3 Things

I learned three things today:

1.  A morning frost means it's going to be a nice day.    There was frost on my windshield this morning. Two people told me the above and I thought they were full of baloney.  However, they were right!  It was the first day without precipiation since I've been here.   Still a bit chilly though!  

2.  It's okay to show up to your doctors appointments in socks, no shoes.   Yesterday I saw a man walk into the grocery store barefoot.  Sure, that's ok.   Today a guy walked into the clinic in socks.   Just socks.  No shoes.  For real?  I mean, if you're going to take the effort to put socks on, how about some shoes?   Maybe he would've chose differently if it *was* raining today... :)

3.  The Hawera Hospital has a kitten inside.   Yup.    Shh, don't tell JCAHO!

One more day of shadowing the local doc, then I'm on my own!  I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories and lessons learned then!

August Showers bring... Rainbows!

A friend asked me the other day, "So Linz, is New Zealand beautiful?".    I said "yes", but not with a capital "Y" and exclamation points.   Yesterday convinced me that the answer now is "YES!  It's gorgeous!"

So I woke up Sunday morning and it wasn't pouring rain, so I decided to venture out on a local hike to Lake Rotokare, meaning "rippling lake".   

This lake, along with the area surrounding it, form the Rotokare Scenic Reserve, funded by the local District Council, which works hard to keep this land as a pest-free sanctuary.  There's even a predator proof fence around the reserve, and two mechanical gates on the way in!   (Holy maximum security--- I'm surprised TSA wasn't there!) :)  Anyways, the path around it was a nice lush walk.  But the birdsongs were delightful.  I think I was the only one hiking the path that morning!  Me and the birds....

This guy reminded me of a flying penguin...

And I don't recall ever seeing a swan-like bird this color!

(anyone with bird knowledge feel free to comment and educate me!)

So after my relaxing hike with the lake and the birds, as I was waiting for the second gate to open (the first one had to close completely before the second one opened)--- I spotted my first NZ rainbow!!

Yay!  I absolutely love rainbows.  It was the perfect day for them, because it would rain, then sun, then rain, then... you get the picture.

So I decided to follow a sign to another lake I had read about.  Kind of a whim decision because I did NOT have a map.  But it was then when I really got to see BEAUTIFUL New Zealand.  Check out this countryside!!

I stopped the car to inform this cow to be careful, he may get his head stuck in there like that, and we'll have to use butter or Crisco to free him!  :)

And further along my drive, the New Zealand factoid I read about came to life.  SHEEP!   Tons of them.  There *are* more sheep than people here!  10 sheep for every 1 person!!   Check it out:

They have it SO much better than US sheep, because usually they have hills of pasture to graze on, not just flat land:

Holy sheep, batman!

So I never found the right entrance to the other lake, but the driving detour was SO worth it, to see all these fellas and the beautiful farmside.

So then I visited a small town called Stratford, nothing much exciting there other that a Clocktower:

And of course, it started raining again, the sun popped out and Rainbow #2 of the day appeared!

I chased this rainbow home, and had to pull over to take this picture, my favorite of the day:

The rain and dreary weather had me feeling a bit down, so I had a hearty bowl of seafood chowder (food isn't that delicious here, so I get excited when it tastes halfway decent) and took a nap.    Woke up again to the rain, saw the sun peeking out again for Rainbow #3!  I couldn't believe it!

Rainbows are indeed breathtaking, but I'm ready for a little sunshine around here.  

 Blog posting may get less frequent now because I start work this week.  But I'm already starting to brainstorm what/where for next weekend's adventure. Everybody's working for the weekend, right?

Waterfalls and Rugby Balls

My first day of work is Monday, so I had two options on how to spend my Friday.   A--- practice on the computer with the clinic's electronic medical record, or B--- have fun!!!  Since I'm not getting paid yet for anything work-related I'm doing, guess what I picked?

It's been crappy weather ever since I arrived, but Friday AM showed some peeks of sun, so I thought it'd be a perfect day to check out some waterfalls!  Mount Egmont was the perfect place.

Named by Captain Cook in 1770, Mount Egmont is a beautiful symmetrical dormant volcano located just a 45 minute drive from Hawera.   Yes, I said volcano, but no worries, its last activity wasn't since the 1860's.   Due to it's similarity in looks to Mount Fuji, it was actually used in the filming of "The Last Samurai".  And you thought New Zealand was only known for Lord of The Rings!  :)

This mountain has some crazy summit trails that take days to complete, but I kept it simple.

One trail led to some pools formed by the scouring action of water along the lava rock.

The water was definitely moving at a decent pace due to all the recent precipitation.

This was a part of the path I had to cross.   Reminded me of Oregon Trail and deciding whether I wanted to float my wagon or ford the water ....

The paths led to some smaller waterfalls:

But a little longer on the trail led to the big kahuna, aka Dawson Falls:

Quite a scenic spot to enjoy my lunch!!!    Interestingly, the park ranger said that just last week, the falls "switched strength", so the one on the right in the picture was larger.   Neat huh?

