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.

New Zealand Earthquake

You've probably heard that New Zealand had a big earthquake today but don't worry, we're safe and sound. The earthquake was on the south island in a town called Christchurch and is a long ways from us. We first heard there had been an earthquake while we were at the hospital and the word was that Christchurch was evacuating the hospital. It wasn't until we got back from work that we learned how bad it was. We turned on the news and they were reporting that it was 6.3 and so far there have been 65 deaths and a lot of damage, including the famous church in town. Christchurch is the same place that had an even bigger earthquake back in September. The reason this one was so bad is because it was very shallow in the earth so it was felt very strongly on the surface. Oh, and they conveniently built the town right on a fault line. Hopefully there won't be many strong aftershocks. We're actually flying to Christchurch on Sunday but won't be spending any time there. Instead, we're landing, renting a car, and getting out of town before we can feel aftershocks. If you want good news coverage of the quake, check out the Auckland newspaper...New Zealand Herald. So in summary, we're safe in Auckland. I'll keep this updated if we find out anything new.

Coromandel and Cathedral Cove

We made the journey to the Coromandel peninsula this weekend for a visit to Hahei and Cathedral Cove. First, I should explain where we went. Coromandel is the peninsula that is just east of Auckland, as you can see on the map below. There isn't one central tourist area, but rather a lot of scattered towns all along the coast. The towns we went to are Tairua and Hahei. Tairua is on the map below and Hahei is between Tairua and Whitianga. The beachest were everything that they were advertised to be: beautiful. The only downside to the trip was the roads, which were winding, hilly, and just annoying. And so here is how the trip went, in pictures of course....

The peninsula

We rented Jucy's finest rental car. You might not be able to see it on the side, but the name of this thing is the "El Cheapo"

This is what the road looked like once we got into the rain forest areas on the way to Tairua. Lots of trees and lots of turns. It was pretty but not fun to drive through.

This is the countryside that's on the other side of the mountains. It's pretty and had straighter roads. Nice combination!

We made it to our hostel Friday night in Tairua. This is the view from the back porch. Sorry for Mary's big feet interrupting the nice view of the hill in the distance.

 This is a view of the neighbor's yard and pets. I thought about trying to ride the little one but then came to my senses.

 We woke up early Saturday Morning and got ready for the big day. I was in my full yacht club attire.

 And Mary made some breakfast in the hostel, complete with eggs, bacon and toast.

 Then, we all enjoyed the food... and so did the flies. They were everywhere

After breakfast, it as time to hit the road. This road wasn't too fun with a lot of curves and hills. The curves were sharp enough that they needed mirrors.

We were going 100! Being in km/hr makes it less exciting

And we finally made it to the beach at Hahei! This was by far the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. The beach has white sand and turquoise water like the Florida panhandle but it is surrounded with islands, hills, and forests that look more like Hawaii.

This is before the sun tried to attack me (and Erin and Chase).

The group of us hanging out by the water.

 Another beach shot

And another shot looking the other way.

If you look really closely at the red tractor in the middle of the picture you can see a bride being driven to her wedding at the end of the beach. Pretty cool place for a wedding

Of course, we brought our friends Jay-Z and Beyonce along. OK, maybe not, but I just felt the need to include them in another blog post. If you're totally confused, go read the Valentine's dinner post.

Unfortunately, the day had to end and we packed up the El Cheapo and headed back to Tairua. On the way back we found a scenic lookout. Not a bad view

We're getting really good at being tourists.

Being the best tourist of them all. This didn't really capture the scene but trust me, it was an impressive view.

 We made some spaghetti for dinner at the hostel and drank some local beer. It was called bitter beer (as you can see right there on the label) but it really wasn't very bitter. This is Mary's bitter beer face

This is Chase's bitter beer face. It's intense.

Sunday was for sea kayaking. It started cloudy but would clear up pretty quickly.

Then the kayaking started. Mary was my kayak partner and she actually did a decent job. Unfortunately for her, I had control of the rudder. Oh, and check out those sweet shades. I decided that spending $20 dollars at the general store was better than letting the sun burn a hole in my retinas.

That's the girls' boat. I think it goes without saying that they were the worst drivers

Luckily for Mary, I managed to steer clear of the rocks

Kayla working hard to keep that boat moving

That's me and Mary in our kayak and Cindy in hers

Ryan taking in the scenery

This is a pretty good view of the island we paddled around. It was a pretty easy trip as long as you stayed away from the shore.

Halfway through the trip, we stopped at Cathedral Cove. This is one of the famous tourist locations in New Zealand and this rock is supposedly the most photographed rock in the country. I would love to know who actually tracks that. Anyways, this is usually accessible by a half hour hike but a tropical storm washed out the path a few weeks ago so the only way to get there now is by kayak. That was nice for us because it was less crowded.

This is one of the amazing rock formations. That hole in the middle goes all the way through and you come out to another beach on the other side. I'm the person in the distance checking out the rocks and that's Mary in the striped suit who is probably yelling at me to put my shirt back on because I was getting burned. Turns out she was right. It really doesn't matter how much lotion you use here or how often you put it on, you will still miss a spot and get fried. For me, it was my lower back. For Chase and Erin, it was their entire bodies.

I know this is hard to see, but that's me messing around in the water.

Part of our guided kayak tour included coffee on the beach. And not just plain coffee... our tour guide made mochaccino, cappuccino, tea, and hot chocolate. I don't like coffee but this guy made some mochaccino that would make Starbucks jealous.

That's me with coffee and a cookie. Definitely a different way to do a tropical location. I guess they don't do margaritas around here.

Erin and Chase weren't trying to make a fashion statement. They had a little too much fun in the sun on Saturday and did everything possible to avoid it Sunday. Well, everything except kayaking in a spot with some of the strongest sun on earth.

Ryan looking for some good waves to ride.

I'm just checking out the waves.

Ryan caught a good one

After the kayaking we needed some refreshment so we headed to a cafe in town. Did I get seafood since we were on the beach? Heck no. I got chicken nuggets and loved every one of them.

After lunch, the white kids who got too much sun on Saturday went to a winery about 10 minutes from the beach. This place was a lot different from the others we've been to because they use a lot of fruits in their drinks, mostly because of the climate. They also made a lot of liquors (with fruit).

We found a nice place to sit and relax after tasting some wine. The other cool thing about this place is that it was hidden back in the jungle and they used the natural vegetation for shade.

On our way back from the beach, we had to stop on the highway to let some cattle cross. I've lived in Kansas my whole life and never had to deal with this and then I go to New Zealand for a month this is what happens.

After gathering our stuff, we headed to Coromandel Town on the west side of the peninsula. The road getting there was even more winding and hilly that the others we had been on. We had some good views though.

 After dinner, we headed back to Auckland. We got a good view of the sunset on the way back.  

Another sunset shot.

If you ever get the opportunity to come to New Zealand, I wouldn't miss Coromandel. The place is amazing. Now we're on to our last week of this rotation (remember, we're supposed to be here for medicine). We've got most of the next couple weeks figured out but for the most part, we'll be traveling the south island. We'll be leaving on Sunday morning to go to Christchurch. The blog may not be updated as often once we get there due to spotty internet access, but the updates should be really good. Everybody here seems to love the south island because of how beautiful it is. I can't wait to see it.