More Sydney

We’ve been somewhat forcefully reminded that travels are much more pleasant when the sun shines. Tuesday was once again gray. We decided that we would use the day to see inside things and use the other hop-on-hop-off bus that travels a more in-town route.

We had a relaxed start to the day, did a little shopping, and then toured through the historic Hyde Park Barracks which was initially used to house convicts. On excavation, archeologists also discovered endless rat nests!

Mark, the convict!

the rat display

When done we stopped at the on-site café for a flat white. While in the café, in came a barrister in robes and WIG! We were sorely tempted to ask to pose with him, but he then removed the wig and the moment passed. We walked around the corner and, having just missed a confirmation ceremony with hundreds of teenagers in various private school uniforms, walked through St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral which is beautifully reminiscent of European cathedrals. Here we could have mimicked the Japanese tourists who were posing with groups of the uniformed schoolgirls on the front steps! Across the street, we encountered ibis birds in the lovely, even in the rain, Hyde Park.

St. Mary's

ibis

We boarded the bus to take us across town through Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo (such a great name) neighborhoods out to the end of Mrs. Macquaries Point (sorry, Di, the spelling is wrong). This point, named after the first governor’s wife since she loved the view from there, now gives spectacular water views back towards the opera house and bridge. This is also the far end of the massive Royal Botanic Gardens.

By this time, the rain had abated so we walked through the gardens, caught lunch at the café, and began to walk towards our next bus stop. Along the way, looking up into the trees, we wondered what these big, dead-looking, brown, bag-like things hanging from the tops of trees were. All of a sudden, we realized that the dead things both moved and shrieked. We had stumbled on a colony of flying foxes or fruit bats that live in the garden. We were amazed and fascinated. Must have stayed for ten minutes or so watching. Several flew around during that time showing off their 3 ft. wingspan. Impressive.

the bats

The New South Wales Art Museum is also located within the park. We walked in and found a friendly, informative docent who gave us a one hour “highlights” tour especially concentrating on Australian artists. Perfect!! Back on the bus, we toured back around town to a stop near our hotel and called it a day.

The Rocks and More

Monday morning looked a bit more promising weather-wise although still very overcast. We walked the half mile up to the Circular Quay ferry docks, caught our first views of two of Sydney’s iconic sights, the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and proceeded to the large Sydney Visitor’s Centre in The Rocks (area just to the west of the docks). We booked a 1.5 hour walking tour of The Rocks, located a café for a quick coffee, and enjoyed the food scavenging antics of several colorful lorikeets at a nearby table until our tour time.

Did you know that England used to send some of her convicts to it’s American colony?? After 1776, Australia got them! The labyrinthine Rocks area was literally carved out of the rocks on the shore of the harbour and was the early settlement area for convicts and guards. Interestingly, in 1973, a massive community clash between protesters and police, led by a well known union leader, resulted in the stop to demolition in the area. Today it is home to 96 heritage buildings. A most informative tour that we shared with four Texans and a young woman from Germany!

After lunch, we climbed the stairs up from The Rocks for a walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. You can pay from $188-$298 (depending on the time of day) to do the Bridge-Climb (up and over the top of the span) in the provided BridgeSuit, headphones, and hookup. Or you can pay $9.50 to go up one of the pylons.  We stopped at the Pylon Lookout and climbed the 200 stairs up to the outside viewing area at the top (almost 300 ft above the water). Despite the gray skies, the views were wonderful. There were also great displays and information about the building of the bridge from 1924-1932. At one point, the project was known as the “iron lung” for breathing life into the depression stalled Sydney economy!

see the span walkers?

After the pylon, we walked the rest of the way across the bridge and went looking for a ferry to take back across the water to Circular Quay. Along the way down the hill we passed another iconic attraction, Luna Park, a renovated 1935 amusement park. We didn’t do any rides but we did enjoy an ice cream cone!

