New Zealand
The flight from San Francisco was long, untroubled and only physiologically three hours difference in time, despite a lost day. Auckland was sleepy and warm when we arrived and had a traffic free drive to the Peace and Plenty Inn, a charming bed and breakfast, on the waterside at Devonport. This suburb is just over the harbour from the main city and so travelling in is rather fun and very quick by the Fuller’s ferry which docks a couple of hundred metres from our Auckland abode.
So restful was the place that we settled here for all our Auckland time, now I am sitting in the garden amongst the ferns, alongside the goldfish pond with the cicadas energetically noisy. The breakfasts are a treat, on the sun kissed balcony eating Belgian waffles, syrup and bacon with a cornucopia of fruit: melon, pineapple, blueberry, pomegranate, raspberry, grape, cherry, banana and, of course, kiwi fruit all crowded on to my plate this morning. The coffee, a NZ enthusiasm is locally blended and perfectly delicious.
The modern traveller, equipped with computer and Skype telephone, cannot rest until they are on line, so here sitting in the garden typing away, wirelessly connected to the world this modern traveller is content.
Well what of the country? It is beautiful, crowded around Auckland (one third of the country’s population lives within twenty miles of the city centre) and surrounded by sea, oceans, inlets, bays, peninsulas and islands which are the backdrop to the rolling and sometimes mountainous terrain. We spent the weekend at the Bay of Islands, the site of the initial contact that the west, in the person of Captain Cook and the Endeavour had with the Maoris. This beautiful seascape had an adventurous past and was once the main port of call from all voyages in the south Pacific, for re-victualling and repair. The abundance of Kauri (a large evergreen tree, native to New Zealand that has oval leaves and is valued for its strong timber. Latin name: Agathis australisthis) and flax (for making rope) meant that the 19th century sailing ships could undertake running repairs as well as trade.
In Russell the bed and breakfast we stayed in had matchless views across the bay, much enjoyed when we had a “sun downer” with our host, before setting off to a pleasant meal overlooking the now moonlit bay.
The highlight of our stay was a trip in the R Tucker Thompson, a tall ship, in the historic design of a North West American Halibut Schooner. We sailed , and motored, around the bay and were privileged to have a couple of representatives of the NZ Historic Places Trust, who gave us enthusiastic and detailed accounts of the happenings around the bay in the late 18th and early 19th century.
I have not lost sight of the purpose of this journey, and last week spent a profitable three days in Melbourne, guest of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. I was privileged to be admitted to their inner councils and see something of their governance. I was impressed by their ability to be forthright and courteous at the same time. Much of what they are doing in Surgical Education mirrors our efforts and one of the benefits of a journey such as mine is that you can see various solutions, some which might transfer to different cultures.
Meeting colleagues in NZ has been a joy; they are hospitable, relaxed and purposeful. They are conscious of being able to do a great and worthwhile job in a beautiful country, of which they are very proud. The trainees I have met are like all trainees, courteous, loyal and have a different take on the changes that are being carried through. In NZ they are adopting a single entry point to surgical training, so that if someone wants to embark on a surgical career and hey apply and are accepted they should finish, provided they cross the relevant hurdles. The essence of this is humane. It is clearly unfair to recruit two surgical hopefuls to junior posts and only to allow one to progress, however good the one who has to find an alternative career path is. However the transition has delivered some rough justice and the trainees I spoke to ere unhappy that a couple of their colleagues, of whom they thought highly had to seek training in another specialty, despite the time the they had already committed to a surgical career.
Tomorrow it is proper holiday and Port Douglas in Northern Queensland.
The flight from San Francisco was long, untroubled and only physiologically three hours difference in time, despite a lost day. Auckland was sleepy and warm when we arrived and had a traffic free drive to the Peace and Plenty Inn, a charming bed and breakfast, on the waterside at Devonport. This suburb is just over the harbour from the main city and so travelling in is rather fun and very quick by the Fuller’s ferry which docks a couple of hundred metres from our Auckland abode.
So restful was the place that we settled here for all our Auckland time, now I am sitting in the garden amongst the ferns, alongside the goldfish pond with the cicadas energetically noisy. The breakfasts are a treat, on the sun kissed balcony eating Belgian waffles, syrup and bacon with a cornucopia of fruit: melon, pineapple, blueberry, pomegranate, raspberry, grape, cherry, banana and, of course, kiwi fruit all crowded on to my plate this morning. The coffee, a NZ enthusiasm is locally blended and perfectly delicious.
The modern traveller, equipped with computer and Skype telephone, cannot rest until they are on line, so here sitting in the garden typing away, wirelessly connected to the world this modern traveller is content.
Well what of the country? It is beautiful, crowded around Auckland (one third of the country’s population lives within twenty miles of the city centre) and surrounded by sea, oceans, inlets, bays, peninsulas and islands which are the backdrop to the rolling and sometimes mountainous terrain. We spent the weekend at the Bay of Islands, the site of the initial contact that the west, in the person of Captain Cook and the Endeavour had with the Maoris. This beautiful seascape had an adventurous past and was once the main port of call from all voyages in the south Pacific, for re-victualling and repair. The abundance of Kauri (a large evergreen tree, native to New Zealand that has oval leaves and is valued for its strong timber. Latin name: Agathis australisthis) and flax (for making rope) meant that the 19th century sailing ships could undertake running repairs as well as trade.
In Russell the bed and breakfast we stayed in had matchless views across the bay, much enjoyed when we had a “sun downer” with our host, before setting off to a pleasant meal overlooking the now moonlit bay.
The highlight of our stay was a trip in the R Tucker Thompson, a tall ship, in the historic design of a North West American Halibut Schooner. We sailed , and motored, around the bay and were privileged to have a couple of representatives of the NZ Historic Places Trust, who gave us enthusiastic and detailed accounts of the happenings around the bay in the late 18th and early 19th century.
I have not lost sight of the purpose of this journey, and last week spent a profitable three days in Melbourne, guest of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. I was privileged to be admitted to their inner councils and see something of their governance. I was impressed by their ability to be forthright and courteous at the same time. Much of what they are doing in Surgical Education mirrors our efforts and one of the benefits of a journey such as mine is that you can see various solutions, some which might transfer to different cultures.
Meeting colleagues in NZ has been a joy; they are hospitable, relaxed and purposeful. They are conscious of being able to do a great and worthwhile job in a beautiful country, of which they are very proud. The trainees I have met are like all trainees, courteous, loyal and have a different take on the changes that are being carried through. In NZ they are adopting a single entry point to surgical training, so that if someone wants to embark on a surgical career and hey apply and are accepted they should finish, provided they cross the relevant hurdles. The essence of this is humane. It is clearly unfair to recruit two surgical hopefuls to junior posts and only to allow one to progress, however good the one who has to find an alternative career path is. However the transition has delivered some rough justice and the trainees I spoke to ere unhappy that a couple of their colleagues, of whom they thought highly had to seek training in another specialty, despite the time the they had already committed to a surgical career.
Tomorrow it is proper holiday and Port Douglas in Northern Queensland.
1 comment:
Hi Tony
We subscribe to Google Alerts so when information on the R.Tucker Thompson is posted on the web I receive an email. Where possible, I like to add links to people's blogs from our site because obviously it is better for people thinking about a sailing trip to read independent feedback rather than rely on what we say.
Are you happy for me to include a link to your blog from our comments page? http://www.tucker.co.nz/comments.htm Obviously if you would like to link back to us that would be much appreciated as well.
Thanks
Jane
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