Ikes Journal

The Journey Begins 

Sandra and I arrived at Rennison Street, Beckenham on Wednesday 28th June 2006 just before 9AM to start our once again Australia Tour where many members of family and friends gathered over there to greet us and wishing us well these including, Sharon, Jen, Mick, Mat, Elizabeth, Lorrette, Nola, Dazza, Jim, Fruta, Wayne and little daughter, Jody, Martha, Alice and Fotula. (oops did I forget anyone else?)

After repeating hugs and kisses and the unnecessarily and forcible tears from some, at last we decided to move on but not before my blood pressure started to rise and that did not happen until 10:30 AM. The weather was ideal for travel, mostly sunny with patches of cloud but in general perfect. From Roe Highway, we turned to the Great Northern Highway followed by Brand Highway which leading us to Geraldton.

I was suppose to follow John because I had to go home first, so when I got to Midland I noticed a message on my mobile phone but didn’t bother to read it until well after I passed Midland. The message was from Marica warning us that cops are on the watch along Roe Highway. Well by the time I read the message we have long past the cops.

Well after caught up with John, we continue our journey to Cataby roadhouse followed by Dongara for refueling and some rest, finally we arrived to Geraldton just after 4:30 PM and headed direct to the Belair Gardens Caravan Park.

Geraldton is a very nice town with many new modern development including shopping centres, museum, mall and specially the new Marina.We booked to stay here for a couple of nights before moving on to Carnarvon.

John CB’s is not functioning properly, and although he has almost two years to fix the Microphone side of it, but you must excuse him and appreciate the fact that he has been extremely busy doing nothing. Well it would now appear to me that I must have a look at the problem myself and get it fix once and for all.

On Monday 1st October 2007, we left Echuca and headed down south to the Victorian Capital, Melbourne. In a way we were glad to leave Echuca only because the caravan park was packed with kids due to the school holiday besides as I mentioned earlier we didn’t want to waste any more time but to get to Melbourne as soon as possible to enable us to spend as much time with Karen and Todd who are staying here for another couple of weeks before heading back to Karratha to commence their roll in the new job.

Melbourne has always been like a second home for us since Mano moved here over ten years ago. Somehow we are familiar with the set up of the city and just enjoy everything Melbourne has to offer from the famous Victoria Market, to Sydney Road, the MCG, South Yarra, Dandenong and off course the city centre itself which is full of life and charm.

Unfortunately, our plans seem to change from one day to another due to circumstances beyond our control. After one week since our arrival I have experience the worst case scenario of a heart failure. This apparently occurs due to my irregular heart beat where the heart could not cope to get rid of the excess fluid that has accumulated in the lungs.

Luckily I was in a situation where medical facilities were not far from our reach. An ambulance was called immediately and within minutes I was admitted to the emergency unit in The Alfred Hospital.

After a week of tests and observation I was discharged only to see the heart specialist once again during mid November for further tests and assessment in order to move on to the next step of treatment.

The new medication I was given has no doubt stabilized the high blood pressure that I was suffering from for years, but still the dizziness is still haunting me and I believe there are much more to do to put me back on track.

Off course this incident was a kind of a major trauma and a set back to all of us and many that we know and I anticipate a long way to go as yet with lots of hard work in order to change and adjust to the new life style that we have to adapt to.

As far as our travel is concerned, John and Marica have both and long before my incident have decided to be in Perth on or around Christmas to be near Katsy and Mick to witness the born of their baby.

Sandra and I at this moment of time we are not sure of our fate as we have to wait for further medical assessment and the all clear from the doctors before we make our next move.

When we were in Queensland John’s knee injury has dominated my newsletter and now it appear that my heart condition has taken over the news once again and hopefully not for too long.

So until things settle down we still have lots to do here in Melbourne and sure will keep you posted on the latest as days goes by.

We left Albury and Wodonga on Monday 24th September heading to Echuca after spending seven days enjoying the country side and the spring weather in these two twin sisters cities.

Albury fall under the umbrella of New South Wales whereas Wodonga is in the State of Victoria. they are separated from each other by a bridge built over the Murray River and  only some 10 KM apart.

