Barren Grounds - Cooks Nose and Flying Fox Pass

So before I begin, a little update, as I was diagnosed with Leukemia on the 24/8/2020.
My blog detailing this, ended with my first round of chemo finishing.
I was out for 2 weeks, before having to go back in for my second round of chemo, after spending the night in hospital my neutrophils dropped, and I was released home for another week.
I handed my second round of chemo better than the first (I was in remission after the first round). Maintaining my weight and eating by people bringing me in anything other than hospital food.
I was released the morning of my Wedding Anniversary 
I had my third round of what they call 'consolidation' chemotherapy and was released on the 30th of November, 2020. After 3 rounds of chemo. Laying in bed for 10 whole weeks, and having not done any exercise for longer than that due to my ankle fracture while rock climbing in June 2020 I was more than out of shape, and pretty worse for wear. My bone marrow transplant is booked in for late February and I have been at home resting and recovering, doing light exercise to try and build back up my strength. 
Before my bone marrow biopsy on the 18/1/21 I decided it was time to try a light walk, deciding there were some pretty flat and nice walks up at Barren Ground Nature Reserve (and also because I had previously done the hike with the intention to write about it, and left it too long, having being sitting in my drafts since 25/8/15.

So on the 15/1/21 I booked it in with Dad, our first walk together since his rock climbing accident and we set off up Jamberoo Mountain Road to Barren Ground.

Cooks Nose
Knowing the sort of walks at Barren Ground, and knowing how the chemo had made me very sensitive to the light and heat I sun-creamed up, packed my Akubra, and an over shirt for if the sun began to feel like too much for me. We pulled up with no idea of the path we would take, as the last time I had done Barren Grounds with my Dad we had done all of them. We decided to head up the Griffith's Loop Trail towards Cooks Nose Lookout, as I had parked right next to where this trail began.

We began walking up this way, while I told my Dad I was busting for the loo as I had not to long ago taken some of my cancer medication. "Midostaurin" which I told him after I take it, makes me need to frequently urinate.

We soon reached the cabin while I said I would head down a little path to the right of the cabin called 'Redbank Gully' a 1.1km return service trail to relieve myself.

After relieving myself and feeling the blistering heat I called my Dad to come down the Redbank Gully Trail, feeling like I would test the waters of the 1km walk to see how my body felt afterwards.
We began walking down and I think I appreciated more than usual the beauty of my surroundings, having been so long since I had been able to get out on a walk.

As we walked along I pointed out some Sundrew (a flypaper plant that stick prey to the hairs on them to consume, as I have a fascination for carnivorous plants).

The walked turned slightly downhill and before we knew it it had ended at a little creek. We turned around and began walking back to the cabin. I could feel the sting of the sun still and decided to take out my over-shirt I had packed in my bag just for a bit of extra protection, particularly on my neck which always seems to burn quite easily.

We returned to the cabin and continued upon Griffith's Loop Trail spotting a beautiful little Echidna  crossing the path.

As we continued a long a slight breeze began, and the sun became a bit less intense and I was able to remove my over-shirt. We walked past an elderly couple taking photo's and said hi, my Dad inquiring them on whether or not they had seen the Echidna, letting him know they hadn't and we continued walking.

We soon reached the turn off on our left that continued the Griffith Loop track that linked around to the other trail start from the carpark that leads to a lookout at 1km, a viewing platform at Saddleback Trig, and the start of the Kangaroo Ridge walk, the longest trail at Barren Ground. All of which we have done before and I have included the photos and description of those in a story at the bottom of this post. However, we continued forward towards Cooks Nose and Flying Fox path.

