Farewell from Australia

So I guess all good things have to come to an end, and so my time in Australia is finally over. 3 weeks just seemed to go by way too fast but I have had a great experience and lots of good memories to bring back with me.

As it turns out, I ended up canceling my trip to Sydney. There were several reasons for this. Although I had found a great flight for the weekend, for some reason I could not find any accomodations anywhere- I literally called 20+ places and everything was booked solid. I couldn't figure it out. The cheapest places I could find would have cost $250-300/night and I just wasn't willing to pay that. Then I discovered the reason for that was b/c it was Mardi Gras weekend in Sydney... aka Gay Pride weekend culminating with this big parade on Sat. night with about 700,000+ gay/lesbian people filling the streets. Needless to say, it was easy decision to cancel my flight. For all the more liberal people possibly reading this, I will refrain from using the number of explicitives I was thinking at the time about the whole situation.

But it turned out fine regardless, and I ended up having a great weekend at the beach and was able to do some more things in Brisbane like climb the Story Bridge (and had amazing views of the city at sunset!) and party until 4am... I mean visit all of the cultural events of Brisbane.

After packing up today (sad:( ), Blair, and several of the people from the hospital I had worked with had me out for some farewell drinks and dinner. It was a lot of fun and I will miss them and Australia when i am gone, but I guess I will just have to come back sometime and see the rest of the country.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the blog... it's been fun.

Cheers!

Ahh, just another day of sailing

What a great week it has been so far. After returing from Cairns on Sunday, I did some surgery at the Royal Brisbane and then one of the surgeons had me over for dinner afterwards which was great. Him and his family were very interested in American politics and everyone has been wanting to know who is going to win the election and all about the Obama and Clinton drama. They were very confused about the whole primary/general election, caucases, delegates, electoral college, etc. and indeed it as quite confusing. On Tues. I did some more cases at the Royal Brisbane and then afterwards a few of the residents/interns at the hospital and I went out for dinner and a few drinks. They are a really good group and have gone out of their way to include me in a lot of activities and have been fun to hang out with.

Then yesterday, after arriving at the office at 10am and seeing 3 pts. for some "consulting" (clinic), I was off to meet up with Blair's brother in law to do some sailing. As I arrived at his unassuming office I wasn't sure what to expect but after saying hello we started to walk out to his car, which I suddenly realized was a brand new Porsche 911 Turbo (I think my heart stopped for a second... no wait, that would have happened at about 200+km/hr and taking curves at speeds where normal cars would have flipped several times before being wrapped around a tree, but the Porsche held the road like super glue- incredible!!). It was the most amazing car ever and I was all smiles. I think I need to get one. Anyway, so we arrived at the Queensland yacht club and boarded his 43 foot yacht for some racing against 30 other yachts. Every Wed. they have a "non-competitive" race around a course in the Bay outside of Brisbane. He had a crew of a few other guys and it was so much fun cruising around the Bay drinking a few beers. Afterwards we went back to the yacht club for some drinks and just relax at the harbor after a tough day. I am not sure if I enjoyed the sailing more or the ride in the Porsche.

Today I am off for an afternoon of tennis on grass courts (my first time playing on grass... I am so excited!). There is a foursome that usually plays doubles, but one of the docs couldn't play today so they asked me if I wanted to fill in. Since the week has been so tough, Blair has given me the day off tomorrow and then another barbie tomorrow night. Then on Sat. I head off to Sydney for a few days. Can't wait!!

Sunrise and Sunset over the Reef

Enjoy these last few of my reef adventure!

More pics from the Reef

These pics were taken by the photographer on the boat, so they are representative of what I saw. Since I used an underwater disposable old school camera, I can't really post those pics. Hope you enjoy some of these images of the reef. But no picture (or a thousand) can truly do the reef justice.

