The Orthopedic Oilers

Two weeks have past since my return from NZ, phew time's flying!

My large animal orthopedic surgery rotation finishes today and tomorrow, I begin large animal soft tissue surgery. This past two weeks has been a whirlwind of cases and to-do lists. There were three students on my rotation, which definitely lightened the individual case load. We all worked together well and even went out for dinner last night to celebrate the completion of our rotation – it’s good to have comradery.

In total, I was the primary student clinicians on 15 cases and had 10 in-hospital patients. I saw a variety of cases including: lameness, fracture repairs, throat surgeries, lacerations, etc... The majority of the patients on ortho are horses, but I was fortunate to have 1 cow with a laceration, that went to surgery and a reindeer with a lame forelimb (yes, a reindeer =-)

Now it’s Sunday, a time to catch up on laundry, dishes, bills and the like.
Time to visit friends neglected and gear-up for another 2-weeks.

A few of my patients

"Jane" a frequent flyer at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (CUHA).
My 3 year-old Thoroughbred Stud Colt - who stayed at the CUHA - forever. He finally went home today.
"Ice" a Tennessee Walker Colt - a very good boy =-)

There in LA

Saturday Night in LA - the weary travelers hit the town!

Jess & Kent (a long lost friend from HS, now living in CA)

Linnea (Jess' sister-in-law) & her fun-friend Allie
Jess' brother-in-law Matej

Back in Town

It's hard to believe that I've already been back in Ithaca an entire week. I am currently on the Large Animal Orthopedic rotation at Cornell and we've been slammed. Yesterday was the first day that I was able to unzip my suitcases and unpack from NZ. With the laundry done, dishes washed and bills paid - I feel like things are almost back in order. Now it's time for sleep, the hours limited, as my 3 horse patients will be waiting for me in the a.m.

A few farewell pictures to the mountain of Te Aroha that we have been living under for the past month. This shot is of the driveway (called a track) leaving the racetrack. How can anyone not want to live where palm trees grow?

A picture of the mountain from a cow paddock, a fitting way to end our tour.

Our final evening meal in Te Aroha was spent in Jan and Dorine's lovely house. We had a wonderful meal, great conversation, and some tasty drinks.

Ok, so we had a lot of tasty drinks. Look at the time. 'Nuff said.

The girls. This past week has been a week of farewells, we invited Dr. Amy out for a dinner of her choosing. We traveled to Hamilton the closest “big city,” and had some very tasty sushi.


The evening also included desserts & coffee.

Finally, a photograph of our NZ household, Dr. Jess with her herd – from left to right Lexi, Burt, Tui, Greylock, & Pearl.

No need to mow the grass, just put some sheep out to graze. Views of Te Aroha from the thorougbred racetrack. (You can click on the picture to get a bigger image, believe us, there truly are sheep there).


On a call unrelated to sheep, I got to see the most adorable Dorper lambs.

Dr. Jess’ neighbor has the most beautiful flowers in her garden. Spring has sprung and the magnolias are in full bloom.

Sunset views from the backyard.

Jess and Margaret headed out for another night calving with Jan ... this time a schistosoma reflexus calf. This is an uncommon malformation that occurs when the calf basically forms inside out. Jan was able to remove the calf using a fetotome (with our help, of course!). It was fairly messy, but the cow is doing wonderfully and milking well.

Use of a fetotome involves cutting the calf (which is dead) into smaller pieces and removing them from the uterus one at a time. After the entire calf had been removed, Margaret and Jess tried a "Humpty-Dumpty" and came up with something that resembeled a calf. Notice that all the joints do not point in the correct directions and the intestines formed outside of the abdomen.

When we returned from our whirlwind trip around the North Island, Jan informed us that he had saved something for us in the fridge. Much to our delight, this is what we found. The calf was already dead when Jan was called on the scene and he had a bit out trouble getting the calf delivered, he soon discovered why.

We're Back! (in Te Aroha - that is)

The following is a recap of our 6-day trip around the North Island.

To the faithful blog viewers, thanks for your compliments via email or in the comments sections.

ENJOY!

Day 1

*Our trip began with a morning drive to the Auckland airport to drop off Dr. Jess. While we were off exploring the North Island, Dr. Jess was on a whirlwind trip to Switzerland to watch her husband compete for New Zealand in the World Cup Triathlon.

