A quick stop in Dunedoo

Dunedoo was my first rural posting as an ambo. When I found out I google mapped it to make sure it was a real place. I’d never been further west than the Blue Mountains. I cried so much driving out there I put my windscreen wipers on. I spent the first night in sweltering heat with all my windows and doors shut tight because I was terrified a drop bear would crawl through the cracks and eat me in my sleep. When I looked up and saw a huntsman the size of a small planet on the wall I thought my life was over. I barricaded myself in my room with a towel rolled up under the door. In the morning I held my breath as I emerged from the bedroom praying it was still on the wall so I wouldn’t have to find a new house to lease. It was. I got in my car and drove straight to the ambulance station and introduced myself to Lis.

“Hi, I’m Eva, I’m the new paramedic. Yep, from the city. Look I know you don’t start work for another half hour but I’ve got a bit of a situation at home and I really need your help. You see there is this god almighty huntsman like the size of my head on my wall and I really need you to get rid of it for me”.

Long silence. With a look of are you fucking kidding me.

Bless her, she came over, killed the spider, made me a coffee, laughed at me, and introduced me to everyone after that as “our new paramedic, I had to kill a spider for her but she’ll be right”.

My two and a half years in Dunedoo were incredible. I have never been part of a community like that before. I still get back there every year for this mad little music festival they’ve started called Tunes on The Turf.

So I figured I’d make it my first stop for the year… seemed fitting. Plus I wanted to make sure Lis was coping with the wildlife. It turns out she’s better at catching spiders than lambs. But credit where credit’s due, all I could do was squeal and run.

Whirlwind visit, but got to sit on a tractor on steroids (it was bigger than the spider), muster sheep on a quad bike and “have a pitch” (as Lis would say – the first time she mentioned it I told her I’m not a cricket fan) with one of the most positive people I know. I owe a lot to that spider. Love ya mate! X

(ps. she caught the lamb)