FOOT LOOSE RON MOON

BUG … EARED!

IT WASN’T funny, even though most people laugh outright or at least chuckle when you first tell the story In this case it was a bug that crawled into my ear while camped on the Starcke Track, about a five-hour drive north of Cooktown

I’m prompted to tell this yarn as bugs in ears have been hitting the headlines of late, and in every case it’s anything but funny and the first aid, especially out in the bush, seems to be little known And from what I’ve read in recent days, camping, especially in summer or up north when its pleasantly warm, is the peak time for bugs to crawl into ears

In my case it was the middle of the night when I woke with a bit of a start and the quick realisation that something had crawled in my ear Within a few seconds it felt like a herd of Genghis Khan’s mounted warriors were charging around my eardrum, creating a hell of a lot of noise that was impossible to ignore, and the sharp little feet of whatever was in my ear was a little painful Still, it was the noise and pressure on my eardrum that was quickly driving me insane.

Waking my son Trent up (we were on one of his Moon Tours up the Cape) we tried the old torchlight-at-the-end-of-the tunnel trick to try and lure said bug out of my ear By this stage I was prepared to drive back to Cooktown in the dark to seek some help

We didn’t have any tweez ers, which in hindsight was a good thing as every expert and website on such matters strongly suggests you don’t use them as they can easily hole the eardrum – and then you are in more strife than a cat in a dog kennel

While I walked in circles shaking my head, Trent got on the satphone and in touch with the Royal Flying Doctor Service The doc on call knew what to do, “Just pour some oil into his ear – the bug, whatever it is, wont like it and it’ll go even crazier for a while, but the oil will kill it!”

Baby oil or similar is the preferred oil, but we didn’t have any with us so olive oil or cooking oil will do, we were told At this stage I would have tried engine oil

With a good dose of oil poured in my ear, the bug, as the doc had indicated, went a little crazy but then the noise subsided and stopped Unless you’ve experienced it, you couldn’t believe the relief I felt.

Then it’s a matter of tilting the head to the affected side and letting the oil and hopefully the bug fall out. When it did, I was surprised how small it was If such a little insect can cause so much angst I really felt for the people in the recent news stories that had a 2cm-long cockroach crawl in their ears; now that would feel very noisy and disconcerting. But maybe I’m just a wimp!

The moral of the story is, if it happens to you, use some oil; do not use tweez ers or the like to try and remove the bug

How to stop them crawling in your ear? Keep your tent, swag or camper closed up to keep bugs out; if there are any around, give the enclosure a spray with some insect killer. Apart from that and short of wearing ear plugs, you are at their mercy Just keep some baby oil or cooking oil handy!

For more information, see: www healthline com/health/ bug-in-ear

Bug Ou T

WITHIN 10km of driving the 2022 Ford Bronco, I had to ask: “Why the hell isn’t Ford bringing these to Australia?”

Let’s be honest, Ford can’t go wrong with any 4x4 riding on the T6 platform at the moment, and the Bronco would complement the Ranger and Everest models in Australia as being a better off-road and lifestyle alternative.

I must admit I was a little disappointed when the kind lady at the counter at LAX handed me the keys to the big red Bronco Black Diamond, as I was expecting a Bronco Raptor for this drive. While the Raptor is the off-road hero of the Bronco model range with its 37-inch tyres, lockers and 3 0-litre V6 engine, the Black Diamond version was much lower and slimmer than the Raptor which would have been a rather tight fit in the hotel car park.

The plan for the Bronco was to do a road trip that would be every car junkie’s dream run to the SEMA show in Las Vegas and, Raptor or not, this Bronco would get the job done So after three days of seeing the sights around LA, I jumped in the car and headed east

The drive from LA to Vegas takes about a five hours on the highway. With some stops, I was able to take in some of the scenery as well as check out some very cool and interesting vehicles that were also heading in the same direction

Being a soft-top, the Bronco did have some road and wind noise, but that’s really unavoidable when there isn’t a sheet of metal separating you from the sky. The Bronco does come with a hardtop option, but this particular model not only has a fully removable roof, but you can also unbolt the doors completely and the process is very simple. If you check out the Bronco section of the Ford website, there’s nothing short of seven different options for soft- and hardtop variants. Nobody is going home unhappy with their choice!

It’s no secret that Ford has targeted the Jeep market with the Bronco, so there are many similarities with the Jeep Wrangler in its features