First Day of School

29/11/12

It has happened.  We have started work again.  Granted the first three days of this week have been orientation.  The most important thing Dan learnt was to ask for the big portion of food.   Having been asked what size he wanted by the canteen staff the first time, the second he was just automatically given a small portion.  It was roast Tuesdays and Dan was mortified to only get one roast potato (won’t be making that mistake again).  He contemplated going back for seconds but decided against it.  You also get free coffee which is great however I didn’t anticipate the strength of this coffee and had two (one at home and one at work) on the first day and experienced all the side effects associated with caffeine, the worst being the diuretic effect (it made me pee a lot)! 

Yesterday we went on a mini road trip with Carole the Chief Medical Officer.  The aim was to show us some of the rural practices.  We met at 7.15, piled into her people carrier and off we went.  At 1600 we arrived back in Greymouth.  We visited rural centres where GPs run small community hospitals.  This is Dan’s dream job, being GP one minute, A&E Dr the next and then the anaesthetist as you intubate a patient ready for helicopter transfer.   I did not share his enthusiasm for the rural GP career but enjoyed the scenic drives.  I also proved to be in the minority of those who could handle the back seats without getting travel sick.  Dan and Katie had to rotate the front seat!  At one point in the trip it did occur to us that had we had a crash or accident that it would have put all RMOs (junior Doctors) on the west coast of New Zealand out of action...

On the recreational side Dan and I had a bake off one evening.  Dan make a victoria sponge and I made brownies.  Both were moderatley successful which is a great result!  Dan has joined a gym called Fat Max's- excellent!  This evening we went out for drinks with some Greybase peeps.  Dan's planning to run a hospital comedy review which our new friend Holly is very excited about.  Two words to describe Holly- Jazz hands!  We went to a baptist church at the weekend.  The pastor was really cool, great movember effort.

Today was our first day on the wards.  It reminds me so much of my first week as a HO in England.  It’s the first time I have done general surgery since then and the first time I have had to work independently since then as well.  I don’t relish the idea but one hopes the experience will be valuable and helpful.

Dan had a crazy day having to transfer three patients by air to Christchurch and one to the high(ish) dependency unit.  Baptism of fire!

Keep smiling

S x

Ironing

24/11/12

We are now preparing for work and this involves the inevitable ironing marathon.  I decided to set a new trend as this is a fresh and exciting place, hopeful this enthusiasm would spread to the ironing arena.  However I am a realist so expecting Dan to do all his ironing is NOT realistic.  He’d start to do it then his hands will start to hurt (oh no sorry that’s the washing up) anyway like I said not realistic.  So I ironed my clothes and three of Dan’s shirts and his trousers leaving him 2 shirts.  I am pleased to say that during his student days Aimee taught Dan to iron so he is not as ignorant to the sport as he lets on.  So I left him to iron his shirts and at the end he proudly summoned me to inspect his craft.  It was pretty good to I ooed and ahhhed in all the right places.  Dan then went to hang it up and promply dropped the shirt on the floor.  He stood there distraught staring at the crumpled heap which five seconds ago had been a picture of smoothness. I suggested he pick it up and shake it out and quickly hang it again.  He did this and unperturbed he went on to iron the second shirt.  I think I got away with it... 

Dan by a rope swing at Lake

Life here in so many ways is the same as the UK.  The sun rises every morning, sets every evening, there are trees and rivers, hills and mountains.  Yet I look back over my life and feel amazed and excited at what we have done to get here.  As a child I made my mum promise I would never have to leave home, as a teenager I dreamed of changing the world and as an ‘adult’ well what of me now? 

