Traveling solo in New Zealand

Well it has been a while, first a quick update on the knee front.  Going remarkably well, only thing I still have problems with is if I am sitting for a while then its awkward to get up.  Otherwise the right knee is pain free when I walk, which is pretty amazing.

The recovery is so good I have been able to travel to New Zealand where I joined up with a number of work colleagues to go to the Wearable Arts Festival in Wellington.  But thought I would take advantage of goinh there and see a bit of the countryside first.  So I travelled on my own from Auckland to Wellington.  Stayed in Auckland the first night and with the maybe false sense of security of a traveller, felt quite comfortable wandering the streets at night and finding a lovely place to eat at called Elliott Stables, which is like an upmarket food hall.

I was incredibly lucky as the weather was amazing, clear skies with a bit of rain at night and a bit of rain on the road as I travelled from Auckland to Taupo where I stayed at Debretts Spa Resort which is a cabin park with its own Thermal Springs so spent a lovely few hours in the hot springs.  Bit daggy as they are quite old, but relaxing none the less.  Can't get over how amazingly friendly and helpful New Zealanders are.  It made it such an easy country to travel in on your own.




the slide at the thermal springs, no I did not go on it, chose instead to laze in the many pools

The NZ countryside is just beautrful, green rolling hills, then roads winding beside rivers with strange red lowlying shrubs more rolling green hills with lines of mountains off in the distance.  Stopped at an incongrous little roadside break and discovered the most amazing waterfalls which were not even signposted.  At Napier, on the East Coast,  got caught up in the first ever National Earthquake Drill.  At the info centre when the siren went off and they told me to get behind the counter and kneel down.  When I explained that I couldn't kneel they were a bit discombobulated so said 'oh well just put your hands over your head' I am sure that would help  if  a ton of concrete was falling on  my head.


Travelling on my own forced me to plan a little bit more which meant deciding each morning where I would stay that night.  So on the third night chose from the internet a place called Himitangi Beach because it had a cabin park and according to the info it was good place to watch the sunset....  More green rolling hills, and now snow covered mountain ranges in the background.  Stopped at a winery called the Junction where the woman who owned the place with her husband suggested I sit in the sun and look out over the mountains  while she brought out wines for me to taste.  Choice! (that's what NZers say when they are happy I think)

At Himitangi Beach turned up at the cabin park to find they had a nice little self contained cabin available and when I asked the woman if there was anywhere I could get something to eat, she said 'mm what day is it? Wednesday - ahh the Cossie club will have their ten dollar roast.'  so after a walk along the most amazing and primeval beach I have seen - full of huge chunks of driftwood, huge sand dunes, groups of men with strange traingular fixed nets, that I learnt were for catching whitebait, I went off to the  only place to eat in this lovely village, the Cosmopolitan Boaters and Firshermen's club for what turned out to be a lovely roast lamb and a chat over dinner with some fellow cabin parkers.



Himitangi Beach

Then drove down to Wellington where I met up with the mob from work, 11 of us in total.  Had a lovely lovely time.  Wellington behaved admirably, sun shine every day, very little wind, spent lots of time walking along the waterfront, going to the markets, eating and occasionally drinking.  Best meals - the lobster sliders at the Hummingbird cafe in Courtenay Place, the kilo of mussels done in a coriander and coconut sauce at a German pub near Lambton Quay, and sweet things a Crack Pie at the market.  The locals celebrated the sunshine and summerlike temperature of 18C by going out in pedalboats and jumping off the pier into what I am sure was freezing cold water.  Lots of music, a ladies ukelele band at the market, dancing to 60s music, then an Irish band and the knee held up remarkably well.

Wellington Wharf

So all in all a good time.. loved travelling on my own and would recommend it to anyone who has not tried it, there is an element of freedom that allows you to stop and take photos, have different conversations wiht the people you meet, eat, drink and just soak up the place without having to negotiate.  But it's also good to travel with a companion, what's important is having the choice......

on the path to recovery

Well, back again and it is now nearly four weeks after the big cut..... So far so good, the knee is doing everything it is supposed to be doing, I can bend to about 130 degrees, I can straighten it and, when I walk little distances without a crutch I don't wobble anymore.  The things one can get excited about.

