After returning to Auckland on January 24, we were on a mission to find an apartment. We had three different showings in three hours, and we managed to sign one of them. We originally were looking for a two bedroom but ended up with a studio apartment about 15 minute walk from the hospital. The place is tiny and has no air conditioning and no central heating. But the location is great- close to a bunch of restaurants and the Auckland Domain (a large green space). The lease didn't start until February 1st, and my fellowship started January 30, so we had to figure out a place to stay in the meantime. Since we had figured out the apartment situation, we decided to rent a car and do a little road trip near Auckland on our last free weekend.
First, we drove to Lake Taupo, about 3 hours away from Auckland. We walked along the Waikato river from a natural hot spring to Huka Falls. We even got in the river and felt the strange sensation of warm water near the hot spring followed by intensely cold water only three feet away.
The next day we went for a sail on Lake Taupo. We got to see some Maori carvings in the rock face, which was very impressive. The massive carving is 10m high and was completed over four summers in the 1970's. Afterwards, we hopped in the lake, which was extraordinarily clear.
Later that night, we went to Wairakei Terraces, a hot spring with pools to lounge in. They had four different pools with different temperatures, and we lounged in the warm water until they closed.
The next day, we drove about an hour to Rotorua. This area of the country is known for geothermal features like geysers, hot springs, and mud pools. And because of this, it has the distinctive smell of sulfur. There are plenty of privately owned parks to wander around and look at the different geothermal wonders, but they were all pretty expensive and seemed fairly touristy. So we went to the free geothermal park downtown, which was predictably underwhelming and smelled like rotten eggs. Once you've seen Yellowstone and Lassen Volcanic National Parks, it's hard to be impressed with many other geothermal areas.
The best part of Rotorua was rafting the Kaituna River. We did a class V rapids and went down the highest commercially rafted waterfall Tutea Falls at 7m (23 ft). We got absolutely soaked and had a blast. I don't have any pictures, but I do have some GoPro footage, which will certainly make it into the next video. After Rotorua, we headed to Tauranga, a city on the east coast of the country. We headed to the beach, but it was raining and windy, so we headed back to our hotel for the night. The next day, it continued to pour rain. We spent the morning doing laundry (did I mention we only brought a carry on each for our entire trip to Australia and New Zealand?)
Later, we drove to Matamata to visit Hobbiton. I admit, I'm not a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I only watched the movies about a year ago, when William realized I'd never seen the series and was horrified that I would go to New Zealand without watching them. So, we had a Lord of the Rings marathon that lasted a few weeks. Every night we watched a portion of the movies (William insisted on the extended editions and I could only make it about 90 minutes before crashing- I was still at my Vanderbilt fellowship at the time). Anyway, I really enjoyed the movies and am certainly glad we watched them before our trip here. And Hobbiton was great, although it continued to rain throughout our visit. We got to see the outside of more than 40 Hobbit holes and go inside one of the holes that had been built specifically for the tour. We ended our trip with a beer at the Green Dragon!
Afterwards, we headed back toward Auckland, where we had booked a hotel for three nights before our apartment was available. We spent some time walking around downtown and getting more familiar with the city.
The next day, I started fellowship. It's hard to believe that this is my last bit of training before being completely done. Starting anything new is overwhelming, especially in a foreign country. However, everyone has been so nice & welcoming. A couple things that have been different.
A lot of people wear white boots in the OR, called gum boots. They issued me a pair on my arrival.
2. People have tea breaks here, rather than coffee breaks. Even the staff lounge is called the tea room.
3. The residents are called House Officers (the most junior) and Registrars (both Junior and Senior), and the attendings are called Consultants.
I'm still figuring out the system, but basically I have my own OR (or 'theatre') every day and take care of any 'acutes', or broken bones/infections that come into the hospital. The consultants have elective cases, then add on any other 'acutes' that don't get taken care of in my room. So far, I've had a lot of autonomy and typically have a junior registrar to help me. The consultant changes every day, and they typically pop their head in a few times to check on me, then leave me alone. It's been really good so far.
Today was a public holiday, but I was put on as the senior today (probably because I'm American and didn't really even know today was a holiday until yesterday). I operated from 8-5 and did four cases but still had plenty of cases left. The OR goes down to just two rooms after 5 pm, so only true emergencies can go. Unfortunately, my consultant and I decided there were two more infection cases that have to be done tonight. I went home for dinner, then returned at 730pm to wash out a septic knee, then I got bumped again for another more urgent case (scrotal abscess, yuck). So now I'm waiting in the tea room for my second case to go. I have missed operating... but I have NOT missed call!
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