New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Ruapehu won out.  Fewer transaction costs...!

 

Oh well.

Staying at the Skotel?

[davetapson]

Staying at the Skotel?

 

Yeah, um, no - didn't know about it!  Booked a bach via book-a-bach.

 

Skotel seems pretty damn good.  We'd have had to book two rooms (at least - us, 10yo twins, uni student plus friend = 6) but that would come out as about what we paid for the bach. 

 

Bach you get the kitchen so food would probably end up cheaper.

 

Looks awesome tho.  Tempted for future...

[patches]

So recently I have had a "taste of my own medicine", so to speak.

 

Too much building and gib-fixing resulted in an incarcerated (stuck) hernia. It hurt for a few days, but then felt fine. I'm not usually one to run to the doctor (I hadn't been once in over 4yrs of life in NZ), but I figured this may cause complications.

 

So I went to a local GP, and they instantly referred me to the AED (ER) at North Shore Hospital. (I would have preferred Auckland City, as I work there and know the facility in-and-out), but I live on the Shore, so figured I better follow the process.

 

So here's the good, bad and ugly from my brief brush on the receiving end of state funded healthcare. (I'll go in reverse order):

 

The Ugly.

 

Getting turned away. In my ward there was an elderly gentleman (82), also in to have a hernia corrected. He had come to the AED in pain, and was put on the acute list for corrective surgery. After 1.5 days of waiting, ultrasounds, etc, the surgeons told him that he may be in for a 5-6 day wait, and because his pain had subsided and more importantly, the fact that the hernia was not incarcerated, they suggested he be discharged and go on the elective surgery list.

 

The elective surgery list. With COVID-19 temporarily putting a halt to elective surgeries, the current waiting list is 2-3 months. For someone in pain, but not severe enough to qualify for the acute list, this can be torture.

 

There is however a way around it, and that is to have private medical cover.

 

The Bad.

 

The wait. I was in hospital 2.5 days before I was taken into surgery. I was on the acute list so surgery was going to happen, but as I was not in pain and the condition not life threatening, each day I would get bumped down the list as more urgent cases rolled in. The not having a definite time-frame was a little frustrating.

 

Hunger & food. Because of uncertainty of when my surgery was going to happen

 

On the plus side, because the hospital is on the same wider network as the one I work at, I was able to access all my network drives and  work functionality from the comfort of my hospital bed. I had many Zoom meetings (no video  ) and caught up on emails. In fact, I was running a Zoom meeting when I got called away for surgery. Good excuse to ditch a meeting early.

 

Note: Using a mouse & keyboard with a drip in one's hand is not so fun though.

The Good.

 

The facilities are comparable (if not better) than the private healthcare facilities I had experienced in SA.

 

The staff were extremely professional, patient, kind, and friendly.

 

And finally, best of. It's all covered. No stressing about bills and getting into debt, or having to may co-payments on medical aid etc.

If only the Murican's knew what they were missing!

[Wayne Potgieter]

So recently I have had a "taste of my own medicine", so to speak.

 

Too much building and gib-fixing resulted in an incarcerated (stuck) hernia. It hurt for a few days, but then felt fine. I'm not usually one to run to the doctor (I hadn't been once in over 4yrs of life in NZ), but I figured this may cause complications.

 

So I went to a local GP, and they instantly referred me to the AED (ER) at North Shore Hospital. (I would have preferred Auckland City, as I work there and know the facility in-and-out), but I live on the Shore, so figured I better follow the process.

 

So here's the good, bad and ugly from my brief brush on the receiving end of state funded healthcare. (I'll go in reverse order):

 

The Ugly.

 

Getting turned away. In my ward there was an elderly gentleman (82), also in to have a hernia corrected. He had come to the AED in pain, and was put on the acute list for corrective surgery. After 1.5 days of waiting, ultrasounds, etc, the surgeons told him that he may be in for a 5-6 day wait, and because his pain had subsided and more importantly, the fact that the hernia was not incarcerated, they suggested he be discharged and go on the elective surgery list.

 

The elective surgery list. With COVID-19 temporarily putting a halt to elective surgeries, the current waiting list is 2-3 months. For someone in pain, but not severe enough to qualify for the acute list, this can be torture.

 

There is however a way around it, and that is to have private medical cover.

 

The Bad.

 

The wait. I was in hospital 2.5 days before I was taken into surgery. I was on the acute list so surgery was going to happen, but as I was not in pain and the condition not life threatening, each day I would get bumped down the list as more urgent cases rolled in. The not having a definite time-frame was a little frustrating.