A get well picture from the daughter of a workfriend

I'm down to one crutch now and little distances at home without any.  I have learnt to take it slowly as last weekend overdid it a bit and the knee became swollen and painful again.  One of the most blissful things was finally being able to take a bath last week.  I love my bath, I love relaxing in it and having a soak, but the surgeon had said no immersion in water until the wound is completely healed.  Different surgeons have different guidelines I have learnt, some don't worry about immersion and others do.  But the reading I have done suggests infection is one of the biggest worries with knee replacements, next to DVT which of course can kill you.  So I took the path of caution and stayed out of the water, which made it even more special when, after 3 weeks, I got the all clear.  Re the DVT the precaution is pressure stockings which are a special form of torture, the recommendation is to wear them for six weeks.  I managed for 3, dropping down to only wearing them at night after one week, when I was home from hospital, and so far I have survived. 

Next to having a bath the  most blissful was going to hydrotherapy.  Found the Royal Talbot which is a ten minute drive from here.  Had been relying on the doona stealing weasel to take me there but, just to have an excuse not to look after me for a few days, he developed shingles, on his face, with swollen eyes so he could not see. I decided he was probably not the safest form of transport.  So booked a taxi, which arrived 20 minutes late, but I made it, and thankfully got picked up by my saviour neighbour, otherwise I would probably still be waiting.  If you have aching joints and have not done hydrotherapy then you are missing out.  The pool is warmed, a bit like a warm, but not hot, bath.  The physio assesses you first then gives you tailored exercises depending on which part of the body is the issue. And in the water I can walk, I can step up and down and  I can squat.  Without pain!  The water takes the stress off the joints and enables you to do exercises you would not otherwise be able to do.  It is magical.  And you get to mix with a bunch of oldies who are at different levels of mobility.

No it's not me it's Ari enjoying the bath!

So the good things: 
First the steady improvement, finding movement is easier each day and learning to manage pain - not that I've had a lot but the best lesson I have learnt is that it is better to take something not too strong like Panadol regularly, like 3 or 4 times a day, than strong painkillers when you feel the pain.  The message is avoid the pain, and then somehow the brain learns that there is no pain so in the end the pain decreases, whereas if you don;t take them untilyou feel pain, the brain learns there is pain and gears itself up to it.  (Well that's my scientific explanation anyway)

Second has been how lovely people are.  The doona stealing weasel of course who tried to cater to my every need until the attack of shingles.  His son who came down from Sydney and helped distract him from worrying about me.   Friends who've dropped in to ease the boredom of hanging around the house, neighbours who've helped with shopping particularly while the doona stealing weasel was not able to drive, neighbours who brought in meals and helped to walk the dog.  Em coming to stay for a couple of days, Bec and family visiting and being brave enough to allow the boys to stay here for a few hours and entertain me.  Tyke and Ari helping carry out the washing and bring in firewood. Our gardener who everytime he comes, stacks the firewood inside for us.

Third has been the weather.  I deliberately waited until winter and it has proved to be a brilliant idea.  When it's cold and raining outside you don't mind being stuck inside.  But of course being Melbourne we still get sunshine, particularly in the morning.  It shines through the lviing room windows and I can sit in my old nanna chair and feel the warmth through the glass while I watch the birds and look out on the garden.  Or I can get down to the park and sit in the sun (with several layers of clothing to withstand the icy wind!) while the dog runs around and again thanks to friends who have helped get me and the dog down to the park and then played games with her while we were there.  We can light the fire and enjoy the warmth and comfort that provides, and have a lovely glass of red (once I stopped the morphine) resting on the hearth.

The nanna chair in the sun

Fourth is where we live, it's just around the corner from a small strip shopping centre, so I have been able to hobble up to the little supermarket, to the doctors and to the optometrist, so don't feel quite so trapped.  And we have several coffee places that I have been able to walk to (with crutches) when I want to get out of the house and treat myself to a good coffee. 

