I did not have to drag myself out of
bed as the distance to Adelaide via the A1 was not formidable and a late start
would still get me to Adelaide by mid-afternoon. The throat was impossible and
the voice had reduced to a grand squeak. After a nice hot shower I sat down to
the ‘boxed’ breakfast. It was truly substantial, after all. There was a tetra
pack of milk with sugar to go with the muesli, to be had in a small container
that embedded a pack of Choco-Ice drink. The vanilla muffin was gorgeous. At
the end of it, I must say that the portion was just right for a healthy start
to the day. As instructed by Gavin the previous evening, I did not wait for the
reception to be opened and left after leaving the key inside the room.
All drives from now on will suffer in comparison to the one I enjoyed yesterday. The one to Adelaide, called the South Pacific drive, was too dry to be even commented upon. I took the B1 route, which is the equivalent of the A1 in that stretch. After Milicent lies the Tantanoola caves discovered in 1930 accidentally by a 16 year old looking for his wayward pet. Till the early 1980s the caves were operated by the family after which the Parks department took over. The magnificent stalactite and stalagmite formations are illuminated by LED lights. The constant drip of water make many others still in the process of formation. A massive lobster sculpture adorns the entrance to the town of Kingston. This was a prominent railway town in the past but ceased to have a railway line in the last decade of the previous millennium. The next major settlement along the route is Salt Creek which was believed to have oil reserves at the fag end of the 19th century. The oil rig monument is testimony to the failure of the belief. Salt Creek is part of the Coorong National Park. The creek is a far cry from the pristine waters of the Ocean. Meningie was the next settlement on the Princess Highway; the name of the town comes from the aboriginal word ‘place of mud’. Tailem Bend, denoting the sharp bend taken by Murray River at this point, is a historic railway town and is the last major town before Adelaide. An Old Town has been reconstructed here to showcase the life and times gone by. All along the route I could see a large number of silos used for storage, possibly of grain.
Honey Joseph and I have been FB friends for some time. He came across as a true travel bluff. When I put up my Australian program on FB he offered to put me up in his house in Adelaide. At the planning stage I had sourced accommodation in the Youth Hostel. During such trips the offer of hospitality has two benefits apart from making new friends; that of getting to know the local environment from the point of view of an ‘immigrant’ and relaxing in a ‘home’. Despite this, before you reach the host's house, certain apprehensions still remain in your mind about how you would disturb their regular routine because most of them would be working couples with children going to school and involved in extra-curricular activities. Ahead was the long Labour Day weekend. Did I disturb any of their holiday plans? However, when I drove the car up to the address given to me and a smiling Honey came out with his family to greet me I was greatly reassured. Honey and his wife, Emi, immediately put me at ease.
Over snacks and tea we exchanged a lot of information about the expedition and life in Australia. Interspersed with the easy conversation were asides with Jeff and Chris, precocious children of the lovely couple who worked in a hospital not far from where they stayed. They had relocated to Australia a decade ago from the UK. Stories of their stay in UK and relocation were so interesting that I almost forgot that I wanted to meet a GP till Honey asked if that was still on the cards. They also recounted incidents where relatives of immigrants got sick in Australia and how difficult they found it to cover medical bills, as it was far too expensive without recourse to Medicare. I was soon to find that out.
Honey took me to meet Dr Trevour Simounds, who he consulted. Fortunately, he was on duty and quickly I took an appointment. Since it was a public holiday the consultation fee was AUD 95, up from AUD 65 on normal days. Besides, this is the only centre that is open on all days. Many who came later to consult with Dr Simounds were told that he would meet no more patients that day. Well, I was lucky. When my turn came to meet the doctor he came out of his consultation room and took me with him – a welcome change from that in India where a nurse is the interface for the doctor. Inside the room I explained how I got the blisters and the problem with cough and chest congestion. He checked the temperature inserting an instrument into my right ear – that was a first, surely – and Blood Pressure. The former was a little on the high side and the latter was normal (it always came out high in India!) he proceeded to conduct a thorough examination of the chest and throat. He concluded that the infection needed to be attended to. However, he was more worried about the blisters on my right foot as I am diabetic. He took me to the treatment room and removed all the dead tissue, which exposed a huge ‘crater’ under the second and third toes. He also pricked open another blister that would have oozed in a day or two. He wanted to know if I could postpone my journey from Adelaide till the wounds were taken care of. Honey told him how tight my schedule is. Dr Simounds was quite amused by the endeavor I was on to. However, he insisted that I meet him again the next day to check if the treatment and dressing was having any salutary effect.
What amazed me the most was the medication he had prescribed. Just an Augmentin 825 mg, which he felt would be adequate for the chest and feet. If this had been back home I would be carrying a prescription to the pharmacy that would drag on the floor. Emi and Honey told me how conservative the treatment is in this country and how antibiotics are never the first line of treatment. The pharmacy asked if I would be satisfied with the store brand; Honey explained that the generic formulations are much cheaper than the branded ones. I bought supplies to cover the repeat course suggested by the doctor. I couldn’t wait to get home to have the medication as I was feeling very feverish and the sides ached as a result of incessant cough.
Honey drove me through a substantial part of Port Adelaide, the beaches nearby and pointed out many landmarks along the way. Back at home Emi had prepared a lovely biriyani meal with chicken curry and salad. The home cooked food was a welcome change from the sandwiches and fish and chips and the meal was very tasty. By now Chris, a student in third grade, had become very pally and he wanted to know more and more about writing and publishing books. He is fascinated by books and has his own library, neatly kept on his study desk. As part of his curriculum he has even written six short stories – “Written by Chris” and “Illustrated by Chris” prominently written on the first page of the stapled ‘book’. The Nothing Duck and such stories were indeed interesting. Jeff had turned in early because of fever.
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