Pre-bday musings

It is a mere 24 hours before my annual clock will turn once again, and when asked last night at dinner by kids if I feel 48, I quickly said no, not really knowing what 48 is supposed to feel like.  Took a lovely solo sunset walk on the beach as I watched the sky dance through its pastel range and the last few kayakers enjoy the calm seas, and took a quick inventory:  body doesn't move quite as quickly and when it does there are more aches for sure, recovery a bit slower perhaps, definitely more grey in the hair, not much smarter but maybe a bit wiser, but otherwise things are feeling pretty good overall.  can't complain that is for sure.    Tomorrow AW will arrive as a Bday "surprise" and this will be fantastic!  The anticipation of seeing him has been so much fun as I am sure the actual reality will be once he is here.  having that other adult around to talk with adult things will be particularly nice.  Kids are excited too as I think they are growing a bit weary of only having mom around!

Realized there was some catching up I needed to do image wise:

Boys testing for their lifesaving course at aquatic center.  A valiant effort and now they are both ready to patrol the beaches

Looking so professional!  My turn now in Nov.

Maggie's picnic at the park.  I was the only lucky invitee!  

Silver Fern

Ok, so this is Waihi Beach, now one of the top 5 most beautiful beaches I have ever seen/been to.  Rivals Watmough and Bolinas and all others!!  Best part was in route getting there ( 45" hike through beautiful forests and over cliffs, we spotted Orcas in the waters below us!  How awesome is that??!!)

More Waihi, as are the next few.  These are Pohutokawa trees that lined this hike and in a month or two they will be in full red bloom.  More photos then I hope!

One last musing.  Anyone thought of or developed the male equivalent of a menstrual hut?  Especially for the teenage boy?  Need to consult my expert friends in the field of boy development, but I'm thinking this may be the answer to my prayers.  Boarding schools I now understand better as well, but not sure I'm ready to ship these boys off for good, but to have a place to send them during these times when their evil, alien other twin invades their being sounds great.  It may last only a few hours or even a couple days.  Once they return and the invasion has passed, they seem to return to their kind, relatively decent selves, but these extraterrestrial states can be a bit trying, even debilitating.  We are weathering through and the house seems to be clean for the moment.

Off to work.  Happy Birthday to me!  And yes, 48 is feeling great!!

More Photos as promised (last weekend)

Computer is fixed so now I can share some more shots of adventuring here:

In Rotorua we found tulips blooming along with many other spring flowers.  The entire town smells of sulpher due to hot pools and geothermal activity.

 Gotta say things around here do feel a bit more simple than at home, one of the niceities of being here.

 Hot water, lemon, honey, ginger=new favorite drink.  May have even weaned myself of tea!  Sara D, their versoin of Dragon's breath and oh so good!

Happy Noah with his pretty Mocha at Fat Dog Cafe

Houston we have a problem....

16 Oct 2013

Realized its been a while since ive posted and mainly I owe this to the daft my newish MacBook crashed one last week, just as I was sitting down to blog and Skype.  Is there a message there?
Anyway, for those who care, the problem is hopefully being solved by dear folks at the Technology Centre.  Haven't heard back, but hope it is not too big of a problem.  Wanted to show you some fun photos from the weekend, but will have to wait.  Anyway, a bit of an update on our recent doings....

1. Kids are back in school after 2 week break.  Hooray! Maggie has not cried once, and I got confirmation today that her teacher is a bit of a witch, likes to snap at kids.  She's been at it too long.
After some brief debate about switching to the Tauranga Boys College so the can row on the team there, decision has been made to keep boys at current school, Mt. Maunganui College.  Despite rumors of it being the more laid back, surfer, pot smoking institution, it is easier in many ways and I do believe there's more to learning than pure academics.  Today they ventured 6 hrs up and back to Auckland to a science lab where DNA research is done.  Spoke with a microbiologist  researching TB and another looking into maternal/fetal blood connections and using placental cells in maternal blood for ways to help neonate.  All this and then structure of fructose I learned about at dinner.