A view from a lookout hiking away from Dawson Falls:

The day was still young after my two hikes, so I changed out of my soggy muddy clothes and headed for the drive north to New Plymouth, the nearest big "city" to Hawera, with a population around 55,000.  

I'm getting used to driving on the left.   To "give way"  (aka yield) to the person on the right is still tricky.  And so is this:

Anyways, New Plymouth is a great city with a FABULOUS public park called Pukekura Park.  I spent several hours here taking in the sights, including some pretty lakes and lush vegetation:

Asian inspired bridges:

There was also a Fern Garden and Flower Display house that knocked my socks off.   Tons of flowers, all beautiful arranged!

Orchids....

begonias, succulents, and more!

And my favorite, anthuriums!   In every color!   The coolest ones had these curly stamens:

Took a short walk along the shore of the Tasman Sea (gosh I love water):

After a quick takeaway (that's what NZ folks call take-out) Indian dinner (yes, Indian food is prevalent and quite tasty here),  I headed to the *real* reason I came to New Plymouth---- RUGBY!

The Tenderlink Taranaki (my local team, as I'm living in the Taranaki region of the North Island), took on the Tasman Makos.

It was chilly (for Arizona standards!   50ish) and drizzly, reminded me of football weather!  Luckily my seat was under cover!  And right at the halfway line!  Great seat.

The Tenderlink Taranaki  (looking like bumblebees :) )  :

For those of you who may not be rugby experts, below is what's called a 'scrum', which is where 8 players from each team grasp each other with the purpose of restarting play quickly, safely and fairly after a minor stoppage of game.    Looks like a big rotating hug to me :)

Because of the cool weather, and the fact it was 100% humidity that night, it was neat to see clouds of steam on the field.  Once a player would run, he'd leave behind a cloud of steam, due to his hot body!  (Hubba hubba!)

And the best part, the Taranaki won!  Hooray!

I'm proud of myself for making the 1.5 drive back to Hawera all by myself--- in the dark!  I think I may invest in a Garmin to help me navigate.  And I can have it tell me directions in that sexy Aussie/Kiwi accent--- how appropriate!

All in all, a great day.  Much better than Electronic Medical Records :)

All Along the Watertower

Today was another walking exploration of my neighborhood, in which I saw a few more interesting things:

A cute little babbling brook which leads to the Tasman sea.  Which was my next stop on my walk, and these guys were quite photogenic for me:

I took a further walk down the beach to some more rocky cliffs, and found this interesting fossil:

I spent part of the day getting a tutorial on the clinic's Electronic Medical Record.  For those of you that are curious, it's a wee bit easier (but way less powerful!) than NextGen.  I also borrowed a book like the PDR (Physician's Desk Reference for my nonmedical followers) to help learn the names of some medicines here that may be different.  The current doc here said that the amount of gout, eczema, and allergies he's been seeing is quite extreme.   But enough shoptalk, I don't start til Monday!  

After my training, I explored a bit more of town.   Visited King Edward's Park, a beautifully landscaped park that will for sure be even more beautiful when spring begins very very soon:

Below is what I think will be a rose garden... stay tuned for beautiful updated pics of this in a few months!

I also found a fiddlehead fern. 

Have you ever eaten one?  While they're fun and tasy to eat, many of them contain an enzyme that breaks down thiamine (Vitamin B1).  So don't eat too many or you'll end up with heart and nerve problems like alcoholics sometimes get due to vitamin B deficiency!   There's your medical lesson of the day :)

Then I did the main touristy thing in town-- climbed the Hawera Water Tower!

The town was orginially named "Te Hawera" which means "the burnt place", after an incident when one Maori tribe surprised another tribe in the middle of the night and burned down the entire town!  The town built up again in the 1880s, but in 1888 and 1912 two additional large fires reeked havoc on this poor town.  So insurance companies demanded a more reliable firefighting system in order to prevent sky-high insurance premiums.   Thus, the water tower was built!     52 meters tall (thats 168 feet for you, Geoff!), 215 steps to the top..... when full it can hold 680,000 litres (150,000 gallons!).  Here are some pics from the top, where you can get a feel for the size of the town of Hawera.

But my rural beach house is about a 10 min drive from all this "downtown" craziness :)

Speaking of which, as I was making dinner, I finally caught glimpse of the AMAZING Mount Egmont out my kitchen window!   

More details on Mount Egmont soon.  I have a hike planned there tomorrow!  In other good news, I am the proud holder of a ticket for a rugby match tomorrow night in New Plymouth!!    My local team, the Tenderlink Taranaki, are playing Tasman.  This match is part of the ITM Cup, the domestic professional league here in NZ.   I'm so excited!

The last excitment of the night involves the splendid sunset I saw front my front porch.  I have a feeling there are many more of these to come!

That's all for now!  More updates after my rugby/hiking adventures this weekend!

Hawera sweet Hawera

5 airports, 4 flights, 32 hours (and one day completely disappeared due to crossing the international date line, and I've arrived in my new home for the next six months---- Hawera, New Zealand!  (pronounced HA-widdah, as I learned today ).  

