Exploring Waitangi

As the weather has been awful since I got home yesterday afternoon, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go out today without getting soaked. I was up reasonably early and waited for the other ladies in the accommodation to get up, to see if they wanted to come out. Although the weather here is known to change over the course of minutes here, I wasn't keen for going out in the rain showers and constant high winds.

The weather seemed to die down a little, so one of the ladies and I decided to walk down to Waitangi Wharf. It only took about 5 minutes to walk down to the cliffs, which was good, as the wind and rain came in fast as soon as we left. I'm not particularly fussy about wind or rain, but neither make for great photos! Here are a few photos of the key places to point out in Waitangi, with the rest still to come another day.

This is Waitangi General Store which is 1 of 2 shops on the island and mimics most corner shops found in the UK. I haven't actually been in yet, although I'm told it is more pricey than Dough 'n' Go (the other grocery shop). The higher prices are apparently due to higher quality produce, but the proof is in the pudding (as they say). Fresh produce only arrives by plane or boat, every couple of days (weather permitting). As I already said, the weather is unreliable so fresh food items are highly sought after, when they do arrive!

This is the ANZ Bank and Post Office. The same building also has a Burger Bar/Fish + Chips Takeaway next door. Another place I haven't actually been in (as it's closed on Sundays), I can't wait to go and have a good look round. I've heard the takeaway joint make a pretty mean hamburger, but it is again (like most places), quite dear.

This is the cloudy view of Waitangi Bay, which I shot standing on the road below the hospital. The view of the whole bay, which extends much further round than can be seen, is shared by the hospital and my kitchen window.

This picture is of the cliffs on one side of Waitangi Bay. The picture captures the sun light on the cliffs, as well as, the stormy skies above.

Possibly one of my favourite pictures so far, not based on spectacular scenary, but pure comedy value. So, where do you go if you have a problem? All you do is follow the sign! First you drink the problem(s) away, failing that, why not try the Church? As a last resort and probably after sustaining alcohol related injuries, you end up at the Hospital.

This is another picture of the cliffs of Waitangi Bay. Take a closer look and you can see an unimpressed/grumpy man's face in the rock!

I hope to explore the rest of Waitangi fairly soon (not that it will take long), with pictures of course! Thanks for reading! 

Ocean Mail Scenic Reserve

The reserve is situated on the North Coast of the island, which was roughly an hours car journey away (mainly due to the gravel roads). It consisted of a white, sandy beached coastline adjacent to swamps and the lagoon at the centre of the island. The beach views were beautiful, with white sand you'd expect to find in the Caribbean and crystal clear, green/blue sea. It was incredibly windy, so most of my photos had to be taken in one direction to avoid being struck by sand in the face and/or hitting the camera lense.

I took another 100 or so photos this afternoon at the reserve. Most of which were of the beach/seaside, and a few of the swamp/lagoon. Although I got some great pictures with stormy skies and interesting sun lit landscapes, I'd love to go back on a calmer/sunnier day before I leave. I imagine it would be quite a different experience and produce completely different pictures. Here are some of my favourite pictures of the area!

This is the first picture I took at the reserve and is 5m walk from where we left the car. I don't think this picture does the view justice, it was beautiful. To my eye, the sea was a brighter green and the sand a brighter white, but you get the jist.

Here you see what I mean by stormy skies, but with the sun highlighting the white sand! This is one of a few pictures I took facing this way, as the wind was blowing right into our faces.

I really like this photo, but not for any particular reason.

This is a Paua shell that I found on the beach and took up to one of the picnic benches for a photo! They are such amazing colours and uniquely different. I hope to bring some home, perhaps in the form of jewellery, for my friends and family.

This is looking back towards the road, on the "Wetland Walk". I took this standing on the boardwalk which guides you through the swampy area.

This last photo is of the water trickling down towards the road. It is stained this perculiar colour from an abundance of peat, which is the same for the whole of the island. You can't see in this picture (or any I took), but certain lights made the peat-stained water look like fluid gold. It was quite bizarre and a shame my camera couldn't capture it.

That was my main adventure for the day, and a place that I hope to visit again before I leave! My next post will probably be more student-nurse orientated, although I hope to get some pictures of the Hospital if I'm allowed. 

First Day on the Island

After some sleep and probably the best shower I have ever had, I was eager to have an explore on my first day. I was given a quick tour of the "hospital" and met the Nurse who would be supervising me whilst I'm here. The "hospital" has 3 beds for in-patient use which aren't usually used as people requiring treatment are usually flown back to the mainland.

I then went down to one of the two local shops on the Island, with the locum doctor. I just bought a few bits and bobs, which were quite pricey. The prices were as I expected, based on what I've heard from people and using my common sense, knowing that it's a remote area.

When I arrived back at the house I was able to connect to the wireless internet, which allowed me to Skype my mum and my girlfriend (which was lovely). Following that, I went out to Henga Scenic Reserve, which is situated a bit further up the coast from where I'm staying in Waitangi. The walk took about 3 hours (longer than expected), but gave me the chance to take some photos of the beautiful and dramatic scenary. These are just 5 out of the 150 photos I took, which I quite like, although I have now got a top 20.