When we arrived here last Monday, we were expecting what to see as this is our third visit to this region. We settled down in the same Top Tourist caravan park in Albury and made almost a daily drive to the sister city.

The country side of Victoria especially at this time of the year is absolutely magical. The green fields of valleys and hills assemble a rich contrast of absolutely colourful spring atmosphere and endless fields of grass and water holes where cattle and sheep grazing in a breath taking views.

Wodonga is also surrounded by some historical towns full of charm and characters, towns like Beechworth, the home of Ned Kelly where the old restored prison was at some stage the home of his mother and he himself. Although I am not sure what his mother did to spend sometime in Jail but I can understand his action to some extent and do agree with him robbing the rich and helping out the poor, but certainly I don’t think I will help the poor much but sure will do my best to rob from the rich where possible.

Not far from Beechworth is Yackandandah, Rutherglen and Childers, all of these beautiful and peaceful towns are must to see when in the region and they all fall within a radius of 30-50 KM from Wodonga and Albury.

Also another hour drive is Mount Beauty where the name says it all, followed by Bright and off course from there up to the snowy mountains which takes you to snow skiing villages and resorts like Falls Creek and Mount Hotham.

During our last trip we visited most of the popular snowy villages in both Victoria and New South Wales such Thredbo and Parishioner during the months of June and July where the snow fall during that period of time was the best in many years. Yes that was a trip to remember and at the time you would think that you are somewhere in Europe or Canada but the reality is all these wonders and beauty are here within reach to each and every one of us.

Arrived to Echuca well after lunch after stopping and enjoying a hearty breakfast on the shores of lake Mulwala in Yarrawonga and brief visit to other places along the way such as the beautiful town of Nathalia.

Echuca is only 230 KM from Albury, very relaxing and holiday town to some extent it is similar to Busselton in our South West. It’s well spread out along the banks of the mighty Murray River yet it is only 250 KM from the heart of Melbourne.

We completely forgot that the school holiday just started, as no wonder the caravan park we have chosen was packed to the brim with families and there children which guarantee to give us headache for the entire week that we are staying in. Don’t think we have much choice but to bite the bullet ignore the noise and keep out of the park as much as we can. Unfortunately this caravan park is the closest to town and I would say regardless, is by far the best.

Next Monday we will be leaving to Melbourne and can now hardly wait to see Mano, Karen and Todd who have just arrived for a three weeks holiday.

Queanbeyan, population 35,000 is a quite little town in New South Wales and located 12 km east of the ACT Capital Canberra. Although this region is 740 metres above sea level, we hardly noticed the steep hill coming from Sydney via Hume Highway. But sure we felt the cold and frost soon as we hit the summit. The average daily temperature since we arrived was 15 to 5 degrees. This low temperature that we are not accustomed to was so cold that the heaters were working mostly all day and night while the electric blankets and the warm clothing did the rest.

Our almost daily drive to the nation Capital was merely to pass time while we here and visit places that we have already seen in the past like the Parliament House, the National Museum, and The War Memorial and off course Telstra Tower.

Canberra for those who haven’t seen it before is a very clean and tidy town; the wide streets many decorated with tasteful trees so colourful in spring and summer months and completely bare and lifeless in winter months. Although the population of the capital is almost a 350,000 the city somehow seems to be deserted other than the mall and the main shopping in the city centre.

Our original plan to travel along the east coast via princess highway has changed. We decided this time to skip the coast line and by doing that off course we miss going through, Kiama, Batsman’s bay, Merimbula, Bega and instead we are now heading to Melbourne by coming down through the centre passing Wagga Wagga, Albury, Echuca, Bendigo and Ballart.

For those who are following our footsteps, so far we are scheduled to be in Melbourne by mid October the latest, this date however could very well be much earlier in order to see Karen and Todd who are having a couple of week holiday and planning to fly to Melbourne and visit Mano during late September but the exact date is not confirmed as yet.

Today is Sunday 9th September and tomorrow morning we will be leaving Queanbeyan after a week visit travelling 257 KM west to the city of Wagga Wagga.

Monday 3rd Day of September 2007, the day we said goodbye to Sydney after melting in its our favourite suburban for whole five weeks.

