George, Stan & Rover Reunion

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.