One week down

It has been a windy day on Yorke Island today, with a few spots of rain here and there. Amy happily went off to school and Ben did some maths while I did a bit of cooking. For the first time today, I feel a bit homesick. This place is just so beautiful but it still feels surreal, and as much as I dont want to leave, part of me just wants to pop home for a few hours to have a cuppa with my friends and family, pat my dog, see my home........so Ben suggested we head out for a walk. The tide was waaaaaaaaay out and we could walk 500m out from our usual shoreline onto rocky reef. It was just beautiful despite the wind. We walked to the eastern tip and today, because the low tide was so low, there was a sand bridge between Yorke Island and Cadal Island ( also known as crocodile island, so I'm hoping the crocs didn't see the bridge!!) This is what we saw.....

The sea here is so clear. It felt like a warm bath too. The storm clouds moved around all day but when they parted and the sun came through, it was very special. Ben found some amazing creatures again, a small blue spotted sting ray, a few baby reef fish hiding under rocks, and a hairy crab! Yep a crab covered with fur!! Its a great camouflage as the grains of sand all stick to the fur and he looks like a sand ball! The other thing was a brittle star. Its in the sea star family ( I am informed by Ben, our resident Marine Biologist )

As we walked back, wet and sandy, I could see Rob beckoning us from the clinic. He said he had a couple of people there he wanted me to meet. I went into the clinic and met two islanders who had flown in from Thursday Island as part of a domestic violence counselling team. We sat and chatted for about an hour about their role and the cultural barriers with reporting DV as well as our role as nurses and what is mandatory reporting. One of the hardest obstacles is that we need to have consent to be able to report DV, unless there are children involved. Being small communities, with everyone connected in some way or another, this can be a very difficult issue to speak up about. It is an issue I have not been confronted with yet, having not worked in the clinic here. But once we get to Darnley, it will important to have a good understanding of what to do, as well as to have good contacts for support and personal debriefing. Surrounded by the beauty of this island, its easy to walk around with rose coloured glasses on and think everyday is a holiday. But for those living here, the same problems plague them as in every community. The most comforting thing for me today was that these "government workers" are Islander ladies. Although I am one of them, there seem to be so many white people on the islands, in roles that involve sorting out problems and fixing things. It was good to see that these women come from within this community to help their people deal with a big issue. The mental health team were also here visiting today, and one of those was also an islander. Islander people helping islander people......as it should be......