South Island Tales

It's been a while since my last posting, February 6, 2023 to be precise. Why so long? I try to share my new experiences and it doesn't seem like there has been too many of those in the last five months. I came back to NZ for work, not boring for me, but not the main stuff of my blog/travelogue. Every place I have worked has been a revisit covered in previous blogs: Invercargill, Nelson, and Timaru. Still, this has been a very important transitional time for me as I segue from full-time work to eventual retirement.

So, in chronological order:

1) Invercargill

The first work I accepted was two weeks on the Rehab Unit in Southland Hospital. I worked on the Medical ward last year for a week so I had some familiarity with the situation. On the trip down we stopped in Wanaka, one of our favorite spots. 

Lake Wanaka

Pathway along the Clutha River out of Lake Wanaka

Traveling further south through Otago, we stopped off to reconnect with an old Watsonville HS classmate, Deb Turpen. Through the magic of FaceBook, she sent me a message out of the blue in 2020 to let me know she was living a few hours away from Timaru. She has the distinction of being the only person with whom I went on a blind date the year of our graduation 1968, memorably to see The Graduate. Our lives went down different paths and I lost contact with Deb and our our mutual friend who arranged the date, Alice Hutchinson, née Larson.

Deb

We met Deb and her husband Greg at their home outside of Cromwell then went for lunch at one of the nearby wineries, the Carrick. It was the perfect venue for catching up over wine and food. I sadly learned that Alice had passed away in 2016 (here is her obituary). From time to time you have fond memories of long-lost friends. It is fortunate when you have moments to reconnect and sad when you realize that for some that opportunity has passed. (Thanks to Connie W. for emailing me these yearbook pictures, and no, I don't travel with my WHS Yearbook....go Wildcats!)

Alice Larson in upper L. corner

Who is that handsome devil?

Greg, Deb, me, and Fayne

Carrick Winery

We continued down to the southern tip of the South Island, Invercargill, for two weeks of work. If you find yourself there, allow me to recommend The Saucy Chef restaurant, where we enjoyed a splendid Valentine's Day platter.

Strolling through Queens Park in the city center is always a treat, even on misty days.

Peter Pan Sculpture

S

Favorite son Burt Munro aboard The World's Fastest Indian

A visit to have a peek at Henry, the 120+ year old tuatara is a must.

A short drive west leads to Riverton, a nice place for a stroll and lunch on a sunny day.

Riverton Beachhouse Cafe

2) Nelson

Since I mainly came back to NZ to work and without an offer from our Kiwi hometown Timaru, I accepted a three-month position in the Medicine Department in Nelson, going from the southernmost to the northernmost city on the South Island. The Tasman region, named for Dutch Captain Abel Tasman, has a well-deserved reputation for the best best weather in the country. That doesn't stop locals from complaining about it, a common human pastime. But if you have been following New Zealand news at all, there have been terrible climate catastrophes in 2023, primarily on the North Island: floods, major infrastructure damage, houses and lives lost, and disastrous damage to farming and crops. In Hawke's Bay, vineyards and schools are covered in meters of sludge and silt. There was some relatively minor flooding in Nelson one day but thankfully we avoided the worst of it.

Our time spent in Nelson was quite important to me. The lack of work offers in Timaru, my primary place of work since 2010, left my confidence a bit shaken. My work in Nelson Hospital reassured me that I still have a lot to offer and my skills are appreciated and needed in all the places I have done locums work. One reason was made clear in an amazing article in the papers. Senior doctors in New Zealand have accumulated an unbelievable 1.72 million hours, or 1,024 years of unclaimed annual leave! The generous union contracts and the COVID lock-downs are two reasons that every place I work is very short-handed. I volunteered to do neurology clinics in Nelson (all the regular neurologists were on leave) in addition to covering the medical wards. My colleagues were very welcoming and grateful for my help, a nice feeling.

This period was important for another reason. I began to recognize that although I still really enjoy being Dr. Wallace and in fact in the last few months have provided some of the most fascinating and challenging cases in my whole career, I am in a stage of life where my priorities are changing. I want and need more time to be with family and friends, to travel, and pursue other things. It is getting less difficult to imagine not working, not this year, but probably after 2024. 

Back to the travelogue: Nelson and the Tasman area are stunningly beautiful. The people are friendly, the food diverse and delicious, and the cultural opportunities many. They have a very active local branch of the national Film Society, of which we took full advantage. The Saturday Market is a local tradition.  I've chronicled our visits to the region on many past blogs, but retracing steps is fun too.

