More Pictures!

Ok, here you have the lighthouse at Nugget Point and sea lions at Surat Bay. It's incredible...they are in their natural habitat and you can be within 10 metres of them!!

North Catlins Trip

Hello again everyone!!

Well, it was a busy week and weekend. We start recruiting our first patient in 2 weeks so all of the forms and assessments I've been working on have been submitted to be placed in the database in order to be ready to collect data in the coming weeks. Next week we will finalize our exercise and manual therapy protocols as well as practice our assessments so we are in smooth operation when that first person shows up!

The weekend was beautiful here in Dunedin and myself as well as the other PhD student from the US and his wife borrowed a car from a fellow clinician and DROVE south on the island to a place called the North Catlins. I've placed a few pictures on here for you to see the amazing scenery this place has to offer! The first is called Jack's Bay, then you have Matai Falls, Karitane, Purakaunui Falls, and Nugget Point!

And by the way, the car was stick and it's on the left!!

Sunday I spent the day attending church, playing ultimate frisbee in the 85 degree weather and then made a trip out to the ice rink to try out ice hockey with one of the guys here in my living quarters. Hysterical but a lot of fun!

I finally have internet access here at my place so I should be able to be in better contact now!

Hope everyone is well!

Orientation Week!

Ok, this week has been hilarious so far. I finally got moved in to my new place which is pretty swanky considering it is still somewhat considered a residence hall. But basically it's the size of a large hotel room with a desk, small kitchenette, sofa, private bathroom, bookshelf, dressers, and bed. The place also has a bar downstairs, great food, pool, hot tub, sauna, 2 HUGE lounges with leather sofa and SKY TV which is basically meaning cable! :)

Anyway, this week also marks the return of the Dunedin students and WHAT a difference that makes. The student population makes up about 1/4th of the city's population and I hate to admit it, but I FEEL SO OLD!! These kids are up partying until 4 or 6 am!! I'm like I have no desire to do this anymore!! This morning I was walking to work and there were smashed beer bottles EVERYWHERE and vomit on the streets and sidewalks...CRAZY. And the New Zealanders really love their beer so it's quite entertaining!

Other than that, I've bought a bike and today is the day you can sign up for different club teams and such so I may check out a few things I've never done before such as rowing or rugby, maybe even some hockey but we'll see. Not sure my ankles can take that one!

Hope everyone is well!

Penguin Video!

Hello All,

Here is the penguin video from last week...hilarious!

I am leaving for my Physio retreat starting tomorrow. We are headed off to a beach house about 45 minutes north of dunedin for some team building and outdoor fun as well as a little work.

Currently I'm working on finalizing my hip assessment forms for my research and working on my presentations for this retreat.

Undergrad students return here to Dunedin next week as "summer break" has ended.

Hope you get the penguin video!

lex

Otago Peninsula

So today was a trip to the Otago Peninsula which is just a short distance from Dunedin. In fact, Dunedin lies at the base of the harbor going out to sea. To drive to the tip of the harbor takes about 45 minutes.

We first drove out to the Albatross Colony which is the only remaining colong in the world. Apparently these birds are at risk of becoming extinct and New Zealanders, especially those in Dunedin, are extremely proud of their Albatross. We then took a trip out to the Pacific where we were able to get out and walk down to the beach to see yellow-eyed penguin, sea lions, and fur seals! AMAZING!! They were so cute and I have some amazing videos of these animals on here for you. It's so strange to see the penguins walking in from the ocean, up onto the land and then mingling with the sheep!

Tomorrow is Waitangi Day so it is a holiday for everyone here. It appears as though it is similar to Labor Day as every store is having sales, etc. A brief history from google "Every year on 6 February, New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs signed what is New Zealand’s founding document. The day was first officially commemorated in 1934, and it has been a public holiday since 1974"

Here are some penguins and other sights!

Queenstown and other funny stuff

Hello all!!

I apologize for the delay in postings. I have to admit, a lot of the things I do on a daily basis are not all that exciting as I spend my days reading journal articles and developing evaluation forms, etc. Not all that exciting and certainly not an adventure.

However, this past weekend my family flew into Queenstown, New Zealand which is about 3.5 hours west of Dunedin. It is known as the adventure capital of the world and I must say, it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

I arrived the first day and rode the Gondola up to the peak of the mountain where I was able to take some amazing pictures as well as climb aboard the "Luge" which basically is a track where you get on this little scooter type thing and ride down the mountain with a helmet hoping you don't plunge to your death.

The next day my parents and I took a drive up the lake where we got to walk the woods where Lord of the Rings was filmed. In fact, Wolverine is being filmed here now and we saw a ton of filming crews out in the streets. We walked through the forest which was unbelievable and saw several of the spots seen in Lord of the Rings movies including the talking trees!

We then climbed aboard a boat that traveled around 60 mph up the river with twists, turns, and nearly darting us into huge boulders. We were able to see waterfalls and glaciers, and water so blue you would not believe!

The next day we went to a farm where I was able to see and feed a sheep!!! I love them...I would actually like to have one as a pet now! So cute and they really do BAA!! Anyway, after that we went to the Original Bungee Site where I strapped on the harness and bungeed 154 feet off the bridge into the river where I was actually able to touch the water with my hands...it was a THRILL!!

Ok, so on to the funny interesting things on New Zealand. 1) yes, the water in the toilet does actually flow counterclockwise AND there are 2 options for flushing a 1/2 or a full flush...you can guess which one you use for what! 2) they take the whole left side of the road thing seriously meaning you also walk on the left, not the right of the sidewalk...you learn quickly as you end up walking into almost everyone 3) phone rates are insane!!! the cell phone is 89 cents a minute and 30 cents per text. you can't buy monthly plans unless you want to pay $200/month for about 200 minutes. Internet is even funnier as you pay per month as to how much you want to download (e.g. if you plan on downloading only 2GB worth of information a month you pay less than if you wanted to download 10GB/month) 4)Women do not wear bras...so I'm hangin loose! haha..just kidding! 5) you order coffee not with cream because cream is like a thick butter here...if you want coffee with "cream" you order a flat white. if you want black coffee it is known as a tall black.

I think that's all for now but I"m sure i'll update you with more!

I hope you enjoy the videos and pictures!