2. Noah, Maggie and I explored Rotorua on Friday last.  Easy 45" drive from here, big tourist center of N. Island.  Maori arts and cultural center, lots of geothermal activity, town smells perpetually of sulphur, wild animal park, but we opted for the luge run.  Noah talked the lady into three rides for some smoking deal and off we went.  Wild and fast in the rain, plastic cars w wheels and a brake down concrete paths-beginner, intermedia, and advanced.  It was really a blast hate to admit.

3. Last weekend boys took and passed their surf life saving course so they are now Jr. Patrollers.  They will patrol w the seniors this summer, learning all the fun rescue techniques.  It is big stuff here and the course and Patrolling seems to have a bit of a mystique and reverence, like getting one's black belt or eagles scout.  A proud parental moment.  It'll be more fun once summer hits!   And in the meantime I've found a new sport called surf rowing, part of the life saving club.  Check it out on you tube.  Wild!,  combines surfing and rowing!   Hoping to get in a boat next week to try it and see if they like me.  I'll have to become a guard as well then and pass that swim test. Ugh!  The boys by the way rocked the swim and after only 2+ weeks of training cut off 3" each from their time of the 400m swim! Another sweet moment for mom!

4. Lina decided this week to return stateside in Dec and will we miss her immensely.  She bakes such amazing cookies!   Her absence will leave us to open new doors, and luckily we are blessed with others in the wing we may be able to join us in this journey.  Time will tell.

5. Anticipation of summer is here.  Every day people tell me how lovely the weather will be soon, and the beach so fun and the waves so great.  I do feel we have landed in the perfect place for us.

Experiencing some blogging problems so will sign off for now, photos to follow soon I hope! Once computer is back in action.  Hope all is well as you settle into Fall with harvests and pumpkins and colors changing and crisp mornings and cider and fires.  Maggie and I are enjoying the blooming wisteria scent along the beach access trail from our house to beach.  Intoxicating!

Hobbiton and Hot Water II

Digging pools at hot Water Beach, temps up to 40 deg C!!

After we hiked out of Cathedral Cove back to Hahei, we grabbed shovels, checked the tides again and off to Hot Water Beach. This beach gets its name because at low tide you can dig a hole in a certain area of the beach and the hole will fill up with HOT water creating your own private bathtub. Yet another amazing geologic feature of this Island. Thinking we had planned this just right with tides, not taking into account many others are also on school holidays and it was a Sat, by the time we reached the hot beach, it was crowded.  Not much room to pool in, but
the kids made an honest go of it, finding the water
almost too hot to relax in.  Tide was soon to come

in as well, so waves quickly doused our pools.   If the hot pools weren't great enough, the raging surf made up for it.  Hot Water Beach is also a great surf spot and before I could turn my head the boys had grabbed boogey boards and off they went, no wetsuits this time.   They boarded for hours and when done, bodies were icy and bright red, huge smiles from the big waves ridden.


After a long day we settled into our cozy cabin with dinner and a couple movies.  Have to say if nothing else I am spending more time with the kids here than I would at home, for better or worse :)  At home we are so caught up in the little things and distractions and here we have each other and activities that we are sharing, swimming, boarding, running, hiking, watching movies, playing cards, just hanging out, eating together.  Maybe too much time together at times, but in my better moments I know this is why we are here!

Last day of our venture saw us driving south along the coast back home.  Stopped at some viewpoints, a cafe, and an ice cream shop.  Took a spin through Whakatane, (pronounced Fak-a-ta-nay) where our friends the Angells spent 6 months living and working this past year.  Another great surf town with some local color  Best find of the day was walking through the forest out to Oputere beach, with only 3 other people there, it was  a nice contrast to Hot Water Beach the day before.  Kms of beach of white sand, nice rolling waves, dappled sunshine all to ourselves.  Noah braved the waves as the rest of us enjoyed a walk along the shore.  Definitely need to get back there!

