Well after a lovely month of travel through the Tasmanian south, blazing Melbourne, fly-infested Uluru, and gorgeous waterfall-clad Northern Queensland, I have arrived in Cairns. LIMPING, but ok and safe in Cairns a day before orientation. As you can see in the above photo, I was bitten by a snake while walking in the Bush on my tour through the Tablelands in Northern Queensland. Let me assure you that I am ok, and now after we all have taken a deep breath... Let me tell you how I survived a snake bite in Australia (HOME OF THE 7 DEADLIEST SNAKES IN THE WORLD!) Sharon and I had spent the past few days making our way through the waterfall circuit, a series of waterfalls sprinkled within 150Km of Cairns. We had seen 12 of the 17 waterfalls and were continuing along in our adventure when we realized we passed 13 and 14. Determined to catch them all, we returned with more keen eyes and scoped out the 750m walking path to the two waterfalls. Excited, we jumped out of the car to walk the short distance to the falls, only about a 10 minute hike through the Australia bush. About 8 minutes into their walk, Max felt a crushing pain in his right foot, and thinking he accidently kicked a sharp piece of wood, continued (limping) toward the waterfall. Quickly he realized, from the immediate lightheadedness, feelings of intoxication, and two pin sized blood marks on his foot, that he had been bitten by a snake...in Australia. Trying not to panic, he turned to his travel buddy and sternly told Sharon, "Sharon, I think I have been bitten by a snake and we need to return to the car immediately and get help." Haha. When I think about that situation from Sharon's perspective, I realize she must have been freaking out. I mean I could've died and she would've had to watch, and be all alone in the Australian Bush....Crazy thing this life is. Anyway, we (STUPIDLY) walked the 500m back to the car and headed to the nearest town to call the ambulance. The ride took about 20 minutes, and Max began to realize that if he wasn't dead 30 minutes after a snake bite, he'd probably live and be ok. Usually if its a poisonous snake one has 3 to 15 minutes until their body shut down. Arriving into town and going straight to the CLOSED medical center, Max called the emergency line (000 here in Australia) and got an ambulance to come make sure he would survive this crazy turn in his Australian Adventures. As it turns out Max was ok, but after that scare, he decided to return from the bush and lie low for a few days prior to beginning school.
I have spent the last two days resting and trying to be as conscious of my body as I can be (MOTHER). I am feeling fine, and in a way excited that I survived a snake bite in Australia. Makes for a cool story. I have learned to always hike with hiking boots and not sandals (Although I love my Chacos, so I may not ALWAYS hike with boots...) and to make a lot of noise when bushwalking to scare any asshole snakes away from me as I cross this great land.
Australia is amazing. Incredible. Phenomenal. The people here are so wonderful and the landscape is gorgeous. I am loving being outside, exploring all that Australia has to offer, and letting snakes suck on my feet. Thank God I was not seriously hurt, and let the adventure continue.
DID I NOT TELL YOU I WAS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!!!
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