I don't really have a lot of exciting news but I just thought I'd write a quick update for those of you I've not spoken too, so you know I'm still alive!

I've now finished in Nelson hospital and although they were really lovely, I'm glad to have finished. Loads of surgeries kept getting cancelled and other than practice all the new skills I've acquired, there weren't really many more new skills that I could practice, without it being a bit too unsafe for the patient! I have learnt a lot about getting iv access into children and intubating adults and children and putting pipes down children's noses, into their trachea and inserting various different types of tubes and a lot about all the different drugs!

The weather was awful last weekend so we mainly pottered around the town. Went out for a few drinks on Friday night, but after my massive detox over recent weeks, it literally was only 3 drinks before I stopped drinking. Had some more mulled wine which was nice! We walked up to the centre of NZ on Sunday and we had amazing views all around Nelson and the coast from the top. We also visited the site of the first ever rugby match in NZ, which ironically has no rugby posts on it, just 2 football posts! The initiator was a Kiwi (Charles Monro), who'd been studying in England and returned to NZ with this idea. The first ever game was played between Nelson college and the Monro's club on 14th May 1870!

Flying up to Auckland tonight (wed) and will be visiting the Bay of Islands in the very north over the weekend before heading out to Vanuatu next Wednesday.

Much love xxx