During this period of time we all got used to the good olden day’s style of back home shopping and eating. The ladies made sure not miss stocking up on any Arabic, video shop, eating and sweet places, not to mention the groceries fully stocked with all the traditional food and the ingredients that we only crave for back in Perth.

We got used of having our daily breakfast of fresh Bastermah and Eggs, Managish of Zatar and Spanish for lunch and Yummy Kunafeh with eshta or cheese for an afternoon desert and for dinner a table full of flaffel, hummos, foule, baba ganouge, pickles, halawa and off course best brand of Lebanese Arak to wash them down with.

Yes we are all sad to leave the streets and Alleys of Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Amman, etc. we also were surprised to hear many owners of these shops offering us some of their products and services free of charge for being tourists. Off course we paid for these but the way it was said made us feel very special and close to home like never before.

Hassan the Barber from Iraq refused to take money for my hair cut but I insisted and paid him $5.00, the owner of Meg’s Kitchen in Liverpool also refused to take money for our $60.00 lunch after his wife prepared a table full of yummy special Egyptian food. Again I insist and paid him $25.00 for us four. The Guy who sold Sandra the gadget to scoop the Zucchini with told her not to worry about paying simply because she had no change. Off course Ike paid him $2.00. and don’t forget that Ike and John paid for lots of other things.

Arabic writing are just about everywhere you go while walking in some of those streets, we came across Arabic writing of shops like Em Youssef Managish, Samir the Butcher “halal off course”, Abu Karim the Solicitor, Hassan the Barber, Mohammed Abdel Hamid Bin Yassin the Doctor, Salwa for women’s Boutique, Ahmad Barghoutti and sons as Travel Agent, the Arab Bank, Marhaba Restaurant, and Ala Keefak Cee Dees and DVD’s music (all written in Arabic so funny hehehehe). All the owners of these shops speak Arabic and may be the only language they know, talking to them in English somehow take out all the excitement and spoil the traditional atmosphere that we are in.

Our night out in Sahra restaurant, Parramatta was great the food was absolutely delicious the Arabic dancer was so sweet. The only sour taste was the bill, yes it was very sour indeed but soon this taste has gone and we kept the good taste of the food.

Well our credit must once again go to Karen!!! (The name of the girl who speak to us and guide us through the GPS) as without here we were never been able travel to Egypt and Lebanon and visit places like Lakemba, Bankstown, Liverpool, Auburn, Punchbowl, Chatswood, Blacktown and many others.

The day we left Lane Cove Caravan Park, in Macquarie Park we set our GPS to take us to Queanbeyan Caravan Park on the outskirts of the ACT Capital and by following Karen’s instructions and the guy who warn us of the speed cameras ahead, we sure got us here safely just after 2PM.

Monday 30th July 2007 is the date when we set sail to the New South Wales Capital, Sydney. We used the Newcastle to Sydney Freeway as we found it the best and most appropriate route. This road will eventually lead us to the Pacific Highway. The drive was very enjoyable at the beginning but traffic started to build up as we approached the outskirts of the Capital. As usual and whenever we travel to any major city we plan our trips before hand knowing exactly where to go and how to get to our destination. North Ryde, this is where our Caravan Park is situated and without much hassle we finally managed to arrive safely and in one piece after covering some 160 KM.

We booked at Lane Cove River Caravan Park, the same one we have stayed in previously. This park we found is very handy to the public transport and only 10 Km to the heart of Sydney. Being located at the Lane Cove National Park, we therefore surrounded by wild life atmosphere from natural beauty to all kind of birds species and other friendly animals. Our Caravan Annex has become the latest home for the friendly and colourful Rosella’s which we spoiled by hand feeding them daily. Now we cannot get rid of them.

Other than a slight hiccup with Sandra’s Flu Virus which stranded us for almost a week at home, we still however managed to visit almost many places which interest us most places like, Sydney CBD, The Circular Quay, The Opera House, Darling Harbour, Parramatta, the Olympic Park and other places where we did our Arabic shopping including Sweets from Lakemba and Bankstown. Although we have been using the public transport to get to all of the these places but since John and I recently invested in the latest GPSM navigators and by using these gadgets now we are able to drive ourselves to almost any destination we wish to without relying on the hassle of the public transport. We only wished if we have invested in these essentials wonder machines much earlier on. But as they say it is never too late.