Abel Tasman N.P., where we visited with sister Angela in 2010

The view of Tasman Bay coming over the hill from work

Exotic donuts and coffee at the Smoking Barrel in Motueka

Tahunanui Beach Park across the street from our accommodations

Tahunanui Park has all sorts of wonders for "kids of all ages": a skate park, go-carts, playgrounds, a kiddie train, water slides, even wee Natureland Wildlife Trust Zoo. There you can get up close to a variety of native and non-native creatures.

Tui & porcupines

Pygmy marmosets grooming

Kakariki

Kea

A short drive north leads to Cable Bay and the Cable Bay Cafe.

The bay

The beach

The carrot cake

Did I mention the cultural opportunities in Nelson? The Suter Art Gallery is a tidy jewel,with its riverside cafe, comfortable theater where the Nelson Film Society (and others) screen films, and small but well-curated exhibits. We enjoyed Memento Moa by Jary Baseman, a playful cartoonish mixed media presentation of stuffed moas and paintings with a serious message. I'll let the gallery explain it further.

While in Nelson, Don McLean stopped on his Australasian tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of the American Pie album. Two days before the concert, the South Korean president serenaded Joe Biden with American Pie and presented POTUS with a Don McLean signed guitar. The concert was also the day Gordon Lightfoot died, and he performed a moving version of "If You Could Read My Mind". The band was excellent with veterans of the Grand Ole Opry and Johnny Cash's Tennessee Three (L to R: Tony Migliore on keyboards, Kerry Marx on guitar next to him then Don, John McTigue drums, Kevin Key bass, and Vip Vipperman guitar.) Sorry for the poor quality iPhone picture but its the thought that counts.

Dancing in the gym

It was a joyous and memorable time singing along en mass to his signature song; not quite Hey Jude in Golden Gate Park with Sir Paul, but close.

After a prolonged stay it was time to head back to Timaru (where I had finally been offered work), but not before:

1. Bringing in a chocolate cake to thank my colleagues in Nelson Hospital,
2. A fabulous lunch at Moutere Hills Vinyard, and;
   
3. Taking in five films in the French Film Festival 2023. (I strongly recommend both Two Tickets To Greece  and A Good Doctor, aka: Docteur?.)
   

The luncheon fare at the MHV...

...and dessert.

We made a slight detour en route to Timaru to stop by the previously unvisited Nelson Lakes N. P. National Parks are always worth a look, and despite being overcast and drizzly, a short walk on the shore of Lake Rotoiti ticked that box.

The two of us at Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lakes NP

3) Finally, June & July in Timaru

I did request Easter Week off in April so we could return to Timaru for our now traditional NZ Easter. That would be our only time there from early March to June 3.

Easter celebration in South Canterbury

It is nice to be back in our little nest on James St. bordering the Botanic Garden. It is deep wintertime here and there can be some very icy blasts coming up from Antarctica. It is good to resume our well-established weekly routine: Tuesday night dinner with colleagues; Wednesday Team Leon night pub quizzing at Barney's Sail & Anchor, our version of Cheers.

We were alerted that Shaun Wallace (aka: The Dark Destroyer), a star of the popular UK quiz show The Chase was returning to NZ to visit and quiz for charity. We were invited to join a team in Kaiapoi just north of Christchurch on June 8 and jumped at the chance. 57 teams competed and we came out on top. Our team then got to compete head to head with Shaun in a version of the Final Chase and triumphed, one of our proudest moments. The Dark Destroyer remembered us from our 2019 win in the New Zealand Pub Quiz Championship when we were rewarded with Sunday brunch with him, quite an honor.

The winning team with Shaun and signed copies of his book Chasing The Dream

He is great chap, a true celebrity in NZ. To commemorate the win, I designed this special team patch. There was a trophy as well.

Barney, our publican at the the Sail and Anchor with...

..our trophy!

Also a quiz-related activity, we won a voucher in a raffle to visit The Raptor Experience, a short walk from our Timaru home. Not one to pass up a local tourist activity, we spent a Saturday afternoon learning about our local raptors and the people that are dedicated to their preservation and nursing the injured back to health.

Tom Thumb, a Kāhu (Harrier hawk)

Me with Tom and Ron Lindsay, our guide

Zebedee, a Little Brown Owl

The very next night we watched the Oscar-nominated 2022 documentary All That Breathes about a similar raptor rescue project, this time in India, with this Wikipedia synopsis:

Two brothers Saud and Nadeem were raised in New Delhi, looking at a sky speckled with black kites, watching as relatives tossed meat up to these birds of prey. Muslim belief held that feeding the kites would expel troubles. Now, birds are falling from the polluted, opaque skies of New Delhi and the two brothers have made it their life’s work to care for the injured black kites.

Coda:

In a few days we will pack up to return to the USA and check in with as many friends and family as possible. I am also excited to begin the planning phase for possibly our next great adventure in early 2024. Here is a clue.