Mark and the Luna clown

check out the ice cream name

looking back at Circular Quay

After arriving back at the Circular Quay, we bought 24 hour tickets good for use on either or both of two different tourist hop-on-hop-off buses. We were ready to sit and just see some of the city. The Bondi bus, as it is called, took us in a big circle out to the east of the downtown harbour in and out to multiple bays and along the famous Bondi, Bronte, and Coogee beaches. These beaches cling to the shore of heavily populated outskirt areas of Sydney. At Bondi, there were over a hundred surfers in the water. We had hoped to disembark and do a walk but sadly dusk was beginning to set in. It is winter here and the days feel short.

We have been struck that the city of Sydney has roughly the same population as the entire country of New Zealand. No wonder we feel like we are in a big city!

Arriving Sydney

Sunday, May 23, we left New Zealand on a flight to Sydney, Australia. The 3.5 hour flight was easy and uneventful and we both enjoyed watching the in-flight movie Invictus which we found a little more understandable having now been to a rugby game ourselves. On landing we turned our watches back two more hours.

Fortunately a fellow locums doc in Wairoa, when we mentioned we were planning to go to Australia, asked if we knew that we would need visas to enter. We hadn’t thought of that or encountered it when doing our reading about OZ! Online application was easy--fill out your info and pay the fee. Consequently, clearing customs in Sydney was simple.  We bought tickets on a door-to-door shuttle to our 1-bedroom serviced apartment/hotel not far from Darling Harbour and the Wynyard rail station.

It was gray, overcast, and attempting to sprinkle, and we had our usual new-city lethargy. We decided that a visit to the much acclaimed Sydney Aquarium, a few blocks’ walk from our place, would be a good activity. The aquarium is considered one of the top in the world, and it did not disappoint.

Our favorite attractions were three large tanks/pools which were reached by descending switchback ramps down below the water’s surface. Each had a long, wide, U-shaped, glass tunnel to allow one to walk “through” the water. We saw rays, sharks, fish of all colors and sizes and patterns, enchanting fish, ugly fish, turtles, and a couple of playful huge dugongs (thought to be the creatures that inspired mermaid stories, the only plant-eating marine mammal).

It was dark by the time we emerged from the aquarium. We climbed up to a pedestrian bridge overlooking the twinkling lights of the Darling Harbour and with sightings of the Sydney Tower in the distance. Following Mark’s nose and asking questions at strategic places, we found a grocery store under the train station and bought dinner.

Goodbye, New Zealand

We have had the most incredible time in New Zealand. We will miss the country and the people!

Goodbye, Whangamata

Tomorrow we pack up and leave Whangamata and the Coromandel Peninsula. We will drive about two hours to Auckland and spend the night near the airport. Sunday morning, we will leave New Zealand after working and traveling here for over four months. Next stop will be Sydney, Australia.

Since the past two weeks I have spent lots of time in the New Entrants class at Whangamata School, thought I would leave you with a picture of Anna, the teacher, Rachel, the nanny-wannabe, and the kids.

Cove and Beach

On Tuesday, May 18, Mark had the day off so we went driving and exploring up the coast from Whangamata. We had two places in particular that we wanted to see but both required being there around low tide which wasn’t until 4 in the afternoon. We drove past the turnoffs for those two (free) sights and kept going north.

We went as far as we could to a small ferry landing with a walk-on ferry across to Whitianga. However, since the day was sunny (not what had been predicted), we decided to skip the ferry and hike up the hillside for a view of Flaxmill Bay instead--blue sparkling water, a tiny marina, a prominent tree clad bluff, and curving sandy beaches. On descending the hillside, we walked the shell strewn beach for a stretch before heading back to the car. We drove through the mostly deserted oceanfront hamlet of Cook’s Beach and proceeded on to a funky little winery we had read about.

Purangi Estates is a grandiose name for the weatherworn looking winery but it was an entertaining stop. The cellar door host/cook/server/owner was perhaps a bit manic but was a fount of strange and wonderful information and a master of all manner of English language accents. We were, of course, treated to a few wine samples but also to their signature offering feijoa liquour. We stayed for lunch and had a scrumptious wood oven baked pizza which we ate at a sunny picnic table in the kiwifruit orchard side yard. Four pouncing kittens kept us company.

