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| This Blog is Recommended by 3 out of 4 Doctors * |
The month after Easter has been spent three ways:
- Further settling into Timaru, NZ life;
- Touring with our first guest from home; and
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Preparing for June back in California.
Part One:
I am settling more
into work at Timaru Hospital, which for me means getting used to the slower, more
relaxed pace, focusing on self-directed study, and deciding which projects I
want to initiate. For example, I have refined a few protocols for general use
for heart attacks and stress tests, begun to design an audit on admissions for
blood clots, and plan to survey GPs on their opinions of our services.
At home, we are getting comfortable in our new digs, and
enjoying as much of the local flavor as possible. This includes seeing Scottish
comedian Billy Connolly’s local performance of his current NZ tour. I couldn’t
get a photo of him on stage, just one of the empty set.
The local theater is a
century-old jewel, and Billy delivered an energetic and entertaining two-hour
show despite recently revealing he has Parkinson ’s Disease. With a long mane
of white hair and chest-long white beard, otherwise shrouded in black, he appeared as a comedic translucent spectre..
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| Billy Gesticulating (NZ Herald Photo) |
Other local pastimes include taking in the Garden Club Fall
show, tramping about through the bush, and assembling a team
for Wednesday night Pub Trivia.
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| Bonsai Tree |
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| A Winner! |
It wouldn’t be New Zealand without rugby, and the regional professional
Super Rugby lads are the Crusaders from Christchurch. A recent powerhouse (the
2014 squad not-so-much), we saw them lose to the Sharks from South Africa. The
most memorable part of the program was the rousing entrance by of the costumed
equestrians, looking like refugees from a
Medieval Times Theater performance.
Adding to the atmosphere is the dance squad,
the Maidens, clad in pleather miniskirts, thigh-high boots, and brandishing plastic
longswords, the lasses clearly did not have the benefit of dance and
cheerleading training from infancy, as in the USA. To comment more would be
unkind.
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| Team Spirit, motel-style |
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| The Maidens (Photo-NZ Herald) |
En route to the match, we passed a combination car and dog
wash. Do we have these in the US?
Part Two:
We were in Christchurch to meet our old and dear friend
Karen, who used her frequent flyer miles to become our first visitor this time
around in NZ. Having a familiar visitor from home is an important event for me.
It adds reality to this phase of our lives, living and working in New Zealand for
an indefinite period, and I do hope we are here long enough for all our friends
and family will be able to come and see for themselves the charms of “Middle
Zealand” (as it is called in The Lego
Movie).
We wanted to pack in as much as possible in the brief ten
days she has here, covering ground familiar to regular blog readers. It started
with a guided tour of rebuilding Christchurch.
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| Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, before and after. |
We took the scenic highway back in Timaru, through the
Canterbury plains skirting the edges of the Southern Alps. By chance we noticed the “Open”
sign for the Topp Lodge, popped in for a coffee, and were delighted to meet
Lynda Topp, one half of the
Topp Twins, the iconic Kiwi comedic yodeling activist
lesbian folk-singing twin sisters.
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| Kiwi Icon Lynda Topp(R) with another Odd Duck(L) |
Karen was interested in our Timaru life, so we went by the
hospital, saw the local sights, and attended the Tuesday evening dinner with my
fellow Senior Medical Officers, always a convivial highlight of our week.
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| Lake Tekapo Panorama from Mount John Observatory and Cafe |
Wednesday May 21st we took to the road to Lake Tekapo, the always commanding
Aoraki/ Mt. Cook for a walk and gourmet meal and a room facing the peak.
Next day we drove to Queenstown via a very windy Wanaka.
On to Queenstown, with its lovely view of Lake Wakatipu from the top of the gondola.
Lunchtime brought more fine food and wine at Amisfield
Winery near the historic gold mining village of
Arrowtown.
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| Fall colors in Arrowtown |
Dunedin was fully booked Saturday night due to the
aforementioned Crusaders invading to clash with the local
Highlanders, so we detoured to Kaka Point on the
Catlins Coast. Despite increasingly stormy weather, we had time to walk out to the lighthouse at Nugget Point and spy on the rare
hoiho (Yellow-eyed Penguins) returning to the nest after an exhausting day of fishing.
That left us only one night for Dunedin and the Otago
Peninsula, enduring very blustery rain and snow flurries.
Monday on the drive back to Timaru we peeked in on the
Moeraki Boulders and Oamaru after waiting until noon until Highway One north of Dunedin was cleared of the first big snow of the year.
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| Snow on the Octogon, Central Dunedin |
Monday night was for final details and planning for the return home. We thought Karen should have a brief look at Auckland, so we checked into our old haunts, the Waldorf Tetra Apartments downtown. Having lived there for 5 months in 2012, we know the area well. We plan to take her by Auckland City Hospital, the Auckland Domain and Museum, the Harbour, and the Sky Tower at the very least.
Part Three: The Return Home.
The master plan for this phase of my life
is to “commute” to work in New Zealand for three to four months stretches but to spend at
least three month out of the year back stateside. I want to continue to play an
active role in the lives of my family, maintain my cherished friendships, and
manage business affairs and property, despite working in a distant land. Our
itinerary is already packed, but I am anxious and enthused about returning to
the Golden State on May 28. For the folks back there, I hope to see you in
June!
* Candy cigarettes provided by fellow Medical Consultant Camille Hemlock
The local theater is a
century-old jewel, and Billy delivered an energetic and entertaining two-hour
show despite recently revealing he has Parkinson ’s Disease. With a long mane
of white hair and chest-long white beard, otherwise shrouded in black, he appeared as a comedic translucent spectre..
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That left us only one night for Dunedin and the Otago
Peninsula, enduring very blustery rain and snow flurries.