As we walked and talked I couldn't help but feel lucky. After all the time in hospital I just appreciated being where I was, and I was so acutely aware of everything. Every little bird call, the changing temperature on my skin as I felt the sun as I walked through the shaded branches of the trees, every little time the wind increased and it's cool gentle blowing on my body. Just the look of every little bit of nature around me out in the sun. It was like life felt more real. There was a time, when I had first been told about my cancer diagnosis where my thoughts were just of my death. I thought that was it, I'd never be out here experiencing this, seeing the beauty of all around me. I had flashbacks to being a kid and just running around outside, swimming, just being a greater part of the world around me. You don't feel that laying in a hospital bed, staring at your phone, wondering what the future holds, thinking about your own death and the things you'll never experience. Feeling so lonely... But I was outside and I felt great, and I knew I had my upcoming stem cell treatment but I didn't want to think about it. I was just happy to be alive here and now.

Bits of the trail were still wet, and we walked past a little puddle filled with tadpoles and into a slightly more shaded area.

We reached the fork were the track split between Flying Fox Pass and Cooks Nose. I could remember from last time that there wasn't much to see at Flying Fox Pass (the site of a former cable-car that transported timber from the valley), just some old bits of cement. Dad recalled this too, though neither of us could really remember Cooks Nose, so we turned left towards Cooks Nose which from this turn off was a 4.4km return, while Flying Fox Pass was a 2.9km return.

The path began to have a slight incline, and I was surprised by how well I was handing the walk, giving everything. I could feel a little pull on the muscle of my previously broken ankle but I was surprised by how well it felt too.

As we reached the top of the incline the path began to drop but where we were we could see the tops of the hills of the valley above the trees.

We reached another sign post pointing us through a small walkway amongst the trees but could also see an obvious, but unmarked track off to the right. Dad wanted to check down there, and I said we would on the way back and began through the trees.

We passed another sign letting us know we were arriving at Cooks Nose, and I wondered about the history of the name. Why was it called Cooks Nose? I stopped thinking about it, thinking I would look it up online later an detail why in my blog. A quick google search unveiled no answers for me. As we approached the lookout we were both hit with the recollection of the last time we were here.

We sat and ate a small packet of trail mix, admiring the view. I reapplied my sunscreen and we looked around the area, my Dad fascinated with a deep hole he said he would love to explore, saying no one had probably ever been down there before, and then the dark thought of "Could you imagine falling down there?"

We made our way back out and took the unmarked trail through the scrub. It was a short walk and led down past some beautiful rocks in the ground just to a cliff edge overlooking a house down in the valley but with no particularly good views.

We made our way back to the Flying Fox Pass split, and asked if we should also walk down that way (feeling great being outside and walking). My Dad didn't want it to be too much for me, and suggested that be enough for the day. So we began our way back to the car.

I thought I would be able to detail the entirety of the walks at Barren Ground, assuming I had ample photos of the other tracks from previous walks, however it turns out that I had overestimated my documentation of those walks, with nothing but a few poor photo's done on a very old phone. Here are just a few simple photo's on the way to Flying Fox Pass.

Which is a little disappointing and left me feeling like I should have pushed to also go down Flying Fox Pass again. Although we only ended up doing just shy of 8km my body definitely felt the strain of it over the next few days. So instead of cramming the rest of the Barren Ground walks into one blog this left me making it as the one walk. 

We arrived back at the car and I felt mentally great. The walk had done wonders for my mental health, and now before my stem cell transplant in February I am determined to go and do the rest of the tracks once more to properly detail them in another blog.

I had a bone marrow biopsy today (as I write the latter half of these blog post) on the 18/1/21 to make sure I am still in remission and all good to go forward with my stay in a hospital in Sydney for the stem cells. So I am determined to get out there and do more hiking before my 4 week stay in hospital and potentially even longer recovery time, so please check back in!

I will bookend with a few photo's taken in 2014 (a very long time ago) in which I documented some maps and details of the Barren Ground, Cooks Nose and Flying Fox Pass walk information signage available at the carpark.

You Are Here taken from Barren Ground Carpark -2014

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Thanks for reading! - Steven

Dad and I on the walk

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

 So back on the 21st of June 2020 I suffered an avulsion fracture on my ankle while at a Bouldering Gym.

