Earthquakes and Changing Plans

I don't know how much coverage they've had of the earthquake at home but it's all we have on the news here. It sounds like it will turn out to be one of the worst natural disasters in New Zealand history. They've sent some doctors down there from Auckland but for the most part they are encouraging everyone to stay out of Christchurch. They are still having aftershocks down there but fortunately they've only been in Christchurch and nowhere else. We were supposed to fly there Sunday but have thought better of it and Jetstar gave us a full refund for our plane tickets. Even if they hadn't refunded us, we probably wouldn't have flown because the roads don't look like they are very drivable. Check out these pics--

 Unless I'm driving a tank I'm not going to try to get through this. Even with a tank I might not.

This is liquefaction which I didn't even know existed until this week. According to my friend Wikipedia liquefaction refers to the process by which saturated, unconsolidated sediments are transformed into a substance that acts like a liquid. Earthquakes can cause liquefaction (see: Earthquake liquefaction) where loosely packed, water-logged sediments come loose from the intense shaking of the earthquake.

So now we've had to make alternate plans. The tentative plan is to hang around Auckland or the west coast beaches for a few days. Then we're going to try to take surf lessons for 2 days in Raglan. That should be interesting since none of us Kansans have ever surfed. When we're done with that we'll fly to Nelson and the Marlborough region, which is on the northern-most part of the south island. This is the area where they have a bunch of wineries, some amazing beaches, and lots of stuff to do. And fortunately for us, they decided a long time ago to not build it on a fault line! Because of that, they haven't had any earthquakes or aftershocks in this part of the island. When we're done with that area, we're flying back to Auckland and then eventually back home. Other than the surfing, I think we're all really looking forward to seeing Abel Tasman. It's a national park and is supposed to be amazing. Here are some pictures to prove it.

So that's our tentative plan for now. I'll be sure to post updates as we see these areas for ourselves. Before I go to bed, I thought I'd put up a few more pictures I took today. First, because it was my last hospital day, I got some pictures of the place.

 This is the outside of Auckland City Hospital. It's nice and looks like it's pretty new. I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture but you get the idea.

This is Starship Children's Hospital where I spent most of my time. It's connected to the adult hospital.

 And this is the work room where I hung out with the registrars (residents) and consultants (attendings). Looks just like any work room in the US.

 This is the play area in the middle of Starship Hospital.

And this was taken in the same place as the previous one but looking up. This is basically the center of the hospital.

Ok, that's all I had for tonight. Look for more updates soon.