So far we are blessed with the taste of summer in August although in the last day or so it has been rainy and wet, but for well over two weeks we have enjoyed the sun and mild weather, something very unusual at this time the year in cities especially like Sydney.

We have already planned to dine in the Famous Sahra Lebanese Restaurant in Parramatta next Saturday night to landmark our departure from Sydney on Monday August 27th. This night out promised to be something very special and we are looking forward to it just as much.

During our last week we will be taking the train up to the blue mountains and a day bus tour to places of interest in Sydney CBD including King’s Cross, Manly, Bondi and St Mary’s cathedral.

Other than the daily normal ache, we are all doing well and our next stop will be Kiama, an absolute lovely coastal town on the East Coast.

One week we got completely soaked in the winter sun in Port Macquarie enjoying our daily walk from the break-water caravan park where we staying to the town centre passing through fishermen’s lined up on the colourful and decorated rocks trying their luck.

While we were enjoying this quite yet very modern and good size town, we booked for half day boat cruise which took us around the water channels that surrounded the city and erected in the well to do suburban. The tour was very enjoyable and all the credit goes to the very calm seas and the beautiful sunny weather on that particular day.

Monday, July 9th 2007 we left Port Macquarie and this time heading to Newcastle which is situated in the Hunter Valley Region and only 150 KM North of Sydney.

Newcastle is the 2nd largest city in New South Wales, with a population of half a million people. This industrial city is the main point of export Coal to Japan and the outside world from the extremely busy harbour. Most buildings in the city centre are very old and only a handful of new buildings been built recently and scattered all over the place. Like any other large cities, the suburbia are well spread out and all equipped with modern shopping centres.

Our caravan park is situated on Stockton Island some 15 KM from Newcastle City Centre. From our past experience we found that this park is the closest to the city and an ideal place for relaxation and only a few steps to the beach and the harbour.

Stockton is a small island with many new houses started to take place and replacing the very old already established homes. Mitchell Street is the main street in town and well equipped with a variety of shops including supermarket, chemist, doctor surgery, police station and many more.

The Island is linked to the main land via a 1.5 KM extremely high bridge to accommodate the entry of the large vessels to the harbour via a main deep water channel. At the same time a ferry service runs every 15-20 minutes between Stockton and Newcastle with a trip lasts no more the 5-10 minutes with a mere $1.00 per person. The ferry drops us at the heart of the city centre while our car is parked in a secure parking lot on the Island.

During our stay in Newcastle, we had to attend to some necessities such as health specialist etc. ever John and Marica have chosen to fly back to Perth to attend their son’s Michael engagement party to his long partner Katrina

In all we spent three whole weeks on this wonderful island driving around in the inner and outer city, also visiting places of interest such as Port Stephens 50 KM from where we are.

Just two weeks prior to our arrival, Newcastle and the hunter region was hit but a severe storm which caused tremendous amount of damage with a loss estimated by billions of dollars . the place was almost cleaned up by the time we arrived and yet we escaped another mother natural disaster should we arrived her earlier and didn’t got held up in the hospital in Coffs Harbour.

I guess the time has now come to move on and next Monday 30th July 2007 we will be heading to Sydney. We will be staying at Lane Cove National Park in North Ryde the same park that we stayed in our previous visit. This park once again is very handy to the public transport and the closest to the city centre.

We are still enjoying our travel and off course getting closer to our favourite city Melbourne and the home of our son “Mano”. This is something we already started to look forward to and can hardly wait to see him and be together after a long period of time.

After two weeks in Coffs Harbour, the time was ripe to move on. John and Sandra wanted to spend few days in Kempsey. This little town is the home of John’s favourite county and music singer Slim Dusty. Although I opposed to this idea due to the fact that
this town is much to small and there will be nothing much to do in order to pass our time other than walking day after day in the one and only main street. But then again I must remember that we all need to compromise every now and then to accommodate our each individual’s need.

Well in order to abide to their wishes, I had to cancel my appointment which I took with the Cardiologist in Newcastle as according to my previous calculation we should be in that town on Monday 9th July. Although this appointment was mentioned to John and Sandra at the time but apparently they claim that I didn’t consult them and even they cannot remember the date? I found this very hard to believe especially coming from John where he spend most of his time looking at maps and studying locations and keep reminding us of his fantastic memory.

