The best laid plans ... part 2

Sometimes, no matter how much thought and planning goes into something … it just goes pear shaped … got it! It happens to all of us … and sometimes things just work … wonderful little nuggets that fall our way … well ... it all happened for us …

Jim Jim Falls, are 200 metre high waterfall in Kakadu National Park.  Access to the falls is a dry season only event (May to October) as the roads are impassable with the huge volume of rain that the wet season brings and the ever present crocs.  Due to the late wet season this year, the falls were late opening. We are staying at Cooinda Lodge (camping) ... to get to Jim Jim Falls from Cooinda we take the Kakadu highway, then it is 50km unsealed road followed by a 13km track (at best).

Well … it fell our way … The Falls opened on Saturday … joy!  Off we went … the unsealed 50km section was sensational! Unsealed gravel, wide, almost corrugation free, gentle curves … fabulous bit of road!  Then you get to the entry to the actual Jim Jim Falls section which rapidly turns into a narrow single car track ... rocky, undulating, windy track that meanders through the scrub with about 6 water crossings each with an average depth of about 600-700mm … with potholes and washouts (long and deep) … it was a fabulous little drive … average speed about 25kmh with much crawling. 

We thought that we were the only ones that knew about the opening of the falls … not so … about 15 other vehicles were already at the car park at the end of the track.

We headed up the path … rock hopping along the creek to the falls … about a 2km return scramble that takes about 2 hours to do … not an easy doddle by any stretch … from little boulders to giant boulders we threaded our way catching glimpses of Jim Jim Falls ahead.  Once you get closer to the falls you appreciate the sheer height and magnificence of this part of nature. 

We spent an hour or so taking photos and taking in this awesome sight … pinching ourselves that were lucky enough to have a high clearance 4WD (because that’s what you need to be able to get here) and to be here on the opening day.

On the return scramble, we were about 250m from the car park.  I hear my name being called … I turn around and Cate is about 7-8 metres behind me … she has staked her leg  just near the shin bone with a piece of tree debris that was lying horizontal between two rocks, as she slid her way between the rocks.  A gash 2.5cm by 3.5cm and about 1cm deep … blood and tissue ooze … I break out my trusty hanky (not crusty hanky!) and we make up a crude compression bandage (we had a snake bite kit with us … but decided that the hanky would work until we could get to the car park where we had several first aid kits).  Thank god, I never go anywhere without a hanky!  Old school rules!

I carry her hydration pack and camera the remaining distance as we hit the last part of the track … along the side of the hill with more uneven rocks covered with leaves, undulations and sand with a few more bits of flood debris … it is a slow 250m.  We get to the car park and the original 15 or so vehicles is now 40-50!

We break out the First Aid kit and Sister Catherine stoically dresses her wound.  We pack up and head back up the little winding track ... through the water crossings and the washouts meeting 2 other oncoming vehicles where we are forced to reverse back up the track to a minor clearing then resume.  We eventually clear the track and make it to the Ranger’s Station ... but they are nowhere to be seen. 

I spot a small tourist group and approach them asking the tour guide if there is any medical assistance in the area … of course not … there is not even any mobile coverage … we get a soap box monologue about how the Rangers should be making the paths more accessible so that these things don’t happen … and a phone number for the Emergency Department at Jabiru … which is 100kms away (50 of it still on the unsealed road before we hit the highway).

Off we go … more vehicles heading to the falls … dust plumes … no wind … so the dust just hangs in the air … we encountered about 10-12 oncoming vehicles … eventually we make the bitumen and head up to Jabiru … it is Saturday …

At Jabiru we find the medical centre … GP clinic and dialysis unit … all closed … we try the number we had been given by the Tour Guide … uh oh … wrong number.  Fortunately, Jabiru has 4G coverage so we soon get the right number and contact the emergency after hours on call nurse.  Ok … tell me what happened … can you send me some photos? Sure … we unwrap the compression bandage … take some photos … send them to her … she calls back and says it doesn’t look too bad … just a skin tear … (bear in mind it has just had a compression bandage on for the past hour) … umm … ok I will get my driver to drop me at the Hospital … I’ll be there shortly…

