Randomness from Mary

Yesterday (Monday) was Labor Day here. Make that Labour Day. Everything was closed except for the grocery store.

The mailmen deliver mail on bicycles. Maybe someone has a little car somewhere, but haven't seen it yet.

The teachers are on strike and the schools are closed. They haven't had a raise in awhile and they want one. It's a beautiful day today---sunny and close to 70----and I can hear the kids playing outside and enjoying the strike. Closed schools are a particular problem to parents here because, by law, kids 14 and under have to be supervised at all times. Seems a little old to me to need a babysitter....more of an individual thing anyway. Some kids are mature enough to be babysitters at 12 and others still need a sitter at 25. :)

There's no tipping here and the price is the price because GST (sales tax) is included in everything. That's nice because I'm already doing enough math as it is (see earlier posts!).

NZ is a very "green" place. Recycling is very extensive (nearly a religion) and it has taken me awhile to get the hang of it, but now I am happily washing my trash before I put it in the proper receptacle.

EFTPOS---this is what they call a debit card here and It is pronounced as a 2 syllable words. Stands for something like "electronic funds transferred point of service". This is almost a cashless society here and people use their EFTPOS for everything. Our rent and all utilities are debited from our checking account, which is a good thing, because our checking account came without checks.

We watched Sunday Night Football live (Green Bay vs Vikings) yesterday. Was 1:30 pm on Monday for us.

Ralph reported earlier on Wellington but I wanted to say how much I loved the city. It was so pretty, so clean, and so many interesting things to do. We also went to a singing/dancing show of a NZ group called "The Beat Girls" which was a lot of fun. Pictures above are of Wellington. The one on the left was from a mountain top after riding the little red cable car up. The one on the right is from the other side of the city, from atop Mt. Victoria. The views from there are 360 degrees and spectacular.

Some fun facts: Knoxville, TN has 173,890 people, with a greater metro population of 691,152. Wellington, the capitol of NZ, has 195,500 people with a metro population of 480,000. The entire country only has 4,000,000 people which is not only less than Tennessee but less than the population of about half of the states in the US.

We leave for Lake Taupo Friday morning and will get our first glimpse of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom, the star of Lord of the Rings). From there we will go on to Hawkes Bay region, returning Tuesday.

Ralph is doing far better than me with the pronunciation of the Maori names, and there are a lot of them on streets and mountains!

mb

3 pleasures; 3 puzzles

Summation at 3 weeks:

3 pleasures

1. Landscape: mountains, rolling hills of green, shores/beaches magnificently carved

2. Food a pleasant surprise, an opportunity for fine dining that we shall learn more of

3. Gardens everywhere, several in every town, welcoming

3 puzzlements

1. The weather - unprepared tomorrow night 35 degrees F.

2. New Zealand a mostly European country. I was expecting more Pacific islandish, more exotic. The House Officers write, in history and physicals, where in the U.S. we would say, "25 yr old white male" they write "25 yr old European male" and that is the dominant group, style and accent. The Commonwealth Games were a major local event. I'm not sure really why this surprises me - my Ojibwa or Chippewa ancestors have so little influence in the U. S.. Aboriginals are marginalized.

3. Strikes / work stoppages. I expected in a "nationalized" system there would be more national agreement - oneness. Xray techs are on strike: Mon through Fri I can get more or less all standard xrays; but after hrs all CT's must be for "life or limb threatening"; in smaller communities even standard xrays are restriced to life or limb threatening. Recently I saw a preschooler who had a presumed splint applied but had waited for 4 days for his first xray showing a spiral fracture mid tibia (main low leg bone). And now 9th grade school teachers are on strike. Puzzlements - nationalized, democratic, republic - folks seem to be folks.

We will write mostly of the pleasures, but occasionally there are puzzlements that bind the mind and beg for a measure of expression.

Three days in Welly - a capitol idea

For three days and two nights we visited "Windy Welly" the capitol of New Zealand. Average wind speed about 51 kms per hour, before the politicians arrived in the "beehive" pictured (having trouble getting the right paragraph by a particular picture). But the city has gardens and views. Cable cars, twisting streets and gardens. Good food - like lamb shanks at Mac's Brewery, good seafood and pasta at One Red Dog, and a breakfast at Lido's of French toast presented with a kind of country bacon covered by carmelized banana covered (next layer) by thick syrup.

For the "touristy" part of day one, we went to "Te Papa" the museum which highlights the geology, artistry and Maori heritage of the area. Impressive 5 story museum. Got to museum overload after 1.5 floors but had apportioned the time to see the local natural history and Maori stuff that most interested.

Our second day was sunny and less breezy with views from the top of the botanical gardens reached by cable car and Mt Victoria reached by public bus.

Next day we went to Wellywood where some of the special effects for Lord of the Rings were produced.

For all this trip, the car was left at home; and we took public bus etc. Mary did the planning and I followed. No problems driving left sided!

Weekend in Palmy

It's Monday morning here, Sunday afternoon back in the USA. Ralph was off for the weekend and we decided to stay local since we're going to Wellington tomorrow for 3 days. It was a very relaxing weekend. We visited a church yesterday. It was good to be with believers and we enjoyed the service, but it was not a good fit for us, nor was a different church we visited earlier.

