Numb

Life was sweet. After working as a waitress for six months in Mandurah, Western Australia, I was finally travelling alone. Forty three days of hiking, beautiful scenery, adventure and of course the inevitable consumption of goon. Then back to England for two weeks with my family and friends, on to Nepal to do Base Camp Everest, travel India with two of my best friends and finally fly out of Sri Lanka three months later. Yup, life was sweet. And then my toe went numb.

I was on the Greyhound bus on my way to Mission Beach after a mental week in Cairns (involving the aforementioned goon, swimming in lakes and down waterfalls, meeting a bunch of cliche travellers etc etc) when I became aware of a numbness in my little right toe. Odd, but I wasn't concerned...I was backpacking so I had no worries! As soon as I got to my cute little hostel I jumped in the pool and went to explore the beach, and by 'explore' I mean I found the beach, lathered myself in sun cream and slept like a king. When I awoke I realised all the toes in my right foot were numb. I went back to my hostel and had a chat with the receptionists to see if they had any advice or had heard of this before. After all, this is Australia, everything here can bloody kill you. But no, we all agreed it was weird but probably nothing to worry about; I mean, I could still wiggle my toes so all good.

I went to bed that night pretty chilled, until I woke around 2am and realised all of the toes in my left foot had gone numb as well. Shit! I leapt out of bed and found the obligatory couple all hostels have, making out on the couch with South Park blaring out in the background. 'Help! I'm trying not to freak out but all my toes are numb and I'm alone and I don't know what to do and I'm sorry to interrupt but fuck what's going on!?' Turns out they were German. 'Huh?' I went back to bed.

The next morning I jumped up, put on my runners and went straight outside for a jog. Believe me, this is not normal behaviour! My jogging tends to be the sweaty, red faced and gasping for breath kinda jog; not anything like those women who run with their swishy neat ponytails, serene half smiles and of course those ridiculously pert, unmoving breasts...I mean, come on, who are these women!? Anyway, back to the jog. As I was 'running' to try and kick back the feeling in my toes, I realised my left hand had started to tingle and numb as well. Never have I ran so fast, desperate to get back to the hostel to talk to someone. The kind female receptionist from the day before drove me to the nearest pharmacy (I was backpacking and was not going to shell out 80 bucks for a doctor!). The pharmacist listened to my, then tearful, concerns. He smiled at me and explained that this was probably an allergic reaction to something and if I took some anti-histamines I'd be just fine. Relief flooded through me. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?

Later that day I went out and bought six cheap Dutch beers in celebration; although I felt exactly the same and in fact my right hand was starting to go numb as well, I was sure all would be well and surely beer was nothing but a great idea. I had a really fun night with people in the hostel but decided to have an early one to get well and ensure I woke up in time for my bus. I had been in bed for five minutes when Jakes, a 6ft 6" Swede, came over to my bed and said 'Tarsha, do your want to go to the beach and make a bonfire?' Erm, yes! We gathered essential supplies (beer, blankets, guitar etc) and strolled to the beach. Now whilst the fire making failed it was a warm night, so we sat amicably under a night full of shooting stars chatting away like old friends. Jokes were made about my lack of sensation in my fingers and toes, for now everything was completely numb, but we hadn't a care. As the sun rose we toyed with the idea of skinny dipping...Jakes had an infected leg, so was I just going to do it alone? Sod it! I stripped and ran straight for the sea, feeling free and hopeful; perhaps the combination of sun rise and salt water and joy alone would heal me! Unfortunately as soon as I swam in I saw a ginormous crab and ran straight back out, but still, it felt good.

That morning I clamoured onto my bus to Airlie Beach, euphoric from such a fun night. Yes I was alone and this numb business was odd, but I was sure it was nothing to worry about. Oh, how wrong I was...