Hello friends,

 

Greetings from 'down under' in beautiful New Zealand !!

 

I arrived in Auckland Sept. 11th at 6:00 AM, after a very long day of flying from Sarasota, Fl. to N. Carolina, to LA and on to New Zealand.

 

After a pleasant sleep at a lovely hotel, walks around the city and down to the waterfront, I settled into the nice hotel resturant for an evening meal and a lively chat with a gentleman visitor from England.

 

The following day, and after a meeting with an agent from the NZ Medical Council, I flew from Auckland, on a turbo prop, for the one hour trip to Wanganui, arriving at 4:30 in the afternoon. The plane flew in over the seashore and touched down gently in my new home.

 

I was greeted at the airport by one of the ER doctors and another hospital worker, who took me to my new home and provided me with a car, a small, fuel-efficient Viva, that I had not previously heard of.  That evening I enjoyed a lovely dinner at my colleague's home.  He and his family are from Poland and gave me a warm reception, complete with a lovely meal and  an after-dinner sit and warm conversation around the fireplace.

 

Three days later I was treated to a delicious evening meal at the home of the ER director and his lovely family and friends.   All-in-all a perfect introduction to New Zealand. 

 

I have learned to drive on the left side of the road without running over any pedestrians or crashing the car!

 

The first weekend was taken up with a visit to the local farmer's market in downtown Wanganui beside the river, and a short drive to a local beach with black (of all colors!!) fine sand, sparkling with tiny crystals that look like diamonds.  The waves riveled Waikiki beach ( where I recently spent a couple of weeks) and looked like they were begging surfers to take the plunge.

 

I have now had a few shifts in the ER, after more hours of hospital orientation than I have ever experienced before in total in my entire life!

 

The patients are the same, as is the pathology, but the approach to medicine is different in some ways and doctors are not quite as pampered here as they are in the USA and in Canada.

 

The people are extremely friendly and helpful, and appear to embrace foreigners with patience, grace and tolerance.  I think I'm going to like it here. 

 

The spring weather (the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere) is cool at night and sunny in the daytime, ideal for walking and exploring around.   Trees, shrubs and flowers, currently in bloom, are spectacular.

 

This past Saturday, on my day off work, I went on a cruise up the Wanganui river on the only paddle steamer still in operation in NZ.  What a delightful three hours that was.   The weather was perfect, the boat facinating and the crew and visitors most pleasant.

 

Hope all is well back in North America.

 

Cheers,  Marlene

 

Marlene Buckler, MD, FACEP