So I am bloody lucky, I know that and have learnt to appreciate even more the people and things which help to make my life comfortable and worthwhile.  The downside has been the debate (or lack of it) about asylum seekers and the solution and the inability of the parliament ot find a humane solution.  I must admit to having shifted from being in favour of only on shore processing to looking at other alternatives, given the number of people who have drowned while trying to get here.  I think the answer is a regional solution but that will take time and we can't wait for more boats to sink.  But the coalition and the Greens are so entrenched and while they cry and make impassioned speeches they won't make any concessions or even allow the Government to try a new approach.  Let's hope that the work of the committee will find a workable solution.

occasional moments of happiness and joy: Two weeks to go

occasional moments of happiness and joy: Two weeks to go: See below re the pre op fears. Had intended to post it some weeks ago but got taken over by lots of things. So now I am sitting in my hospi...

bees knees

Getting back to the blog

I have had a long break from this blog, but I am now facing a fairly major step in my life so I thought I would use this to share my journey with  whoever you are out there who takes the time occasionally to dip into this blog. 

 I am 62, in reasonably good health but have dodgy knees. 

xrays don't scan very well here is a very faint image of my dodgy knee

It's hereditary I think. my mum had dodgy knees, though she always claimed that it was because of an accident.  I did have an accident - fell off a bike and cut my knee open when I was twelve and thought speeding down a hill on a gravel road and ending in a ditch sounded like good fun.   But I don't think that's why my knees are dodgy, I just think some people have em and some people don't. 

My knees have been dodgy for a few years,to the point where I might even pass up the opportunity to browse around a market because it's painful walking and standing for so long - and me giving up that opportunity is a very bad thing.  I've always loved walking - it's been a way to get myself calm when I get upset, it's the joy of watching the dog get excited when I put my shoes on, it's taking the time to see the trees and, at the moment, the puddles, it's a chance to slow down.  But at the moment I think twice everytime I walk and when I do I walk slowly and it's often painful. And lately everyone and their dog has been saying to me as I wobble - (yes I have developed one of those distinctive dodgy knee wobbles)  - 'when are you getting your knees done?'

I noticed it when I visited the lovely Em in Korea and she strode while I dawdled.  I'm a good dawdler, but even dawdling is getting difficult, so I have finally made the decision to get my right knee done - June 4th is the date.  It means the damaged bits of my knee are replaced with a combination of metal and plastic after cutting into the bone to make a flat surface.  It's called Arthroplasty of the knee and it will make me beep when I go through those doovy lackers at the airport.  But importantly what I am hoping is it will get rid of the pain. 

So I've had the MRI - where you get fed into a long cylinder, with, in my case, my knee clamped like a bit of wood on a workbench, so it didn't move and they play you music to keep you calm, but the machine is so loud you can't hear the music. And they talk to you as well over the headphones and say encouraging things like 'only 6 minutes left' and 'well done'. Then that lovely photo gets sent over to the States where they make a prosthesis out of titanium which is what gets put into the knee.

I admit I am terrified - scared it won't work and I'll go through that and still have the pain or never be able to straighten my leg or my nerves will be damaged or that it will be infected and I'll have to have it removed and another one put in (the possible risks in the info sheet the surgeon has given me).I'm scared I'll die from the operation (not mentioned) or blood clots (mentioned).

But, what the hell, I have had a good life and I want to be able to walk properly again, for long distances and keep up with the grandchildren. So I am preparing myself.

Me with the dodgy knees and the dog who loves to walk and chase the bike

I am going to a physio who specialises in osteo stuff and the advice is to strengthen the muscles around my knee and my 'gluts' so lots of buttock squeezing while I stretch my leg back etc..  I ride my bike, I try to do it most days for at least 20 minutes each day - take the dog to the park and ride around the park.  I have a fold up bike so I can put it in the boot.  That's a funny thing - I can ride my bike all day and my knees don't get sore unless I go uphill, so the alternative is I could just get a wheel and pedals prosthesis!  And I love water and swimming which always helps and I do hydrotherapy with all the other old dears who have all sorts of dodgy bits - shoulders, hips, knees, ankles - the things that can go wrong with the human body are endless.  And sometimes after I have been doing my exercises my knees stop hurting so I think well maybe if I just exercise I won't need to have my knee replaced, but then I sit at the computer and have trouble standing up and have to limp around my chair for a minute to get the legs going!

Stay tuned for the journey if you like, or if you don't want to be reminded about all the difficulties of ageing stay away for the next month or so!

If you've had a similar experience or know someone who has, I would love to hear from you, I htink it is important that we share our difficulties and dilemmas as well as the good bits of our lives.