Today was up and out to Rockhampton with Steve and Audra in the rent-a-car. A 10.15 appointment to look at his left foot that he injured jumping from the dinghy at Great Keppel Island Friday night. An 11.15 appointment to consult about the 4th operation on his right leg. Followed by surgery at 15.15.

So, between all that the girls managed a bit of shopping. I got a few new lures to help the dwindling fish supplies and Steve just soldiered on as best he could. By the time we dropped him off for surgery in the afternoon, he was coping - just. Which had more to do with handfulls of Valium than anything else.

We will return to the walking wounded soon, but in the meantime, talking about walking, another of those very rare shots in the "See Paul walk" genre.



After sitting in the car outside a Spotlight shop for an hour while Kathy shopped, we went for a drive up Mount Archer to have look at the look out and Fraser Park up there.



The views from the top were worth the walk and I do not do or say that often.



That's Rockhampton down around the bend in the Fitzroy River.



A valley full of defunct volcanic cores.



Kathy in the foreground - very picturesquew.



This guy sat as bold as you like just in front of us, I think he was hoping for some food.



Over lunch with Steve, we had been discussing the cost of private health insurance and the need for it, I wrongly assumed it was a hypothetical discussion. When summoned to collect Steve from the surgery, I was directed to a rear entrance in the car. Little did I know at the time, he was doing a runner out the back door.



The problem was, he was now doped to the eyeballs on painkillers, Vallium, antibiotics and according to Audra an entire bag of Milkos he scoffed while waiting for the operation to start.



So we have a not very ambulatory person, who has just had one leg operated on and the other in an orthopedic boot due to another un-related injury. I had foreseen the issue of getting him from the car to the boat which was a very, very long walk. Although with a bit of private health insurance I am sure they would have sprung for a wheel chair as opposed to the wheel barrow.

I had a cunning plan.



The fact that it was bottom of the tide and the moving bridge from dry land down to the pontoon more closely resembled The Cresta Run, I managed to keep him from free falling down the 45 degree slope to the dock at best or into the water at worst.

I only required 23 rest stops between dry land and his boat, but we got him there in the end.