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