How wonderful to be back in the land of natural light, and see the sea and the vast blue sky.

I drank my coffee under a palm tree with the pigeons nestled in the fronds. It was all so unusual. I normally associate pigeons with railway stations and around people eating fish and chips. I am waxing lyrical after my 5 days locked up with the ill and elderly. I passed my ‘test’ yesterday, and it would seem there are no blockages so that is good, and I have a little spray for ‘just in case’ and a daily dose of aspirin, and an appointment to get my gut photographed at some point as the reflux pain is awful, so all in all I am full of the joys for when liberty has been denied, the release is so much sweeter. I walked around Jetty Road this morning glad to be part of the happy throng. I confess I did feel mortal and quite afraid and the initial experience was all very sobering. I thank the good Lord that all is well.

The hospital was a nightmare. Not per se…for the nurses, the doctors, the facilities were excellent. BUT! The awful food and sleepless nights were grim, although I remember in the local hospitals in Hanoi, patients there didn’t get food or bedding, and were totally dependent on friends and relatives. The ward seemed to become the focus of the day, the outside world lost its reality, and suddenly I became interested in my fellow inmates with all their sad ailments. I was quite riveted with the woman across from me who had cut her foot and fallen badly on her back, and her kidneys were failing fast. She was agitated, and kept twisting her hands and muttering and raving and I wondered if it was drugs or alcohol? She was very very sick.

My neighbour for a while was an Aborigine girl who had been so drunk she had fallen and broken her nose, jaw and lost three teeth. The doctor told her he would have to re-break her nose with a hammer and chisel. She was in a bad way as I listened behind the curtain… her liver was shot and she had the DTs and was seeing creepy crawlies all over her skin.

A confused old man defied the nurse after she yelled at him to stay put in his bed and he fell heavily on the floor, breaking his hip. He was a sorry sight, lying naked and forlorn. The worst thing was the poor lady who had ‘an accident’ in the bed next to mine at 4 a.m. Oh dear God, the smell. I did feel for some of these old ladies, as they were being harassed to go home as soon as possible, and three of them said to me, ‘I don’t think I’m ready, I don’t want to go, I’m so dizzy.’ They were all in their mid-80s, and so fragile, and not able to take care of themselves.

One real rough diamond of a guy who had come in with epilepsy was showing an elderly lady how to put his nipple rings in, she was quite intrigued.

‘But why?’ she asked.

‘Because it’s sexy and turns on the girls,’ ugly guy replies.

‘Hmm,’ she sniffed, ‘I may be an old girl now, but I was a bit of a girl once and I don’t think it’s sexy.’

‘But it’s not your era is it, darling?’ he said rudely, and chortled off back to his bed. Ugh, was all I could think.

So all in all it was an experience, and I had John bring me in ear plugs to mute some of the groans and moans, and I had to laugh as the nurse nearly rammed one down  to my ear drum, as that is how they take your temp nowadays. I was barely awake when she decided to do ‘my obs’. (I am so technical!) Tricky gouging it out! Still, a bit of light relief.

It was heaven to escape on Sunday afternoon for two hours to the Botanical Gardens next door to the hospital and smell the roses.

South Australia has the perfect climate apparently for roses, and I was just in heaven, oohing and aaahing at all the colours and ramblers and teas and floribundas. Lorikeets were perched on pergolas, and kookaburras were laughing in the giant red gums in the backdrop. Sadly John tightened my leash and dragged me back to the prison where I had to stay for another 2 nights until THE TEST.

But now I am free, and sadly packing up to leave Jetty Road and Glenelg and the lovely city of Adelaide. We are staying 2 nights in Sydney before the flight back to Bonny Scotland and back into cashmere and possum socks and the trusty red duffle coat. Three winters in one year is just NOT fair! John should know this week where we return to, but I can hear Doris Day singing, Que sera sera etc… Auckland, Sydney or back here for a brief stay???? Time will tell but in the meantime, I will remember Mr Diamond’s words from that wonderful trip to Mandalay in Burma, ‘The past is gone, the future is still to come, so we must live for today…’ Carpe Diem. Amen.