Taree Tigers - 28th June

G'day!

Well, you've heard all about us and here we are - the Taree Tigers Men's B Grade Hockey Team......most of us. The occasion was a bonding/tactics session which was held at our house today. We are not having quite the same success as we had last year but that is all about to change. After lots of talk, barbecued steak and sausages accomapanied by delicious salads, a session of " backyard cricket " where I learnt some new rules like "trap " and " relay " and of course, a few beers; we settled down and plotted the downfall of our opponents for the second half of the season.

Front -
Mal Pullen - full back and gentleman ( off the field at least )
Edward Eden - inner when he plays for us but also a very talented goalkeeper in age-group hockey
Left to right
Tommy - inner with silky skills who is a Uni student in Bathurst so only gets to play for us during holidays
Matt Pullen - player/coach who is also the A Grade goalkeeper but plays in the field for us, has an unstoppable Tomahawk
Rob Eden - more than solid outside half with a dodgey right shoulder
Dom - has been threatening to play for us all season
Darren/Daz/Dasher - outside half, a nicer guy you'll never meet
Nick - hard running inner with a huge heart and multiple piercings
Dominic/Tag - our indominatable goalkeeper who always helps to keep us competitive
Gary/Gaz/Salty - full back and the original hard man, a real leader and a loyal friend
Leonie - our forever cheerful and positive Manager
me
We have had a week of recovery with Bron and Jen slowly getting over their flu. I took a couple of days off to give Bron a break which she is never happy to do, but I think it helped. A highlight of the week for all of us was Matt's birthday on Friday. He always asks for an unusual gift and this year he has become a pogo stick expert in 2 days - up steps, down steps..............too much for the heart to handle. He took a mate to see Transformers 2 on Friday night and seems to be happy to be 12.

Finally, after yesterday/last night's rugby, I think we will all be a little surprised if Morne Steyn doesn't start in the final test against the British and Irish Lions - what a game!

This week will be a short week for us as we head off to Wollongong to watch Matt's hockey from Friday to Sunday. His team will be travelling by bus and staying in a hostel of sorts - survival camp.

With best wishes from Taree.

Dylan, Bronwyn, Matthew and Jennifer

Surfers - 21 June 2009

G'day

This week's picture is of me and Sean Khoury as we are about to enter the surf ( a bit flat )at North Avoca yesterday. And if you believe that.................

It was taken at North Avoca but Sean was standing right next to me on the beach. As I took this photo I wondered whether it might be used as a " last seen entering the big surf " picture and whether Sean and I would be calling whatever rescuers we could think of. Anyway, we got distracted and I honestly can't tell you what happened to them.

Sean is a Radiologist who started Medical School with me and via rather a tortuous route, he and his lovely wife Carolina find themselves living 200m back from the beach at North Avoca. They have three beautiful and talented daughters and most of Sean's family including his parents live nearby. North Avoca is about 40km North of Sydney as the coastal seagull flies but a bit further by road. Whenever we have driven past on our way to Sydney, we have been tempted to drop in but our opportunity came when Matt had a Regional Hockey Tournament in Wyong today. By Aussie standards Wyong is very close to North Avoca ( 40 minutes ). When I asked Sean about nearby B&B's he would have none of it and we spent the night at their home ( next door to their newly built home which is not quite ready - complicated I know ). We had a great evening which included boerewors, Sean's mum's homemade hamburger patties and lots of rugby watching.

Matt played hockey against doctor's but not dad's orders and had 2 storming games against Newcastle and Central Coast - the 2 strongest teams ( both nil all draws ) but then ran out of wheels. We have 2 weeks to get him fit for State Champs.

Whilst driving down to the Central Coast late yesterday morning ( 3 and a half hours ) and back this afternoon ( 3 hours ) I was reminded of my patients who would drive from Underberg, Bergville and Winterton to see me. I could never understand it but I have realised that travelling just has to become a way of life if you live rurally. This becomes more and more applicable with every person who reminds me that given my Paediatric " recognition ", we don't need to stay in Taree anymore. Besides the debt of grattitude I feel I owe the hospital and the committment I have made to my new patients and colleagues, we are enjoying our " country cosiness ". We are happy in Taree and enjoyed arriving home this evening.

Have a great week.

Dyl, Bron, Matt, Jen

Warmth - 14June 2009

G'day !

Ok, so I scraped the bottom of the barrel with respect to today's pic but, it is current and it is what we have been enjoying during this week's cold snap.

It has been an eventful week I suppose. What with me diagnosing Matt with pneumonia on Friday ( he wouldn't consent to me using his Chest Xray as my picture of the week ), Tessa escaping today - twice, me having a tough time at work trying to do the job of two people not to mention being on call this weekend although it has been quiet and, most disturbingly, losing my hockey games on Thursday night and last night.