I spent a bit off time off from work, before eventually going in three times a week on half days while my Wife was working from home during Covid. Eventually when I was able to drive, though still on crutches I returned to work 5 days a week for half days. My injury seemed to be taking ages to heal and the bruise under my foot took ages to go away. After many weeks when it disappeared I was finally able to put some pressure down and in a short amount of time I was walking (with a bit of a limp). I eventually got medical clearance and was finally able to return to work full time, glad to be up and walking around stretching my ankle muscle and looking forward to getting back in to hiking. 

I had noticed some small bruises on my arms but put it down to where the crutches had constantly been rubbing on my arms. I had called my Dad and was wanting to organise hiking at Barren Ground as my first hike since my injury, and first hike with him since his rock climbing accident. I thought it was a good walk for the two of us as it was a long and mostly flat walk. I had also really wanted to finally blog about it, as I had actually done the hike a few times and at one point photographed the whole thing in preparation for a blog post. However time got away from me and I forgot the walk or anything to write about sitting with a folder of photos and a draft blog from 25th August 2015, which if I had wrote it would have made it my blogs fourth ever blog post.

However random bruises kept appearing on my body, and I began to get concerned (although I only thought it was a Vitamin D deficiency from being stuck inside due to my ankle). I booked a Doctors appointment for the next Monday as my Wife was concerned about a freckle on my back and locked in hiking with my Dad for the weekend.

Before the weekend came my Dad called to inform me my Nan was in hospital with pneumonia, which she has been in hospital for 4 times the previous year. He was going to travel up to Woy Woy to visit her and I asked if he wanted me to come. He told me not to worry because of Covid restrictions. My Nan ended up recovering.

I enjoyed a nice weekend with my Wife and Dog before returning to work Monday the 24th August, where I went to the Doctors on my lunch break. My back freckle was fine but I was sent for a blood test about the bruises.

I continued my day at work when around 4pm nearing the end of my work day my Doctor called saying my results where concerning and to go to a hospital straight away, this threw me completely and I barely remember the call, going numb and fuzzy. As I went to my desk to try to collect my bag I tried to tell my team members I had to go to hospital, breaking down as I said it. My work colleague ran after me as I left telling me I couldn't drive in my condition as he drove me to Shellharbour Hospital. 

I called my Wife who was very upset and her and her parents came, as they needed to collect my car. They did a bunch of tests and eventually the Doctor told me it was Leukemia. I broke down crying, saying I was going to die and even if I beat it, it would come back and kill me.

Eventually they transported me to Wollongong Hospital, while I sat stunned and dazed feeling pretty defeated. I was taken into a room where I guess more tests where done as it got very late into the night and my Wife eventually had to leave. I was left on this long chair over night with all the loud sounds from the emergency department and all the lights. I eventually passed out from exhaustion.

The next morning they had a bed for me in the emergency department where they did tests on me and fed me a sandwich. My Wife eventually arrived and was able to be with me. I was taken into a small children's room to get some bone marrow taken and given the green whistle. The nurses and doctors were all friendly but as soon as the needle was put into me I sucked hard on that whistle, which tasted like paint smells. Eventually that ordeal was over and I was moved into the hematology department into a bed and a room to myself (after many tests including heart scans and X-Rays). I was introduced to the Doctor and his team who explained it was Acute Myeloid Leukemia and explained about chemo therapy. It was organised for me to go to Concord Hospital in Sydney, to store semen for the future as chemo has the possibility to make you sterile. They wanted me to go three times, however I only went twice and it was enough to get the amount they needed. I began my chemo the next week. One called 7/3 or 3/7 or something. One was attached 24/7 for 7 days while the other took about 15 minutes and was bright pink and changed the colour of my urine and making me, cytotoxic. I managed to make it through the chemo, though it gave me some bad nausea and I began to struggle with the hospital food to the point where I was barely eating.

