Fulton Cup, News From Annette, Postal Swim

Fulton Cup
Remember that the Fulton Cup is on 23rd September. This is another fun meet and is at Cameron Pool in Mt Roskill so dust off your racers and get your entry in. Entries close on 14th September so don't delay. You can get your entry by following this link: Fulton Cup Entry  and then choosing 'Events' from the menu on the left.

Postal Swims
These are coming up at the end of the month. 800/1500m freestyle. Be in to win. You need to let John T know if you want to do them. Don't miss out.

Race Night
Race night is on this Wednesday the 5th September. Because we have missed the last couple and you may have missed your pet event we are having 'choice' night. This means you can choose what stroke you want to swim for the distance on offer. Want to do that 200 fly you've been yearning for? Now's your chance.

News from Annette
Annette has sent this in so we can keep up with news from the boondocks of Western Australia.

"Thought I would drop you a line and let you know how life is treating me. Arrived here a little over a week ago after a five hour plane flight from Alice. Only allowed 10kg of luggage, had to spread ourselves out  in the plane to distribute the load and when the pilot hopped in he looked like he was about 12 years of age!! First impressions of Warburton: red coarse dust, grass the colour of pale straw, blue cloudless sky and plastic and crap being blown around in the wind. Locals (Aboriginal) housing one level block and with a tin roof often with little inside except for a mattress or two thrown on the floor. They remain nomadic so you can go to the house and find that they have gone bush - they may be back in a day or two or it may be a month or longer. The houses remind very much of shanty towns in South Africa.

Our houses are comfortable if somewhat dated - think NZ 1950s or 60s. The red dust gets everywhere so shower, loo etc all stained but at least they all have good air-conditioning units - essential here in the summer when the temps can get up to 40C+. So hot that people leave their dogs locked in the houses with aircon on full! The clinic staff houses are all grouped together which is nice - we get up in the mornings and all go for a walk on one of the several tracks that run off into the bush. And at the end of the week there is often a get together for a BBQ - pity about there being no wine!! And on Sundays we meet at the art centre for our coffees and a bit of normalcy.

Everyone here owns dogs - they are good for protecting your house and keeping you company in the bush. However because there are so many dogs and no fences they tend to form packs and become quite territorial. Going for a walk can be a bit like running the gauntlet - you turn and face the pack and yell "baya" followed by a few well aimed stones. Of course you always have your own pack who are more than happy to swing into action in your defense! Joy who I am sharing the house with is currently looking after four dogs while their owners are off "the lands" on holiday or on courses. So when you go for a walk you never get to go on your own even if you would like to!! One walk that I have done is on Warburton Beach which is the name given to the airstrip as it has sand at the side of the tarmac. It is 2.5k long and is a favourite with the joggers including the transgender hairdresser with her/his pink hair, short shorts and sequined top - Priscilla of the Desert is alive and well!!

As well as the dogs there are also a couple of horses who were brought here as a wedding present - they are now semi-wild and have learned to tip over the rubbish bins for a bit of variety to their diet. And of course there are the camels who roam around and cause a problem when they hang out at the airstrip - some guy is employed to chase them away when there is an incoming flight.

Work is certainly varied - day two here and there was fight between two families - so we were dealing with knife wounds and extensive bruising caused by crow bars and wheel braces - the weapons of choice! Then there was the case of gastritis caused by eating rotten roo (as in kangaroo) tails - you can buy them in the freezer of the local shop - they come with the fur still on! One of our workers rolled one of the utes after she hit a camel so had to assess for head injury, and then there was the man with a burnt foot - offered to drop him home and ended up driving out through the bush to a clearing where he lives. Left him sitting in the dust with his blanket wrapped round him, both arms bandaged up as he had an IV luer in each for more antibiotics the following day. We fly people out a couple of times a week - if they are not too bad a commercial flight will do otherwise it is the Flying Doctors. This week we patched up one of the police dogs - no one batted an eyelid as he was put up on the table, had his wound cleaned and sutured and was started on antibiotics!!

Aboriginal health is poor - it is a shock when you get a patient without diabetes. There is a lot of renal disease. Girls are often infertile by the time they are 16 or 17 due to sexually transmitted infections. Scabies, nits, ringworm, school sores are run of the mill. A lot of people are deaf due to perforated ear drums and I haven't seen a kid yet without a runny nose - I am not sure about using the swimming pool!!!  Plus it has a dividing wall at 20m so there is a shallow end for the babies. Seems hardly worth the risk if you know what I mean!!

Off for a shower and bed - have an offer on the house in Clovelly but still trying to rent my little unit in Willoughby - let me know if you know of anyone who is interested.

I'll keep in touch.

Cheers
Annette"

Thanks Annette. I think I'll just stay put.