I’m not going to lie, what Dan sees as an adventure I often see as a challenge.  There is still a part of me that echoes that child’s thought of ‘don’t make me leave home, where I know I’m loved and with people I love’.   Yet something has grown in me, a core strength that makes me want to embrace the challenge for the sake of the adventure.  There are two things that I think have contributed to this spirit.  The first is my love of Jesus.  When I was sixteen I asked the question, ‘is there more than this’, ‘why’, ‘what next’ and what I found was a loving God who moves us to action, triumphs over  fear and liberates us to be all we can be.  I still feel fear, doubt and worry but stronger than this is my faith that where God leads us, he prepares for us.   If you lose the desire to conform to the world you gain a life the world cannot conform to.   Secondly is my amazing husband.  People talk about the perfect man.  Dan is not.   I had the foresight to acknowledge this before I married Dan.  This meant that our relationship is based on a true understanding and love of who each of us are.  For me this means I feel utterly loved, cherished and supported in my imperfections and when I fail to be the person I’d like to be.  Where I fall Dan puts out his hand takes mine and places it in back in the Lords.  You don’t need perfection.  You just need a Dan. 

They've taken the hobbits to Isengard

 21/11/12

Its been a couple if days since i last blogged.  I have to say things have settled down a little which to be honest i am quite glad of.

Monday morning we took our car in to have its WOF done.  No this isn't in insertion of a miniature hound it is actually the car's Warranty Of Fitness, like an MOT.  We were assured it would pass.  It failed.  (It was all covered by garage though)

We realised the night before the WOF day that we couldn't pack our things into the car for two reasons, one- we couldn't leave them in the car whilst it had its WOF and two, Dan didn't have a proper a bag to pack things in.  So we asked the guy at the motel if we could leave them there and he agreed.  So at 8.30 am we lugged over Dan's oversized see-through Emirates carrier bag to the chaps lounge.  Yet again Dan's underwear was on displace for all to see.  I really hope this isn't a recurring theme throughout the year!

We needed a car for the day so we  borrowed a million year old rover whist they replaced the back tyres on Max. The Rover was so old and rattly i thought at one point the exhaust would fall off.  Dan and i exchanged knowing looks, chuckled and parked up.  We hoped our car was in a better state and we hadn't been 'had'. For relatively intelligent people Dan and I have no knowledge of cars so felt completely bind in our car quest.  I'm starting to understand Dan's obsessive (although annoying) love of Toyotas.

We also had medical council interviews, which were in a lady's home with her cockapoodle running around our feet and her disgruntled 'stand in' cleaner- awkward!  One of those surreal moments when your not sure if you're having an important meeting or afternoon tea!

Finally we got on the road to travel through the mountains to Arthur's Pass.  An hour into the trip and the topography completely changed.  Flat farm land turned into magnificent snow peaked mountains.  Dan was desperate for us to play The Lord of the Rings theme tune.  I wasn't sure if this complemented the scenery or caused me extreme anxiety as we twisted through the mountains on narrow (ish) roads to the sound of the armies of Mordor descending... I'm pretty sure i saw an orc!

We reached our swiss style chalet and settled down for beer, fish and chips and a few games of cards. Lush!

Tuesday morning we walked to a waterfall.  A twenty minute hike up steps which left us very breathless, we blamed the altitude- I'm sure the beer and chips had nothing to do with it! 

We headed to Greymouth after lunch and after a few minor navigational errors (rather scenic detours than errors I'd say) we arrived at the hospital picked up our key and found our house.

When we opened the door we were met with an overwhelming odour of cheap air-freshener.  As we looked round the small but adequately furnished bungalow (or house without stairs as Dan prefers to call it) it dawned on me exactly what we had left behind in the UK, our beautiful house with a bay view.  But when you think about it what is home?  Home can be anywhere and for me and Dan its Greymouth for six months.

Today we went back to the hospital and met the other Doctors.  The service provision here is mental!  Over the weekend there is no orthopaedic cover on the west coast so if you have an emergency you FLY people over to Christchurch.  One of the RMOs (SHOs) was telling us how she was called in the night to escort a patient to Christchurch in a heli.  Dan nearly wet himself with excitement at the thought and nearly died when he found out they pay you too.  What an adventure.

We also took a walk along the beach, ate lunch in a rasta/ art/ Internet cafe and bought a printer/ scanner/ fax machine which Dan has been trying to install for the last three hours. Time to cook some curry.