So, no philosophical ramblings or interesting facts today...................

A bit of news - we are coming back to SA for Xmas and will be in Johannesburg from 24th December to 3rd January, Nambiti from 4th to 6th January, then a couple of days in Durban before going back to Johannesburg until we leave on 15th January. We looked for the cheapest flights we could which were on Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong. We thought this would be doable especially when we decided to spend the money we would have saved by spending 3 nights in Hong Kong ( Bron, Matt and Jen are Disney freaks and it will be tough for me to persuade them to go anywhere besides Disneyland )on the way over. Logic...................

We have also decided to give Matt and Jen a taste of skiing and will be going to the Aussie snowfields to a place called Thredbo for 3 days after Matt's State Hockey Champs in Wollongong over the first weekend in July.

Well, my fire needs another log and Bron needs a cup of coffee after spending a couple of hours raking leaves ( I had to monitor Matt..........or at least that's my story ).

Later.

Dyl, Bron, Sick Boy and Jen

Me and my boy - 7 June 2009

Greetings !

Bron took this picture of me and Matt at Harrington today. Jen was playing at a friend and we went to Harrigan's Irish Pub for lunch - quite a good atmosphere and I enjoyed my Kilkenny on tap. You may remember that the Manning River has two outlets - the Northern outlet is at Harrington and the Southern is at Old Bar. The Southern one closes up from time to time and there is endless debate as to whether it should be opened up or left alone. The dairy farmers want to leave it to nature and the oyster farmers want it permanently open.

This weekend is a long weekend in Australia thanks to the Public Holiday for the Queen's Birthday tomorrow. I am surprised that the whole Commonwealth / Republic thing isn't more topical. In fact, when it comes to politics, I am getting quite disillusioned living in a country where the government doesn't " rule " and where the Opposition does just that - oppose practically everything that the party which is supposedly in power puts forward. Perhaps growing up with the National Party and then the ANC, I am just not used to what an Opposition is supposed to do. Anyway, it seems very ineffcient and unproductive, and the number of small battles that are fought seems ludicrous.

Still on politics, our 4th Year Medical students finished their Paediatric block and gave me a book called " In Our Time - the speeches that shaped the modern world ". It includes Nelson Mandela's opening statement for the Defence at the Rivonia Trial in Pretoria on 20 April 1964 and the speech at his Inauguration 30 years later. I wish I had read both of them more often and I will never stop hoping that South Africa will be the " rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world " which he ( on behalf of the ANC )proposed to build.

The students also made up a limerick for me -

There was a nice doctor called Dylan
His specialty was helping children
The students he taught
To treat children with thought
And hopefully never to kill them!

Well, I had to give them some kind of goal!

Later............

Dyl, Bron, Matt and Jen

Time Flies - 31 May 2009

G'day, Gruss Gott and Guten Tag

- to both of you who emailed ( one to check that we were okay and one to ask where her letter was ) early last week, it is good to know that someone anticipates my weekly update from Down Under.

Let me just say that my trip to Europe has made it very clear to me why it took so long for Australia to be invaded - it is so far away from Europe........and I had the benefit of a Business Class ticket on Qantas!!!!!

How do you like the conference venue ( see pic )? I'm not sure what they did about ADHD in centuries gone by but the 2nd International Congress on ADHD was incredibly rewarding and I learnt heaps - not sure that I should admit to that given that ADHD is my area of Special Interest. Did you know that Ritalin was named ofter the wife ( Rita )of the first pharmacist who manufactured Methylphenidate. Talk about leaving your mark...............

I loved Vienna and enjoyed being surrounded by " old ". I remembered being there as a 12 year old although my memory of St Stephen's Cathedral was that there was a sport shop nearby. This time I spent a long time inside the cathedral and soaked up the history associated with it. I couldn't find the sport shop by the way.

Following my conference I travelled to Hanover to visit my family there. I made sure that I got to travel on the ICE ( one of my alltime favourite things to do ) but more importantly got to spend a fantastic four days with my cousin Torsten, his wife Jana and their children Kira and Bennett ( my godson ); my uncle ( he loved the Akubra hat which I had lovingly carried from Taree - I tell ya, it nearly didn't make it.....)and aunt; and my other cousin Jorg. My time in Hanover coincided with Nigel and Hannes's trip so I got to spend a day with them too - which was really good if not a little weird.

Bron and the kids seem to have coped admirably without me. I have mixed feelings about this but seriously, the last two weeks have surely been easier for me than for them. Bron understands the need for me to attend these conferences and that the opportunity is there and one not to be missed.

So, armed with new knowlege and enthusiasm, I will head off to work tomorrow knowing that I really have the ability to make a difference.

Dylan, Bronwyn, Matthew and Jennifer