Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The perils of travel
One of the pleasures of overland travelling is the constant new experiences with which you are confronted on an almost daily basis. There is a seemingly endless supply of new sights, sounds, people and culture to expand the mind and fill the memory banks. The human body is also subject to slight modifications. These are mostly unpleasant experiences in the form of ailments, accidents and illnesses.
In our journeys from England to India and down through Africa we were fortunate? to include in our number an Australian nurse – Sandy Thompson. I was unaware until six months ago, that Sandy had kept a list of the misfortunes which occurred to the members of the group during our travels. So, as a warning to other overland travellers, as to what you are likely to encounter, and to remind fellow travellers of how they abused their bodies some 35 years ago, here is Nurse Sandra’s List of ailments suffered by individual members on the trip.
Bologne, France
Jean - Blood nose & cut foot playing footy
Ned - Cut finger cooking
Visp, Switzerland
Don - Cold
Venice, Italy
Graham - Lacerated feet in bar
Paul - Broken blister on finger changing tyre
Terry - Cut finger changing tyre
Judy - Cut foot in bar
Rae - Bites
Ned - Dermatitis
Carole - Heat rash
Yugoslavia
Terry - Vomiting
Barb - Bee sting WOW (a biggy)
Hoppy - Imaginary shits
Barb - Trod on sea anemone
Rae - Bites
Platamon, Greece
Noel - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Graham - Gravel rash? cause!
Noel - Cut hand
Bob - Toenail off
Rae - Bitten eye
Istanbul, Turkey
Barb - Diarrhoea
Noel - Bruised back
Sandy - Cut foot
Paul - Flea bites
Hoppy - Hayfever
Pammukale, Turkey
Carole - Black eye
Graham - Sprained back
Isparta, Turkey
Graham - Thigh hit by flying suitcase
Troy, Turkey
Marg - Cut knee falling into the only hole for miles
Paul - Cut hand on coke bottle fighting with locals
Goreme, Turkey
Barb - Flea bites
Bob - Grazed knee falling into grave!
Jean - Amputated toenail
Sandy - Vomiting
Paul - Vomiting
Maku, Iran
Noel - Bruised toe
Carole - Headache
Tehran, Iran
Marg - Blood nose (x 2)
Noel - Headaches
Rae - Stubbed toe
Isfahan, Iran
Jean - Stubbed toe – very fashionable
Bob - Cut finger
Barb - Headache
Ahwaz, Iran
Hoppy - Cold
Marg - Cold
Don - Sprained wrist, cut face and toe, climbing wall
John - Cut toe
Carole - Fainting
Shiraz, Iran
Barb - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Zahadan, Iran
Rae - Vomiting
Dalbandin, Pakistan
Rae - Broken blister & vomiting
Barb - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Carole - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Marg - Vomiting
Quetta, Pakistan
Carole - Shits
Sandy - Stubbed toes
Little Pete - Hurt back
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Paul - Guts ache
Sandy - Guts ache
Colin - Guts ache
Kabul, Afghanistan
Don - Diarrhoea
Wendy - Dehydration and bowel infection
Paul - Guts ache & Diarrhoea
Colin - Guts ache & Diarrhoea
Jean - Diarrhoea
Little Pete - Rope burns on fingers from army obstacle course
Don - Sores on feet
Sandy - Guts ache and shits
Graham - Shits
John - Cut fingers
Brutus - Shits
Graham - Sore eye
Rae - ‘flu
Marg - shits and headache
(Editor: Readers will note a general change in terminology from here on. Vomiting and Diarrhoea are more frequently referred to by the medical terms Chucks and Shits.)
Srinigar, Kashmir
Bob - Migraine
Don - Infected cuts heel, neck and foot
Noel - Headache and allergy to ??
Colin - Farting plus, plus
Hoppy - Bruises
Rae - Bruises
Carole - Bruises
Graham - Stubbed toe
Don - Horse trod on infected toe
Bob - Shits
Delhi, India
Graham - Shits
Rae - Chucks
Sandy - Cut foot infected
Bob - Shits and chucks
Barb - Headaches and chucks
Paul - Shits, chucks and toothache
Carole Fran. - Chucks and shits
Colin - Farts, shits and cut finger
Hoppy - Cut finger
Graham - Cold, Venice bar dirt in scars
Jean - Cold
Brutus - Shits and sleeping sickness
Noel - Shits
Don - Prickles in feet
Sandy - Cut leg
Carole - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Rauxaul, India
Graham - Hayfever, asthma
Brutus - Cold
Kathmandu, Nepal
Paul - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Hoppy - Chucks
Jean - Chucks
Graham - Cold
Sandy - Diarrhoea & Vomiting
Jean - Generally unwell
Little Pete - Generally unwell
Sandy - Generally unwell
Rae - Cold
Hoppy - Hayfever
Carole - Hayfever
Calcutta, India
Rae - Cyst & Hepatitis
Noel - Sinusitis
Bombay, India
Graham - Sore eye
Little Pete - Fingers not healing and infected mozzie bites
At sea on the ship "State of Haryana"
Little Pete – Cut toe in fan while (allegedly) fornicating
Jean - Put finger in fan
Noel - Shits
Heather - Cough
Graham - Dislocated thumb fixing Stan
Jean - Sore on leg
Sandy - Sore on leg
Mombassa, Kenya
Carole - Anorexia & lethargy
Heather - Sliced thumb
Graham - Sliced thumb
Graham - Pepper in eyes
Heather - Headache
Marg - Blistered toe
Malindi, Kenya
John - Blistered hands from horse racing game
Heather - Blistered hands from horse racing game
Jenny - Blistered hands from horse racing game
Graham - Thumped thumb with hammer
Nairobi, Kenya
Graham - Hepatitis
John - Foot rot
Jean - Goobies on leg and foot
Sandy - Blistered foot
Carole - Fainting in supermarket
Bob - Laryngitis
(Editor: From here on there are a number of ailments which are referred to as “Gooby or Goobies”. Sandy tells me that these are infected insect bites. I could not find any reference when I “Googled” the term, so I presume it was a word which we invented to describe a common condition.)
