Day 28 – 21/04/2011 Alice Springs – Glen Helen (West MacDonald Ranges)

Day 28 – 21/04/2011 Alice Springs – Glen Helen (West MacDonald Ranges)

It was with a little sadness we decided to move from our comfy stay with our friends to Glen Helen but the time had come to reignite the big adventure and we had gotten far too comfy living in a house with all the added benefits such as TV, big fridge, Sony Playstation and movies!!  But first we had to shop and get re packed.  This was all going really well until Pete came in from the van looking slightly ashen saying ‘I done something really bad!!” I immediately did a head count of the children and when I got the three heaved a sigh of relief!! Couldn’t be so bad I could see all the kids and no blood.  But it was a little bad, Pete had turned the fridge over to battery power before turning if off electricity and he had blown the transformer box.  So back into town he went grumbling about his own silliness whilst the kids and I remained at Melinda’s totally grateful that it was Pete that made the error and not one of us!!!  Well a few dollars later and we were ready to say goodbye and head to Glen Helen.

The drive out to Glen Helen was only broken up by the occasional road dip, crest and causeway blowout from what looked like recent heavy rain.  We arrived safe and sound at Glen Helen and were quickly set up in the Glen Helen Resort Caravan Park!!  Well it was sort of a resort it had a pool!!  Because it was hot the boys headed off for a swim and it wasn’t long before Claudia wanted to go for one too.  I went with Claudia because the boys were out pretty quickly, it might be 30 degrees but it is cold overnight and the pool was a little on the chilly side!!.  Whilst supervising Claudia in the pool Zac ran over and quite calmly announced “Mum you have to come back Callum has burnt is foot, he stepped in a fireplace” not being one to panic I said “OK Claudia is out anyway” so we wandered back to the van.  Back at the van I found Callum almost hysterical with his foot in a bucket and Pete almost hysterical because he couldn’t find the Panadol.  I guess still not grasping the severity of the situation I asked Pete to get the rescue remedy because we know that that can fix just about anything and we had some aloe vera and well that was soothing for sunburn so it would be good for a foot that had stood on hot coal’s right??  Pete found the Panadol and then took off seeking medical advice, the best we got was don’t put the foot on ice rather put in a bucket of tap water!! Well we’d done that and it was obvious that Callum was in a lot of pain – pain that needed more that Panadol and rescue remedy so Pete sensibly suggested to take Callum to Alice Springs hospital.  So we packed some clothes and kids into the car and drove back to Alice Springs – about 140kms.  I’m not going to tell you how long it took but I am sure you would understand that we were in a hurry and Callum was travelling with his foot in a bucket and doing his best not to get hysterical from the pain.

Ouch

Alice Springs Hospital Emergency department is like any other across Australia – demand far exceeds staff capacity but from my experience they were angels.  I piggybacked Callum into ED having no idea where to go and his foot was still in the red bucket.  A wonderful ambulance officer peeled him off my back whilst I tried to find the right counter, the triage nurse quickly took one look at both of us and ushered us through into the triage room, quickly putting a warm blanket around Callum who was showing signs of shock and after taking one look at his foot put a special burn bandage on it!!  Callum by now was pale and shaking.  Poor mite he was being stoic!!  We only spent a little time in ED before being admitted into Children’s Ward for the night!!  Oh my gosh they are talking about sending us to Adelaide tomorrow to see the burns specialist.  Apparently Alice Springs does not have a burns unit so for burns that can’t be managed in the hospital due to severity, patients are sent to Adelaide!!!  Fingers and toes crossed this won’t be us!  Callum though has gone to sleep with a body full of methadone and codeine and the possibility of going on an aeroplane – he is a very happy boy.  I though, am sleeping on a mattress on the floor of a room in Alice Springs Hospital Children's Ward and am dreading the possibility of our family being split between two states of Australia.  Pete has returned to the fabulous hospitality of Melinda and PJ with Zac and Claudia……what a great adventure!!!