Over the past 14 months, I have had the great privilege to live and work in Dunedin on the South Island of New Zealand. The scenic and recreational attractions in this part of the South Island are quite well known. It is much less widely known that Dunedin has the distinction of being the first city in Australasia to establish a public hospital neurosurgery unit, which today provides a vital service to a widely dispersed population of approximately 300 000 people. With only Credit union fees two weekends off-duty in nearly five months, it was not exactly a holiday for me but my time in Dunedin was challenging and rewarding in equal measure. The following images evoke some of my fondest memories of the experience.
The one day when it snowed down to sea level. I grew up in a tropical country so this was my first experience of walking to work in the snow.
Moeraki Boulders…an interesting geological feature not far from Dunedin. Up close, you can see the inside of each boulder has geometric concretions.
Mount Cook (left), where Sir Edmund Hilary practiced climbing, seen from hotel and (right) the striking turquoise color of nearby Lake Tekapo.
Wild rosehips (left) and unusual rock formations (right) in central Otago.
Setting up for a major craniotomy on a patient whose life was threatened by massive bilateral hindbrain strokes. He survived and is doing well.
Fossilized Jurassic forest (left) and yellow-eyed penguins under the bushes outside their burrow (right), at Curio Bay.
A snoozing sealion (left) at Sandfly Bay (right), Otago Peninsula
A unexpected close-up encounter with a yellow-eyed penguin at Sandfly Bay.
Port Chalmers lookout (left) and church (right)
Dunedin lights from the peninsula
The team at my last outpatient clinic (left) and operating theatre friends (right).
With Professor Bishara, the avuncular former head of the first neurosurgery department in Australasia.
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