Murchison, Uganda
Bob - Cold
John - Indigestion and farting plus, plus
ALL - Ticks
Carole - Delhi Belly
Sandy - Bashed leg on stand
Ngorongoro, Tanzania
Little Pete - Malaria
Jenny - Love sick
Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Marg - Blistered from new shoes climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Carole - Blisteres
Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania
ALL - Bites
Jean - Skun toe
Carole - Skun toe
Jenny - Attacked by tent peg
Little Pete - Shits
Sandy - Bruises
Graham - Thumb out of joint
Carole - Fainting
Carole - Infected bites
Jenny - Infected bites
Sandy - Infected bites
Brutus - Very irritable
(Editors Note: I wish to point out that the cause of my irritation was a certain Australian nurse and her Kiwi mate who, after demolishing a couple of bottles of the local brew, insisted that I should have a beer shampoo.)
Lake Malawi
Jean - Skun toe. Grasshopper bites
Noel - P.U.O & Goobies
Marg - Goobies
Caorle - Goobies
Jenny - Earache & Gooby
Bob - Gooby
Brutus - Sleeping sickness, shits
Little Pete - Shits
Graham - Gooby; welding burns on feet; fell over and stubbed toe; guts ache.
All - Mozzie bites
Lusaka, Zambia
Carole - Love sick
Little Pete - Love sick
Sandy – Pus (bites)
Carole – Pus (bites)
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
John - Infected wart on elbow
Most - Infected goobies
Salisbury, Zimbabwe
Carole - Recurring goobies
Jenny - Recurring goobies
Sandy - Recurring goobies
Zimbabwe Ruins
Sandy - Amputated toenail
Little Pete - Orcho-dermitis
Johannesburg, South Africa
Jenny - Nits
Graham - Sore eye
Carole - Pruritis
Graham - Stood on tent peg
Sandy - Goobies
Jean - Goobies
Noel - Big toe nail off
Graham - Shits
Noel - Shits
Jean - Stew sickness (ie. Sick of eating stew)
The Gold Medal for the most ailments at one time goes to Graham, for his effort at Lake Malawi: Gooby; welding burns on feet; fell over and stubbed toe; guts ache.
This surpassed the great effort by Paul, in Delhi of: Shits, chucks and toothache.
My thanks to Sandy for keeping this record of the trip, and to Jean for bringing it to my attention.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A reminder of times past – part 4
Meanwhile back at the travel reminiscing…
The period from March to July 1971 was spent in Johannesburg, working to refill the financial coffers in preparation for the next leg of the trip around Australia
It was shortly after arriving at a campsite in Joburg that we met a group of lads from Surrey in England who had driven a Land rover, from England, across the Sahara, and down to South Africa. Graham was to buy their Land rover, for use on the trip around Oz, and two of the members of the group, Peter Ide and Lou Winwood were to join the trip.
For our stay in Joburg we rented a couple of flats in the suburb of Hillbrow. We all found some sort of employment. I managed to get a job working on the construction of the Hillbrow Microwave Tower, which was just ten minutes walk from our flat.
Our stay in Joburg was greatly assisted by Bernie Fisher, a local resident and friend of Graham’s, who, besides providing accommodation when we first arrived, lead us around all the best (and some fairly average) drinking establishments of Hillbrow. I wonder.....has the Chelsea Hotel survived the past 35 years?
Following Peter and Carole’s engagement and departure for Australia, while in Joburg, another member of the group, Noel, became engaged to Malcolm, a friend of Bernie’s.
On July 10, 1971 John, Sandy, Jean, Marg and myself, together with luggage and camping equipment, squeezed into a rented Ford Escort and headed out of Joburg to Lourenzo Marques (now known as Maputo) in Mozambique. After the claustrophobia of living in a big city for three months, it was exhilarating to be back on the road.
After a few days in Mozambique we headed for Swaziland, and then took a slow drive down the coast, intending to meet up with the rest of the group, who had gone in various directions, in Durban. Well…everyone turned up….except the ship, which was to take us to Australia. It was running 9 days late.
