Oamaru and wandering with animals...

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So this weekend I had four days off...well not exactly, the first was post call and I was actually called back into the hospital at 5 AM for a Ceasar (thanks, Dave for the correction in spelling, still sounds like seezer when the Kiwis say it), got home a wee bit past 7, got called back around 7:25 for a Class 1 incoming to the ER. Turned out to be a 14 year old with a catastrophic vascular intercranial event. Fortunately, one of the local anaesthetists arrived shortly after the patient did, and took over care. I feel totally inadequate in covering the ICU here, but that is what anaesthetists do in this system. Wow. Fortunately, they cover with someone else when I am on call.

I am getting more comfortable with the system here. It has been stressful for me, however. I was lucky to have the four days off this weekend...three after I spent most of the day on Thursday sleeping off my call. Friday was a national holiday, called Waitangi Day, commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the new settlers and the native NZ people, the Maori, themselves new settlers a few hundred years previously. It is a bit like the 4th of July, and a bit like MLK day. Interesting to observe as an outsider.

We hung out most the weekend, and Friday morning walked downtown to see the floating condo leave (see previous edition). On Saturday, we were more adventurous, and took a trip to Oamaru and Moreki again, this time to view the wild life.


I am stll logging in the miles as a pedestrian. It feels very comforting though to leave the house without tightly having to clutch a map. I wore out 4 already!


I love uncrowded beaches. However, walking/running on the beach for a few hours and only seeing 2 or 3 people took some getting used to, It felt too deserted. I am happy to report that I have adjusted quite well to the lack of human presence, and look forward to being alone with my beach, my sky and my road!! Boy coming home will be a struggle! This has been a habit forming life style…S L O W.

On our fifth week here…feeling less and less as an outsider looking in. In fact I actually now understand 55% of what is said to me…and only asking ‘excuse me?’ a handful of times. What I am not used to is any one not understanding my clear diction. No one gets me when I talk, particularly the teenagers. Ugh...

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Photos

Gee, we just saw these guys on our TV
The cast of scrubs apparently met up with the folks of the Whitestone cheese factory in Oamaru. Great cheese. Forgot to ask about the connection. Interestingly, we had checked a DVD from the first season and had watched a couple episodes the night before we went here. Recognized them right off.

Some more personal photos from Scrubs...
The photo of the janitor is inscribed with the statement that "your cheese gives me special powers." I will have to let you know on that.

Oh, look, another famous person...
My personal favorite happened to be in the Whitestone Cheese Factory Store and Restaurant at the same time as I...

Holy cheesehead, someone else you might recognize...
Yet another recognizable face...carrying a sack of his booty from the cheese emporium.

Biking through the "I Center"
Every town in NZ of any size has an I Center centrally located to help the tourists find ways to spend their money, locate attractions, find accomodations or camping sites, or just give advice. (The employees get part of their income from commission, and there is no tipping in NZ)

Holy Penguin, Batman...
Look out for penguins, they may be carrying satchel charges...

Look out for these two...
Certainly should be profiled and sent through the metal detectors. An unsavory pair if ever I saw one.

Now, there's a handsome couple...
Blue penguins, whe smallest in the world...unfortunately, since they have chosen to set up their colony in an old limestone quarry next to the water, and since the town has built an amphitheatre around it, you have to pay to see them.

Mind the penguins, and mind the...
A couple of other hazards of NZ. No dangerous snakes or predators, but...

The Gerkinmobile...
You're never too far from a Subway...or a McDonald's or a KFC, or a Domino's or a Pizza Hut...

At Subway, we're like family...
When I visit my favorite walkaway restaurant, it is like coming home...here is another series of photos showing the local folk consorting with me mate Jared (did I ever tell you about the time he came to St. Joe's). We always have a nice conversation with the people that work here as they are invariably chatty.

Two generations...
the ball of fluff to the left of the seagull is actually a couple of chicks that are being guarded by their mum. You should have heard the squawking at our presence.

Your host and hostess...
Think it's windy out here...think I normally wear my hair like this?

Stilish Nahid...
Nahid standing on one of the many stiles (...there was a crooked man...) we have encountered in our endless search for interesting photos.

Baby Yellow Eyed Penguin
One of the rarest and endangered species of penguins, we were able to wander around the field as they returned from a day of feeding to return to their burrows for the evening. Many of the young have already moved out to sea, but this one is still carrying some of his baby fluff. and waiting for parents to return to regurgitate a meal for him. (Yuk!!!)

This one probably won't make it...
A lone egg sitting out in the open, probably represents a penguin that won't be. This is really amazing, we are walking around, and the penguins and seals are wandering amongst us. Not so many people, perhaps 20. There are a number of colonies of some size, along the coast. They are protected, but available. Simply amazing. This colony happens to be near the Moreki Lighthouse, and is free. You try to get here around dusk when they return to their burrows for the evening. Numbers are highest at egg laying time and shortly thereafter, but dwindle as the young go out to sea.

Sorry, sir...
This burrow is already occupied...

Penguin Romance
A dapper couple returning home for the evening...

Nahid holding the world's smallest penguin
Who says you can't get close to these guys, and who says the blue penguins are the smallest...what about this?

Pests...
Rabbits have adapted to much of the NZ landscape, and are seen here yards from the beach. they are well fed and undoubtedly compete for space in burrows. They are omnipresent here, and quite large. No predators, remember.

Penguin Condo
You can see all the burrows closely spaced. When you walk through the field, you need to watch where you are stepping so as not to step into a hole. Reminds me of prairie dog holes.

A sleeping seal...
seems not to notice our presence, undoubtedly because we have cleverly disguised ourselves as penguins, and they see no threat.

Mama and baby...
A mother penguin is dwarfed by her chick, as she leads him to their burrow. The chicks chirp like babies, and waddle slowly toward the moms, hoping for some chow...the mom takes a few steps forward and waits for the chick to waddle forward again...slow process...penguin chicks are not so unlike human kids.

Comments

[AnaGloria Rodriguez]

hello
Hey, guys. Thanks for sharing this link to your blog. It's nice to see what you're up to. Looks very nice and I'm glad you're all having a good time. Take care. Love, me.