Saturday we biked round trip the 10km long Manawatu RiverWalk Track right here in Palmerston North. It is so beautiful, with changing scenery at every bend. In the middle of our trip we stopped off for coffee at the Victoria Esplanade cafe. Victoria Esplanade is a very large city park with botanical gardens plus a lovely rose garden that looks like it will be blooming in a couple weeks. There are lots of walking paths, an aviary, fountains, a children's playground and a little kids' train that winds around the whole park. The river walk trail goes right by it.

We also discovered a farmer's market that covers a city block that runs every Saturday morning. We just followed the hoards of people right to it.

Picture of Ralph was taken in our backyard.

Living in Palmerston North

We are often reminded of Mark Twain's famous quote about the US and England being "two countries separated by a common language". Certainly applies re New Zealand! I find myself hanging on to what people say because I don't always get it the first time. Accents here are kind of a cross between British and Australian, yet uniquely Kiwi. They pronounce a lot of words that Americans use a short "e" with a long "e". Such as message becomes "meesage". In talking with the salesman at Vodafone (local cell phone store), he said he would send me some information in a "teeext meesage". I had to ask the guy to repeat it several times before I got it. Similar conversation with a woman telling me a story who kept using the word "deet". Turned out to be "debt"! Ralph asked another doctor at the hospital if he thought patients had as much trouble understanding him as he did them and the doctor said no, because they watch so much American TV here. And then there are totally different slang expressions, different words (nappy for diaper), and different spellings. A waiter over the weekend wanted to guess where we were from. He said if he says Canada, then it's usually America, or vice versa. But he guessed my American accent correctly, and then further identified it as "West Coast"! Yeah, thoroughly Southern me. :) Ralph had a doctor at the hospital tell him that he had a good friend living in Chapel Hill, Alabama. These stories make me feel a little better about being so ignorant of New Zealand geography!

We've been spending a lot of time studying various maps and guidebooks. So many places to go, and choices have to be made. Ralph has a few days off next week and we are going to Wellington. It's about a 2 hour drive, or bus ride, or train ride---take your choice. I'm a little leery of the train ride since part of the track took a plunge into the Manawatu Gorge the week before we got here due to extremely heavy rains. They supposedly have it fixed.....

Ralph's job is going well. He's still adjusting to it. The medical system here is more like the British system and things are done very differently.

Most days I take a long walk with a destination in mind. It's about 1.5 miles to the town square and the public library, of which I am now a card carrying member. It's about a mile to the nearest grocery store of size. Walked there this morning. I've just about given up figuring out what I'm paying for stuff---it has to be bought regardless. Could spend all day there doing math trying to figure out prices! First there's converting kilograms to pounds, realizing their sales tax is already built into the price, then converting NZ dollars to US dollars ($1.00 NZD = about .74 USD). I get frustrated trying to find ingredients I consider common (in the USA), but can't find here, so I've been keeping the cooking fairly simple. The beef here is incredible. It's all free range and steaks melt in your mouth, whether from the grocery or a restaurant.

The sports channels are full of rugby, rugby, and more rugby. Also the Commonwealth Games are going on. I had never heard of them but apparently it's like the Olympics, but just countries who are or who have been part of the British Empire. There is a lot of American television but no particular rhyme or reason that I can tell to when a show might be on. All of the series are at least one season behind what is being shown in the US. We catch a random football game or two at crazy times (because of the 17 hour time difference), and it does look like we picked a good year to miss watching our Tennessee Volunteers. (:

Ralph the Tourist writes of The Kiwi Quest

When not involved in the angst of the emergent work (ie earning a bread and travel money) it is our Quest to boldly go where so many have gone before, and see what we have not seen before, to explore paths clearly marked by others and consume foods prepared in exciting unfamiliar ways. In the past 3 days we have Quested in enjoyable fashion.

Friday: Jet boating up the Wanganui River. Having Tea and Biscuit in a pastoral pasture. Eating (almost dining - Kensell's usually eat and are working to learn the dining art) at the Indigo. Mary ate beef with hollandaise, while I ate sliced lamb. Resting at the Wanganui Grand Hotel.

Saturday: Drove to Opanuke. Walked, strolled and paused on the black sand surfer's beach with no one else in sight. (Perhaps others chose not to brave the 17 degree temp (Centigrade of course) and 40 Knot (oh yes) wind. Mary dined on Fish and chips while I ate a lamb shank at Sugar Juice (highly recommended by Lonely Planet and now by us as well). One might ask, "Why lamb twice?" Well, I don't get it in the states and it's really not Baaaaad ;-)

Sunday: From the Headlands Hotel in Opunake (200 meters from the black sand beach) to the visitor's center at the base of Taranaki ( ~ 8200 feet high mountain) we drove about 35 kilometers (for those wondering that's less than 25 miles). Taranaki is a volcanic mountain, awesome in size; and often obscured by clouds. But today, Taranaki showed its awesomeness in full splendor and we felt lucky in so many ways to be here. Strolled to Dawson Falls and walked Wilkie's loop all at the base enjoying the trails, the views and the stuff that a National Park is all about. Yeah, I like that stuff!!!