The flights were fine.   Phoenix to Los Angeles, uneventful with the exception of some obnoxious Southern California boys and girls.  Los Angeles to Nadi Fiji---- a 10.5 hr flight in which I slept a solid 8 hrs, thanks to two tylenol PMs and an exhuasting week previously from four days in Colorado then a mad 3 day rush to pack up 2 suitcases, get rid of a TON of stuff, store some boxes, clean my apt, and say goodbye to all my AZ folks!   I sat next to a nurse midwife from Australia who was at some conference in Vancounver Canada.   I am convinced they sit health professionals together on flights (keep reading)!

My four hours in Fiji were spent in the aiport, but at least the terminal had windows where I could sneak a peak of the Fiji sunrise.....

And then off to New Zealand, a flight which was delayed due to the need to pump in extra fuel due to fog in Auckland, which almost led to a diversion to Christchurch (waaayy South of where I needed to be!), which thank goodness wasn't necessary in the end.

Arrival in Auckland was where the fun started.   I didn't notice until my walk past the Customs booth that they stamped my passport with a 3 month visitor stamp rather than 6 month workers.   I took the took to take care of this NOW rather than later, and fortunately it paid off--- in 30 minutes the problem was fixed.   Although it does look a little sketchy with a big "REVOKED" stamp in one of the pages of my passport.  Anything to make this Alashiskabob lady look more like a terrorist is no bueno....

The fun continued when one of my bags was missing.  And the bag that DID make it didn't have it's tag on it, so it's a wonder that one arrived.   So a friendly visit to Baggage Services to make my claim and I was on my way.  I had to taxi into town to meet with a lady whose job was to collect all my paperwork for final completion of my NZ Medical License.    Some copies, forms, signatures and that was complete!

Spent the time waiting for my flight trying a local brew (Speight's Gold Medal Ale, for those beer lovers reading) and watching a rugby match at the airport pub.   Interestingly the domestic terminals in NZ have NO security---- no xrays, no scanners, no liquid limitations.   A nice change from the US!

Then flew from Auckland to New Plymouth.   Sat next to a nurse (see what I mean?).   Warren, the Clinic Manager, picked me up at the airport and drove me back the hour's drive to Hawera.  It was dark and rainy so I'm glad HE did the driving and not me!

So here it is, my home! 

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hira+st+hawera+nz&vps=1&sll=-39.586062,174.201214&sspn=0.007375,0.016265&gl=nz&g=8+Hira+St,+Hawera+4671&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Hira+St,+Hawera+4671

I don't want to post my exact address on the internet, but if for some reason you'd like my mailing address to send me fun things, don't hesitate to ask.  I promise to send at *least* a postcard in return!

The house:

 

The view from that front porch:

 

Not too shabby, eh?  That water is the Tasman Sea, which separates Australia and New Zealand.

My back yard:

Yes, I believe that's a Chicken Coop on the left.  No, I did not bring, nor do I plan on raising, my own chickens.

But I do have two pets that are going to be my buddies (if I like it or not!) due to their frequenting of my backyard:   I shall call them Cat One and Cat Two:

Cat One!

Cat Two!

Actually the beach I'm living at is pretty populated.....  with these guys at the end of my block:

Hundreds of them!   (I think I better get used to seeing these guys ALL. THE. TIME! )

The town is actually quite beautiful   Tons of rolling hills and green.  Here is a view down my street:

Today was kind of cloudy/overcast/drizzly, but I managed to take a short walk to the beach this morning.   My house is about 200m from the beach...a rocky beach albeit, but still, beautiful waves, rocks, breeze!

Not bad for a short hour's stroll! 

The bigger adventures will come soon enough, hopefully when my other suitcase arrives (pray pray pray it does!).  If it doesn't arrive, I will have to find somewhere to buy size 11 shoes (i currently only have a pair of hiking sandals and sexy strappy black heels, how appropriate, huh?), raingear, and a stethescope, and more warm non-work clothes if this wet, chilly weather keeps up (50s, rain, 90% humidity).

The rest of today was spent getting a tour of the clinic, meeting all the staff, having lunch with the crew. 

As for local food, I tried feijoa juice, aka pineapple guava, a fruit originally grown in Brazil but here in NZ since the 1920's which flourishes quite well in this climate..)

The rest of the day I spent driving around town, in my bright blue sporty Honda, on the LEFT side of the road!   I was in town, and every intersection has silly roundabouts, where you "give way" to the right, which further confuses things!   All afternoon driving in "town" traffic and I only got honked at once. :)

I also am the proud owner of a New Zealand bank account and library card!   (It's the little things, I tell ya).

Will spend the rest of the week setting up shop, and will start to see patients next Monday.  Trying to decide on how to spend my weekend!   Perhaps an adventure in Egmont Park, or maybe something more local.  Definitely nothing too extreme just yet, until I make some adventurous friends to join me!

Will be posting all of my pictures on facebook, so make sure to check that too.

Thanks for reading!  I promise to keep you amused for the next six months :)