I promised I'd write a blog of my trip and here we are on the penultimate day and I've not added anything. This was partly because I've been busy but mainly because I didn't have free wifi until now, in my executive suite. So this is less of a blog and more of a reflection of the highs and lows of the trip.
Conference
That's what brought me here; the Life Long Learning in Pharmacy conference. It was well worth it for the networking. I met people who will be of help to me and also realised I can help others. I gave one presentation and ran a workshop. I felt both went well, though I was more nervous than usual. Partly because some of the international 'great and good' were listening and partly because I was suddenly aware of how the language around CPD is not universally the same so at times I wasn't sure how much I needed to explain. The most amazing thing was to discover that someone in NZ had independently come up with a very similar idea for a CPD framework to the one that I have been working on in Reading. Great minds etc etc.
Rotorua
The venue for the conference, which at this time of year seemed a bit of a sleepy place, though I'd imagine it would be different in the summer. Its on the side of a lake, surrounded by hills, which is actually an enormous caldera. It must've been some volcano. Evidence of geothermal activity is all around, not least the all pervading smell of sulphur, which after a week I hardly noticed.
Culture
I'd not realised how strong the Maori culture was in NZ. It was ever present through the conference, with a Maori welcome, a cultural evening and some presentations partly given in Maori. People who have links, no matter how far back, seem keen to declare them. It seems odd for blue eyed blondes to be telling you they are part Maori! I felt at times that there was some guilt about the past, and perhaps rightly so, by those with original European ancestry. I intend to read more about the history.
Water
This proved to be a theme of my trip in many ways. I bathed in so many different types and got rained on by yet more! In Rotorua I stayed at a thermal motel, which meant it had it's own geothermal pool of natural sulphurous water. It was about 40o and slightly slimy with algae, but made you feel great as you sat in it. More luxurious was the Polynesian Spa, voted one of the top 10 spas in the world. I booked in after a long walk, and it was heavenly to lie in the different temperature pools, from 36o to 42o watching the sun set over the lake.
To the Maori water is sacred and they forbid waste water being pumped into the rivers. In Rotorua all the waste from the sewerage works is sprayed in the nearby forests. I came across this fact as I walked through the forest and found a map warning you where and when is was being sprayed. So rather than wondering was that a 'spit of rain', I was wondering was that a 'rain of shit'!
On my trips to two geothermal areas Wai-o-tapu and Waimangu I saw some amazing waters of all different colours and doing all different things; spouting geysers, forming sinter terraces, and lightly fizzing champagne pools. All amazing and though I'm loathe to say it, the geyser apart, all much better than in Iceland!
The water theme continues in my list of disappointments.
Mud
This proved to be the highlight of my trip. I found so many wonderful and amazing types of mud. I have taken videos of mud bubbling, mud glooping and mud just being mud and not doing much at all. Remind me to show them to you sometime! On my walk through the aforementioned forest I found the most amazing rainbow mud. The nearby mountain is called the Rainbow mountain for similar reasons. The colours are due to the different minerals associated with various volcanic eruptions. I'll add the details later.
Disappointments
There were three, two 'planned' one spontaneous. Firstly I was booked to visit White Island, an active volcanic island about 50km off the the north coast. It's so active you have to wear gas masks because of the fumes. But the boat which leaves out of Whakatane was unable to go due to high winds at sea. Instead I did a long walk through the forest which had it's own highlights!
My next disappointment came after I had travelled to the National Park Tongariro. Thankfully I arrived in fine weather and got to see the wonderful snow capped mountains of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu bathed in sunshine. But then the rain set in, in stair rods and lasted for 2 days. As a result my guided walk to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was cancelled. I stayed in a lodge that was mostly populated by skiers and snowboarders, and they were delighted as for every stair rod of rain is meant more and more snow on the mountains.
My final disappointment was not planned. While here there was a 6.5 magnitude earthquake centred 150km deep beneath Taupo http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5237027/Quake-felt-across-central-New-Zealand and I felt nothing! I reckon I would have been out walking at the time so perhaps that was why as there was nothing much to rattle or shake, but it seems that the land around where I was may have absorbed the shock more than the areas that did feel it in the east.
I'm sure there are more highs and lows so will add as I recall them.