My friend and often hiking buddy Tristan straight away offered to donate his bone marrow. I told him they will only test close family and he went and signed up at a registry anyway. He also started a go fund me page for me, which I insisted I didn't need (not wanting to take peoples money). He didn't care he said it was for peace of mind seeing as I would be off work and just to ease that mental stress about bills. I told him no one would donate anyway, but he promoted and even shaved his head and vowed to quit smoking if it reached it's target (which it eventually did).

I also got back in contact with my estranged Mother, telling my Wife life was too short to stay bitter about the past.

I tried a video call early on to see my Dog, but it just broke me and I began crying.

A facebook memory came up of me visiting my Aunt Corinne in hospital 3 years ago to the day as she was in for Leukemia too. This made me very sad as my Aunt had died of sepsis.

8th September 2017

The dietitian eventually saw me and changed my menu to the 'kids menu' and I began eating pies, sausage rolls and chicken nuggets with supplement drinks called 'ensures'. I was weighed and I had lost 7kg. After the chemo finished I felt a little better but began on some new medication to inhibit the cancer cell growth called 'Midostauren'. Which was fine at first, but the more I took it the more it progressively made me sick, to the point the smell of the pills made me want to throw up. However I finished my treatment of those managing to keep them all down. Soon my hairs began to fall out, starting with my pubes and then my beard.

Soon my hair began to fall out as the Doctors talked about letting me go home for a bit before my bone marrow biopsy (to see how chemo went).

I began to struggle severely eating the hospital food as well as my mental health, being in a single room for a month and really wanted to be home with my Wife and Dog. Eventually I was released. For 10 days. Currently on my third day home as I write this, with much more in store for me and an uncertain future. Only wanting to beat this thing and enjoy my life with my excellent family and friends and enjoy the beautiful adventures life offers.

By the time I got home I was so excited to see my Dog, however after a month she didn't seem to recognise me and I had a breakdown, crying, my most extreme one yet. Being home I could just think about how much I had to lose and how badly I wanted to beat this thing. It was my lowest point yet.

Eventually I calmed down and tried to focus on just enjoying being home with the family, and finally shaved my head.

I need to defeat Superman

I have to go back in today for a blood test (to see if I need any blood transfusion or platelets), Friday for the same (plus my PICC Line bandage change), Monday for the Bone Marrow Biopsy and then backin hospital Wednesday for more treatment. There's a lot ahead and I'll keep everyone informed and we can just hope I can beat this and be back out on the trails having a Steventure. But for now I'll enjoy the quiet time with my lovely Wife, cute Dog and just watching the new Jurassic Park cartoon on Netflix.

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Thanks for reading! - Steven

Berrima (River Walk and Stone Quarry Walk)

Looking for more Dog friendly nature walks, and a little disappointed by the cement bike track of Bong Bong Common, my Wife and I took our Dog once again to the Southern Highlands. This time to Berrima to do the Berrima River Walk and the Berrima Stone Quarry Walk suggested to me by my friend Tristan. We had agreed to come up for the day with my Wife looking into the Gumnut Patisserie, and wanting to try it out for lunch to decide whether or not she would organise a High-Tea at one for her Nan's 80th Birthday.

As we nearly arrived in Berrima I took the turn to New Berrima, although I had the sinking feeling the location was in old Berrima. I pulled up along the side of the road and loaded up Google Maps to take us to the River Walk. However, a problem I have been having with the Google Maps app on my phone is that it auto selects that I am walking sometimes (instead of driving) and wont allow me to edit this. So I soon began driving in the hopes it would pick up that I was going to fast and auto change to driving. As we drove up the street it told us too, and past the location it wanted us to go through (as you could walk through, but not drive through) the app just kept correcting to try to make me go back to the same spot, causing me to get very frustrated and angry. My Wife looked it up on her phone and we went back on the road driving through Old Berrima, a beautiful scenic little town, packed with tourists. We turned left at the old courthouse leading us down to Berrima River Reserve. We did a loop noticing there was no parking as well as reading a sign that Dogs weren't allowed near the playground there, and parked on the side of the road just near Fountain Street.