Noah taking on waves at Oputere Beach

Handstands on the sand

Made it home eventually, tired and filled up from our adventure.  Felt like we had been gone a couple weeks, and could have indeed spent that up in this lovely peninsula.  also realizing how lucky we are to be where we are, how fortunate I was to land the job here in this town...perfect for us in so many ways!!

Doesn't get much better than this!  Oputere Beach

Practicing medicine here vs there

Ok so some musings on work as a GP here, sorry for all of you non-medical types.   More than anything I want to record some of the bigger differences practicing here vs in the US.  Granted I realize this is no 3rd world country, but good to see and document the differences.

AS I mentioned, cervical screening is so different, most PAPs are done by the nurses, I have done only a handful in a month compared to my usual 5-9 daily.  No stirrups on the beds, never thought I would appreciate these so much.  Instead women lie on their sides, backs to me, and I place the speculum as they hold one leg in the air.  Not that having or doing a PAP to begin with was ever the most exciting procedure, but feels a bit more awkward for all involved.

I see pts every 15", much busier than at home.  Yesterday I saw 28 total and still had two tea breaks and lunch and time to visit with Jack who showed up at work after his rowing when Noah took off with the bus money, leaving Jack to fend for himself.  Ugh!!  As for the doctor/pt interactions, not sure this is the best model indeed, but what I do like is the expectation most pts have that they are coming to the doctor for 1, maybe 2, things and that is all.  So far no one with a list of 12 or more complaints to bring my way.  There are many med refills, 3 months being the longest we can prescribe meds for, though some will call in for refills.  no emailing the MD, which is good in ways, saves time perhaps.  Makes me realize how much time we do spend with the emailing and phone visits.

Still getting used to all of the meds, same drugs, different meds.  Many are gov't funded and so if I can prescribe one of these, the cost is very reduced for everyone.  Crestor, for example, one of the more costly statin meds in the US, ends up costly only $3/month here.  If not funded, than the cost is more.
Everyone has insurance of some kind.  In fact most services are more like a fee for service model.  If you have private insurance on top of that you may get procedures sooner than if you have to wait for the hospital to call you.

Colon CA screening: barely anyone gets a colonoscopy here, must be in higher risk group w personal or family history of such.  Not just because you are 50 do you get one.
They take Cardiovascular risk history very serious in terms of follow up and want everyone's Framingham equivalent to be under 10%.  No well child exams, Rns see kids more regularly for immunizations, but a kids may see an MD only a few times before age 18 if s/he is healthy.

GPs dont do any OB.  Bummer for me!

The average person here does seem more health conscious, active and willing to take responsibility for their health.  I can not tell you how many older patients over 75-80 I have seen who look 15-20 years younger than stated age.  Living the good life here for sure!

Not that is doesn't exist, but WAY lower incidence of pain medicine use here.  I have written one rx for oxycodone in a month!  Most are totally opposed to pain meds and want off as soon as they can.  Tramadol is the strongest med I see most often.  No hydrocodone at all.  Imagine that!

Manuka honey, every heard of it?  Special kind from here that is used medicinally on wounds.  Comes from the Maunka, or Tea Tree, tree.  In fact when treating a man for a large open stasis wound on his leg the other day in acute care clinic, the only thing we put on the wound was this honey, medicinal grade, and gauze bandage.  Lots of science behind the healing and antimicrobial benefits of honey in general, and this Manuka is the best!!  Esp good for burns.  Way better than Apple Cider Vinegar, Lynn!

Enough for now, off to the beach with Maggie for yet more shell collecting!

a glimpse of Hobbiton

Hobbiton

The Shire and Hobbit Holes

Hobbit Holes with chimneys and laundry lines.  Only facades with no interiors. Incredible attention to detail, including burning beeswax in the chimneys during filming to make it look like there are real fires burning in the holes.

