Morning surgical lists start at 0815. I arrive most mornings at 0810 and there are only 2 people in the theatre department. Both Brits, both anaesthetists, both drinking coffee and eating muffins and both wondering where all the surgeons are. Most of the hospital staff have also done some form of physical exercise before arriving to work - ranging from dog walking to a swim and run! Surgeries generally kick off about 0845, so already running 30 mins late. Th...

We left Wellington at the crack of dawn (once again - starting to get sick of these early mornings and trying desperately to catch up on sleep on various modes of transport). We got the ferry back to Picton and then a 90min bus journey to Nelson, sat next to the smelliest man in the world. Seriously, some boys need to learn to either shower properly or at least discover shower in a can. I ended up wrapping my scarf around me like a Muslim, just so I didn't hav...

We met our friend Roz in Wellington which was a welcome meet up for both parties I think. I ate my first decent, home cooked meal in aaaaages and then we headed out to check out the coffee shops that Wellington has a rising reputation for. Gluten-free choc fudge brownie was what I found myself tucking in to and it tasted divine. Just what the doctor ordered. We stayed at a hostel called Wellywood and the outside of the building is Zebra striped. Pretty easy t...

We finally arrived in CC on Wednesday afternoon, complete with my cookies and polos which I declared when asked about any food and they looked and decided they probably didn't contain any pests. I didn't declare my stolen vegemite from the Holiday inn 3 days previous, just in case I needed a quick fix of vegemite on toast later on. We got the shuttle straight to our accommodation - Urban Utopia. It's owned by a company called urban rooms who rent out rooms in...

I know I've missed out some of Sydney and will update that later but I thought I'd let you all know the current predicament. It is now 0320 in the morning of Thursday 16th June and I'm wide awake. I'm wide awake because we're scared. Scared of when the next earthquake will hit. We arrived in CC yesterday lunch and everyone is talking about the tremors. Literally everyone. At first it seemed a bit of a joke. Not that it's funny but we had no idea how serious the...