My Wife quickly ducked over to the to toilet block while I waited with Orla (my Dog). I went to check the time on my phone, which I had just used to take the photo above and my screen was black. I kept trying to turn it on but my screen remained black. Surely it couldn't have gone flat so fast. I explained to my Wife what was going on and mentioned I wanted to check if it had gone flat my putting it on charge in the car. We walked back and I turned the car on putting the phone on charge. I could feel the vibration every time I put the cord in but nothing on the screen. I began to realise I was probably going to need a new phone. We began to set off to go on the walk when my Wife had looked up a reset by holding two buttons down. After I did this my screen came back on and my phone was fine. My Wife told me there was a crazy old lady in the toilets while she was in there and overheard her complaining about the showers and saying she full investigated the toilet after my Wife came out from it. (There's weird people everywhere). After this I decided I needed to go to the toilet. As I came out a lady and her two kids were talking to my Wife, and I had missed the conversation as Orla jumped up for a cuddle.

We walked towards the river noticing a sign.

Which I thought was a really good concept and I told my Wife that having these at the beginning of more hikes would be a good thing. I asked what she had been talking to the lady about. She told me the her two boys had wanted to pay Orla (because she looked cute) but the lady made he ask my Wife due to Orla's halti, assuming it was some sort of muzzle. She explained it was to help control her as she pulls so it wouldn't choke her as she was too strong for us on her harness, and that she was a very friendly Dog, if not too friendly.

Further to our left there were more signs that I stopped to read, explaining some World War 2 history of the local area.

My Wife (who often gets annoyed by me reading these signs, as she doesn't really care about history) was even more annoyed by me photographing them. But I wanted to share the information for people who may never do the walk to read and learn about.

We walked down the slope towards the Wingecarribee River as I believed the walk would start down and follow along the river bank.

My Wife pointed up the embankment, noticing a trail so we walked back up the slope and continued on towards the campground passing a fisherman on our way.

We both commented that this was the sort of walk we had wanted to do with Orla. It was a beautiful spot.The beautiful river, lush greenery and crisp cool air.

Orla was loving it, she loves exploring and was joyfully sniffing and wagging her tail excited to be going on a walk and especially somewhere new. I wondered if it was the same for Dogs as for people. The same sights, the same sounds, the same places making life seem slow, and yet fast at the same time, rushing by yet feeling like nothing had really happened. Compared to a life of new sights, places, smells and experiences that make life feel more full.

We soon came to a little bridge that I was so picturesque we had to stop to get a cute photo of our pup on there.

The walk continued left after this bridge, though there was a path to the right that we never explored. As we continued there were more signs talking about the history of the German Internment Camps along the river during the war.

Up the hill you could see some of the remains of the base of one of the huts. We walked up to have a look at the remnants of the past.

The walk, through pristine beautiful woodland is also a good one for education, as a history buff every sign I read I tried to picture this location during this time and what life would have been like then.

What I assume is some remnant of the Crow's Nest Lookout

I looked up the hill, wondering where the tree that had held the lookout was, but could not see it. I wanted to run up for a quick explore but my Wife walked on ahead, getting stressed that the Gumnut Patisserie would close before we got there and also, I think feeling pretty hungry by now (we had not eaten all day).

As we continued around the winding river we took turns walking Orla. I had to stop reading the signs and instead grab quick shots of them for here and for myself to read later. I saw a small path through the bush and just wanted to quickly explore it. I ran through with Orla a short distance and found the river looping around on the other side. 

I expected the walk would take us around to here, so didn't walk all the way down to the river, instead turning back and going back to the path getting Orla to do some agility and jump some fallen logs which she did with ease.

Here the path split, to the left just heading down to the river, probably a frequented fishing spot, and continuing straight ahead to continue the walk with a wooden sign announcing the final display post ahead, much to my Wife's relief.

