First week

Things really went smoothly at work during the first week. A very welcoming staff and open and interesting patients made for an easy transition. The weather, though the winter season has been excellent, the locals are amazed at how pleasant it is.

 This is a snapshot of the little square in Napier across from  the office.  Palm trees and sunshine on the shortest day of the year.  That's actually the most difficult thing, all of a sudden the days are so much shorter than June in Colorado. My winter sleep cycle has re-emerged.

But with the first weekend that I have settled I took off for some hikes in the hills above the coast,  I felt like I was back on the South Island with the dense  deep green foliage  with ferns and palms and mosses.

  A couple places I hiked were predator free zones, one in particular was a fenced  reserve to  raise Kiwis until they are adults and can be released elsewhere.  The songs of the birds was amazing in the reserve, Tui's are my favourite with their astounding range of songs and calls. Just one sign today.

 This Matai tree was apparently too large to be logged so it has survived its 800 or so years, the extinct Moa and New Zealand Eagle  foraged around it in the past.

 And it only took me a  week to find a brew pub, and though none of their beers were ready today they had an excellent assortment of craft beer from the North Island and I managed to get one mini growler home without dropping it. Too bad about its mate.

  And, for my wife and daughters and Sue and Brenda,  here's to women drinking real beer rather than  pretend stuff.

The All Blacks are on again tonight so the entire country is riveted on that rather than Brexit for a bit.

First impressions

 Greetings, a quick update,the flight over was long but NZ air is a nice airline and things went smoothly. The woman seated next to me asked to move to another seat due to a leg injury, at least that is what she claimed, I do not think I actually had anything to do with it.
After a visit with the medical council in Auckland, I was back on a short flight not Napier, The Art Deco capital of the world!

 I will probably irritate you with photos of nice examples of the architecture so I will try to limit it but Napier's inspiration for rebuild after the earthquake was Santa Barbara with a good splash of Miami Beach.  It is lovely on first inspection.

 I have use of a bicycle and Napier is small enough  to negotiate well on bike, with the exception of one very steep hill. This is a glance down the bikeway on my way to the medical office where I will be filling in. Not too shabby.

We enjoyed documenting the road signs on our last visit here and I  was pleased to find a nice one on my first bike ride here. I think it gets its message across pretty clearly.

The bike path runs for miles around the coast, past some lovely beach and park areas. This cute lighthouse warns the boat traffic of the point protecting the harbour. There is a dock for large container ships which seems to be active day and night.

Logging is a big industry around the Hawkes Bay area, these are trucks waiting to unload so that timber can be shipped to Asia.

I met the incredibly friendly staff at the medical practice. This weekend I'm invited by neighbours to watch the AllBlacks take on Wales in Rugby, reminding me of the hospitality shown Carolyn and I when we first visited NZ  over thirty years ago and were introduced to Cricket by our fellow guests in a small B and B.

Departure Tomorrow

Hello again, after a three year absence and work back in beautiful Boulder Colorado, I am off again to New Zealand to work as a locum tenes physician in Napier. Could not be more excited.

 This time I will be
traveling alone as my wonderful wife  Carolyn will continue to work in her practice here as well as assist our new Masters Graduate Kristen with her relocation in California. She will also have the chance to visit Angie in Seattle and check out the Olympic peninsula .

So , a little intro, I fly Denver to SF to Auckland , interview with the medical council there and then head off to Napier.   I hopefully will get settled, have  an introduction to the practice on Friday and begin work on Monday.
Wish me safe travels