We are ushered into this brand-new facility that opened in September last year where we see lots of shiny equipment and rooms … Sister Catherine is now incognito … she is now just a Queensland tourist who has a skin tear … but after much delicate peeling of the damaged area we can see that it is badly torn in about 3 places and about 8mm deep and is generally somewhat more complicated that just a skin tear … it will probably need stitching (however, because it is close to the shin bone where the skin is thin, and the angle of the tears ... it may not be possible … so we will have to go to Darwin Hospital where they may need to do x-rays (for suspected bone fracture), undergo surgery to remove possible fibres (as the nurse has already removed several) from the tree branch ... then close with internal stitches, as a well as maybe requiring a plastic surgeon… ok … the nurse calls the her boss and then sends some more photos ... the wound is now opened up more after the poking and prodding and flushing. Now it’s not just a simple skin tear.  Ok … the nurse then fills out a heap of forms … calls Darwin and says we are on the way …

We have been at Jabiru for about 2 hours and it is now close to 5pm on Saturday evening … our campsite is 50km back the other way … Jabiru is about 250km from Darwin … rather than going back to our campsite and getting some personal effects … which would add 100km to the trip we elect to drive straight to Darwin … we are warned to watch out for the wallabies near Alligator River they are pretty active at the moment … great ! - we are travelling right on dusk ...

Before we go, we realise that we’d better organise somewhere to stay … there will be no mobile coverage on the way … after a few phone calls and some googling we book a hotel room … Saturday night … school holidays … not many vacancies… off we go … we hit Darwin at about 8pm … we haven’t had lunch yet … we eventually find the Hotel only to find that the door to reception is closed and they aren’t answering their video door bell … I run into two women who are having the same problem … we eventually get somebody and I dump the cameras and some equipment in the hotel room (trying to minimse temptation to prying eyes) while Cate waits in the car … our Hotel is in the CBD in the major restaurant area and car parks are at an absolute premium (and the hotel didn’t have any left).

Now off to the Hospital … it is now 8.30pm we present to the Emergency Department of Royal Darwin Hospital … triage … go through the whole story … the paperwork was sent to you by blah … yes ... thank you (the disinterested Triage Nurse says) ... but we need to set up our own records … blah blah blah … thank you … okay now go to the next window … more questions ... blah blah blah … have a seat …

Now an Emergency Department at any time in a major hospital is a busy place … a Saturday night is one of the busiest … there is a constant stream of people coming in … a few indigenous folk are sleeping across the seats … snoring is the loudest noise … lots of it ... one guy screaming in his sleep … another guy needs his mental health meds … he abuses the staff using as many expletives in his sentences that he can say … on and off for about 4 hours … between outbursts he goes outside … they call him … he is not there because he is outside … then he starts again … and so the circus continues ...

We sit there until about 1am … while every other person that comes in is triaged and disappears … we finally get ushered into another waiting room behind closed doors … at 3.30am we progress to a bed in the “fast track room”  … at about 4.30am the Queensland tourist sees a doctor; has an x-ray; has bloods taken … breakfast was a long time ago … then reviewed by the surgical team. The surgical registrar has a good dig and probe and generally makes a bloody mess … he then asks the Queensland tourist if the wound had received any local anaesthetic yet  … ahh no … he walks away … the wound is then flushed after much tooing and froing about whether to suture or not … the surgical team determines that it doesn’t need to go to theatre and that it can be managed by the ED team … the ED team decide to flush and suture … and more IV anti-biotics … we have a new intern looking after the Queensland tourist ... she gets suturing lessons from her supervisor on the Queensland tourist.

8am we leave the Hospital … no sleep for 25 hours …the Queensland tourist hasn’t eaten for 25 hours and not had anything to drink since noon the previous day (thinking that she may be going to theatre… and was Nil by Mouth).

Now, we need to get our stuff from the hotel room and check out … mission accomplished … I (and the Queensland tourist) are so sleep deprived that we can’t risk driving back to our campsite over 300km away that we need to find another hotel … mission accomplished … then it is time for a much-needed coffee and breakfast … but we can’t check in until 2pm … we have no other clothes or even a toothbrush … another trip to K Mart!

Sometimes … the best laid plans … we will always remember our trip to Jim Jim Falls!