Pics of the reef

Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is virtually indescribable. It is certainly one of the most amazing places I have ever had the chance to encounter and an awesome display of marine life. It took about 3 hours by boat to get out to our first dive/snorkel spot for the day, and just to put things in perspective, the reef stretches over 2300 km and covers more than 340,000 square km. So Cairns is just one of the major cities/towns for getting out to explore the reef, but is definitely the most popular and supposed to be one of the best. When we finally got out to the reef, I was immediately taken aback at the immense beauty of this place. Suddenly I was a part of another world it seemed, swimming alongside the most beautiful fish in the world. As soon as I had thought I had seen the most amazing fish ever, another would swim by. I saw hundreds of different species of fish, with every vibrant color you could imagine (I even found Nemo!). And they acted as if I wasn't even there, swimming within only inches if me; sometimes so close they brushed my leg as they swam by. I even saw one of the bigger ones eat a small fish and you could hear them constantly feeding on the coral. The coral itself was a spectacle in its own right. No less impressive than the fish swimming around me, it too was made up of many beautiful colors and included some other amazing plant life. At times I would be snorkeling only inches above the coral (it was that close to the surface) then before you knew it, it would drop off into a seemingly endless blue ocean. I also saw some of the big turtles (not sure if they were loggerheads or green turtles- they are both enormous and difficult to tell apart).

I had bought an underwater camera and after the first 5 minutes I had used almost the entire roll. I could have easily taken thousands of pictures- that's imppressive the reef was. It truly lives up to its designation as being one of the natural wonders of the world. After a couple more dive/snorkel spots, I had a great meal on the boat and enjoyed talking with some of the other travelers from all over the world. The next morning I got up at 6am for a sunrise snorkel which was amazing. I was lucky with the weather the whole trip and had mostly clear skies and sunshine the whole time. The sunrise over the reef with the rays streaming through the water was beautiful and many of the fish were out in large numbers to feed after a night of sleeping. We were also told that sharks were in the area and deperately wanted to see one so I went over to the area where they would supposedly be. But unfortunately I could not see/find them and was mildly disappointed. However, later in the day on my last snorkel of the day, I was swimming along one the reef edges and a white tip shark approx. 9 feet in length was suddenly only a few feet below me. I was able to follow him for a few minutes until he dove toward the ocean floor. It was so cool!! One of the most memorable experiences of my life.

It was such a great trip and wish everyone could have been here to experience it with me. The Great Barrier Reef is definitely a must do- I promise you will be blown away. I would post some pictures, but right now I am not at a computer where I can do that so I will try to post some after I get back to Brisbane.

In Cairns, awaiting the Reef trip

So many of you may be wondering why I haven't updated the blog in the past few days; well that's b/c I have actually worked almost 2 full days and have been very busy. I have had the chance to see a laparoscopic partial splenectomy, liver resection, gastrectomy, various hernia repairs, lap bands, and some basic general surgery stuff like cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and appendectomies. I also went to M&M (morbidity and mortality) and their version of Grand Rounds at the Royal Brisbane Hosptial and met a bunch of other doctors and residents. It was quite interesting and pretty similar to the ways things are done in the US. I have also had a chance to better understand their public/private mix healthcare system here. The private hospitals are actually very nice (as nice or nicer than many hospitals in the US) with all the up to date technology you would expect. The public hospitals remind me a lot of the big university hospitals (some not as nice, though) and the services are fairly standard, although if you don't have insurance some more expensive services and medications are denied to you- you kind of get adequate care but the budget experience. For many surgeries, though, (at least the non-emergent type) you can be on a rather long waiting list, but if you have private insurance it can usually be done in a matter of days. I suppose the US will at some point adopt some form of a public/private healthcare system. About 30-40% of Australians do have private insurance and they get tax breaks for getting their own insurance, so the gov. defnitely encourages private insurance.