*Our first task was organizing the car for our NZ journey, the next step to navigate our way to Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World. We did a stellar job navigating city traffic and were grateful that we purchased our New Zealand Travelers Road Atlas (one of the many lessons learned from our SDI experience). Kelly Tarlton’s was certainly an underwater adventure as we perused the exhibits and arrived just in time see the stingrays fed (which was much less scary, than if we had gone after Steve Irwin’s death). The next stop was traveling along the underwater moving walkway that travels through a transparent acrylic tunnel. It was surreal to watch the sharks, fish, and sea turtles moving all around us … scuba diving without getting wet. The final stop was riding a tram through “Antarctica” to watch the King penguins swimming in the icy pools and waddling across their icebergs.

*After our adventure we drove up to One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie – Mountain of the Kiekie Tree in Maori), one of largest Maori pa (defensive village) sites. This would have been a place where the Maori retreated in battle. Being lazy American tourists (just for a short moment), we drove to the carpark and only visited briefly as the wind was howling and rain was coming down. There were some spectacular views of Auckland which we took in quickly.

*With the weather coming in, we left the city behind to head for greener pastures. You could term our trek “cow & sheep spotting across the North Island.” Our first day’s long drive led us to the western coastal town of Raglan. On the way we encountered some wet weather but were greeted by multiple rainbows arcing through a gloomy sky. The drive to Raglan traversed some winding terrain and rolling green mountains only the likes New Zealand can provide. We decided that the hills are actually oversized moguls that giants navigate through. We are also continually impressed by the dexterity of the sheep with lambs following in tow as they graze the steep hillsides.

*We arrived in Raglan just in time for the evening sunset. The west coast is known for its black sandy beaches and waves that lend themselves to surfing. We found lodging at a backpackers located right on the waterfront. For dinner, we enjoyed pizza (chicken, brie, & cranberry) and a bottle of wine at Vinnie’s World of Eats, and then these gals called it a night. Jess is slowly molding Margaret to the ways of those “early to bed and early to rise.”

A female stingray at Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World in Auckland.

Here’s part of the “underwater adventure,” we were truly under-the-sea.

King Penguins up close and personal.

Views of One Tree Hill, in 1999 the tree was vandalized and a replacement is still being sought.

Sunset over the western coast of NZ in the small surfing town of Raglan, famous for its black sandy beaches.

Day 2

*Having had a day off from “fat camp,” we decided to take in the shores of Raglan with a brief jog. We then got organized and drove southwest along the coast to Manu bay to watch the morning surfers ride the waves. The scenery and sounds of the breaking waves were soothing – but we had to trek on. We decided to go with our guidebook and take the back roads between Raglan to Kawhia, 55 km of winding mostly gravel roads hugging the west coast. The book said it was “off the beaten path,” thankfully Jess kept us on the road and we got to experience some incredible twists and turns.

*Beyond Kawhia we drove on to Waitomo to explore the Raukuri Cave (aka glowworm cave). We had been encouraged by Dr. Amy to go cave tubing with the Black Water Rafting Co. and try the Black Labyrinth. Our adventure started by navigating our way into stylish wet suits, caving helmets, and spiffy white rubber boots (we have no pictures, for fear that the camera would get wet – but be assured that we were mighty sexy). We loaded up with our fellow cave-tubers into a large van that took us to the caving start point. When we unloaded, we were instructed to select a tube and then jump off a platform backwards into the water – our eyes widened. We survived the first challenge into the bitterly cold water, loaded back into the van, and made our way to “the entrance” of the cave. After squeezing into the large crack in the ground, we spent 10 minutes adjusting to the low light levels and getting to know each other (8 tubers and 2 guides). The following details are provided by Jess as Margaret’s glasses were foggy most of the way (but she did an excellent job navigating with fog, poor eyesight in darkness, and no peripheral vision!). The journey took us over 1.5k underground following a small creek through which we walked, stumbled, floated, jumped into, and swam. All this while trying to avoid the many stalactites and stalagmites protruding into our paths. The most difficult part was throwing ourselves off a 5-foot waterfall backwards in the dark to which Margaret had difficulty counting up for the jump as the guide was counting down. She proceeded to throw herself off crookedly and almost hit her head on the side of the cave. Good thing she couldn’t see how close she was! The caverns opened up as we traveled, and we could see the glowworms far above us with their shining green lights on the cave ceilings. Glowworms are actually the larvae of fungus gnats that dangle silk threads into the darkness in hopes of catching lost insects. An enzyme they produce as a waste product is actually what glows in the dark. But as our guides explained to us, “glowworm caves” were much more appealing to tourists than “maggot excrement caves.” On our return to The Black Café, we were provided with a HOT shower, warm tomato soup and a toasted bagel. The combination of the three took away the chill and we were warm again. When we went to start the car, we learned that to our surprise, we (Jess) left the lights on and ran the battery dead. Luckily one of the tour leaders Andy, came to our rescue with jumper cables –phew!

