Australia's Flying Doctors

                                              Busy Medical Service

     Wireless, wings, and stethoscopes---Down Under that refers to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I looked forward to and was fascinated with the interesting visit to the service  in the middle of the Australian Outback.

    In a small auditorium we viewed a fantastic film of the Service in action, learning that the service started in1928 with one plane. Today, in Alice Springs, the Service operates with six doctors, six nurses, six pilots, three planes and three engineers.  The goal is to do three clinics a day or 1000 a year in the Outback.

    Everyone works a 12-hour shift for two days, has one day off and then repeats. The  annual budget is 9-million dollars. Tourists involved in accidents, many at Uluru or Ayers Rock, account for 18% of their calls, and most of the averaged five evacuations a day are also from Uluru.

     A drug box containing 100 drugs packaged by number, not name, is kept at numerous outposts around the country. Much prescribing is  done by phone. The Service at Alice Springs covers an area of 70 kilometers in any direction from the city. The population of this area, including the city, is approximately 16,000. The pilots have access to 150 air-strips. The entire Service covers 2.3 million square kilometers.

    Today the Service is in the hands of six mainland sections, each having one or more radio control stations. There are 16 base locations around the country from which Flying Doctors operate. In total the Service employs 27 doctors, 58 nurses, 65 pilots, 34 engineers, 51 admin staff,46 mechanics and other staff and 9 general hands.

    No other service in the world operates over such a vast territory providing such a comprehensive health service. They are not merely an aerial ambulance, but a remote area health care provider. They are 2 hours or less from each location. What a fantastic service and outfit!

Fabulous Opera House

                                         Sydney's most Unique Building

     I  have seen a lot of historic and beautiful buildings, but I was intrigued with one of the most notable landmarks in the world---the Sydney Opera House, touring it both times when in Australia.

     Standing the height of a 22-story building  and facing the harbor, the sailed structure has quite a history. Enormous controversy and debate existed in 1959 with the inception of the idea for an opera house. The dazzling and dramatic design of Danish architect, Joern Utzon, won an international competition. The technology did not exist in the 1950s to build the sails that form the roof and walls, B U T

     Built in three stages, the original cost estimate was $7-million dollars with a projected construction time of four years. But as most often happens, the cost actually was $102-million and construction took 15 years!  A special lottery paid the additional bills and the opera house was completely paid for by mid-1970, just two years after opening.

     One day while peeling an orange Utzon  had the inspiration to construct the shells from rib sections forming the skeleton of the building,  then prefabricated and joined together with 217-miles of tension steel. In 1966 Utzon resigned from the project and a team of  Australian architects took over the project, completing stage two in about a year. The 1,056,000 white Swedish tiles covering the roof appear as a mosaic.

     The term Opera House is really a misnomer as it is actually a performing arts center housing 1000 rooms including the opera theater, concert hall, reception hall, drama theater, five rehearsal studios, four restaurants, six theater bars, many foyers and lounge areas, 60 dressing rooms, library, admin offices and extensive plant and machinery areas.

     The power supply, adequate for a city of 25,000, involves 400 miles of electrical cable run from 120 distribution boards. There are 12 miles of air conditioning duct. How would you like to trouble shoot those systems.

    It is truly a fantastic building and one that is recognized around the world.

Hot Local Market

                                              A Smothering Market

      In Nairobi, Kenya everyone told us it was a must to visit the local market. After a couple of days we decided to check it out, as it was only a short walk from our hotel. A six-foot high wooden fence surrounded the perimeter of the huge market which covered an entire large city block.

    Inside, hundreds of small booths stood side by side on both sides of narrow aisles extending from  one end of the complex the other. The lack of air circulation made it very hot inside and the odors were absolutely awful—really assaulting! It had been years since I had confronted such strong BO (body odor for the young unfamiliar with his old fashioned term popular before the advent of deodorants)

     Prices were high, but haggling over price was part of the game; a game I’ve never enjoyed, although I know a lot of people embrace the custom in many places/cultures.

     For a short while I just looked around at the merchandise in the booths, much of it the same from booth to booth.  My son was nervous and kept moving as he carried a lot of expensive camera equipment in his backpack. In spite of that, some slasher managed to cut his pack but didn’t get any of his gear.

     It didn’t take me long to become hot, sweaty and claustrophobic.  It seemed all the locals were smoking which added to the air quality and with everyone with a lighted cigarette in his hand all I could think about was the firetrap we were in.

     We both had seen enough of the must see market and had no desire to return. Cutting the visit short, we walked back to the hotel where we discovered a nice long clean cut in the backpack. Whatever instrument was used it was sharp!  With some repair to my sons backpack I was happy we could move on to our safari with all his equipment intact.

Riding a Camel

                                      Not the same as riding a horse

     When we were in Alice Springs in the Australian Outback, to break up the long ride, we stopped at a camel farm where I learned Australia is the largest producer of camels in the world, and they are exported all over the globe.

    My travel  buddy and I are always ready to try anything new, so we decided to take a camel ride. Even if either of was an equestrian, this would be a different experience. The animal handler gave us advice on what to expect when the camel got up or down.

    For easy mounting the camel was lying down. We each took a seat on a double saddle. A camel stands on his hind legs first giving one a slight thrust forward, but nothing to get excited or shout about.

    One does not bounce in the saddle like on a horse. The ride was a rather bumpy one and we agreed that an all-day ride on a camel would seem very long.

    Back in the corral the camel went down on command, The fore-legs go down first creating a sizable jolt that produced a spontaneous, simultaneous whoop from both of us. However, we did manage to survive that forward thrust and stayed in the saddle. The hind legs going down was tame in comparison.

    As  I wandered into the museum I remarked  that it  had been a different kind of ride but a fun experience.

    A couple years later I rode a camel at a local ranch, but that time boarded the camel from a platform which was easier and the camel was a single hump one. That ride reconfirmed that I would not want to ride a camel all day long. They make wonderful pack animals and I’m willing to leave it at that!

Hitchhiking Birds

                                                   Smart Birds

    I saw a lot of neat animals and numerous birds when in the Galapagos Islands.

     We left Santa Cruz Island in the evening for an all night cruise to Tower Island. Our guide sent us to bed with the promise of a surprise in the morning.

     When I walked out on deck, with my first cup of coffee in my hand, the next morning I suddenly stopped, mesmerized by the sight of two red-footed boobies perched on the boat ‘s bowsprit. Their red webbed feet held tight to the rails and with the wind blowing in their beautiful faces, the birds looked very regal.

    They sat there in all their splendor for a very long time. My son had been up for some time and had taken pictures. He walked very slowly over to me and said, “Aren’t they wonderful, Mom?”

    We all were very quiet, speaking in hushed tones and moved very slowly, if at all. We learned that red-footed boobies feed far out to sea in deep waters. After a night of fishing and feeding the birds often hitch a ride back to shore on boats that sail the islands.

    The birds posed like it was expected of them. We were all excited and enjoyed the birds’ company for a long time. Everyone had a chance to get their photos and to enjoy the up close encounter with the red footed boobies.  What a way to start the day!