We were accommodated in Durban by Bernie’s brother Red, and sister-in-law Kay, as well as their neighbours Don and Lill (a couple of ex-poms) for a few days before deciding to fill in the time until the ship arrived by driving down to the the small coastal town of Port St John. Here we spent the best part of a week, propping up the local bar between periods of “drowning worms” in the sea.
The Lloyd Triestino ship “Guglielmo Marconi” eventually docked in Durban some ten days late and on July 30 we farewelled Africa and, looked forward to arriving at our next destination – Fremantle, Western Australia.
The period from March to July 1971 was spent in Johannesburg, working to refill the financial coffers in preparation for the next leg of the trip around Australia
It was shortly after arriving at a campsite in Joburg that we met a group of lads from Surrey in England who had driven a Land rover, from England, across the Sahara, and down to South Africa. Graham was to buy their Land rover, for use on the trip around Oz, and two of the members of the group, Peter Ide and Lou Winwood were to join the trip.
For our stay in Joburg we rented a couple of flats in the suburb of Hillbrow. We all found some sort of employment. I managed to get a job working on the construction of the Hillbrow Microwave Tower, which was just ten minutes walk from our flat.
Our stay in Joburg was greatly assisted by Bernie Fisher, a local resident and friend of Graham’s, who, besides providing accommodation when we first arrived, lead us around all the best (and some fairly average) drinking establishments of Hillbrow. I wonder.....has the Chelsea Hotel survived the past 35 years?
Following Peter and Carole’s engagement and departure for Australia, while in Joburg, another member of the group, Noel, became engaged to Malcolm, a friend of Bernie’s.
On July 10, 1971 John, Sandy, Jean, Marg and myself, together with luggage and camping equipment, squeezed into a rented Ford Escort and headed out of Joburg to Lourenzo Marques (now known as Maputo) in Mozambique. After the claustrophobia of living in a big city for three months, it was exhilarating to be back on the road.
After a few days in Mozambique we headed for Swaziland, and then took a slow drive down the coast, intending to meet up with the rest of the group, who had gone in various directions, in Durban. Well…everyone turned up….except the ship, which was to take us to Australia. It was running 9 days late.
We were accommodated in Durban by Bernie’s brother Red, and sister-in-law Kay, as well as their neighbours Don and Lill (a couple of ex-poms) for a few days before deciding to fill in the time until the ship arrived by driving down to the the small coastal town of Port St John. Here we spent the best part of a week, propping up the local bar between periods of “drowning worms” in the sea.
The Lloyd Triestino ship “Guglielmo Marconi” eventually docked in Durban some ten days late and on July 30 we farewelled Africa and, looked forward to arriving at our next destination – Fremantle, Western Australia.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Secret travel destinations required
A Happy New Year to everyone. Not too long until the reunion in March.
I had John and Sandy call in on New Years Eve. John had brought around some CD’s which he thought contained photo’s of the Oz trip. There were lots of photo’s on the CD’s but not many of Oz. It seems that he has a similar filing system to me. Does anyone have any good tips for how to file photo’s on your computer so that you can find them again? This is yet another excuse for me not producing something on the Oz trip!
The main reason for this post is that, while chatting to John and Sandy, they mentioned that they are planning a trip to the UK later in the year. They are looking for destinations to stop off, on the flight from Melbourne to London, which are interesting places to visit, and are off the tourist track. I did suggest Kabul and Baghdad, but they weren’t that keen.
So here’s your chance to suggest that special, out of the way place, somewhere between Oz and the UK, which is your favourite stop over. Just click on that “comment” tag at the bottom of this post and make a suggestion…but keep ‘em clean. If you don’t wish to inform the world about your special place then send John and Sandy an email.
On the reunion front…Margaret has organised another get together of the Melburnites in a couple of weeks, so if you have firmed up, or altered, any travel arrangements for the reunion could you email me before January 13th.
Best Wishes to everyone for 2007.
TTFN.
I had John and Sandy call in on New Years Eve. John had brought around some CD’s which he thought contained photo’s of the Oz trip. There were lots of photo’s on the CD’s but not many of Oz. It seems that he has a similar filing system to me. Does anyone have any good tips for how to file photo’s on your computer so that you can find them again? This is yet another excuse for me not producing something on the Oz trip!
The main reason for this post is that, while chatting to John and Sandy, they mentioned that they are planning a trip to the UK later in the year. They are looking for destinations to stop off, on the flight from Melbourne to London, which are interesting places to visit, and are off the tourist track. I did suggest Kabul and Baghdad, but they weren’t that keen.
So here’s your chance to suggest that special, out of the way place, somewhere between Oz and the UK, which is your favourite stop over. Just click on that “comment” tag at the bottom of this post and make a suggestion…but keep ‘em clean. If you don’t wish to inform the world about your special place then send John and Sandy an email.
On the reunion front…Margaret has organised another get together of the Melburnites in a couple of weeks, so if you have firmed up, or altered, any travel arrangements for the reunion could you email me before January 13th.
Best Wishes to everyone for 2007.
TTFN.
