Doctor! Doctor!

Not a Thompson Twins song (well, it is actually), but us trying to find a doctor to look at Diane's left foot, that has been progressively getting more painful and curbing her ability to walk any form of distance. With all the local Medicare (Australia's sort of equivalent to the NHS) doctors full up for many days hence, we have to find a private doctor. What we have noticed, is that there is a tremendous number of private hospitals and medical care centres, compared to the UK, so whilst finding someone to examine Diane was relatively easy, it comes at a price (and as we found out later, not covered by our travel insurance). The doctor's prognosis was that it was probably plantar fasciitis, that is a disorder of the connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot. We reckon this all started when Diane stumbled over a kerb a week before we left the UK and the quite intensive programme of touring has probably exacerbated this, particularly the trekking in Nepal. The doctor recommended at CT scan and an X-ray, to look at the tendons, but also to rule out any fracture of the bones. He suggests a private clinic that could undertake this pretty much straight away. Before that we contact our travel insurers. They advise that any private solutions are not insured. We have to see a public health provider under the reciprocal health care agreement between Australia and the UK. But we wish to move on up the coast and decide upon a plan, where we go into a hospital further up the coast, where it might be easier to both park and get seen quickly.

In the meantime, we do not want to waste any more of the day that's left, so hop on a bus again and use the ferry to visit the Botanical Gardens, reached through the University Campus grounds. But as soon as we get there, it starts to rain and the thought of Diane hobbling around in the wet is not appealing. So we take the ferry back to the city centre, where there is a market set up, including some street food vendors. The sun has also re-appeared! We see a Spanish vendor and have some paella, which is really pretty tasty and extremely filling. We take our final bus journey back to the caravan park, this time remembering the bus stop to get off at.

Tomorrow, we want an early start, to find the right hospital to get Diane's foot sorted. "The game's afoot" - good old Henry V.