*We headed south to Taumarunui to spend to night at a super inexpensive Holiday Park; we had our own cabin, with a powerful heater. We ate interesting, but tasty meals at the Main Trunk Café, which was located in a remodeled/restored railway car. The café was filled with local families enjoying a Friday night dinner out; I think they could tell we weren’t local.

Views of Manu Bay, home to the longest left hand break in the world. Those of you who have seen the film Endless Summer will recognize the setting, home to the 10 minute long ride.

Here’s a steep overlook from a pull-off on our drive from Raglan to Kawhia, this was a 55km trek claimed to be “off the beaten path” – (it certainly was) with amazing views of the coast.

Coastal raised beef. We wondered if they appreciated the views as much as we did (?)

An all too common site from our trip, rolling green hills with sheep grazing the hillsides.

Day 3

*We headed south to Tongariro National Park, NZ’s first national park and a World Heritage Site. The drive was a cloudy with drizzle, but soon the clouds broke, the sun came out and we saw the mountain range in the distance. The park is home to three volcanoes; Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. Upon our arrival we sought out the information centre in Whakapapa village and asked for recommendations for hiking (termed “tramping” in NZ). We had wanted to hike the acclaimed Tongariro Crossing, but the information attendant quickly informed us that we would need crampons and ice axes – that quickly got taken off the list. We opted for the Taranaki Falls & Tama Lake tramps. From the trail we had beautiful views of Mt. Ruapehu; we ventured into a beech forest and then along the Wairere stream leading to Taranki Falls. Being adventure seekers, after the falls loop, we opted to continue onto Lower Tama Lake. The tramp to the lake was well worth our journey, as when we arrived we stood in awe of the lake’s vibrant turquoise waters. We sat at the rim of the crater which boarders the lake and ate our lunch in amazement of the diverse NZ landscape. When we turned back for our return trek, the wind picked up but the sun soon greeted us. After a few minutes of tramping, we turned around to see how farm we had come from lunch … both of us stood and stared at the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe that had appeared from behind the clouds. The conversation went something like this:
Jess: “Did you know that was there?”
Margaret: “No.”
Jess: “How did we miss that? That thing is like a million feet tall!”
Margaret: “I swear that wasn’t there when we were hiking up. Here I am taking all these pictures of Ruapehu … that looks puney next to that one!”
The remainder of the trip we spent turning around to see the peak of the volcano disappear and reappear within the clouds that surrounded it. On our return, the village was bustling with skiers and the road up to Mt. Ruapehu was only accessible by shuttle. Feeling overrun with tourists we headed north towards Taupo.

*Lake Taupo is NZ’s largest lake and was formed by a volcanic explosion some 25,000 years ago. Today the lake serves as the trout-fishing capital of the world, stocked with rainbow trout introduced from California. The drive around Lake Taupo was quite serene, with views of the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park bordering the lake to the south. Being inept fisherwomen we didn’t partake in the trout fishing, but did find a cozy backpackers, an exceptional Thai restaurant, and a tasty bottle of Gewurztraminer.

Taranaki Falls – the destination for a 2-hour roundtrip tramp from the information centre at Tongariro National Park.

Here we are looking onward to Mt. Ruapehu elevation 9171 ft.

Lower Tama Lake – a 2 hour tramp from Taranaki Falls – elevation 4050 ft. We stopped at a cliff overlooking the lake to eat our meager lunch.

After lunch we turned to head back towards the start of our journey, that’s when the wind picked up.

Mt. Ngauruhoe shows itself, elevation 7515 ft.

