Blogs from Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 16

Papamoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park Sept 22, 2007 Just South of Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui is Papamoa Beach which is somewhat famous for Blow Carts which are Go-Karts with sails. They were invented here, of course. The World Blow Cart championships are usually here. More on this later. Inland from Papamoa Beach toward Te Puke is the Papamoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park. To my knowledge this is a Pa (a hilly Maori defense position). It is a fairly steep hill that has a good view of the Papamoa coast line and the surrounding farm land. The park is shared with lots of grazing sheep. Once we reached the top, we found ourselves in a low lying cloud with misty rain. Not unusual this time of year. The sheep pretty well checkered the ground with ... read more

First Week of Work: I don’t think anyone will be surprised that work is work. Many of the same rules apply in the Southern Hemisphere as in the Northern. You have to show up. You must fulfill your job description to get paid. Alas, it is not Nirvana. However, there are some differences. It is OK to break for tea. Thus far, surgeons are extremely polite. It is busy, but it is not service on demand. Emergencies are defined differently than in the states and have more to do with medical necessity than legal necessity. Although, not completely absent, there seems to be less CYA. This is a training program. Training radiologists are known as registrars (residents in the states). We have two registrars, a first year and a third year. Their training is five years ... read more

Friday 8/10/07 The day prior to departure. Hot Springs, AR N 34°28.917’ W 093°00.826’ Temp 100°F Packing cubed. Previously have jumped through so many hoops, I remember little. Sarah is the penultimate of the ultimate task masters. All details go through her. Past five months - much advice: some good, some not so good. {Sarah - Best was from Trish: get a shovel and trash bag} Attempt to get Health Insurance. New H&P. Yes? No? Forget it. Last Labs sent. OK. To the underwriters. Maybe a week or so. Well don’t Hurry. I leave the country tomorrow. Next task. Get more money. Already got some NZ$, but so so rate. Will get American $ for LA. Never been there, but sure it takes more $ than expected. On track. Whoops, we forgot to sell the cars. ... read more

Hooray, Hooray, We're on our Way, our OE Holiday Starts Today!! We left Katikati early afternoon after settling in our house/farm sitters Tony & Kathy Farr, and coping with the drama of the new building requiring staining B4 we left!! We managed to catch up with our lovely neighbours Sheryl & Keith Kerr at the Cafe Bahn on the Bombay Hills - they had arrived back from Australia this afternoon, and so good to have a coffee with them and Barry could pass on his worries to Keith, to make sure his cattle were taken care of while we're away! Just had gorgeous cuddles with newest granddaughter Molly Jess, and about to have dinner with Ross & Jo before we head to the airport. Even having our first drink (of many I'm sure) to celebrate the ... read more

I did it! I drove without an accident! Get more to that in a minute. Mark and I woke up this morning and had an American breakfast. Every time we get coffee, they always put steamed milk in it. It always has to be something fancy. All I want is just coffee and milk, not steamed, shaken, or anything else they want to do to it. I was walking down the street thinking about how much I want a regular coffee and then I saw it…..Dunkin Donuts. So Mark and I had a nice original coffee and went next door to the McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich. I feel bad for the New Zealanders. They are missing out on something great; the biscuit. They only have the Mcmuffin or bagel. I survived after all, I had ... read more