Enough about work, and don't worry I was able to squeeze a little golf and another "barbie" amidst my busy work schedule. By the way, a "barbie" is a barbecue/grilling out- there seemed to be some confusion with that. Janelle, my friend from Duke, and her husband had me over for steaks last night and we had a lot of fun catching up. They have a new addition to the family, Tyler who is 15 mos. old. They also have 2 labs, Sydney and Michigan (Janelle grew up n Sydney and her husband Mark is from Michigan) and they are so cute!

I am now in Cairns (Northeast Queensland) where the Great Barrier Reef is and tomorrow I will leave early in the morning to head out to the reef and do some snorkeling, etc. Then I will spend the night on the boat on the reef and have another full day of snorkeling before coming back on Sat. night. I am so excited and can't wait!! I am sure I will have some good stories and hopefully some amazing pictures.

Cruising around Brisbane River

More pics of Brisbane from the river cruise

My First "Barbie" and Playing with Koala's

Last night I had my first Australian "barbie" at Blair's who had invited me over to have dinner with his wife and new son (3 months old). I really wanted to say "G'day mates, put another shrimp on the barbie!" but alas I held back. It also would have been a little odd since we weren't having shrimp. Apparently, even though they eat a lot of seafood, shrimp is not particularly common so I'm not sure where that phrase came from (probably from the US). Anyway, we had a fabulous meal of steak, gorgonzola polenta, fennel, tomatoes and mozzarella, salad, chocolate cake with ice cream, and of course lots of good wine and beer. Blair is quite the cook and we had a great time. His son, Luca (who they call "Mr. Frogs") is very cute. We ate outside by their pool which was so nice, and I realized that since I have been here (other than breakfast and lunch in between OR cases) I have eaten every meal outside. Alfresco dining is very big here and I don't know that I have seen one restaurant that doesn't have outdoor dining (it would actually be more difficult to find a place where you could eat inside)

After another tough morning in the theatre, I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary about 45 min. from Brisbane by bus. It is basically a wildlife refuge for koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, wombats, tasmanian devils, crocs, snakes, and every other kind of bird and animal native to Australia. It was very neat and I got to feed kangaroos, hold a koala, and see all the animals. Check out the pics and you can go to the following website to see another pic of me holding the koala (www.koala.net/photo/1802016831.htm). After the koala sanctuary, I came back to the city and rode the citycat (which is a ferry type boat that functions as a subway on the water) which takes you to points all along the Brisbane River, which snakes throughout the city. I rode it from the 2 farthest points it goes which took about 2 hours. I was able to see the entire city and some parts farther out that I had not made it to yet. It is really a beautiful city and it was nice to just sit outside and see everything from the water. I was able to do everything for $5- definitely the best $5 I ever spent!

Surfing at the Gold Coast

This morning I left for the Gold Coast (about an hr. south of Brisbane) to try out surfing for the first time. Lara, Blair's office manager, and her friend Mani were nice enough to drive me down and accompany me for the disaster that was sure to unfold. The Gold Coast is a beautiful area by the ocean with a ton to do besides just beach stuff. It's maybe like a bigger Myrtle Beach with a flare of Vegas (there is a casino there too). Anyway, I arrived and met my surfing coach for the day, Blake, who told me that it was his first time back in the water in 2 weeks, b/c he had been surfing and wiped out and the board hit him in the eye and he had a hemorrhage inside his eye. Apparently he had a 20% risk of losing his eye and was supposed to stay inside for another week, but of course he was back out on the water. It seemed pretty typical for an australian. After some introductions on surfing and some practice on the beach, it was time to try and do it in the water. It was even harder than I expected and quite a workout, but after a couple of wipeouts I was able to stand up for a few seconds! It was quite the rush and very addicting once you get up. Blake was very impressed and said I had a natural surfing ability and I should keep practicing. I think he was probably being nice but it was a lot of fun.

After surfing, Lara and Mani convinced me that I needed to do something called "the slingshot" where you are strapped into this seat attached with bungy cords and they launch into the sky at over 200km/hr with an acceleration of 6Gs. It was crazy but of course I thought it was awesome.

