The campsite, while quite away out of the town (not sure how they managed to have Bussleton in their address) was very nice - we backed onto an open field, shielded by a light row of gums - and the suite was very nice (new) and it was a short walk to a very nice beach. So we packed a nice salad and walked down to the beach and Joseph went for a swim to see if the salt water would heal his arm.
After losing most of his dinner due to pathetic motor skills of the sore wrist and after much moaning and groaning during the night, we realized that the salt water did not do anything so next morning off we went to hospital. Note: this trip required us to semi-packup the van, because we can't drive with the windows open, or cupboards not secured or the roof vent open or the TV antenna up, the water and power still connected, or the Nespresso (& toaster & kettle) not put away - but this was important so we did it and I drove to the hospital. I dropped him off at the emergency and then tried to find a park.
The whole hospital site is a bit of a mess due to building expansion and parking was at a premium so I had to go down to the temporary parking on the lower level that I thought said "parking" but as I was gliding down the dirt ramp I noticed it said "staff parking" but it was too late! It was nestled in amongst the trees - a lovely setting to park your CAR but not a VAN!! With nobody to help (shout at) me I drove into some overhanging branches that brought the van to a stop, popped up the TV antenna and broke off the branch in the antenna. I reversed slightly and the branch fell out but I couldn't do anything to fix the antenna so I had to leave the van where it was (only slightly in the way of a few cars) and go in to be a comfort for poor old Joe.
The process of registering, seeing the doctor, having the X-ray and then re-visiting the doctor was actually very quick (for an emergency waiting room ) and the prognosis was that it was indeed broken and should be put in a cast or risk needing pins at a later date if the bones moved. Having lived through pins before we couldn't say yes fast enough, even though it was going to cost $600. While he was having the cast applied I thought I remembered our insurance policy saying that we had to get prior approval for any procedures so I checked the copy of the policy that I had on my trusty iPhone and it did indeed say that - so I tried to call the 1888 number to find out that it doesn't work outside of the USA. Using up even more of my precious iPhone minutes I phoned the regular number and waited through three rounds of "we appreciate your business, please stay on the phone and a customer service representative will be with you shortly" and FINALLY the girl answered and I yelled at her that she should record the fact that I would be asking for reimbursement for the phone call because they dared to have a 1888 number that didn't work in the rest of the world and it was costing me big-time on my cell phone which is very expensive in Australia. She told me that they do accept reverse charges, so I told her that this little hospital in this little town didn't have a pay phone that took a credit card so my only choice was my trusty iPhone and I just used the link in the policy to this phone number and didn't even THINK about dialling a million numbers to go through an operator…. She said yes she would record this on our file … and what was the file number? Luckily I had it on my trusty iPhone so I gave it to her and she found it and told me that we have a $10,000 deductible. So I said " thank you" and hung up and went to find poor old Joe. He was paying the $800 (the X-ray cost $200) and he told me I was silly to have called the insurance company because he knew about the huge deductible. Urgh!
Now, off we went to see what could be done about the VAN! HE tried to wind in the aerial but it would budge. You shouldn't really drive the van with the aerial up and besides there were so many trees around that it was going to be near on impossible to drive the van out of the area even with the aerial down so it was pretty important that we try very hard to get the aerial DOWN. The top of the VAN is quite high off of the ground and so reaching the aerial by hand was almost impossible until I (jill) suggested poking out through the ceiling vent. Brilliant!! I really should have taken a photo because now that the aerial is down and all is OK it seems funny (very funny), but at the time my main concern was helping JOseph brace himself between benches as he poked his head and good arm through the opening while I used all my might to twist the handle … and it worked! (There was only a small amount of fresh plaster over the fixtures.) It was best that joseph back the van up and manoeuvre out of the mess and he did a good job and I took over when it was all clear.
After all of that we needed a BIG MAC. Criminal I know, but it soothed our savage soles and the free internet allowed me to upload lots of photos to my blog so sadly that is where we spent a small part of the afternoon. Slowly it started to dawn on Joseph all of the things that he CANNOT do for the next six weeks; bike, swim, shower properly, press the spigot on the bladder of wine, load the bikes, wind the awning in and out and .. the list goes on.
But there are lots of things he still CAN do; hold and drink a glass of wine, birdwatch, read his book, eat most of his meal, shower all of his body except for one arm pit, empty the "cassette" from the on-board toilet, and load most of the van (except for the bikes onto their rack)… and for those who feel sorry for him and his probable lack of a "shoulder to cry on" I want you to know that the lady in the next campsite was very concerned about his well being and indulged him for quite a while on his ills.
We're almost at Perth where we'll being visiting Erin (Ross) and we can't wait. On the way we'll overnight in Mandurrah and hopefully visit Anita (sister-in-law)'s mother and step-father.
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