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It was a dark day when the koalas came, bringing their teeth and claws and taking @beaker303 from her. Although she had some natural medicines to help her, it was not enough to save them both. This is their tale, re-enacted for the Natural Medicine Challenge.

Well, I didn't intend to get crazy with this response to the 'Survivor' Natural Medicine' challenge, but after seeing @mountainjewel's B-Grade Zombie flick (watch it here if you missed it), how could I resist? Plus, I was bullied into it. Of course I'm usually very sensible and take the Natural Medicine challenge seriously. So did my actors - my son and his girl popped over for tea and I asked them if they'd run around a garden with a koala mask and they said 'sure', and didn't even ask why.

Here are the three natural medicines I refer to in the challenge...

1. Tea Tree Oil - Melaleuca alternifolia

Tea tree oil is a very Aussie oil that has always been our first aid kit. It has antibacterial properties and thus can be an effective healer of wounds - we used to use it for cuts and scrapes when surfing so they didn't get infected from reef cuts. Apparently it was used in WW2 to treat bites, stings, infections until they discovered antibiotics and believed them a cure all. It contains terpinen-4-ol which helps increase the activity of white blood cells, helping fight germs and bacteria. It's good as an anti-bacterial handwash, protecting against e-coli and other germs.

It's also a great insect repellent - one study found that cows treated with tea tree oil had 61 percent less flies than those without. It's meant to be better than DEET.

Unfortunately, as the rabid koala bacteria or virus was a new strain, it didn't prevent @beaker303 getting infected. If you haven't watched the D-Tube, you might want to find out what happened. Sometimes avoidance of bacteria is better than a cure itself.

2. Valerian - Valeriana officinalis

Valerian is for lowing our anxiety and thus helping us sleep! No way could I sleep without it - well, I probably COULD but have you ever tried sleeping in a van with koalas outside? They sound terrifying! If you didn't manage to load the Dtube, here's the youtube version - that sound is actually a male koala's mating call...

Still think koalas are cute? Hmmmm.... so, yep, valerian is going to help me chill out. I actually do take this every night - combined with my daily St John's Wort, I believe I'm much more stable with my anxiety, which can verge on depression.

3. Rescue Remedy

I'm still not entirely convinced about the Bach Flower Essences, but I still always keep a bottle handy for stressful situations. Perhaps it is just a placebo effect - who knows. But I've used it for over twenty years, so I can't see why I wouldn't take it when my husband is attacked by killer koalas.

Whilst you may not have learnt anything from this post, I do hope that you've been entertained. I'm not in the running for prizes at all of course, but I wanted to join in the fun. There's still time for you to join in - though the challenge post here says the due date is November 10th, we'll be accepting entries up until the 13th of November. You can be as serious or as irreverent as you like with this one!

Please check out these other incredible responses to the Natural Medicine Survivor Challenge. From portals to dragons, earthquakes to jungles, zombies to just generally bug out preparation, these posts make @naturalmedicine so proud!!!

Using Moss for An Open Wound by @el-nailul
Bugging Out by @porters
Real Life Survivor Medicine by @maribelquere97
Portal Jumpers by @walkerland
Garlic and Vinegar by @senorcoconut
Herbs for Surviving a Zombie Attack by @mountainjewel
True Story First Aid Kit by @aksurem89
Surviving in Burma by @artemislives
An Escape from Dragons by @binkyprod
Salt Power Wonders by @macoolette

Resteeming of this post would be super appreciated - I'd love to get some more entries in because we are having FAR too much fun to wrap this one up yet!

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If you're a supporter of all things natural healing, you might like to read our introductory post here. We'd also love to welcome you on Discord here!!

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