Hugs

S x
 
 

The seeds of the city

 

18/11/12

 

Yesterday was our first day exploring Christchurch.  We strode out, keen to explore, excited and enthused by the adventure.   As we turned the first corner heading toward the city centre we stopped overcome by what we were seeing.    I’ve grown up hearing about natural disasters, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and I always feel deeply moved with compassion for the people’s lives these events devour with their ferocity, but I have never been face to face with the devastation, not like I was yesterday.  Two years on and around every corner buildings stand half crumbling, derelict, dead.  In the bright sun you can imagine the awesome shadows which were once cast by these structures, now just gravelled open space.   The cracked buildings which are holding on to their foundations are unusable, their outsides derelict their insides disordered chaos as if it all happened yesterday.  No banks, no shops, no cafes even the cathedral and historic monuments are broken... 

So what of Christchurch now?  Out of devastation comes an innovative, funky city.   Here are some examples.  In a square in town is an outside dance studio.  The tiled floor is flanked by flood lights and a disco ball hangs in the middle of the floor suspended from the corner posts.  An old washing machine is the water proof home of the sound system, simply pay $2 and plug in your ipod and boom, instant dance studio.  Around the edge are wooden art deco style seats and a chalk board for people to book in their session.  I struck a pose for a photo secretly longing to bust a groove.  The infectious girls would love it!  

As well as the outside dance studio the retailers have had to find alternative premises.  Imagine if you can a matchbox city.  Units made of containers, some adjacent some two stories high but all vibrantly coloured and beautifully crafted with class and style.  An apple mac store, boutique clothes shops, coffee shops... Querky and fun, just being there makes you smile.  The hub teems with life, soul and energy unlike the surround ruins. 

container shops and cafes

So out of the devastation has come something amazing, a true triumph for Christchurch, the seeds of new life. 

We also spent the day opening a bank account (very easy) and buying a car (not so easy).  We walked miles and miles looking at tens of car lots and hundreds of cars.  The search was somewhat dry due to our low budget, high expectations, and Dan’s obsessive (and slightly annoying) love for Toyotas!  We test drove one car and were walking back to test drive a Jeep we had seen earlier in the day when a man appeared in front of us holding Dan’s bag.   Dan had taken the bag off to test drive the car and placed it on the back seat.   In this bag was an iPad, our passports and every single piece of important documentation we had with us.  Oh dear Dan, oh dear...  When we reached the place where we had seen the Jeep it had already been sold.  At this point I was exhausted from walking miles, my feet were sore,  my eyes burned with tiredness, my head was throbbing and I was beginning to feel broken.  Dan was a little twitchy too, but I’m pretty sure that was because he thought I was going to spontaneously combust (let’s just say he would have definitely been singed!)

In short we did manage to find a car- I think God took pity on my grumpy pleas, like Dan he probably just wanted me to shut up!  Both God and Dan are gracious and thankfully I think both have forgiven me.  I have named the car Max. Dan says it’s a 4x4 mistubishi estate, I say it’s blue.

Max

Today we went to church.  Dan really wanted to go and found a Baptist church where the pastor had previously been in Greymouth for 11 years.  We turned up hoping to slip in the back, listen to the service, have a few conversations and disappear as we both felt tired still.  I’m pretty sure Dan will have recurrent nightmares about what greeted us, tables with big sheets of paper, pens, play dough and lots of unknown people.  A ‘relaxed family service’ which as visitors requires you to awkwardly join a table, not wanting to take anyone’s seat and hoping you aren’t asked to describe yourself as an animal or hop backwards whilst reciting genesis.  It’s a God given gift that when in such situations I find an inner confidence which sometimes defies me in day to day life and I was very pleased to be able to encourage Dan to embrace the less traditional side of church life.  It was actually a lovely service and at the end Dan chatted to a lovely old boy whilst I heard one ladies sad story about the impact the quake had, and still was having on her life.  However - note to all vicars - if you intend to hold such a service why not have a table designated to visitors (write visitors table in big letter) with a couple of friendly people who can greet and seat you, this will reduce the social anxiety of your guests.

