Ua Pou2, Nuku Hiva arrival, and hospital
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Fri 1 Jun 2012 07:44
|
Here is the trekking group relaxing in a waterfall
pool, with Alison at the rear:
 The stream water on these tropical islands is
always milky, never crystal clear like a Snowdonia mountain stream. I think, in
fact I'm sure, that it's full of bugs. And thereby hangs a
tale.
The next day, Alison is seen on the beach trying to
prove (with some success) that she's still only 25:
 Her husband didn't even bother to try - failure is
so depressing.
The sand visible on her left thigh
denotes earlier crash landings. This beach was wonderful for swimming, but
plagued by the 'no-no' fly. There are actually three 'no-nos', but this one is a
sandfly. Tiny but vicious. Unlike a mosquito it has biting mouthparts and
therefore has to insert more anticoagulant into the wound it causes - resulting
in an itching bite that lasts for ten days; and if you scratch it, much
longer with a real risk of serious infection - no laughing matter in the
Tropics. Alison got bitten, a lot. I didn't, because if she's there they go for
her in preference to me. I must be thick skinned or something (I've been told
that a lot, in various circumstances).
And today we have spent all morning in the
Salle d'Urgence (A & E) in L'Hopital on Niku Hiva. Alison has a fever (38.5
C) caused by a severe throat infection, possibly from swallowing river
water, and is now on six days of antibiotics and paracetemol. The very nice
Doctor said that if she hadn't come to see him then in a day or so it would have
been so bad that he would have had to operate. She can only eat liquids (and
even they're very painful), has no energy at all and must, he says, 'rest'.
So rest she is - most of yesterday and today in
bed, interspersed only with getting the anchor up, sailing four hours to a new
island, re-anchoring, getting the outboard engine onto the dinghy (a two person
operation involving a small crane), spending two hours in a queue at the
hospital, walking a mile each way in the midday sun to get to the pharmacy
(cleverly placed as far away from the hospital as possible), craning the
outboard off the dinghy again because it wouldn't start due to a seized starter
cord, and putting the outboard back onto the dinghy again after I'd fixed
it. And then back to bed, pausing only to have antihistamine cream rubbed onto
her back which is covered in no-no bites after rolling in the sand.
More rest tomorow.
PS. I'm OK. Oddly I don't think that makes her feel
any better.
|