By this time, we deemed that we had occupied enough time that we could drive back to see our first low tide site--Cathedral Cove. This area was used in some of the opening scenes in Prince Caspian, the second Narnia movie. After a 35 minute walk down and across a bush covered cliff face, we arrived at the beach.

Cathedral Cove features a huge stone archway that, at low tide, connects two small pristine beaches. We had read in the local Coastal News that due to rock fall the Department of Conservation had closed the archway to walking so we weren’t sure what we would find. There were definitely warning signs and a few ropes strung up but no one was paying them any heed. So we joined the other few visitors and walked through the archway to the adjoining beach. We lingered some but knew that we still wanted to get to the other low tide site so we somewhat more slowly hiked back up the cliff side.

do you see San?

Our last stop for the day was Hot Water Beach. This unique beach is an anomaly. From the carpark we joined others, many carrying spades, in walking down the beach to an area of rocky outcrop.

Underground hot springs bubble to the surface between the low and high tide reaches. For an hour or two either side of low tide, people congregate, dig themselves “spas”, and lounge in the warm water. The deeper you dig, the hotter it gets although in some places it is scalding hot (up to 147 degrees F) right on the sand!

We dug a modest sized hole for our feet, rolled up our jeans, and enjoyed the ambiance of late day sun and clouds, crashing surf, and happy crowds. As we dried our feet and put our shoes and socks back on, an overhead cloud began to spit at us. Perfect time to go!

Marae

One last entry on a sight quite unique to New Zealand, the Maori marae or community meeting place with sacred overtones. They are found everywhere particularly on the North Island which has a higher percentage of Maori people. Invariably, the buildings are cream yellow with a burnt red wide upsias down V-shaped face and corresponding entryway. They include intricate woven panels and stylized carvings which represent the ancestors of that tribe/iwi. Often a Maori school and/or a cemetery are adjacent or nearby. Entry requires permission as well as removal of one’s shoes.

Like the kauri trees, the tui, and the pukeko, we took endless pictures. Here are a few:

This is the Te Papa Museum's colorful modern marae--an artistic rendering representing the greater community of New Zealand.

Kuriously Kiwi

First of all, a few more fun words: trolleys is the name for shopping carts (and other hand trucks or carts)
jandals is their word for sandals

We’ve also encountered a couple of delightfully descriptive phrases ( meaning the same as go/turn sour):
It went pear-shaped………
It went plaid………

Mark and I also have a new favorite phrase for using when driving on certain roads. When we were driving on the South Island going south out of Queenstown, we encountered a sign that said, “Watch out for Road Slumps!” Instinctively, we all know what a road slump is, but the wording made us laugh and start imagining some strange animals lurking in the undergrowth. We’ve never seen that signage again. However, another sign we happen on quite regularly when driving (compliments of the ever present road work going on) is, “Works End.” Somehow it always strikes us as wrong--we think it should be “Work Ends”.

Kiwis have official clubs for everything--with actual membership. In addition, the club will often, but not always, have its own dedicated building. A few are familiar: golf club, yacht club, tennis club (although nothing like such clubs are in the States). Here are a few other clubs we have seen along the way: angling, lawn bowling, croquet, model railroad, rugby and sports, boys, and, my personal favorite, the Coromandel ukulele club called Ukumania.

One other observation of note. Kiwis go barefoot everywhere!!! Our “no shirt, no shoes, no service” requirements in the States would quickly put a place out of business here. We had dinner the other night in the home of a British couple who are sharing one doctor position here in the Whangamata practice while raising their four elementary aged children (who go to the school I‘m volunteering at). Nikki, the wife, commented, “We have lost so many pairs of shoes since moving here. To begin with I sent my children to school in proper British shoes but they kept coming home without them. I‘ve given up.” Then Mark, the husband, quipped, “Dressing up here means wearing shoes!”

