Perth to Broome Tour: Day One

Our first stop was the Pinnacles Desert. The pinnacles are a field of limestone columns, stretching as far as the eye can see. Some are quite short, but most are bigger than a linebacker. They were formed in one of two ways: 1) wind and water pushed dead animal matter into columns that collected over millions of years or 2) sand buried an ancient forest, petrifying the wood underground. As the sand eroded away, stone columns were left behind. Sadly, photos are unable to capture the scope, but it was quite awesome in person.

We stopped for a short lunch and the mysteriously named Hangover Bay, before heading off for a four hour drive north to Geraldton, home of some wicked sand dunes that we intended to sandboard. By intended, I mean did. It was heaps of fun as the Aussies would say. The boards didn't go too fast and the wind slowly eroded layers of my face, but we still enjoyed ourselves. The final run was a race between me and four other snowboarders. I was winning until I took a tumble down the hill and smacked into my shoulder. I heard a pop and knew exactly what had happened. I calmly approached the guide and said, "Hey, do you know first aid: my shoulder is dislocated?" My calmness must have confused him, but one look at the bone jutting out my shoulder was enough convincing for him.

Our next stop on the tour was Geraldton Hosipital. I got to sit on a bed and was given an oh so exciting morphine shot! I hate morphine passionately. I really can't see why somebody would want to do it for fun. Honestly, I was more comfortable being in pain than the restless twitchiness I get from morphine. I was given a tour of the radiology department where I got to stand in front of real live X-ray machine! Just like in the movies! The diagnosis was no fractures, but a type three AC joint separation. That is the joint that connects the shoulder blade to the collar bone. It is really a useless joint and is often cut to alleviate arthritis pain the shoulder. Surgery or forceful repositioning was not needed, but I have to wear a foam shoulder sling for six weeks that holds my shoulder back. The joint is only held together by ligaments and muscles, so it merely has to heal back in place. Unfortunately, this means no swimming, no snorkeling, no running, no lifting over 20lbs, and my professional football career is over. To sum this up, six weeks of no fun.

We got to our hostel and relaxed. I could not sleep because the pain and sleeping flat on my back. It is going to be a long six weeks. As I tried to sleep, I kicked myself for not filling that prescription for codeine the doctor gave; some happy pills would have been nice.