Every day is a better day
Day: 344-346 Stage Three. Travel days Australia, four years
Total kilometers:
6980 km
Temperature - Day (maximum):
25°-36° degrees, sun 45°-56°
Temperature - Night:
9°-12°
On tour – 25.04.2003 – 27.04.2003
We are still enjoying the excellent hospitality of Jeannette & Paul. When asked if we should move into one of the bungalows now, Paul says: “What? No way. You’re already part of the family. Jeannette says: “Our house is your home.” Once again we are overwhelmed by the hospitality. During the days of my illness, we took them both to our hearts and a real friendship developed. We have a lot of fun together. In the evening, Paul grills home-caught fish or steaks. We talk for hours. My energy is coming back more and more. I talk a lot about our adventures. Jeannette & Paul listen to the stories that sometimes seem so fairytale-like to me as if they had sprung from the book A Thousand and One Nights.
In the morning I am back in hospital. The doctors are very satisfied with the success of the treatment. “They see better than average,” says Dr. Henderson. “Fantastic, but the view is still very foggy.” “In a few weeks, the fog will disappear. The corneal injury will start to heal and soon everything will be back to the way it was.” “That’s fantastic news. You’ve saved my sight,” I say enthusiastically, feeling like a human being again for the first time in a week.
Apart from a slight burning sensation, the worst pain I have ever had to endure in my life has vanished into thin air. Again, I look forward to each new day. In the afternoon, I sit down on the terrace of Jeannette & Paul’s house and enjoy the green of the lawn, the colorful birds in the palm trees and the blue sky. I enjoy being able to see again and I am grateful with all my heart to be able to keep my sight. There is no doubt that this terrible experience will be etched deep in my memory. I will never forget what it feels like to lose my sight. From this point on, I see every blind person or every person who suffers from a visual impairment with different eyes. Without a doubt, I am a happy person again. Tanja and I are already laughing and as newly engaged couples we are enjoying life. It goes on. Once again, we have mastered a major challenge. “Imagine you had this eye injury somewhere in the Simpson Desert,” says Tanja. “I don’t even want to think about it,” I reply. “You don’t have to be on an expedition to be in serious danger.” “That’s right. This experience shows me once again that you can get caught anywhere. Life is unpredictable. Some people fall off a chair at home and break their necks and some people climb a mountain eight thousand meters high without oxygen and come back unharmed.” “That’s right, or walk 7,000 kilometers through the desert unscathed in three years,” she replies with a grin.
