill confirms that is already happening but they are so difficult to farm.  This area is usually ridiculously dry but they've had a bit of rain in the last few weeks so there's the slightest hint of green in the paddocks and we figure that will just mean more goats pretty soon.

(hmmmm - why didn't I photograph the goats!!???)

Broken Hill is the BH of BHP Billiton and it's a mining town from a million years ago in Australia.  It's still a mining town but as Joseph points out - the mines can be profitable but that doesn't necessarily mean the town is.  BH looks slightly jaded and even though it is Friday night there is no bus to the RSL because there is NO RSL !!! and no Bowling Club either!!!  So we settle for pizza and a tour of the statue park that is 11kms out of town.   They have paved roads to drive up to the statues so we can drive through country we can't usually access (no 4WD).  

Hello!
So it's a nice drive in the middle of kangaroos and some birds and when we arrive at the top of the hill some interesting statues carved out of rock.  (The site was started by a local Aboriginal man to honour an elder and now has overseas artist contributing)




Awwww - the van - again!


One more night in the slanting bed 

and then we make it through the quarantine inspection with the cabbage forgotten in the saucepan drawer (I honestly forgot about it) and the aubergine in the fridge (I figured the nice inspector probably didn't know what an aubergine was) and a few more hours driving through the typical outback scenery with fewer and fewer goats until we're in the hills and then home. 

 Good trip - nice to be back!

Tuesday 8 April 2014

Out East ... in the van …

It's been almost a year since we "did the west coast + NT so we decided to head east this time - Canberra, Sydney and north to (near) Newcastle - Canberra to see Julie (friend since high school) and Carol (friend since 1st day of school).

As opposed to the trip last year when everything we owned was already IN the van and all we had to do was decide what to take OUT - this time we actually had to think about what to take!  THEN as soon as Joe came back with jumper cables!!! to boost the van :( from the Suzuki , we were off...

RIVERLAND
We drove along the Murray - our biggest (mostly only) major river and stayed at Mildura then Colbram both completely uneventful. There were vineyards on both sides of the road as far as the eye could see - all being irrigated from the Murray.  Grapes, citrus fruit, avocados, olives and rice that use a network of trenches from the river - no wonder that poor old river is almost non-existent by the time it tries to empty into the ocean at Goolwa! 

Afraid there are no photos of the vineyards etc. - didn't think the trip was worth a posting!
… then I saw CORN!!

Olive oil is also pretty big here so we stopped off at a small house along the road to sample their (very yummy) oils and were amazed that there were people having coffee out in the middle between towns at 10.02 a.m. - two minutes after they opened.


 Next on to Rutherglen
 -  it had been about 36 years since we are last there -and  we stopped at a few wineries and sampled (and bought) some of our favourite muscat (Browns), 




No architect-designed wineries here - but quite the building none-the-less!
Good ol' Corkcicle!!  This one with coloured "corks"!

then a nice winery for lunch and off to (up to) the Snowy Mountains  - part of the Great Dividing Range (our biggest (mostly only) major mountain range) heading for Canberra.



SNOWY MOUNTAINS
These are our "alps" - with quite steep, windy, narrow roads (urgh!) - only passable when it's not snowing

Pretty excited that we might see snow!!
It's cooler but no snow yet :(
 - that wasn't a problem but I didn't want to drive in the dark so we stayed in the parking lot of a lookout that had toilets (non-flushing but airy!).

-"nice" outdoor toilets!
-no noisy neighbours!
-nice sunset
Who could ask for a nicer camping spot!

I only need power when I'm hot (for air-conditioning) and it wasn't hot up here in the alps!  … and the good thing about Australia is you don't have to worry about wildlife bothering you during the night - there are no bears here!  - and once the doors are shut the snakes can't get in!

Nice view to boot!

So that went well until the morning when we tried to start the van … the battery was flat.  Up here in the "alps" they don't have cell-phone coverage so we had to wait for somebody to stop at the lookout.  Along came the local Fire truck so we hoped it could start us.  The lady fireman was supposed to clean the toilets so she was pretty happy to try and help - but nothing! nada!  So Joseph hitched a ride  with an unsuspecting couple and their baby, who stopped for a look at the scenery.  Hours later he and the tow truck arrived back - et voilĂ  it started and now a non-stop drive to Canberra (3+ hours away) - no food stops, no gas stops - and we rolled into the road in front of Julie's house and that's where the van stayed for the next 4 days until a battery arrived from Sydney (that is a three hour drive away but for some reason took 3 days to get a battery here).



CANBERRA

Turns out Julie was in Adelaide (!!) so we stayed with Carol and Graeme* - doing our darnedest to tick off everything on the itinerary Graeme had prepared, with poor-old Carol doing ALL of the driving in the rain (it rained all four days!)  because our vehicle wouldn't start!

Great hosts - Carol & Graeme!

We managed to tick off quite a few museums and galleries and of course the NEW Parliament House (now 30 years old).



The view from the "new" Parliament House - looking down towards the old one
and Lake Burley Griffen




Our favourite piece of art at the National Gallery.
Outside the Australian National Museum
PaperBlanks everywhere!


Inside the monument (in pic above)
Designed by an American for goodness sake!

The highlight of all those museums and galleries  turned out to be the glass factory where we sat and watched a team making a huge glass bowl - we went back again on Friday to have burgers from the cafe and ended up staying  for another while - so "blown" away were we by the whole process.


So we thought the girl in the striped top was just a helper - working her way up the ladder
Turns out SHE is the artist and because the piece is so large she needs help
so other artists help her out!