This morning, I walked to school well bundled against the very chilly morning (lower 50’s, I think) only to discover that at least half of the children in the 5 year olds class were barefoot!! In Wairoa, Mark saw an older Maori woman with a toe ulcer and suggested to her that wearing a sock to warm that foot up might be a good idea and increase circulation, but she appeared unconvinced. (Remember the barefoot priest I mentioned in another blog?) Actually, when it is really cold some adults just wear heavy woolen socks--but still no shoes!

Small Town Medicine, Whew

Well, San has given a little preview that my work here in Whangamata is quite a bit different from everywhere else we have been. Actually the practice is like the others in being a rural general practice in a small town with no hospital or ER, but they even have no local lab or x-ray. They’ve not had very many locums here and I think now I know why.

They expect a locums to “earn their keep” w/in a day or two of getting here. That means seeing 4-5 patients per hour from 8:30-12:30 and 2-5:30 PM. It means sharing in the 1 out of 3 call system. (They have 3 full time docs, but one position is shared by a lovely English husband/wife team.) Also they are contracted with the government to be what’s called the “Prime doctors” in the area. That means that when on call you are responsible to attend/review every patient that the ambulance is called to. So you might have to leave the practice to go to the scene of a car accident to evaluate patients still trapped in a wrecked car or attend a cardiac arrest in the ambulance or home . For instance, I have attended a man after a motorcycle accident (beat up and bruised with clavicle fracture), a 51 yr man who collapsed comatose drinking/eating in local restaurant, and a schizophrenic depressive who probably overdosed on her pills. Today I also ran over at lunch to pronounce someone dead and do a death certificate at the local nursing home. These are to be expected. But to start doing this 4 days after starting to work in the community has been hard. Then to do it over the first full weekend and run Saturday PM and Sunday clinics with no nurse or receptionist, not knowing where everything is--that is all a bit much.

However, that said, it is a wonderful group of people to work with in a beautiful ocean-front beach community. It is a typical GP practice but unlike the last one which had mostly Maori and many children, this one is more retirees with the usual geriatric problems and issues plus out-of-town tourists Still some kids, too and today that included a very depressed teen and 9 month old preemie twins, one of whom was just discharged from Auckland hospital after a collapsed lung/resp arrest and pneumonia! Ah yes, primary care in small town general practice.

Whangamata

The current hot button issue concerning the Coromandel Peninsula is the government’s proposal to allow mining here. “No Mining” signs are everywhere. Once known for gold mining, these days the peninsula is known almost exclusively for recreation and tourism.

Whangamata is a resort town situated on a long, wide, curving stretch of white sand beach on the Pacific Ocean. Bounded by a harbour on one end and by a river on the other, the beach is easily walked from one end to the other in under an hour. The views from the beach are stunning featuring bush covered, offshore, uninhabited islands and rocky sea stacks. It is also known as a decent surfing beach. During off season, Whangamata is a ghost town of about 4,000 people. During high season, the population swells to over 40,000 when every (now empty) vacation house is full.

Our new house turned out to be a cheerfully decorated, cute, little L-shaped bungalow. Perfect for two people. We have bush size protea plants flowering in our tiny yard and a resident tui bird in the banksia tree across the fence.

I’ve blogged about the tui bird before. Like Kiwis, we have come to love these birds. One online site describes the tui song as: “clear bell-like notes along with clicks, cackles, creaks, groans, and wheezing sounds…” On top of that, the tui has two voice boxes and some of its song is inaudible to humans. They are also good at mimicking. One person told us of going nutsy because a tui bird in their yard had learned to mimic their cell phone! This banksia tree is an Australian transplant and has large, bright yellow, brush-like flowers.


Since arriving in Whangamata, we have had quite a bit of rain as well as winds, thunder, and lightening. We did manage one day to venture out of town to a nearby bush walk along a stream and up to a very long waterfall (seem to be a lot of those in NZ).

