Torquay

 It’s been two weeks on crutches and I am already ready to be rid of them, but alas after my doctor’s appointment today, I still have 6 weeks to go. Thankfully I am pretty agile on them and am increasing my upper body strength by the day. There have only been a few mishaps involving wet concrete and stairs, but other than that I have managed fairly well.

Today’s follow up appointment at the doctor deemed no different than the first go around at Alfred Hospital. My day started by walking outside into a cold and rainy day, slipping and landing on my bad ankle on the way to the taxi (this time, the driver knew the route to the hospital which made it a bit better), arriving at 10:45am at the wrong side of the hospital and making my way on crutches down the long hallway to the right side of the hospital. I escorted myself to the “plaster room” to remove the first cast, down the hallway to get an x-ray and then back to an examination room to have a new cast put on. Leaving after 3:00pm, I was exhausted by the time I took a taxi to work for 1.5 hours. Everyone was extremely friendly, but slow as molasses and a bit unorganized.

Days like today though are completely made up for by days like yesterday. A Sunday day trip to Bells Beach in Torquay (Aussies pronounce it “Tore-Key.” The weather was perfectly warm and sunny. Bec and I woke up early and picked up our friends Ryan and Rigel and headed out toward the Great Ocean Road. Blasting road trip tunes with the windows down and singing off-key at the top of our lungs, we were flying down the road, anxious to get the beach. About half way into our journey, we pulled off to buy some mangoes and bananas (only $4.85 a kilo! – this is a record low price for bananas that topped at $15.99 a kilo this winter). Back on the road we drove the second 45 minutes and made it to the beach about lunchtime.

Settling onto a grassy hill overlooking the beach, I was perfectly content reading my book, listening to music and people watching and soaking up some sun. (Yes, I do already have a cast tan line!) The boys and Bec headed to rent surf gear and ran out to catch some waves. About an hour and half later, they were exhausted and I was fending off spiders, (apparently I was lying on a nest in the grass and didn’t realize), so we moved down to the sand for a bit. My sweet friends hoisted me down and created a footrest made of sand. A bit more sun bathing and we were all ready for some food. 

We ended up of Growlers, a cute beach shack restaurant overlooking the water with a huge patio. With no questions asked, we opted in for the $25 cheese plate and bottle of wine combo, along with other tapas served at that time of day. It was relaxing and delicious, and the best possible ending to a beach day.

Well, almost the best, because straight from the beach we headed to our favorite local pub, the Arcadia Hotel to watch the New Zealand All Blacks take on France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final. The match was close, but the All Blacks pulled out the win in the end. It was loud and energizing watching amongst all the fans.

I didn’t want the day to end. It was relaxing but an escape from the ordinary weekend and a chance to not have to think about my foot for a bit (minus the excursion to find the public washroom on the beach and getting a sympathy look from every passer-by). Back to the grind this week, but get to supervise my first Chocolate Box photo shoot tomorrow, which is exciting. Then this weekend commences 2011 Melbourne Cup (the annual, largest horse races), beginning with Derby Day on Saturday. I can’t wait!