Kempsey was only 110 KM south of Coffs Harbour and it didn’t take us that long to get there. After wasting more than a couple of hours looking for suitable caravan park that we could not find, then John turned to me and said that the girls didn’t like to stay in this town and we better continue to Port Macquarie as previously scheduled and which is only 45 odd Kilometre from Kempsey.

Port Macquarie is a nice town with a population exceeds the 40,000 nicely laid out and the city centre is very neat and well planned. We booked at the same caravan park we stayed in before and call the Sundowners Breakwater Tourist Park. Very nice park indeed and just metres from the estuary and less than 500 metre to the heart of the city centre. The walk to the town is very pleasant. Many fishermen lined up on the rocks at any time of the day trying their luck. Although I must admit that we have witnessed many of them catching a good size Bream and Black Fish but this didn’t tempt us to throw our lines in the water.

So far we are blessed with the weather and hopefully continue that way for the rest of our tour. Although the rain is till much needed every where I guess, but for as long as we keep away from storms and cyclones that off course will be a bonus on it’s own.

We booked here for a week before we move on to Newcastle the second largest city in New South Wales next Monday.

Oh!!! by the way, I managed to re instate my previous doctor’s appointment as originally planned and hope there will be no more little surprises between now and then.

The following day I was transferred to the observatory unit ward where I was monitored 24 hours a day via TV screen displaying my heart beats and rates. The GP they have allocated me used to update me almost daily on the progress of my condition which most times weren’t that encouraging as I like them to be.

On Friday the doctor paid me a visit after lunch and told me that they most likely consider inserting a pacemaker to my chest which take control of my heart beat when any irregular rhythm occurred. The Pacemaker can only be done in Newcastle where they have more advanced facilities in a larger city than Coffs Harbour. Although he cannot confirm this option but told me he will refer my case to the top Heart Specialists here in Coffs Harbour who will make the final decision when he sees me next Monday.

Being in hospital lying most time in bed and completely wired, every hours seems like a month wait, but again what other choice have I got other than wait and wait.

I used to pass my time between reading books, watching TV or working on my laptop with full access to the internet.

Sandra, Marica and John used to pay me a daily afternoon visit, which I was looking forward to it so much.

On the early hours of Monday morning I got up unusually early and had my shower and shave and gone back to bed awaiting for the arrival of the specialist any time during the day. Just before 8AM a young handsome man in his mid thirties I would say, approached my bedside and accompanied my three young trainee female doctors.

Morning Mr Stephan?

Oh yes doctor good morning to you too.

My name is doctor waiter and I am here to talk to you about your heart condition, I also understand that you were admitted here because of some sort of dizzy spell right?

Yes doctor

Ok, I had a look at your past history and could not find any dramatic changes since you last saw your heart specialist in Perth, so I am happy to let you go and continue your journey but before that I like to see you taking up a stress test sometimes today.

Is there any other questions?

Yes Doctor, what about the pacemaker that doctor Winman (GP) suggested?

-No need for that at all at this stage.

What about the dizziness and what could have caused it?

-Well, I would say most likely a virus that would go but definitely nothing to do with your heart.

The stress test consists of walking at fast to very fast pace on the tread mill machine while fully wired to a screen monitor and under the supervision of a doctor in case any complication could happen while excising such as a heart failure or unconsciousness. It was almost lunch time when I was wheeled to the test unit. At the presence of the doctor I was prepared and ready to take up the test.

Nine and a half minutes of hard and fast walk has taken place in order to maximize the high rate of the blood going through the heart and to see the effect of the changes to the rhythm that follows.

During the test I had neither chest pain nor any discomfort other than the normal shortness of breath that occurred after any normal exercise to anyone.

When the result of the test was faxed to Dr Waiter and received back with his comments. Very late in the afternoon I was given the all clear to go home.

Before I close this stressful chapter I must extend my thanks to all the staff and the doctors of the Coffs Harbour Base Hospital who looked after me as in cases like these at no stage I felt that I was just a number to occupy a spare bed in the hospital but with all honestly felt like a very special patient.

