Hospital scare

Mum’s had a mild stroke. It came on while she was driving home from Tauranga. As I understand, she started to feel the symptoms while driving over the harbour bridge. I must admit the thought of her having a stroke on a curving motorway at 80kmph is rather unnerving. Even more so after she confessed to driving all the way home before finally stopping and seeking help.

She’s now in the hospital. The doctors have been running tests, dye contrast scans, and monitoring her blood work. It appears that she’s had a minor vascular stroke but should make a full recovery. The doctors have told her that the CRT scan indicates that she’s probably had a series of micro strokes in the past.

UPDATE: 30 May
Mum has been discharged from hospital. It looks like she’s dodged a bullet.

UPDATE: 2 July
I've read the lab test reports Mum received from the hospital. Evidence of earlier mini strokes was found in the same area where Mum had her recent stroke. However, the doctors have reassured us there's no immediate need for concern as it's quite common in the elderly. Their technical name is a transient ischemic attack (TIA). This term is referenced in her results. Mum also noted this when she showed me them in June. These mini strokes are often missed by the person so it’s no surprise Mum wasn't aware of them until now.

Kinky Boots

Mum and I have officially become locally acclaimed theatre critics. Last month, while Mum was in town, I booked tickets to see Kinky Boots, a new musical playing at the Capitol Theatre in Haymarket. The production was brilliant. A colourful cavalcade of drag, choreography and foot-tapping tunes. It’s easily one of the best musicals I’ve seen in years.

Kinky Boots transports audiences from a struggling gentlemen's shoe factory in Northampton to the catwalks of Milan. It's won six Tony Awards including Best Musical. The story is based on a popular 2005 British film and features songs by Cyndi Lauper. Callum Francis was outstanding as Lola, a black drag queen who opened the eyes of factory owner Charlie to an unexplored niche market: high-end ladies' footwear for men.

While enjoying a pre-show drink in the lobby we were approached by a presenter from the Sydney Weekender. This television show is a local institution. Every Sunday evening it showcases events, venues, and other entertainment activities around the Sydney region.

The presenter was fascinated to learn that Mum had flown in from New Zealand to see the show. She asked Mum what it was about the musical that got her onto a plane to come see it. To her surprise, Mum replied, “Because he’s paying” and pointed to me. We all burst into laughter. It was no surprise then, that a few weeks later, Mum and I made our broadcast debut as Sydney theatre critics.

Here's a quick and dirty video I took from my laptop. I'll try to upload an original copy soon.

Far North Fun

My Mum clocked up a pile of frequent flyer points when we toured Africa a couple of years ago. Last year we realised they were about to expire so Mum and I made plans for her visit Sydney for a week. We scheduled the trip to coincide with ANZAC day as its timing this year allowed Garry and I to book in a four-day weekend. Taking time off has become rather challenging now that we're small business owners.

On a whim I decided we should all take an extra day off and spent four nights in Far North Queensland visiting Garry's brother and his family. My Mum was delighted by this idea as it's been almost 25 years since she last visited Port Douglas (which was also my first visit to this popular resort town).

We flew out shortly after lunch on Friday.  Unfortunately Garry had to cancel at the last moment. He'd come down with a shocking dose of flu and decided he was best to rest and recuperate at home. Our tropical excursion coincided with the tail end of the tropical wet season.  However, we got lucky. the few brief showers we experienced didn't hinder our plans. Several days even saw us enjoying extended periods of passing sunshine.

We based ourselves in a spacious holiday home overlooking Six Mile Beach. I'd rented it under the assumption three of us would be travelling.  As a result, Mum and I really found ourselves experiencing a rather luxurious stay.  I also booked us a rental car to give us maximum flexibility.

Our first day was spent driving north as far as Cape Tribulation.  We began the day with a croc-spotting cruise on the Daintree River.  We weren't disappointed.  We saw one huge croc and several smaller baby crocs happily sunning themselves along the muddy river bank.  Mum and I then caught the Daintree Ferry and made our way to the Cape, stopping briefly at Alexandra Lookout to soak in views of the Daintree River mouth.

Cape Tribulation was exactly as I recall. This was my third time there.  The first was also with Mum in 1992. Back then the road was unpaved and could only be safely traversed in a four-wheel drive vehicle. Today it's a comfortably paved road all the way to the cape.  After a rather disappointing lunch and a rainforest boardwalk, we made our way home.

On our way, we dropped into the Daintree Discovery Centre. We had the centre's rainforest canopy walkway and canopy tower climb largely to ourselves for almost an hour. Sadly there were no Cassowaries wandering the forest floor.  However, we did later see a wild Bush Turkey on the roadside.

Our second day was spent experiencing the Agincourt Reef on the Great Barrier Reef.  We caught a Quicksilver tour out to the outer reef.  The company has done a superb job of creating a memorable day. We filled our time with snorkelling, touring the reef in a semi-submersible and viewing the reef from an underwater observatory. I also surprised Mum with a helicopter flight over the stunning ribbon reefs. We were lucky enough to see a couple reef sharks basking in the shallows.  All in all it was an incredible day.

Our third day was spent shopping, dining and generally chilling out.  Mum bought a lovely necklace and I finally found some new swimming shorts that fit me perfectly.  We also ate some of the most delicious salt and pepper calamari we've ever tasted.

Our final day was spent on the Kuranda Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.  We spent a couple relaxing hours wandering the markets in Kuranda and enjoying some truly mouth-watering savoury crepes at a highly recommended market cafe.  It was then off to the airport for an early evening flight home.