An Afternoon at the museum

The maritime museum downtown on the waterfront turned out to be a success, and I would definitely go back again. I was given a tour by an older gentleman from England, who was part of the British Navy and spent some time at port in Halifax as well as various other places up the St. Lawrence. He was very knowledgeable and had a friend (also a museum volunteer) that was familiar with Nova Scotia (he'd be in Pictou! as well as Cape Breton, to study some ship building.) He also is a familiar face at the museum in Waipu (that's the double migration settlement of Nova Scotians. He said I'll be a celebrity when I visit there with my accent!) Also my museum tour guide is a crew member on the Daldy! (That was the steamship I stoked coal on a while back) So we had plenty to talk about. Anyway all in all a good afternoon spent at the museum, and learned lots about the shipping past of New Zealand.

no news is good news.

Not much to update on as of late. I have had a hectic work schedule with days and nights all over the place so haven't had much time to do anything exciting! Soccer is keeping me busy. I found a place that sells good sushi for cheap at the end of the day at the bottom of my street, and joined the library. I have been getting together with some new friends which has been nice. Finally feel like I can do some shopping so I tspent an afternoon in Newmarket (the area of the city with all the nice downtown shops) and found some snowboards for browsing. Tomorrow is a true day off with no major plans so prehaps I will finally take a rainy afternoon tour of the maritime museum downtown. :)

A little trip to Mt. Eden

Things are beginning to feel normal here. I am in a routine/schedule now with work. Back to my regular 3-4 shifts a week, instead of all this 5-6 work days trying to make up enough hours with 8 hour days and 4 hour days. I no longer have a shadow at work either so that makes things nicer! I like being independent, and organizing things according to my priority levels. That was a big hint the nurse educator here gave me. "Don't change your nursing style to fit the others. Be the same nurse you have been, just make small changes in procedure." So I am setting my own timeline for documenting instead of at the end of the day like everyone else. There is no nursing flowchart here to do an assessment with so I am having to learn to cope without the shortcuts I was used to. But all in all I feel better about being a nurse here each day. Even though the small things like no dietary staff to deliver the trays drives me nuts!


On a lighter note here are some photos from an afternoon at Mt. Eden with two other Canadian gals Lisa and Britt.

Mt. Eden is one of many old volcanic cones within the city. Mt Eden or it's Maori name Maungawhau dates back 23000 years! This is the centre dotted with cows! (In most NZ parks and green spaces there are animals roaming freely, cows and sheep usually)

This is looking out toward the Western part of the city. You can see the Waitakere Ranges in the distance (that's toward the beautiful Piha beach, and where I took the photo in the frame a few weeks ago)

MOOOOOOO!

There I am!

The Volcanic crater looking east over Auckland toward the harbour and it's many outlying islands. Mt. Eden is the highest peak within the city of Auckland.

The weather is starting to get chilly now, no more shorts, I learned that lesson yesterday!

ANZAC Weekend

Not much exciting over the past week, I am now getting settled into a routine with work. Finally earning some money, so now I can start to plan time off and little trips to get some New Zealand experiences in!

I have been here 6 weeks already! Crazy! Suitcases are put away and my apartment is becoming more homey :) I finally bought bedding & towels so I don't have to borrow anymore and now things are "mine".

Soccer is going well, I get lots of playing time. We had 2 games this weekend. The girls on the team have been helpful getting me to and from games and training.

It is a long weekend here: ANZAC weekend
A- Australian NZ- New Zealand AC- Army Corps

People wear poppies and there is a service at dawn. Although they still celebrate Remembrance Day here in November, it is not a public holiday and not as widely attended as ANZAC Day. I have noticed there are many "ANZAC streets" here in NZ.

All Aboard!

Here are some shots from my night of stoking on the William C. Daldy. Kept the old tug steaming around the harbour for the evening.

howdy

alright, stressful week! But everything is sorted and I have gotten it all "sussed" as they say here in NZ.
I have interenet access!
I have a mattress!
I got paid!

All of the above things are major major improvements!

I am getting settled in at work, each day gets better and I feel more comfortable. Nursing and Medical treatment is all the same, it is just getting used to arriving at the same outcome in a different manner.

Chris and I are going to shovel coal on the steam tug later this upcoming week, hopefully will have some good photos to post!

Back to work!

So after an approx. 5 week hiatus from work I am now officially an employee of the ADHB. I am back to work and getting used to things in a different way. It's amazing how settled into doing things one way you become. I am happy to know these different ways (which aren't really all that different... just sometimes lacking in time saver componets!) That will come though, I am sure I will find out the most efficient way to draw up the medications etc. I feel a little like a new nurse again! haha I can't imagine how travel nurses do this all the time!

I am going to a bunch of hopital training, IT training days over the next couple of weeks. I am quite shocked at the lack of modern conviences here. For an isolation unit there isn't even a central monitoring system! (for those of you that are not nurses it is quite difference not being able to have an "eye" on your kiddies at all times even when you aren't in the room)

All in all, everyone at work is nice, I do miss my ladies at DHMC. People are taking care of me here though, sometimes I even get drives home from work!!

Moved into apartment! It's little but it will do for now! Should have internet at my place very very soon!!!

Auckland is lovely, nice to be near the ocean again. :)