Each Hole with its own vegetable and flower garden, and 4 full time gardeners on site.

The Green Dragon Pub, replica of the original.  Complementary hard cider, ginger beer and beer for all brewed esp for this location.

 Such cute hobbits!!

Home of Sam Gangees and Rosie in the Shire

 The Gathering Tree underneath where Bilbo had his party.  It was this tree that attracted Peter Jackson to this site in the first place, the rest came later.

Inside the Green Dragon with our brews!

I'm not kidding, this was one of the best tourist attraction ever!  Maybe even worth the trip here!  There was no build up or plastic crap being sold and marketed, it was all quality in every way!  A Very peaceful, happy place those Hobbits have. 

Holiday with Hobbit Holes and Hot Water Beach Part I

The Coromandel Peninsula

The scent of wild jasmine greets me as I approach the beach this AM to catch yet another remarkable sunrise. Kids are asleep. life is quiet for the moment.  A fire burns in the sand, remnant from some late night beach gathering. The sky begins its color parade, pink to red to orange to yellow, dark blue to steel, to various shades of grey to lighter blue. Glorious! Another outstanding gift. 

We are on day three of our four days on the Coromandel peninsula, 2-3 hrs north of Tauranga and the Mount upcoast. Kids are on 2 wk school holiday so a few days off work and off we went. First stop was Hobbiton, movie set Peter Jackson and crew for LOTR trilogy and newer Hobbit movies. Not sure what we would encounter, a bit fearful of the "scene" but I knew the kids would enjoy it. About 45" drive to Matamata, then few kms down farm roads gets you there. Few signs and not much to see en route. One must take a guided tour, so I signed us up and off we piled into this cool old bus.  Another 15" journey by bus into Middle Earth, over the green hills, past the sheep and new lambs (so cute!!) and there we were, in another sheep paddock.  Actually, when all was said and done, it was one of the best tourist attraction type things I have ever done. No fast heartstopping rides or crappy food to buy, only rolling green hills with colorful hobbit holes (turns out only the facades of the holes, all interiors shot in a studio in Wellington) each with their own well kept vegetable garden and adornments. A true delight! with our guide we wandered through the paths between the houses, pretended we were growing hair on our feet, and envisioning all of the meals each day we would be sharing with our Hobbit friends!  Details like the chimneys and the clothes hanging on the lines to dry, the gardens and the huge fake oak tree above Bag End.  Wow!!  Tour ends in the Green Dragon pub, replica built to resemble original, where we were given complimentary hard cider or ginger beer. A lovely structure on the lake, cozy with all things genuine and dear.  I can't begin to describe the tranquility and beauty of the setting. Within minutes of being there one forgets the Hollywood influence and is swept away into the Shire's magic. Sorry, Disney, but this was by far the Happiest Place on Earth!! (Photos to follow, have yet to download...)

Leaving the Shire we continued north to Te Aroha, old gold mining town, where the kids soaked in some local hot pools and Lina and I enjoyed a bit of downtime reading and warming in the sun.  Now that we are on the road so to speak, it is incredible what the major highways are like.  Just two lanes all the way.  And narrow!  I'm certain as one nears a bigger city, the highway gets wider, maybe 4 lanes, but nothing like we know in our urban centers.  We ended Day one in Thames, the jumping off point for the Coromandel, it too an old mining town.  Dined on some rather yummy Thai food, and spent the night in a Backpackers.  This is a hostel type setting, shared kitchen and bathrooms, better on the budget, great way to meet other travelers and tons of them in the country.  We had a bunk room for 6 all to ourselves, and snuggled in for the night after watching a VCR of Return of the King to catch a glimpse of the Shire once more! 