He we reached a lovely green piece of embankment and got a family photo together. My Wife assumed this was the end of the walk but the path continued on so I suggested we walk it to the end, though she kept stressing about time, saying we should have stopped in at the patisserie first.

We continued along I was really enjoying the work and beginning to stress that we would have to turn back, but kept assuring my Wife there was plenty of time to go to the patisserie. 

Up ahead I noticed a small boulder and told my Wife I was going to climb it. She was against it but I quickly rushed up and was up in 2 seconds having a beautiful view of the river.

I made my way down and Assassin's Creeded the log onto the ground while Orla cried at me.

We began walking through the scrub with no clear path no, and my Wife had reached the point of agitation. I insisted we walk a little further until there was no further we could walk. I pointed out that if we cut through the bush to our right we would reach the path we had come across on. My Wife didn't understand. I tried to explain that when I had cut through the bush before with Orla, this was the part of the river we had seen, so if we went through the bush we would shortcut to the path (though I wasn't trying to suggest doing this, I was just saying it). She still didn't understand, loading up a map, confused by saying we would have to cross a river, I told her we were on the inside of the river that had looped around, finally getting through to her where we were and how it worked, reminding myself of my frustrations having to explain directions while hiking with my friend Tristan on my previous two hikes.

We made our way back now with my Wife feeling more relaxed realising there would be plenty of time to get the the Gumnut Patisserie.

The walk back was a bit more relaxed with some of the pressure off, as we arrived back at the reserve I asked if we should walk to Lambies Well, and then down to the patisserie, but we just decided to drive in to town. We found a spot in a backstreet to park as the township was pretty busy while I lined up with social distancing to even get inside while my Wife waited with Orla. Finally I got inside and could see that the pies were running low, we had agreed to get a savoury each and a dessert. I asked which pies were left and the lady rattled them of very fast. I decided to get us both a lamb and rosemary pie. Two ladies where standing in front of the dessert section and I couldn't get a super good look at what was there. I asked about three different desserts that I thought looked really good but ended up grabbing us both the same, which was some sort of honey tart.

We walked across the road to a park where we got a seat at a wooden tables and sat to eat. The pies where nice, though mine had been a little cold inside, I didn't mind because we had arrived just after lunch, missing the lunch rush so it had probably been sitting there a while (just after we left the post lunch rush began and the line got massive). The dessert though was amazing, and I'm not even a huge dessert person.

While we ate I looked up at the massive trees commenting on how beautiful they looked while my Wife mentioned the bark looked like a mosaic.

Looking on Google Maps for where the Stone Quarry walk was I saw we were actually right by it, as it was supposed to be by the Church not to far from where we were sitting. My Wife went to walk to put our rubbish in a bin while I walked up to the church to see if I could find where the walk started.

It was very noticeable and hard to miss, so I just walked around waiting for my Wife to catch up before we began down the Stone Quarry Path.

We followed the pebbled path down heading to a section over looking the river where a grandmother was with two children playing in the water. I mentioned that there's no way I would go in (it was a freezing cold day) and my Wife mentioned as kids you don't really notice or care about the cold as much.

As we continued along the path we came around a bend to a great ledge giving you a clear view up the stream.

A lady was sitting on a bench here with her family and pet Pug. She asked what sort of Dog Orla was, saying she looked beautiful. I commented she was a 'mixa' and rattled off a few of the breeds (that we knew from doing a Dog DNA test).

She asked me to repeat Orla's name. I said it again, and told her it was Irish and meant 'Golden Princess' which she thought was adorable. We continued along stopping at a bench ourselves, we tried for another family photo asking Orla to jump up on the bench with us. Instead she jumped over the entire bench up onto the rocks behind us.

Just beyond here was some stairs and we made should Orla went down them slowly, not like her usual self to make sure she didn't trip and fall.

As we continued there was a stone that Orla for some reason wanted to climb up on so we let her. She looked so cute we tried to get her still enough for a picture.

