WARNING - This post contains details of an injury. If you feel this may upset you please don't read any further.

So it has been a long time since my last post on HikeWithKids. Suffice to say, I wasn't able to hike or walk easily for a while. If you've read past the warning disclaimer above, please let my mistake be your cautionary tale.

To set the scene we need to go back to Thursday the 15th of April 2021. My project car ('99 LandCruiser first mentioned in the Halls Gap Pt2 post) has just been dropped off after its most recent batch of modifications. I'm keen to hit the road with it and what better time than the following weekend.

Fast forward 2 days, it's Saturday the 17th. It's a bit cold and miserable and we're on track to get out of the house after lunch time. That's fine, we were only heading to Macedon anyway. My wife and I figured a walk to build the kids' appetite with hot drinks at the mid-point would be perfect: we packed baked-beans and an appropriate pot so we could cook a simple dinner using one of the many fire-pits at Days picnic ground (first seen here).

So far things were off to a great start, the kids were happy the weather was crisp but enjoyable. There's nothing to complain about.

As the day progressed we paused our walk, had our hot drinks and took the time to take in our surrounds. On our walk back we left the walking track and walked along the roadside which in Macedon is still an amazing experience surrounded by tall trees as the sun started setting and the sky changed colours through the tree canopy.

Along the way the kids noted a few interesting mushrooms in the undergrowth. Taking time outdoors there's always something to see.

This unfortunately is where things go a bit sideways and there aren't any photos for a while.

We made it back to the car, selected a fire-pit, it was time to forage for wood. As with most popular parks and picnic grounds there's practically no useful wood anywhere nearby. One option is to look for standing deadwood. Funnily enough in Macedon this option isn't usually great because it's so often damp and cold there that any standing deadwood is usually moisture-rich and growing a healthy moss coat. I've had more luck looking for what I call caught deadwood. The great thing about Australian eucalyptus trees is that their limbs are almost purpose-built to get a fire going (dense and containing flammable oil) and they tend to drop branches / limbs. Search around the base of tall eucalyptus trees and you should eventually collect enough fallen limbs to get a good fire going. What we're looking for however is the limbs that have been caught, either in the branches of a lower tree or at an odd angle standing upright. Anything except lying on the ground.

So off I went. I left the clearing and trudged directly into the vegetation I soon had a decent arm-full of wood. With my hands full on the way back our fire-pit I slipped.

Around Macedon if it's not a dry Australian summer then it's perpetually damp under thick tree cover. So I slipped. I slipped on damp leaves. I came to a rest fallen upright with my left shin hard-up against something (I assume it was a log but frankly with my hands full I couldn't see it). At the time I didn't think much of it, I had my hands full of foraged wood and there was no way I was putting those down so I got back on my feet and resumed walking back to our fire-pit.

My first sign that I had done something wrong was when I noticed my pants were sticking to my leg. I tried to shake them loose as I walked but the spot that was sticking was wet and no amount of shaking would help. I knew I had a bleeder.

I made it back to the fire-pit, dropped my wood and sat down to assess my leg. I pulled up my pant leg and was surprised to see my shin bone through the hole in my shin. Almost as if my body was just holding back to show me how deep the puncture was, soon after seeing my bone the bleeding started. I'm not sure how exactly to explain the volume of blood. I would probably say gushing, but under low pressure.

As it turns out, my biggest mistake wasn't slipping on wet leaves like an idiot (although my wife refuses to let me forget it). My biggest mistake was rushing to take the car out. In my haste I didn't re-pack the the box that lives in the boot. That means no basic tools (forgivable) and no first-aid kit (unforgivable).

Without other options I cut the leg off my pants and used that as a makeshift bandage.

Photo taken from after my leg was stitched and bandaged.

Fast-forward to the aftermath

Turns out I'd done quite a number on myself. From what my GP could tell, it looks like I impaled my leg with a branch that glanced off the shin bone and continued upwards behind the muscle. I was fortunate that I didn't cut or tare any of the muscle and all I had to contend with in regards to the entry-wound was six stitches.

The risk of infection was considered high as was the risk of foreign bodies being trapped in my leg, so I was x-rayed in the following days and kept on a course of antibiotics until my doctor said I was clear. Walking hurt for quite some time afterwards also.

I'm sure I'll have a scar to show for slipping on wet leaves, but so far I'm yet to see.

What I have learned

• Firstly, what the hell was I doing heading out without a first aid-kit? And not just the car kit. I also failed to pack a hiking kit. That's a complete fail.
• Secondly, I didn't go adequately equipped. A sturdier pair of pants, a pair of gaiters. The right equipment could have reduced the severity of my injury.
• Finally, I could have stabilised myself better and reduced my fall if I had carried less wood. For the sake of trying to make one trip our family outing was cut short and I was benched for over a month. I should have carried a smaller load and made a second trip.