Canning Stock Route Day 9 - Rest Day at Durba Springs (Water 18)

Day 9 - Friday 11th July
Start - Rest Day at Durba Springs (Water 18)

I was woken at 3am this morning with David screaming in pain - his ear ache had become unbearable during the night and he couldn't handle it. There was also some blood in his ear. After some whispered discussions my diagnosis was that he had an ear infection that had ruptured, but we weren't sure if it was caused by the flu or when something flew into his ear a few days ago. In either case, it seemed obvious he had an infection and the only cure for that is antibiotics. Why I didn't think to bring antibiotics is beyond me. I will never make this mistake again. So we waited for 3 hrs until daybreak and the first signs of movement around the camp to find someone who might have antibiotics.

It was amazing to see the insides of so many first-aid kits. Everyone has cold and flu tablets and I've never seen so many varieties of pain killers but no one seemed to have antibiotics. You would think that in a camp of 60 people there would be a packet of antibiotics. And eventually, we did find a 3 day course of Amoxycillan, which he's used before so although it was un-prescribed, it was a safe bet that this would fix the pain and the inflammation and at least get us further along the track. Had it been me needing antibiotics I could not have taken this one, as I am allergic to Penicillin. Having never been sick on any trip before, and rarely sick at home, we simply didn't consider antibiotics a necessary item in our First Aid kit. So, everyone please take this true story as an example of just important it is to plan for emergency situations and to think about the medical requirements of each person in your vehicle when packing your first aid kit.

The Well 12 restoration group moved on today, leaving the place much quieter. I really needed a rest day as I was ill too - I could hardly move about with a high temperature and that general lethargic feeling you get from the flu. What a mess we are!

Leah was full of energy again and thankfully she had teamed up the the 4 children from the Toodyay group and she played happily all day with them. David spent the day taking pain killers and talking to people. He even managed to walk a short way up into the Durba Gorge, whilst I slowly did the washing and slept on the grass.