I’ve also relished some lengthy beach walks and have been pleasantly occupied going in to the nearby local school and helping out several mornings in the “new entrants” classroom--5 year olds. Takes me back to my year of teaching preschool--have even shared some of my favorite action songs. Delightfully, I just showed up at the office, dropped the name of the woman doc and parent who encouraged me when I asked about volunteering, and was instantly leading a reading group in one of the classrooms. No form to fill out or fingerprinting required.

Mark, on the other hand, has been working long and hard here. Since he is covering for a doc on a vacation, the practice has had him take on all the office hours and on call slots of the vacationing doc. This has resulted in his working ten of the twelve days we are here which included six days straight through the weekend and five call evenings in all. On top of that the call is not what he is accustomed to either. Maybe he’ll blog about it……..

Coromandel Peninsula

Saturday, after leaving the Hamilton Gardens, we drove towards the Coromandel Peninsula. Arriving at the city of Thames, we stopped for a few food items and then drove on up the scenic coast to the tiny town of Coromandel.               

After some indecision, we found a motel for the night. We consulted the host and strolled down the road to the one upscale restaurant in the town of 1500 people. With no reservations, we had to sit on the weatherized back porch, but we had a fabulous shared dinner of mussels then rack of lamb with roasted vegies and finished with a scoop of feijoa ice cream (we actually liked Mark’s better).

Sunday morning we attended Saint Andrew’s Union Church. The “Union” seems to refer to the melding of Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians all into one service. We sang hymns including ones by Charles Wesley and John Newton to boom box accompaniment. The tiny wooden sanctuary was quite cold but the barefoot priest/minister gave a short homily and led us in liturgies and prayers. Sadly, of the fifteen or so in attendance, half of us, according to the minister, were visitors. The Elim Church down the road had lots more cars but advertised a two hour service. We just didn’t have it in us though it might have been much livelier and certainly interesting….a shade Pentecostal, I’m thinking.

After poking around downtown Coromandel and grabbing a cup of coffee, we found the infamous 309 Road which is the shortest route between the peninsula’s west and east coasts--from Coromandel to Whitianga. The road is winding, narrow, and mostly unpaved. At my pleading, we took it slow and easy. We also stopped and walked along the way--around a little waterfall and into an area of some giant Kauri trees.

 

Can you see San?

Popping out on the east coast, we stopped for a late, windy, picnic lunch on the ocean attended by pesky seagulls. A short drive further brought us to Whangamata (fong-a-ma-TA) and with the help of the GPS we found our new digs for the next two weeks.

The Hamilton Garden

Saturday morning we walked about 15 minutes to the car rental agency and picked up our reserved car. Since the day was quite overcast and cool, we decided that we would take a look at the public Hamilton Gardens instead of driving directly to the Coromandel Peninsula for a hike. It was the right choice.

The Hamilton Gardens is a large city park laid out along the Wailkato River featuring woodland walking areas, cycling paths, a large pond, and various garden “collections”. It is free and open to the public. We weren’t expecting to see much in bloom since it is well into fall here--like November back home. We decided to explore the interesting sounding Paradise Garden Collection which focuses on “…the most significant enclosed garden design traditions”.  There were six different gardens strikingly different from each other. We were enchanted!! The creative designers of these gardens had alot of fun--the pictures will tell the story.

Japanese Garden of Contemplation from 14th-16th century....

English Flower Garden from 19th centruy.......

Chinese Scholar's Garden from 10th-12th Century........

American West Coast Modernist Garden from 20th Century.....

Indian Char Bagh Garden from 16th-17th Century............

Italian Renaissance Garden from 15th-16th Century..........

After these six gardens, we just had to have a snack on the outdoor veranda of the café to energize us to tackle the Productive Garden Collection. Here there were four different gardens--traditional Maori horticulture, kitchen garden, herb garden, and sustainable backyard garden. (No space for MORE pictures--aren't you relieved?)  We loved them all.  If we lived nearby, we would probably visit the Hamilton Garden every couple of months!