Even after a whole week here, there are still things that puzzle and challenge --- like coffee. Why is it so complicated? Single shot, double shot, cappuccino, latte, flat white (and these are just the nonalcoholic options)- no Folgers or just black or ?decaf sir. I've truthfully been a little intimidated. Especially, since this is part of my work routine that I have walked to the Cafe with the Docs who are orienting me here. Spent about 30 minutes googling coffees today just preparing for my next shift :-0

Seeking and enjoying further challenges.

Our NZ home!

The First Week

The New Zealand Adventure Begins!

Just Getting Here

Not nearly as bad as we had dreaded! We slept more on the long flight (LAX to Auckland) than thought we would/could. The 5 hour layover in Auckland to allow for us to be driven across town for a review of Ralph's original documents by a Medical Council of NZ official went smoothly. All flights were on time. Worst part was Los Angeles. Had to leave secured area to find a bus and get to a terminal far far away for Air New Zealand, then go through security again. From the moment we left our home in The Villages until we walked in the door of our new home in Palmerston North was 31 hours. The hospital liaison, Christine Wood, met us at the airport and drove us home where a rental car awaited us in the driveway and several days worth of food was in the refrigerator. Christine has been wonderful every step of the way.

The House

Fully furnished places are very hard to find as rentals here but Christine came through for us with a very comfortable home in a great location. We have 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a laundry room, and most creature comforts. The hospital is 1.5 miles away. Downtown is about 2 miles and other convenient shopping about a mile. We have a beautiful garden area with a BBQ and outdoor furniture.

The Town

From The Lonely Planet re Palmerston North: “A visiting John Cleese scoffed, 'If you ever do want to kill yourself, but lack the courage, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.' The city exacted revenge by naming a rubbish dump after him.” We read this back in Florida and didn't know what to expect but figured we would be so close to beautiful places we could visit in Ralph's off time that we could tolerate the town. Hah! It's been a very pleasant surprise to find that we like the town. It's home to Massey University, the largest in NZ with 35,000 students, but also a rural place. Reminds us a little of Harrisonburg, VA where we used to live. The town square and shopping Plaza are the hub and you get the feel of a good sized city when there. There are cafes and restaurants galore and the food is incredible. The town also has a paved river walk for joggers and cyclists that runs about 6 or 7 miles through the whole area and is beautiful. It's also quickly accessible for us from our house. The landlords left 2 bikes for us to use as well.

Driving on the Left Side of the Road

Frightening in the beginning, but we're getting better at it. I let Ralph have all the fun at first but then started driving too on the 4^th day. So many things to remember, so many ways to get killed! We both turn on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal almost every time. Everything is reversed---gear shift, seat belts. There are lots of roundabouts here and they go the wrong way. :) We both tend to drive too close to the edge of the road---hard to gauge position in the lane. The third day we were here we decided to go see Manawatu Gorge since it's only about 9 miles away. The speed limit is 100 kph (60 mph) and folks were going that on a winding road with sheer dropoffs to the left. I thought we were going to get to see the bottom of the Gorge and take the guardrail with us a few times...... We did a little hike there eventually and it was very nice.

Money, Money, Money

It's a small island country a long way from anywhere else (nearest point in NZ to Australia about 1200 miles) and everything must be imported that can't be produced locally and it does jack up the price. Gas is 3 times more expensive. Bought contact lense solution for 7 times the cost of the Wal-Mart brand back home. Most food items that aren't local seem to be about 1.5 to 2 times more expensive. But seafood is fairly reasonable and tastes like it just was caught a few hours before, which it probably was. Cell phones and broadband are ridiculously expensive. You pay for the amount of broadband that you actually use (I'm typing this off-line). It's taken a week but we now have 2 cell phones, a land line , internet and satellite TV. The satellite TV has some US shows on it. We saw a college game or two on Sunday and NFL highlights on Monday, thanks to the 17 hour time difference.

Ralph's Job

He started yesterday and will be in orientation for 2 weeks. That includes a lot of shadowing someone else to learn how they do things here. This system is crazy different from the American one. I'll let him report on the job when he actually starts to understand it! He rode his bike to work today since it's so close and also because they have a real parking shortage at the hospital.

Weekend Plans

Don't have them finalized yet but Ralph has a 3 day weekend coming up! We are anxious and excited to go see some beautiful countryside. Tried to go to Whanganui National Park and drive the river road there as well as take a jet boat tour, but weather prohibited. Might do that this weekend as well as drive up to Taupo Lake and New Plymouth.

The Weather

Today is a gorgeous spring day with a high of 66 degrees. We are in early spring here and everything is in full bloom. Summer in the Southern Hemisphere is primarily Dec-February, also the height of the tourist season. Looking forward to seeing places that are too cold for now!

Contact Information

Home address is 12A Manson Street, Terrace End, Palmerston North, NZ 4410.

Home phone number is 64-6-358-2165.

Ralph's cell 64-0210-704-397

Mary's cell 64-0210-225-3745