We went back to the containers for lunch and watched a street entertainer ride a five foot tall unicycle whilst in a straight jacked (this equated to shot nerves as I imagine all the horrible things that could go wrong if he fell off).    

Now we are just chilling planning the next phase of the trip before packing up.  We head to the mountains tomorrow for a stop over before going to Greymouth.  I love it here but I miss home.

Hugs

Sarah

The first post

What a dramatic 30 something hours we have had! But we are here and so is all our luggage, well sort of. I think I will tell the luggage story first as is conjures up giggles and will ease the way for the other travel events...

We left the plane after a beautiful descent over stunning mountain peaks and I have to say I felt quite euphoric as I entered Christchurch airport. There was a real sense of achievement after a long and eventful journey and such expectation for the year ahead... I always greet the baggage reclaim with a little trepidation and today proved to be the reason for this. As I approached the turning belt I saw my suitcase. I was so relieved that it hadn't popped during transit that I failed to notice Dan's bag had already passed. When I say his bag what I really mean is the bag and much of its exploded contents sprawled across the black rubber. Dan shouted for help and after a moments hesitation (as I didn't want to leave the rest of the bags) I ran over to assist Dan. And assist him I did, picking up underwear which were part of the exploded contents which Dan had now thrown onto the floor in the middle of the airport in fear that if he wasn't hasty they would disappear to the place bags go to outside the airport when the rotating belt reaches the big flaps of doom. Among other items loose on the conveyor-belt were one black shoe, multiple pairs of socks, several books, two t shirts and tomtom (you survived the incident praise God).

Picture it you may! It wasn't pretty and of course was followed by 2 hours trying to sort out the broken bag with the airline. We weren't the only ones who's bags had been ruined but were the only people (probably in history) who's undergarments became public display as a result of such events. During these two hours we also had to call Lloyds (the bank in the UK) as they had kindly locked our cards despite being told about our plans and evidently even recording said plans on their computer system. The problem with this was that we needed cash to buy a SIM card to have the credit to call lloyds to get the cards unlocked to get money to buy the SIM card.... you see the problem.

Some of you may find this event enough drama but for those of you eager to hear the rest please read on.

As a doctor one of my biggest fears is the "would any doctor on board please report to isle such and such". Fear not this didn't not happen. As I settled down to watch a movie in what was rather a large, luxurious and exciting plane I glanced round to take in the ambiance and saw two air hostesses one holding an oxygen mask to a woman's face, she was conscious and nodding but didn't look fab. I pointed her out to Dan who unlike me (who was slowly dying inside) sprang into action offering his expertise and assessment. This was all well and good and it seemed the lady was a type II diabetic on insulin who hadn't eaten since four (now eleven) so a sugary drink would solve the problem. Dan gave very clear advice to monitor her and let us know if she didn't improve or deteriorated, and then he came and sat down. They moved the lady to the back of the plane where she could lay down, very logical but meant she was no longer in eyeshot which worried me. It dawned on me that those monitoring her had no medical knowledge and could not be expected to raise the alarm when necessary. So I grabbed Dan and we went to the back of the plane. Something clicked and suddenly doctor Sarah was in the house. Slowly more information came to light. The lack of equipment was frustrating but even more frustrating was the fact we weren't allowed to open anything they did have, like the blood sugar machine, before they had make contact with a medic on the ground to authorise this. We couldn't talk to the medic as this had to be done in the cock pit!

In summary we fixed her, and she and her nephew were extremely grateful; as were the cabin crew. So three hours later we went back to our seats. Dan quickly scoffed down a now rather overdue plane meal which he had missed due to the drama. He took his last mouthful just at the moment an air hostess suggested we meet her at the back of the plane to go upstairs for dinner. We were then shown to the first class lounge, fed steak, cod fillets and wine and purely pampered until the point we decided sleep was an absolute necessity and descended back to economy class to catch a few zzzs.

Thankfully the other two flights were comparatively uneventful and I even managed to squeeze in some retail therapy in Sydney.

I think that's all for now. We're here, we're happy and we're going to bed!

Big love xxx