its finished....

The sea is like a lake tonight. Its hard to see the difference between to sea and sky. Its just so beautiful and peaceful. I have spent the day packing away our Darnley life and cleaning the house and now we are ready to head home. Its a strange feeling. Tomorrow we are going to be confronted by the busyness of the world away from here.....Are we ready???

The past 5 months away from home now seem like a lifetime. Not in a bad way. It just feels like this is our reality and our Toowoomba life, something else. Its hard to connect the two. Living here in this beautiful place has been really special. I love waking up to the sea every morning. Having my trip to work take 30 seconds is pretty awesome. I have loved working alongside Lucy, Lizzie, Jermaine and Abba. They have taught Rob and I a new language and heaps of cultural stuff about their way of life. Their connection with their people is very precious. Everyone is connected in some way, and whilst we are not part of that, its a great thing to see, especially as our busy impersonal world often does not allow for this.

We have been privileged  to be part  of some significant ceremonies, a tombstone opening, a funeral, and on New Years Day, a group of dancers and singers went from village to village to dance and sing. The head of each family spoke, thanking the dancers and encouraging good things for 2012. We were part of this as they stopped at the clinic on the way and we were able to follow as they wound their way through the villages. The singing sounds and the rhythm of the local drum was just fantastic. 

I Have learned so many things here. From a clinical point of view I have rekindled skills I haven't used for years and learned heaps of new ones too! For much of the early weeks I felt like a deer in the headlights as it all seemed foreign but now I can spot scabies at 40 paces, take blood like a pathologist and immunise reluctant children! Its a satisfying type of nursing in some respects as the treatable things mean a person comes in with a problem which you can fix for them. I love that. But the other side is the frustration of the chronic disease that plague our Indigenous Australians: Diabetes, Renal failure and Rheumatic Heart Disease. These diseases are a huge burdon on this culture and sadly, our current care does not seem to make any difference. I have no answers. It needs to be a combination of local culture change, economic  and financial change..... who knows.

We have been so lucky to have been able to share this life with Robs parents and my sister, when they visited. It will be so hard to really describe this at home so its great they could come and see things for themselves, and they lifted out spirits, and bought wine and chocolate!! This afternoon as I finished the packing, I could hear a child crying next door at the clinic and suddenly felt a huge weight lift as I realised, I have handed over. Our replacement is here. The responsibility no longer rests with us. Its a good feeling, and as much as I have loved all the challenges the work here has presented, it has been a burden 24/7 to consider that we are the front line for this community and their health care needs.
Tomorrow morning we will board our little plane and head south. Over the beautiful turquoise ocean with the coral reef lacing its way through the waters. Torres Strait has been just incredible. I wonder just how long we will be ably to stay away! Yawo Darnley and your people. Thank you for giving us such an incredible adventure. You will remain in our hearts forever