I’ve been in Brewarrina for a couple of weeks now and all goes well.
I flew to Sydney, stayed overnight then flew on to Dubbo the next day.
While waiting 5 hrs for the coach I went and saw the movie-"Death at a funeral" A hilarious British comedy. A must see!
From here I got on a coach to Coolibah, then swapped to a smaller one for the 130kms to Brewarrina. We saw 2 cars during the trip
The hospital and accomodation is only 4 yrs old, well equipped and staffed. There are 12 aged care residents and 6 acute beds, with a 24/7 Emergency Dept. A very nice Sth African GP overlooks the facility and is available after hrs. The hospital staff are really nice and I feel very comfortable….. The new job tremors have gone!
My unit and the hospital (photos)
Xmas was a quiet affair for me. I went across to the hospital in the morning to share morning tea with the staff and 12 aged care residents which was nice, then worked the afternoon shift.
I have got a dial up connection for my laptop so can now talk to family and friends on skype. It was lovely to be in contact with Ryan and Maya in Canada and see them on video. Phone calls to family in NZ and to Eric and Kellie in Maryborough were great and made me feel less isolated.
Each shift we have a registered nurse and enrolled nurse, and in the mornings a nurse aid. The R/N is responsible for the acute patients (8 beds) and the casualty/OPD.There is a 6 bed dialysis unit for day patients and this operates at full capacity 3 times a week. There is community and Aboriginal health and specialists come from the bigger centres once a month. We have an xray unit and blood collection facility which is manned by staff from Bourke(100kms away)
Half of the 1200 population are indigenous
Eric is in Maryborough preparing to
sand and paint 'Erica'
He has started to disassemble deck gear and is doing some varnishing. On the 10th of January she will be hauled out for painting
A few shots from around the town......
This heavily barred grog shop, is the only place to buy
alcohol. You can't purchase any unless you have a car to put it in or it gets
delivered to your door. Facilities in town are pretty basic.
There's a great cafe at this old Pub which is very popular for breakfast in the weekends
115yr old house
Main street
Aboriginal Health Centre
Unfortunately many facilities built to encourage indigenous
involvement and self reliance have been trashed. There was a backpackers,
motel, aged care facility and museum built and these lie unused with smashed
glass and graffiti. The wrong people managed these facilities and used the
finances for their personal gain
After the above photo was taken we had alot of rain in the area and all the rivers are full. Some have not had water in them for years. There has been a 10yr drought
The children are delighted to be swimming again
On days off a collegue took us out to an irrigation area for planting cotton
The water is pumped from the river
My highlight of the week was a trip to Bourke, 100km to the west, with a work colleague. We visited the memorial site to Fred Hollows, famous eye specialist and surgeon who gave much of his time to treatment of eye conditions in the indigenous people.
We only had a couple of hrs to see the town, as I had worked nightshift and was on again that night. We took the opportunity to shop for groceries in a bigger town with a population of 3,000, but finding wasabi was a no go......Hadn't heard of it! ....My home made sushi will have to go unseasoned.