Friday we journeyed north to the town of Coromandel, a 60 km trip along a literally coast hugging road, again major highway, no guard rails and at times we were reduced to one lane.  In those cases there are signs telling one direction to yield to the other, and then you pray for the best!  did I mention that Lina was driving by this time?  Spoiled again I am as she loves to drive and is good, I could care less really, love to navigate, and found early on I was needed more to mediate the monkey business in the backseat with the kids.  Go figure!  The drive brought back many memories of drives along Northern CA. coast with ocean views, great trees and small towns passed along the way.

 glimpse of Gateway Backpacker's: our home first night on the road

 Major highway up the peninsula

 Rocky shores of the Western Coromandel

Another glimpse of highway looking North!

Coromandel is another mining remnant, now with a few small artisan shops and cafes, hardware store, gas station.  Cute all around!  Had to stop and have a "session" with lattes all around and the yummiest piece of beet root and red wine cake.  Exploring there also led to my first artsy purchase from a man recycling old bee hive boxes and screen printing on them.  Had to buy one along with some local Manuka honey.  Keep hearing about this honey and come to find out the Manuka tree is the tea tree tree.  The one with all of the healing and medicinal properties.  It is rather divine.  

 Here is Coromandel and the cake!!

Just up the road we encountered an incredible place, the Driving Creek Railway, a narrow gauge railway built by one man on his own that takes you up into the bush about 5 km to a viewpoint called the Eyefull Tower, yes, pun intended!  The whole thing is amazing from the fact this man came to Coromandel to be a potter, did this for years very successfully, collected and used the terra cotta clay from the hills above him, then needed a means to carry the clay down, so slowly over time he constructed this railway system that eventually led to this "major" attraction to the area.  Now it is such along with having studio spaces for visiting artists (clay workers, glass blowers, blacksmiths...), a conservation space as he has replanted up to 26,000 native Kauri trees that were once all deforested by the colonists, and gathering place for parties.  The rail has trestle bridges, zigzag tracks which led us going up the mtn forwards and backwards at times, tunnels, hillsides reenforced with glass bottles to keep them from sliding in.  Everything about this place was so cool!  Great view from the Tower of the entire west coast of the peninsula looking across to Auckland in the very far distance.  Not to be missed for those journeying here!

 Driving Creek Railway with conductor Pete

 Through the fern forest

 Double decker trestle bridge

 Wine bottle reenforced wall

 Poor panorama looking west but you get the idea

Off we went, crossing the peninsula on Road 309 (dirt road for the 14 km) for our destination.  Crazy thing about here is one is never sure what one will find and around one bend there was a huge metal spider that had us all shrieking, and yet this was nothing compared to the wild pigs that were running about around the next bend.  Had to stop for them, and all was fun and games and oh so cute until they found their way into our car (ok, who left the door open??!!) to snack on the trail mix.  Stinky muddy wild pigs not good company in a small Ford Focus!  Quite a memorable moment.

 Wild pig encounter, Jack has the squealer!!

 Scary spider esp after just watching the Return of the King!!

Across to the East side of the Coromandel, one leaves the rocky shores behind for expansive, white sand beaches and big cliffs.  Dined in the sweet town of Whitianga before making it to our next backpackers in Hahei beach.  A Stinson Beach/Bolinas look alike.  Here we were able to secure a small cabin for us equipped with our own toilet and kitchen and DVD/TV player.  Small holiday beach community, with incredible beaches and great vibe overall.  We nestled in and were greeted by the fantastic sunrise I described above.  Have I mentioned that the weather for this entire journey was superb!  How lucky were we!

After Saturday's beach sunrise, we hiked into Cathedral Cove, claimed to be one of the nicest beaches in this entire area, a huge feat in itself.  30" down a well worn path and you are in paradise, white sand, blue water, the perfect body surfing waves, a huge cut out in the cliff you can walk through...if only all the other people weren't there too.

Regardless, we swam and enjoyed with all the rest, marveling over and over how lucky we are to be here at all!!  Maggie really found her water legs here as Jack taught her how to dive through the bigger waves to avoid being dumped on.  

Gotta run to work now, more later....