Blogs from Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
April 29th 2012
25 April ANZAC DAY At long last it's time to catch up with the blog. The last few days have been so full on that we haven't had time to do much else than drive, check in for the night, have a feed and sleep. Also, as previously mentioned, the internet is a patchy thing and very costly here. We arrived in the beautiful city of Dunedin on the eve of Anzac Day (which is very big here of course!) and at one stage I even had patriotic thoughts of getting up for the dawn service in Dunedin. However, we had booked on the Taieri Gorge Train on Anzac Day morning and as it leaves the station at 9am we thought it might be cutting things too fine. Plus, it was cold at 5.30 am so ... read more
April 27th 2012
April 23-27 Last week in Dunedin :( This unfortunately marks the end of my time working at the hospital in Dunedin. I'll quickly give the highlights of this past week. On Monday we had another scoliosis case. I once again tried to make matchsticks, and Mr. Cartstens once again made fun of them. Whatever! I thought they were beautiful. On Tuesday we again had fracture clinic. I had a very embarrassing mistake of stating the dermatomal distribution rather than the correct L4 was S4 (the perianal area). On Wednesday night we had dinner at Mr. Hodgson's house with Alan and Ginny (his nurse/assistant). Yesterday there was a mobile clinic in Christchurch to help with the relief work. Today, we again had fracture clinic...and I had to say goodbye to my team. This was such a rewarding ... read more
April 22nd 2012
April 16-20: This has been a very busy week at work. I attended several lectures and grand rounds. The grand rounds covered different types of dermatomyositis, and I had forgotten how much that I had forgotten! Better review it before Step 3. On Tuesday we had fracture clinic, with nothing too exciting. On Wednesday was the day I had the multiple lectures during which it was diffcult to stay awake. Sorry, it's just not my favorite topic. Yesterday (Thursday) Mr. Hodgson pounded me in clinic. He wanted to see what I was made out of, and he observed me take the history and physical exam on several patients. He then proceeded to pimp me over and over. This, I suppose, comes with the territory, and I had to remember that we had a job to do. ... read more
Back to work, then onto Glaciers!
Published: May 7th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Dunedin
April 16th 2012
April 10: Today we had more fracture clinic. Nothing too exciting happened. I found a gym on the University of Otago's campus. I'm also staying at a different hostel, now Penny's backpackers. April 11: Today I got to wear a spacesuit! We did a full-knee revision which requires extra gear (which I call spacesuits). The surgeon was Canadian and we jokingly jabbed at each other's country. It was somewhat comforting to have a fellow North American in the room. Those spacesuits are hot, though! We had another minor surgery in the afternoon (tibial fixation). April 12-13: Yesterday and today there was more fracture clinic. It's interesting to see how this socialized medicine system works. Many of the patients we had the past two days were rugby players. One guy had a ruptured achilles tendon - ouch! ... read more
Fiords, Mountains, Rugged Beaches, Wildlife
Published: March 26th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Dunedin
March 26th 2012
This country is truly one of many contrasts. In this blog will talk about our experiences with the sea from very different perspectives. At the beginning of the week we spent 1.5 days on an overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound on a small charter boat. To begin with the weather was phenomenal - bright sunshine in an area that sees about 280 days of rain per year; and clear skies at night revealing stars and the milky way so close it felt like you could almost reach out and touch them. Not only were we treated to unbelievable scenery, wildlife (dolphins, seals, albatross and shearwaters) and excellent meals; but were also able to kayak in the fiord, catch numerous species of salt water fish, including blue cod and spiny lobster which ended up on the dinner ... read more
March 23rd 2012
On a very damp misty morning we drove down from Twizel through the lindis pass to Cromwell, Alexandra, Roxburgh, Milton and then Dunedin. We left in rain and slowly drove into sunshine. Found a very convenient Motel in the city, ready for Friday. We checked out the city in the morning tried the botanical gardens but they were a disappointment, however in the aftenoon we went on the Taieri gorge railway trip. The route went through some stunning ravines and gorges, not accessable by car, up to the highest station in N.Zealand. The line was originally built for the gold rush and must have been amazing when it was steam. Too many photos taken but we've managed to choose a couple.... read more
February 28th 2012
Good afternoon readers, this blog is part David Attenborough documentary, part ecology lesson and mostly promoting two excellent tour operators in the South Island. I have been doing my favourite thing since I finished work last week and hunting out the local wildlife in a foreign country – not with a rifle sight and snares but with binoculars, infra-red torches and some very helpful, knowledgable tour guides. I have done two very excellent and different tours that I thought I should promote, and also rave about what I have seen! Rowi/Okarito Brown Kiwis – Ian Cooper at Okarito Kiwi Tours Kiwis are strange things. In this case I'm refering to the birds not the people, although it is also a pretty strange thing that only 1% of Kiwis (the people) have seen their iconic bird in ... read more
Beer, birds and butchery...Good on ya mate!
Published: February 12th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Dunedin
February 5th 2012
The day started off well - managed to wake up my miserable complaining roommates at 8.30 which I was pleased about. Nothing like a bit of revenge to put a spring in your step! Today's trip is going to take me from Catlins to Dunedin, around the final leg of the Southern Scenic route. Fortunately this leg is more scenic than the previous element, however the clouds and the mist are lying low today, making visibility of the coast just a dream. I stood out at the first viewing point to catch a glimpse of the ocean and that is literally all it was - a glimpse. The sea and the sky blended together to form one big greyblue mass, only broken by a couple of white breaking waves on the shore. The route to Dunedin ... read more
New Zealand North and South
Published: January 23rd 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Dunedin
January 22nd 2012
Now it’s been a very long time since the last entry, we were quite busy searching for the next surf and the next kajak session. I won’t write that much as we realized that less and less people are reading our blog! Anyway, after some days in Raglan we headed towards Rotorua, were the famous geysers of nz are, impressive and very smelly...We found a pretty nice campground with hot water pools and enjoyed there two days of very rainy weather. The next week we spent again in Raglan where I (Sabine) bought a new surfboard, now it starts to make fun again as it is a little bigger than the old one and finally I can catch some waves. As the week in raglan was very rainy, I started doing yoga classes with Monica (thanks ... read more
January 18th 2012
Left Mt Cook and stopped off in a few places en route to Dunedin (the so-called Edinburgh of the south): Twisel,Elephant Rocks,(Hampden - just for the toilet and the name),Moeraki Boulders. Weather still excellent. The stop at the Elephant Rocks was a deviation from the planned route: it sounded interesting and was! They are large weathered limestone rocks shaped like........you've guessed it,elephants (if you use a little bit of imagination). Then on to the Moeraki Boulders. One of Rae's friends,Leigh,had told us about these: very strange looking rocks formed by "septarian concretion" - thought that you'd want to know that! Comes about from erosion! We had lunch on the beach while studying them! And on down to Dunedin with Scottish Shop,Robert Burns Bar - we even walked down Princes St. Off on a wildlife drive/cruise round ... read more