To you Sandra, John and Marica, thank you so much for coming to see me day after day and sorry to spoil few days of your holiday and messing up our programs. Although I feel that you have no choice but on the other hand I am sure it was done from your hearts as without your support and knowing that close members of the family around me in circumstances like these I would have gone crazy.

To compensate for the week that I was away from home, we have now decided to extent our stay in Coffs Harbour for another week before we move on once again.

The dizzy spell which happened to me on Tuesday 19th June 2007 and exactly one day after we arrived to Coffs Harbour was unlike any others.

Although I felt a wee bit dizzy and unwell in general but never thought so much of it as this kind of symptoms did happen to me quite few times in the past and disappeared in no time just the same way it surfaced. But this time was different only because Mr Ike Stephan decided to have this matter checked out and the hospital was the quickest and easiest way so I thought at the time.

A couple of kilometre up the road via the Pacific Highway, a blue sign erected at the side of the road leading to the Coffs Harbour’s base hospital.

A middle aged lady at the reception desk asked me what seems to be the problem. I told her that I am feeling slightly dizzy and unwell in general and need to see a doctor to check me out.

Any Chest Pain? she asked

Nop

Ok then take a seat, be with you in a second.

Didn’t have to wait for too long before I was called in and taken directly to the ED “emergency department” this is where I was instructed by a nurse to take off my shoes and lay down on stretcher bed. And even before I knew it, I was hooked up with so many wires from my chest leading to a TV monitor just above my head.

F…that I said all what I asked for is a to see a doctor and hoping for him to describe me some kind of tablets like Stemstel to get rid of the dizziness, but apparently the way it has been done was a kinda of preparing me for a major heart operation.

When I gathered my strength from what is happening to me, I asked the nurse what seems to be the problem sis? The problem is you’re heart is beating very irregular beats and this seems to be the cause of your dizziness and our major concern. However the doctor will be with you shortly to explain things more in details.

I was fully aware of my heart condition and the irregular beats but never thought of it as a big deal according to my heart specialist back in Perth.

When the doctor called to see me after a very long wait, he shook his head as he was looking at the monitor and told me that they need to take an X-Ray for my heart and lungs as this is a standard procedure before they can do any assessment.

Then and only then I knew that I was thrown and trapped in a lion’s den and have no means of escape.

Late in the afternoon and almost three hours since I was admitted was still laying on my back, tied up to wires and cables, unable to make the slightest move so it won’t interfere with the electronic transmitting. I wished then that I was locked up in a cell at the Alcatraz maximum security prison where at least I can stand up and make a couple of steps backwards and forwards to release some of the tension in my aching body and relief me from the uncomfortable position that I was nailed to for hours.

My concern now was to focus on the X-Ray that they have taken for my lungs and heart, and wonder what was the outcome? Lung Cancer may be? And this is the first thing that hit my mind. I called the nurse and asked her the result of the X-Ray. She looked at me and said she doesn’t know but all X-Rays come to the office just opposite where I was laying down and got examined by the doctor to determine the result.

From where I was I have had a full view of the office and now I could see an X-Ray of some sort of chest displaying on a large TV monitor. An elderly grey haired professional man in a green uniform was sitting studying the picture very seriously and taking some notes. I started to panic especially when he call three other people included the doctor that he saw me earlier and they all surrounded the monitor and were exchanging what I could figure out to be some sort of mixed opinions.

Oh My God !!!!!!!!!!! this image must be the one they have just taken of me and kept assuring myself this must be the one OMG…
I am now fully devastated my heart rate and blood pressure almost hit the roof I was at this stage mentally dead with all the thoughts and the assumptions that came to my mind.

I remembered a couple of movie titles like ” Dead Man Walking” and “Now The End Is Near” by Frank Sinatra.

I closed my eyes don’t know how long for, but all of a sudden I heard the doctor was approaching my bed side. When he was close enough I asked him in a very weak and almost whispering voice:

Please don’t tell me Doc, doesn’t look good hey?

You mean the X-Ray?

Yeah.

Oh that one is fine he said very casually what I am concern about is your heart rhythm and sorry we cannot let you go home as we need to monitor your heart and keep an eye on you by doing more tests.

Is this means I am sleeping over here tonight doc? You bet he said and left.

To be continued…..