The path continued on before coming to and end at a ford on the right, turning left up hill back towards town. Orla tried to run down some animal tracks as she could obviously smell them.

We headed uphill where we noticed a wombat hole dug right into the side of the path. We reached the top at the road with a sign highlighting the entry way to the Stone Quarry Path.

Though neither walk was particularly long, they were enough combined for a fulfilling day in the highlands. So we decided to head home.


The weekend after this we had planned to go camping with Orla for the first time, however my Wife ended up getting sick (not corona-virus). So we had to delay. Having no plans I didn't have much to do so sat inside and binge watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, ultimately finishing the show. On the Sunday, my Wife could see I was depressed from being inside and suggested I go bouldering with Tristan. (I was meant to have gone with him during the week, but ended up too tired from work). I told her I had already asked him about going on the weekend but he was busy. She suggested I ask my friend Stuart, who had recently been getting into climbing by his Wife Megan.

I sent him a message and he agreed. I met up with the two of them Sunday afternoon at Dynomite Bouldering Gym in Wollongong. We had some good climbs and I talked about what a rough year 2020 had been. I mentioned I wasn't even sure if I had been bouldering at all in 2020, and I literally couldn't remember. Towards the end of the night, as it was winding down, I tried doing a climb in the cave section. As I reached out to grab a particular hold, my hand slipped and I fell, landing with my ankle on an angle. I heard a loud crack and felt the pain and dropped down on the crash mat in shock.

Stuart and Megan rushed over to see if I was ok. I told them I heard my ankle snap. They rushed to get the lady who worked there, asking if they should call an ambulance while I was lying there not moving. I told them not too, (just in case it wasn't serious, as I didn't want an overreaction) saying I would just drive to the hospital in their car. The owner told them to call the ambulance (just in case) and began spraying something on my ankle that helped with the pain (and smelt nice).

I asked for some water and was told I wasn't allowed any just in case they had to operate at all.

"But I've been working out and haven't had a drink in hours!" I jested to Stuart, saying that not being able to have a drink was worse than my ankle pain.

Finally the ambulance drivers arrived, while Stuart and I made jokes about the situation (with pain coming in waves), they did some corona temperature checks on me, while checking my ankle before getting me onto the stretcher. I think they were pretty happy that I was in good spirits and lighthearted about the whole situation, as they were well humoured back.

As I was being loaded up I was calling my Wife to try to organise what to do with my car. Stuart asked if he should come with and I told him not to worry, to just enjoy his night and go home, but being a good friend he came in the ambulance with me anyway. He made a joke about my Wife's Father's Shark Attack which Megan had no idea had even happened. "Stuart doesn't tell me anything" she said.

We soon made it to the hospital and had I had to answer some questions before finally getting an X-Ray. I thought it would probably be a sprain and nothing too severe and as we sat I noticed how badly swollen it had become. I recognised one of the nurses as a girl I went to Primary School with and said hi to her. People kept asking if I wanted pain medication but I felt pretty good. Probably due to the frequent jokes and banter with Stuart. I informed my Dad about it, but the phone was soon handed over to my overbearing step-mum who said I wouldn't "do that again". I asked "What boulder?" She said yes. I told her that of course I was going to keep climbing (my accident being nothing compared to my Dad's)

Soon we went in for the X-Ray, and the guy doing it was interested in bouldering, saying it sounded fun. I soon went back to my chair to hear my results. The Doctor eventually came out, letting me know I had a 'avulsion fracture from the tip of the right fibula'. That they treat like a really bad sprain essentially. I was given a CAM boot, some crutches and told I was good to go, to rest it and stay off it for about 3 weeks.

I sent through one of my Facebook notifications into a group chat with the two, that I had received earlier that day, prior to going Bouldering.

Perfect Timing

So I'm guessing it will be a while before I'm able to go on more hikes and continue the blog. Another drama in the year of 2020...



If you have enjoyed this post, or my blog in general, please follow it, or like my page on facebook or follow me on Instagram.

Thanks for reading! - Steven