Well the time has come and I'm leaving New Zealand to start my new adventure
I've had a wonderful time in NZ, both in the ED at Hawkes Bay Hospital, and on my travels around the country. I have felt very welcome and had some awesome experiences. I'm sure to be back!
I went to the Hastings Farmer's market on Sunday and autumn most certainly has arrived. There were wonderful displays of multicoloured fruit, squash and veg. I'll be returning to the end of spring in England and rumour has it that there is sun in Manchester! I've heard summer can be rather nice in Devon...
New Zealand and Antarctica
On my travels this past month I seemed to keep bumping into people who either knew someone who had worked in Antarctica, or had been themselves. In a single hut at Waikaremoana I met two climbers who had just returned from Mt Vinson, a couple who had been on an Antarctic cruise and talked very enthusiastically about South Georgia, and someone who knew one of the previous KEP doctors!
Whilst in Oamaru I lost several hours in a wonderful bookshop call Adventure Books. It has new, second hand and rare books about travel, adventure, and a sizeable Antarctic collection. They even have a full size replica of the James Caird (of Shakleton fame). I'd just missed a talk from Pauline Carr who set up the museum in South Georgia. Sadly her book was a little to heavy for my luggage.
New Zealand's relationship with Antarctica dates back to the heroic age and nowadays Christchurch acts as the hub for the US Antarctic Program. You can read about the history of NZ and Antarctica here and here.
p.s
This is the first post I've tried linking to facebook/twitter: let me know via the blog or facebook if there are any issues (pictures loading is one I'm aware of)
It certainly has been heating up recently in the UK :)
ReplyDeleteCatch you later in the week..