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Published: August 20th 2011
Well my time is up in the hospital. I'm feeling much better and well rested. The painkillers have been working and letting me get some sleep. I can't carry my big backpack but i'm hoping people on the tour will help me. I can carry all my other stuff. I will try to get wheels for it in Broome.
Rhett, my new tour guide came and picked me up just after lunch. Everyone on the tour was warned about what happened to me and they were all really nice. Everyone wanted to know the whole story so I shared it with them. Everyone was so helpful with me wanting to carry everything for me.
We stopped at the same place for lunch and I walked over to the grocery store and grabbed some more painkillers. Then we were on our way back to Karijini just like I had done a week ago. Was very weird being back. Rhett got everyone ready to go into Joffrey gorge where I fell. You could tell some people were scared to go into the gorge but they all went. I walked to the lookout point and had some mixed emotions. I took some
pictures of the lookout on the other side where I was brought up. Kind of scary!
Everyone came back all fine and no injuries so that was good. We walked over to the main building for dinner and I was able to see all the people who had helped me down in the gorge and Fiona so it was nice to talk to them and thank them for helping me. THe one guy even wore a canucks shirt just because he knew I was coming back haha...i gave him heck for wearing the wrong team!
Tonight was really hard, the first night being away from the hospital bed and I had a mini panic attack I think and was in a lot of pain and had to sit up for a while until the pain subsided. I did eventually get some sleep though.
The next morning we all had breakfast and then we drove to an easier gorge and Rhett really wanted me to try going down if I felt like I could. I decided at the top that it looked ok, it was more like stairs. Rhett walked in front of me and another guy walked
right behind me. I did ok but once I was down in the gorge there wasn't much for me to do because it involved a lot of climbing around rocks. I waited for the rest of the group at the top.
Then we hopped back in the bus and went to check out Knox gorge lookout. Quite impressive. You can hike down into the deep gorge but we didn't. Our next stop was the hardest one for me. We went to the Joffrey gorge lookout where my accident happened. From the lookout you can see exactly where I fell and you can see just how far up they had to bring me on the stretcher. It brought back all the memories just being back there. I also got to see just how steep a climb up from the lookout it is to where the ambulance was. Those rescuers had their work cut out rescuing me!
We headed back to camp for lunch and a rest and the rest of the group hopped back on the bus to go to a tougher gorge. I decided to hang back at camp and had a rest. Everyone was back in time
for dinner.
On our last day in Karijini we headed out to Dales gorge. It's a beautiful gorge with a cascading waterfall and in behind there is a little fairy pond to go swimming in. Rhett figured I'd be alright with this hike so I decided to give it a go as I didn't really want to miss it. Rhett was in front of me the whole time which was really good.
We headed first to the fairy pond which was amazing with two small waterfalls. You could see all the fish in the water too. Most people hopped in and had a swim. Apparently it wasn't too cold but not warm haha. Rhett and I headed back to the top ahead of everyone else because we weren't sure how long it would take me. I was very impressed with me and my ribs as we killed it in no time!
After stopping at Circular pool for a look and some lunch we were on our way out of Karijini and off towards Broome. Karijin will always be in my memories thats for sure and not just for it's beauty. It may be stunning but it is
also dangerous. I'm very lucky that I only have to endure some broken ribs, a few stitches in my head and a sore foot.
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jess
non-member comment
yeeow! is all I can say to you for getting through this experience intact. It's a hugely difficult thing to return to a scene where you were injured and force yourself to do it again - I've been there too - but if you hadn't I think you would regret not trying - just like falling off a horse hey! I'm so proud of you for pushing through the fear and finishing your tour! And you got some amazing memories & photos out of the whole thing too, so that's a big plus ;)