Rob

I haven't kept you up to date about everything. Rob is in Cairns to see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow and then he is scheduled for an operation on Thursday. Why?

Well about three weeks ago, while climbing to board one of our pilot boats, he fell. And he fell about four feet - flat on his back - onto the cement wharf. I was there and I got a big fright, especially when I called his name several times and he did not respond. Eventually he opened his eyes, sat up and carried on.

He called into the medical centre the next day and was told that he had bruised his knee. But after hobbling around the island for a week in a lot of pain, he finally went to the hospital where they x-rayed his leg and found a broken fibula.

So - Rob is now in Cairns awaiting further medical treatment. I'm joining him on Christmas Eve simply because there are absolutley no flights off the island and I was lucky to get this one as the company had nabbed this ticket as a "just in case".

We were both ok with the idea of spending Christmas Day together in Cairns, doing our own thing, perhaps enjoying a delicious lunch from one of the many lovely restaurants along the esplanade. But again, matters have been taken out of our hands.

One of our pilots and his lovely lady live on the tablelands about an hour from Cairns and he has invited us  to spend Christmas Day with them. How blessed are we?

After that, on the first available flight out of Cairns, we will fly home to Brisbane where Rob will recuperate for the next 4-6 weeks. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans .......

So now things are a bit hectic up here. ARP is having to find replacement staff and there will be a constant relay of people coming up from Brisbane to fill in until Rob gets back. We are short a cleaner, and I have been filling in until we hired someone, but I'm out of here on Friday and so far we have not had any response to our ad. I hope they find someone soon.

The pilots and crew and all concerned about Rob and wish him a speedy recovery. They're also worried about how things will work while he's away because as one of the pilots said to me today "with shipping, it's just another day". In other words - there is no festive season, there is no slowing down because it's holiday time.

But you know - God or the Universe or whoever or whatever you believe in, works in mysterious ways. Rob needed to stop and rest. But unfortunately, he was not going to do this of his on accord. Now he has to - he has no choice. The matter was taken out of our hands and dealt with accordingly. In the scheme of things this is not a tragedy - it could have been far worse when I think of the way that he fell.

Ok - so a holiday would be nicer without a full cast and maybe a bit of pain, but hopefully Rob will stop, breathe, smell the roses, taste the coffee ...... and enjoy.

As I've learnt so many times this year - life is unpredictable.