To finish off my Australian experience we all went to this place known for its "meat pies" and sausage rolls, which are apparently very quintessential for australia. It is basically two pastry sheets filled with steak, tomatoes, onions, peas, and mashed potatoes, then smothered on top with ketchup. It was delicious. I should have taken a picture of it b/c it looked incredible.

An exhausting, but great day!

Around Brisbane

Yesterday I got to see a couple lap bands, a partial gastrectomy, and a hernia repair. After the tough day at the office I was gone by 1:30 to cruise around Bribane ("Brissy" as the aussies call it) for part of my cultural education. I went down to the center of the city where they have a huge outdoor "mall" area called the Queen St. Mall. It's just a huge blosked off street with tons ofs stores lining it and restaurants, cafes, and bars all along where you can enjoy some food or beverage outside. It's pretty neat and a fun place to walk around. Then I walked along the bridge which goes over the Brisbane River to South Bank. There is a great walk/run/bike path that stretches for 30km along the river with grassy areas, beaches and other places to sit and relax. Also there are more restaurants by the river. It is really nice and offers great views of the city. (see pics). However, I was told that there are sharks and crocs in the river.

After a fun filled day of walking around, I went out to dinner with some of the interns at the Royal Brisbane Hospital who work under Blair. They were super nice and we had a great time eating seafood outside in a very trendy area of town only a few blocks from my apartment. They also introduced me to one of Australia's best beers- Cooper's! So low and behold, Foster's is in fact not the "Australian beer" but it's Cooper's! After dinner they took me to a few more bars/pubs which was a great time. Everyone here is so friendly and nice and it has been easy to make friends.

Arrival in Brisbane

So after a 20+ hour trek across the Pacific I finally arrived in Brisbane! I had a 4 hr. layover in LA, which was tolerable b/c for some reason Qantas gave me a "lounge pass" and I had access to this super plush lounge with free food, drinks, and internet access. So I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and drink as much wine as I could in 3 hrs. to hopefully pass out on the plane. It was moderately successful and although the flight from LA to Melbourne was over 15 hrs., it wasn't all that bad.

After arriving in Brisbane, Dr. Bowden's office manager picked me up from the airport and I got to my apartment which was nice. I have everything I could need- frig, freezer, stove, microwave, washer/dryer, TV, A/C (thank God!), and it's got a cute little balcony/patio out front. The location is great b/c I am only 2 blocks from the train station and a grocery store and other stuff is only a 2 minute walk away. It only took me 10 minutes door to door to get the hospital today and was real easy.

Dr. Bowden (Blair) and his staff are awesome and so laid back. It is the most perfect setup ever, b/c he just lets me see whatever surgery I want and all I have to do is show up for surgery and when it's over I can leave. I don't have to see patients or do any of the pre-op/post op crap that I would normally have to do. Also, Wednesday afternoons are designated as sailing days (can't wait!) and Blair encourages long weekends, frequent trips to the pubs, and not getting too stressed out (everything is "no worries mate"!). So I am pretty much in heaven. Over here, they call the OR "theatre" and they have other funny terms but I love the accent. I am trying really hard to get one before I come back.

I am already trying to figure out how to spend my weekends and pack as much into them as possible. This weekend I am planning to go to the Gold Coast, which is about an hour south of Brisbane and is where most of the good beaches are. I am going to try out surfing while I am there and hopefully will not get too many concussions or get eaten by any great whites. Maybe I'll do some bungy jumping as well (apparently they have this thing where you go 4Gs in about 2 seconds and travel over 400km/min.) and just lay on the beach and relax. Then next weekend I am going to go up to Cairns (in north Queensland) and check out the Great Barrier Reef and do some snorkeling, boating, etc. There are some other great islands around here and cool stuff to do so I will be pretty busy the 3 weeks I am here.

Hope everyone is doing well and I will continue to update as much as possible.