 

Hunger & food. Because of uncertainty of when my surgery was going to happen

 

On the plus side, because the hospital is on the same wider network as the one I work at, I was able to access all my network drives and work functionality from the comfort of my hospital bed. I had many Zoom meetings (no video ) and caught up on emails. In fact, I was running a Zoom meeting when I got called away for surgery. Good excuse to ditch a meeting early.

 

Note: Using a mouse & keyboard with a drip in one's hand is not so fun though.

The Good.

 

The facilities are comparable (if not better) than the private healthcare facilities I had experienced in SA.

 

The staff were extremely professional, patient, kind, and friendly.

 

And finally, best of. It's all covered. No stressing about bills and getting into debt, or having to may co-payments on medical aid etc.

 

If only the Murican's knew what they were missing!

how are you feeling now?

[eibmoZ]

So how many of you ride mtb here on the shore? If you have a group please drop me a pm... Struggling to find local rides. Closest i have is rivier head and cant do that alone due to no cell signal... Also dont want to always have to ride 20 km to a start.

[patches]

how are you feeling now?

 

Feeling not too bad thanks! A week at home was nice, and I didn't even have to use the big-boy pain meds (Tramadol, aka Tramcet)

[patches]

So how many of you ride mtb here on the shore? If you have a group please drop me a pm... Struggling to find local rides. Closest i have is rivier head and cant do that alone due to no cell signal... Also dont want to always have to ride 20 km to a start.

 

I ride MTB! ....sometimes 

I live on the shore!

 

But yeah, I'm clueless when it comes to trail options on this end of the bridge. I ride Woodhill most of the time, with the occasional visit to Riverhead.

 

I rode Archhill (Grey lynn/Ponsonby) once. It wasn't fun though!

[Wayne Potgieter]

I ride MTB! ....sometimes

I live on the shore!

 

But yeah, I'm clueless when it comes to trail options on this end of the bridge. I ride Woodhill most of the time, with the occasional visit to Riverhead.

 

I rode Archhill (Grey lynn/Ponsonby) once. It wasn't fun though!

have been hearing good things about hunua (from Dawieo) and totara park. These are South though.

[Delgado]

 

Just that you may not want to come back! hahaha!

 

Things to check out around Queenstown (non-skiing related)

• the Luge
• the iconic Fergburger
• Fat Badgers Pizza
• Arrowtown
• Local wineries (plenty in that area)
• Wanaka (1hr away, but worth the drive)
• Shotover gorge
• gorge street dirt jumps (too big for me to ride, just cool to look at).
• Horseback riding in the Cardona Valley
• local employment opportunities and house rentals in case you never want to return

 

18 holes at Millbrook Golf Club

[Clippies]

So how many of you ride mtb here on the shore? If you have a group please drop me a pm... Struggling to find local rides. Closest i have is rivier head and cant do that alone due to no cell signal... Also dont want to always have to ride 20 km to a start.

 

I live on the shore and Riverhead is really the only option and less so now in winter as the trails get too muddy. Woodhill is a bit of a mission. My daughter trains around Torbay and uses the Long Bay reserve track.

Would be good if the university trails were still available.

Give me a shout if you want to ride with someone, we generally go out every weekend. Riverhead is still ok if you just stick to the roads.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Level 1 soon, well done!!!!

[DawieO]

NZ - 5,000,000

Covid19 - 0

[Wayne Potgieter]

Anyone done the Otago Rail Trail before?

 

Thinking of doing this little tour with the family.

 

https://www.shebikeshebikes.co.nz/deluxe-brochures/railtrail/Shebikeshebikes-Deluxe-Clyde-5Day-4Night-2018-19.pdf

Edited June 8, 2020 by Wayne Potgieter

[davetapson]

So how many of you ride mtb here on the shore? If you have a group please drop me a pm... Struggling to find local rides. Closest i have is rivier head and cant do that alone due to no cell signal... Also dont want to always have to ride 20 km to a start.

 

Live on the shore, can't currently claim to be cycling. 

 

Long Bay park is my go-to for around here.  It's got enough hills to make it interesting.   Follow a couple of the paths up towards that new development from the car park - makes for some heavy breathing.

[eibmoZ]

I ride MTB! ....sometimes

I live on the shore!

 

But yeah, I'm clueless when it comes to trail options on this end of the bridge. I ride Woodhill most of the time, with the occasional visit to Riverhead.

 

I rode Archhill (Grey lynn/Ponsonby) once. It wasn't fun though!

Let me know if you wana do a ride

[arabsandals]

Just checking in to see how intern feels about the NZ lockdown being lifted...