This first picture is just a photo that came out quite well. I took it when we were walking, through the "bush", down towards the sea.

This picture was taken between the "bush" and the seaside.

This picture was of the track set out by the reserve, which we ignored for the most part. :P I had someone with me who knew the best spots for photographs, which were often not on this track. Having an unofficial guide was extremely handy, as I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise.

This picture is looking north, encompassing the dramatic sky and amazing coastline.

I like this photo because it captured both the foreground and background really well together. I took this photo while looking south, back down the coast.

This loop walk had beautiful scenary, which was on par with scenary in Cornwall. I was already impressed on my first day. I'm now even more excited to explore the rest of the island over the next 4 weeks, in between my studies of course. :P

Aeroplane Adventure

After 5 flights through 4 time zones, I have finally arrived at my final destination - The Chatham Islands. The Chathams are 45 mins ahead of mainland New Zealand time, so 13 hrs 45 mins ahead of the UK and were the first place to see sunlight in the millenium! This post is just about my travel here, with another post later on.

The first flight I got (from Heathrow to Vancouver) was with Air Canada, which is the first time I've been on that airline and even gone to that country. On the whole they were reasonably good, with some food being amazing and the rest being standard, aeroplane quality. :P The in-flight entertainment was pretty up-to-date film and music wise. The 9 hour flight gave me the chance to to watch 2 of the films I meant to go and see at the cinema. I watched Tin Tin, Immortals and (the classic) Bugs Life - flashback from childhood. I also watched 3 episodes of The Big Bang Theory, which never fails to entertain. To top off a reasonable long haul flight, it was the pilot's last flight after over 30 years of service which was commemorated by 2 fire engines, firing water at us on arrival in to Vancouver.

When I went through to the international destination's passport control I was on my own, with no one else there. The man at the desk was so rude and I would have said something sarcastic, if only he weren't the man deciding if I could enter the country and continue on my travels. :P The people at the flight gate were equally rude, so all-in-all, my Vancouver airport experience was terrible. However, they did have an awesome fish tank. Anyways, onwards and upwards (pun intended).

The second of my flights was to Auckland (14 hours) was a lot less interesting. All I did was watch "In Time", ate and tried to sleep. The flight however was late arriving into New Zealand, causing my transfer to be a bit rushed, to say the least. The queues for passport control and baggage X-ray were taking ages and I then had to run 10 minutes to the domestic terminal. I got to the gate in time and the flight down to Wellington only took an hour. I spent the entire time answering trivial questions, set by Air NZ, with guy sat next to me.

There was a bit of drama once I arrived at Wellington, as I found out the plane I intended to catch to the Chathams was back at Auckland airport (FFS)! So, I chilled out, charging my phone when there was a tannoy announcement for me to go back to check-in. A flight back to Auckland was paid for me on behalf of Air Chathams, but I had to pay 45 NZ$ in excess baggage as the airlines I used before had different allowances. I then heard this flight was calling for final boarding, so off I ran again, through security and onto my fourth flight.

On arrival at Auckland, I checked my bag in again for my final flight. The flight to the Chatham Islands, on Air Chathams is on a dinky plane which meant we didn't even need a gate to board it. The crew were laid back to say the least, even letting a German chap in to the cock-pit for the entire flight. :P Anyway, I arrived at the hospital accommodation on the Chathams at 20:30 Chathams time and went straight to bed.

Hopefully the next post (coming soon) will have pictures! Thanks for reading :)

Final Preparations!

Hi all!

My name is Sam Schenk, for those of you who don't already know me! I'm a second year BSc student, studying paediatric nursing at King's College London.

I'm going on a nursing elective in the Chatham Islands for 4 weeks, then travelling with my dad for 3 weeks around the south island of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands are made up of Chatham Island and Pitt Island, roughly 500 miles of the coast of mainland New Zealand, with a population of around 700 people.

This completely remote location may seem a frankly ridiculous to go on elective to, from an average persons perspective. However, the idea came about from my early childhood and spending most of my second year of life on the Chatham Islands. Whilst my dad was the resident medical officer on the island, my mum was heavily pregnant with one of my younger brothers, she also had my older brother and myself to supervise.

So, today, roughly 20 years later and 3 days until I leave for this unique adventure, I'm now pretty excited and nervous. With the help of my parents, most of my clothes are ready to be packed once I'm back to my flat in London. With 3 days to go and lectures to go to in the meantime, packing my suitcase and everything I need seems quite daunting. Mainly as my mum has previously always packed my suitcase and looked after important documentation! :p

I now have a few final tasks to complete before being ready to travel to the otherside of the world for 7 weeks! Packing and exchanging money being the main priorities, before boarding 4 flights to arrive at my final destination in the Chatham Islands on Friday 2nd March!

For now, (until I can hopefully find some internet) that's it from me.

Sam