It was team work at it's best!
Eventually one of the girls put on this crazy heat-proof suit and crouched in position
to catch the bowl as the man cut it loose.
She then placed it in another oven off to the left
(I have a video but couldn't get it to load)
 Julie made it back in time for us to have a lovely meal with her two lovely daughters ( luckily we had a visit with her Adelaide just before we left!) and we finally left poor Carol & Graeme alone.

Graeme's beloved Riley!


Carol's Mum Mrs. Pudney (Shirl)
Looking good at 88



We turned the three-hour drive to Sydney into three days.  Carol had a list of "must-sees"  (where to get coffee IN the most amazing wood-furniture store I've ever seen …



Nice pieces!

 - where to get good fish & chips

…. at Burrill Lake






























mmmmm… fish & chips and a cold beer!
(my mango beer from Broome- the only beer I can stomach)


- where to stay overnight etc. etc)…


...Kiama
- turns out the van had already been here before
when Mischa & Simone drove it to Adelaide for us!



- where to eat lunch...

Thirroul

Hang gliding - you could almost reach out and touch them…
they just walked off this cliff and started floating!

and it turned out that I actually enjoyed staying off-grid at a national park...

 because we were on the ocean (a tidal inlet but we could see the ocean) looking out towards Cronulla with some pretty amazing houses a short boat-ride away (gotta love having an on-board kitchen and toilet!  


The nature walk the next morning to see the Lyre Bird was a bust but surprisingly free of mosquitoes!


Then using my trusty iPhone, with it's wonderful bobbing blue dot, we made it across Sydney to the Lane Cove Caravan Park which is in a national park that is within spittin' distance of the centre of Sydney (well a 10 min walk and 1/2 hour train ride over the bridge away).  


Camp mates at Lane Cove

We stayed here about 35 years ago and it's still in very good condition and very well used AND reasonably priced ($39/night).  The only problem was the checkin lady who was seemingly devastated that I had booked a caravan site when I was clearly driving a van! but we ended up in a nice spot for our four-day stay (nice once Joseph positioned garbage bins in front of all the bright lights! - oh so many lights in these places).

SYDNEY
Turns out the best part of Sydney (if you are a senior citizen (+60)) is the VERY cheap one-day pass to ride the trains, busses AND ferries!  So for $2.50 each day we hopped on and off to our heart's delight. 


We walked across the bridge on the most glorious day ...

Just the most beautiful site
- no matter where you see it from!


I am NOT walking UP there!
Cruise ship in Circular Quay.
Map of Sydney under the floor in the Customs House

"Great Barrier Reef" at the Customs House

We took the ferry to Watson's Bay for the required fish & chips (but we had salad)and  met up with Patricia Villaroel (our Chilean friends Pat & Alicia's daughter) who then drove us in and out of every bay on the way to Coogee Beach where she lives.  


Watson's Bay - they have a problem!

We did the Australian Museum AND the dinosaur exhibition!! 


Bunch of old dinosaurs
… except for Patricia!
Then walked with our yellow bag to our fancy hotel in Wooloomooloo.  We were going to the OUTDOOR Opera (Madama Butterfly) ON the harbour IN the Botanic Gardens and decided we would treat ourselves to a nice hotel within walking distance.
The setting for the opera

Before the show





Getting ready...

...


MADAMA
It was quite the magical night … helped by having beautiful weather … helped by having the most beautiful building in the world as the back drop … definitely helped by having some Puccini to fill the air …and, given the standing ovation, helped by some pretty-darned good singers as well



…  and even some pretty great fireworks  (at the end of the wedding) 






































At half-time they build a whole new set!!





The "sun" in the harbour
and we were left (almost) speechless on our walk back to our very nice hotel.  

At Taronga Park Zoo - Sydney in the background

This Ibis came to sit (almost) next to me at the zoo!



NORTH OF SYDNEY …
Last time we drove through Kuringai-Chase National Park (35 years ago - almost to the day) the freeway was brand new and the rock cuts fresh and bright.  We've both weathered a bit since then - and it's now full of very aggressive truck drivers so we turned off and took the Pacific Coast Highway that went right through downtown Newcastle (that looks very nice right on the coast) and then on the outskirts, right through the MIDDLE of what Newcastle is famous for - it's coal.

Wind turbine in the middle of the coal!


We were right in the MIDDLE of the coal!   On one side were the mounds of coal and above us were overhead  conveyor belts (? probably a more accurate term) that fed another conveyor belt that ran along the wharf and then fed yet another convertor belt that could move up and down the wharf depending on where the ships were (much like a camera runs alongside a basketball court) that dumped it into the ships.


There were at least five ships being fed there on that Friday afternoon - and we were pretty sure they were all headed for China!


We stayed with my friend Raelene and husband Howard in the beautiful Port Stephens area that is full of lovely coves and beaches and national parks



Shoal Bay
 I used to catch up with Raelene in Sydney on some of my trips home, but it had been seven or eight years since our last visit and now they had retired to Shoal Bay.

Yep!  they're right there in the streets!!


Apparently I had been spoiled staying with friends and in parks with power ,so it was time to go off-grid again-  this time supposedly "on the beach" in a national park (on the beach" I can handle because there is usually a breeze).  There was a short 4km bone-rattling dirt road into the spot that, while very nice, wasn't quite ON the beach. Unfortunately it seems that our bed isn't working quite right (it's pretty-much permanently in the down position and crooked at that) but Joseph tells me that it is just a coincidence that this problem has arisen immediately after the bone-rattling dirt-road drive. Regardless it was another night with NO misquotes!  There has hardly been any since … well I can't even remember!!

Seal Rocks - near the park


So many beautiful beaches!