Day 13 Cairns
One thing I wanted to blog about – during the Zoo snake presentation we got a lesson on how to treat snakebite in Australia. Basically,
- Remain Clam
- Do not wash the bite site
- Using a ace bandage, or by ripping your clothes into strips wrap from the bite site up the limb – for example if you are bitten on the hand wrap from the wrist as high as possible - to the shoulder preferably. The poison actually moves through the body via the lymphatic system so you do not have to cut off the blood – just tight enough to interfere with the lymphatic systems.
- Using as little energy as possible get to a hospital – if you make it within 3 hours you are very likely to recover fully.
- Every hospital has a test kit and they will test the bite area to determine what type of snake bit you and administer the correct anti-venin – that is why you do not wash the bite site.
I got up early for some conference calls. Pam went to the market to get some groceries – she got some cereals and some meats.
The girls did some school work while I worked.
We decided to pick activities for the next couple of days – this was quite a core as there are loads of tour companies. We narrowed it down to a couple outer reef snorkeling companies and then the hotel clerk said she received an email from one of the companies offering children for free – although the wet suit hire was extra it still seemed a great deal so we booked it. My only concern was how many guests they take out – we did not know and some of the tours actually limit the numbers to about 40 – but the cost savings overpowered any concerns on this front. So we had the next day planned out.
I decided to shave – ouch. Allysha has been collecting pins at each site and adding them to her hat – it is a pretty cool collection and we are only on our second country.
We decided to head into the town so we grabbed a cab and as we were hungry decided to grab some lunch. We wandered around for a while and finally decided on a Sushi place – it was very good.
Over the last couple of days my ankle has been acting up again – I am very concerned that I might not be able to snorkel – the added force of wearing a fin might be unbearable. I even tested it – in downtown Cairns there is a huge public swimming pool – called the lagoon – it even has a sandy shore on one side. There wer loads of people sunning on the park and swimming in the pool and we joined right in. It was very warm and not terribly refreshing -we also could not decide if it was slat or fresh water? Not a good sign!
We splashed around I could not swim as my ankle was quite painful when scissor kicking. We decided to head back to the apartment – and we decided to walk. It was quite hot and nobody was very happy that we were walking. At one point Allysha just decided to sit down – we continued on for quite a ways – she is so stubborn – when we were out of eyesight we lipped behind a tree to keep an eye on her. She studied the city map and then headed off in the generally correct direction – actually she reached where we were waiting via her route faster than we did. Pam was warning that she was going to be one angry child – but when she caught up she simply asked why we had stopped? What an independent child – at here age being alone in a strange city much less country would have been a great cause for alarm in my mind – not so for Allysha!
We eventually arrived sweaty and tired – it was about a 3km walk but in 90 degree 90% humidity not much fun. We jumped in the pool at the apartment – it was much more refreshing – very nice. I headed up to the room to take a vicodine and work but ended up napping while still trying to decipher a cricket test match.
Girls came back to room – cooked a nice meal – fruit salad, pasts and sausages. Girls watched a movie on the computer and I went to bed – we have a big day tomorrow – snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef.
