Our car got us to the train station on time and Adoring Husband made it home safely. Whew.
There weren't many on the train today, so it was a peaceful trip and the 2.5 hours seemed to fly by.
When I arrived at Nambour Train Station, I checked google maps and it told me that the hospital was only 1.2kms from the station, so I stopped at McCafe for a coffee and instead of calling a cab, I decided to walk the short distance to the hospital.
BIG mistake!
I planned on visiting Mum H before making my way to my motel near the airport.
It was hot today. It's always hot in Nambour. I was dragging my full suitcase, my laptop, my handbag, my half litre water bottle full of water and a small bag of food. Combined, it probably weighed 20kgs.
I walked 1/3 of the distance on reasonably flat ground and some even went downhill, but then I reached the little bridge and looked ahead of me.
By this time, perspiration was dripping from my face and body. I stopped in the shade and looked up the hill. I could see the hospital and I knew that if I called a taxi or Uber, the fare would cost about $4 and I doubted whether any of them would even accept the fare.
It seemed that my only option was to attempt the hike, so I tossed my coffee away after only 3 mouthfuls, took a deep breath and moved forward.
I figured that if I had a heart attack half way up the hill, or even once I reached the summit, I was in the right place to get help!
That is an effing steep hill. So steep that I couldn't pull my suitcase behind me. I had to push it ever so slowly, in front of me, stopping about 5 times in the shade to catch my breath and cool down a little.
Half way up the hill, a bunch of teenage boys passed me going in the opposite direction. One of them came back to me and asked if I had a spare $2 so that he could catch the bus. If I'd had my wits about me, I'd have offered him $10 or $20 to walk my suitcase to the top of the hill! But by then, I was in the survival zone, so I was grateful to stop in the shade and actually found $5 to give to him. He was very grateful and thanked me profusely.
By the time I reached the hospital, I was huffing and puffing and was drenched with sweat. I walked inside and found a bathroom. I was literally glowing - almost fluorescent red! The last time I looked like that, was after a 2 hour squash grand final that went to five sets!
I decided that I needed to sit down in the air conditioning, catch my breath and bring my body temperature back to normal, so I found a comfortable seat in a quiet corner and sat down for ten minutes.
Eventually, I walked what seemed like another kilometre inside the hospital until I reached Mum H's room and there she was sitting on the bed talking on the phone. All things considered, she looked very well! She showed me the bruising from where the paramedics had resuscitated her. This is day 9 and she is still black and blue and lots of other colours.
She was giving the medical staff and other patients lots of cheek, so this tells me that she is doing ok. We chatted for about 90 minutes before I said my goodbyes and called an Uber driver to come pick me up.
A very friendly young Indian gentleman picked me up in his Mazda 2 and drove me the 18 kms to my motel for the very reasonable price of $27. The last time I caught a taxi from Tewantin to Cooroy (15kms), it cost me $45. Uber ROCKS!
My motel room is very nice. The owner, Michael, had just had a run in with one of his customers because the customer was a smoker and this motel is a non-smoking establishment - NO SMOKING ANYWHERE ON THE GROUNDS.
The customer complained long enough and loud enough, that Michael offered him an ash tray and a patch of ground as far away from the rooms as possible. When I arrived, Michael was still a bit ruffled by the altercation so we shared our dislike of nasty people and he debriefed.
He showed me to my room and carried my suitcase, lifting it onto the luggage rack for me. He gave me directions to the Ramada Hotel, where I could get an alcoholic beverage and a nice meal and then returned later with a little jug of milk for my tea/coffee.
I walked the 100m to the Ramada where I was immediately accosted by a tutu wearing, glittery faced gentleman holding a cork board with a list of 'dares' on it. It was his buck's night and he had 20 dares that he had to complete by the end of the evening.
His dares included riding a male like a bucking bull, smashing a shot glass after drinking the contents, chatting up 6 different men and getting their phone numbers, singing 'It's Raining Men' at karaoke and getting 20 women to sign their names somewhere on his body. I can't remember the other dares.
I signed my name on his arm under the tattooed name of his son. He told me that his 10 yr old son was going to be part of the wedding party and he was very excited about it.
Later I heard him singing 'It's Raining Men' in the karaoke bar.
I feel that he is going to be pretty much under the weather tomorrow morning!
Now I am sitting in my motel room, about to climb under the covers and make up for last night's lost sleep!
The weather in Melbourne is looking ominous for tomorrow, so I'm not looking forward to the flight. Fingers crossed, that it clears by the time my flight arrives!
Nite all.
