There Are No Kangaroos in Austria

A Kangeroo hops across a pedestrian crossing in Vienna, Austria.

Last Updated on February 1, 2025 by Tom Kane

There are no Kangaroos in Austria, so the t-shirt for sale in the gift shop said. I beg to differ. Apart from a sighting of a Kangaroo in an Austrian forest in 2018, there are possible Kangaroos in Austrian Zoos and, though I don’t look like a Kangaroo, I have become adept at hopping.

What has this got to do with anything? Nothing at all except for the fact I did a pretty good impression, at first, of a Kangaroo hopping across a pedestrian crossing in Vienna, Austria..

Now you may, or may not know, dear reader, that I’m recovering from cancer. Cancer affected me in several dramatic ways. Or rather, the chemotherapy affected me in some very dramatic ways. One such side-effect is that I lost my sense of balance. I’m  a clumsy old soul at the best of times, but cancer has made me an outright liability to myself.

Although my balance is getting better after I completed my chemo treatment in April 2023. I’m still a little wobbly on uneven ground, and last year was even more wobbly. Here is where the Kangaroo impression comes in. Walking across a pedestrian crossing my right foot found the only bump on the crossing. With a hop, skip and another hop I was doing a fair impression of a Kangaroo, and then down I went.

Getting up was a killer. It took my wife on one side and a kindly lady passing by on my other side to help me up. The pain was excruciating. Left ribs ( same ribs I broke a few years earlier) and thigh at the joint with the pelvis were injured. At first I thought I had broken something. But after a brief rest I managed to carry on. That was on the first day of a four day stay in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

The pain didn’t get worse, but it was with me for the short stay in Vienna and over Christmas and the New Year.. The idea had been to visit a Christmas Market in Vienna. Well, while I sat my wife visited the market. I managed to get a look around but to be honest, with the bitter cold and my hip still hurting, I didn’t enjoy it.

Fast forward to today and it’s the 1st October 2024. It’s getting colder here in the mornings and night, but still hot during the day. But I can tell it’s colder because my hip, the one I injured last year, aches during the night sometimes.

Moral of the story? Watch where you’re walking if you’re unsteady on your feet. But be aware of your surroundings and don’t do what I did yesterday and bash your head on the car boot door while making sure I didn’t stub my foot on my new half built drive… but that’s another story for another day.

Copyright © Tom Kane 2024

 

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