I have been on Thursday Island for a few weeks now, and I notice that life has a different pace here, 'Ailan time' as it is said and spelt in Creole. I like it. Here it is quieter, more peaceful, less stressful on more than one level. I can stop and breathe, take stock and just enjoy. The people I am looking after are gorgeous. They have stories to tell and there is a friendliness and openess that I appreciate. It should be noted that I am also nursing for the first few weeks of this contract. So I am looking after men, women and children - not just the secret women's business of pregnancy and birth. This brings with it a chance to refresh my skills and to learn the cultural nuances of caring for men and women from the islands.
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| Stained glass window - Thursday Island Hospital |
Being a small place there is also the business of knowing other peoples business. Everyone knows who and where you are. Whilst I am blogging and sharing part of my life with you, it is important to note that I treasure my privacy, the capacity to be invisible at times. I like to choose what is shared. The biggest challenge of being here, is that I can't just jump in my car and disappear. Seeking solitude - at the same time exploring, sounds like a contradiction doesn't it? I can be alone without being lonely. The reality is that as a contract nurse/midwife, I arrive at new places on a regular basis for short periods of time. I have learnt also that people don't want to invest in a relationship that is of such a short duration. They don't need to hear how somewhere else might do things differently or better the minute you arrive. Someone recently taught me the phrase "not my circus, not my monkeys" which is really important when coming to a new place. It roughly translates into not trying to change things, or get involved in the 'business' - let it go. Here, I have learnt a valuable phrase - "I no sabe" - I know nothing - I think it means the same thing in much a nicer turn of phrase. So, I watch, I listen, I learn. I think we really do get older and wiser .... but lets go back to exploring the island.
Thursday Island is approximately 5 square kilometres in size and so you can pretty much walk everywhere. It is the heat and humidity that saps your energy though at this time of year. So occasionally I catch a cab to another part of the island and then commence my walk. There is so much history on this island, from its pearling and fishing to its strategic and defensive history during the wars. I have a particular interest in the cemetery here which is filled with the graves of the pearl divers; the settlers; and of course the indigenous families of the Islands. I could spend hours here exploring and reading the inscriptions on the headstones and examining the artefacts that are left on the graves intact, and not vandalised.
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| Pearl Divers Graves - TI Cemetery |
I walk to and from work unless it is raining or dark and then the courier might give me a lift. I choose the longer route, because it is along Victoria Parade (the waterfront) and the view is spectacular. There is always something to observe. There is art in all sorts of places, sculptures along the foreshore and of course Gab Ti Tui (the cultural and arts centre and well worth the visit) http://www.gabtitui.gov.au.
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| Turtle - Foreshore TI |
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| Part of an installation at Gab Ti Tui |
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| Dugong - outside the Community Wellness Centre |
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| At the entrance to Island from the Engineers Wharf |
There are the ferries; Naval patrol boats; Australian Border Force boats; The pilot boats that head out to meet the tankers coming through the reef; The locals in their dingys, standing in the stern as they cross from TI (Thursday Island) to Horne or Prince of Wales (POW) Islands; People fishing off the warves; The changing light; the differences in tides from one day to the next; Or the number of birds that I have begun to notice that have sought a home here on Island for this season.
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| Border Force |
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| Peddells Wharf |
It doesn't take long before I am carrying my camera pretty much wherever I go (just in case) and am adding to my bird count. Still only counting them once I have a photograph to prove that I have seen them. I have also discovered eBird and have started logging my observations on that site. http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L2520402 (More on that at another time). I have only a few more days here really before I move on again and one thing is for certain ... five weeks really is not long enough.
