A week in...

We have been here now more than a week.  Adrian has started work. The girls and I are settling into a bit of a routine.  I have been driving without incident and this morning even looked right first instead of left and did not pull out into oncoming traffic.  I think the windshield wipers may make it!

The hospital is a short and easy walk from our home.  Adrian has a scheduled hour for lunch so is able to come home and eat.  The midday conversation is great!  He reports in at 8:30 and is off at 5:00 with the hour for lunch.  They schedule his time in a.m. and p.m. sessions.  The sessions are dedicated to reading out a specific modality - for example a.m.- CT, p.m. - US.  Very different from what we know.  There is a backlog of plain films to be read so he will surely be making a difference here.  There is Intervention with only one Dr. doing that - so those of you who are qualified need to COME ON DOWN!  I know a good tech who could help ;-)  There are lots of meetings throughout the day so he will not be reading the whole of the time there.  He has met most of the other Rads and there are more Dr.'s doing locums than not.  There are Swedes, a Fin, Americans - one Indian woman with whom we will have dinner.  He has not come to a decision about how it will be yet as he is only a couple days in and the indoctrination is long and involved.  I will let you know when he decides.

We have decided however, that this is a kind and gentle place.  The people are so nice.  The country is beautiful.  Since last I posted, we have been to the Rugby Museum, trudged along the banks of the Manawhatu River, watched a part of a Cricket match, checked out the girls' school - they start on January 30th - celebrated Abigail's 7th birthday, and spent lots of money on groceries!

It is very expensive to live here - gas is about $10 per gallon, garlic is about $5 per head, meat is outrageous and I have yet to get out of the grocery for less than $100.  There are some good deals on wine thankfully!!  We are happy though that we are eating in a more healthy way with good fresh fruits and vegetables.

We have a three day weekend coming so we are headed north to the most easterly shore - the Hawke's Bay area - wine country, New Zealand's National Aquarium, the land of honey and lavender and beaches.  Napier is an art deco town with lots to see and Hastings is known as the fruit bowl of New Zealand.  We are booked for a tractor-towed trailer ride along the beach to what is thought to be the largest mainland gannet colony in the world.  We will see Cape Kidnapper's golf course too!!  There will be photos up next week so you can check it out with us.

Here are some pics of our latest adventures - As always we think of and talk about all of our people frequently.