Mt. Ngauruhoe revealing more just as we were leaving the national park.

Views from the shores of Lake Taupo.

Day 4

*The morning in Taupo found us jogging along the waterfront passing couples walking their dogs, as well as many athletic enthusiasts. The return trip to the Rainbow Lodge backpackers included a stroll along the waterfront, where we once again rejoiced in our great fortune in landing such an amazing externship. We treated ourselves to a full breakfast at the Peter Harris Café in Taupo.

*Our first stop outside of town was to join up with a horde of tourists to view Huka Falls. After reading the sign, we discovered that Huka Falls is a continuation of the Waikato River just north of Taupo. The falls provide hydroelectric power and were the venue for the world kayaking championships.

*Next we moved a bit further north to visit the Craters of the Moon, an interesting thermal area. The landscape was smattered with craters of various sizes, and steam could be seen rising and hissing sounds emanated from the craters that contained boiling waters. The most interesting sight was the large crater that was filled with boiling mud. The walk around the craters took ~45 and we ascended to the lookout where we had a panoramic view including Lake Taupo, Mts. Tuahara, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu, & Tongirio in the distance.

*Heading further north we made our way to Rotoura (aka Sulphur City – so true!). The city is a popular tourist destination and has a vast array of thermal activity including hot springs, mud pools, and geysers. Rotoura is also home to a large Maori population and home to many traditional cultural activities. The information centre was extensive, and we were able to arrange our lodging at the nicest backpackers we have ever stayed at (Trek’s Backpackers). We also booked an evening tour of at the Maori Village Mitai. The evening included transportation to & from the village, a ground cooked meal – hangi, walks through the village site, traditional Maori dances, and glowworms. The evening was educational as we learned the history of the Maori people, their customs, and their traditions. The performances were jaw dropping (see pictures below!) and the hangi was delicious. We stayed away from the other activities available to Rotoura tourists: bungy jumping, skydiving, zorbing … you name it, they can make it happen!

The water, a continuation of the Waikato river, as it rushes towards Huka Falls.

Huka Falls

Views of the fumaroles located at Craters of the Moon, just outside of the Taupo.

This was our traditional Maori hangi meal that was cooked in an earthen oven for over 3 hours.

Our evening began with the Maori warriors paddling upstream to us in their traditional war canoe.

Maori warrior in traditional “clothing,” the brochure did not mention that clothing was optional; luckily, we had a front row seat.

Maori warriors about to perform the haka (the war dance).

Day 5

*The morning in Rotorua was leisurely; we cut out the physical activity part of the day for fear of being overcome with sulphur gases. We ate breakfast at a lovely little café and made our way to the Rotorua Museum of Art & History, better known as the Bath House. Walking through the museum, we learned that the Bath House was constructed in 1908 as an elegant spa retreat for rehabilitation of soldiers as they returned from WWI. We toured through the remaining spa rooms and watched an interactive movie on the eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886, which included a simulated quake.

*We made our way out of Rotorua and headed northeast to the coast. The drive was scenic, and we got to see what lies on the other side of the Kaimai range we enjoy daily from Te Aroha. The roads were extremely winding, but Jess kept it between the lines and Margaret repressed her need to vomit. We reached our destination of Hahei just in time to discover that everything in and around town would be closed given that it was Monday. Luckily we made it to the grocery just in time to gather up some impromptu dinner supplies. We also were able to fit in a hike down to Cathedral Cove and walked through the gigantic arched cavern just as the sun was setting. We tried to imagine what it must have been like to be an explorer finding the island for the first time.

*We found lodging at the Hahei Holiday Resort (a spiffy name for a caravan/tent park) and put together an impressive dinner (including a bottle of wine). In the evening, far past our new found bedtime, we drove a few kilometers down the road to Hot Water Beach with a spade and shovel in hand. Hot Water Beach is famous for its thermal waters that lie just beneath the sand. Our goal was to dig out a pool for ourselves, but our efforts were defeated as the tide did not cooperate and the beach was too steep. We were successful in digging ourselves a pool to dip our ankles in and boy was that water – HOT!!

The Rotorua Museum of Art & History, better known as the Bath House.

This fern frond caught our eyes, on the walk down to Cathedral Cove. The frond is a symbol for new life and new beginnings.