Reality bites

{EAV:b74e191340ab0f34}
What can I say about life here?  Never dull...our second weekend was spent unpacking and having a bit of a look around.  We spotted 2 wolf spiders, a white tailed nasty spider and another redback, all poisonous.  All in or around the house, despite Matt and Bec's efforts to have the place sprayed for insects for us before they left.  Kookaburras laugh like maniacal monkeys in the trees outside our window each morning, but are very reasonable about never starting before 5 a.m. Gina has enrolled in high school, smug about skipping directly into Year 11 and signing up for a welding class, but not so keen on her phys. ed. class.  She had hoped for exercise 5/5 days, but it's actually theory of human anatomy 4/5 days and 1 day a week she does sports. Hmmm...but last week a visiting coach really impressed her.  He'd coached olympic athletes and is currently working with the state's premier footy team...taught them a few things about sprinting. Despite having to work outside in +35C, she learned a lot!  Also, despite the infected spider bite on her ankle....yes, it's never dull! Gina awoke last Friday with a bite of some sort. Mosquito?  Apparently not! It grew. And it grew...by Saturday it was distractingly red, infected and painful.  We didn't realize how bad it was getting while we drove to Fremantle to pick up a campervan that Kees had purchased for us. Checking in to a chemist shop for antihistamines and antiseptic cream was not the best move, but we were pressed for time, as the van dealer was due to close at noon, or so we thought.We planned to find her a doctor after getting the van.  Luckily, an employee at the van dealer's was also a nurse.  He had a good look at it, drained it and dressed it well.Despite the initial excruciating pain, Gina said she felt better, then slept through a lot of the day due to the antihistamine. We all had a chance to dip our toes in the ocean at Ports Beach, but 37C made the intensity of the sun dangerous. Cool breezes and crashing waves weren't enough to charm us. We headed back to Williams in 2 vehicles and hoped that Gina's infection would stabilize.  She's a tough kid! Made it through to Sunday before we took her to the emergency room at Narrogin Hospital. Nasty bite! Antibiotics and peace of mind are really priceless, aren't they? By Monday it was a disturbingly dark purple mess, but she made it through the day and was delighted to report that the swelling was going down after the wound had burst and drained through the day. Antibiotics were doing the trick.  It took a full 10 days before the bite seemed to almost completely disappear, just as Matt's dad had predicted. Everyone we knew had
had a look at it and asked about it, making Gina feel a whole lot better about her unfortunate experience. Within the first 2 weeks of school here, she confronted her worst fears about poisonous bugs in this country and found the courage and strength to overcome them. Happy ending to this one!