Fire, Flood, Pestilence

Tuesday 3 March 2020

Wellington Central 

On this occasion we were grateful to our feathered friends for waking us up early as we had booked my husband a 10:00 am appointment with a GP at the City Medical Centre in the Lambton Quay area of Central Wellington. 

A small mole on his face had become larger and had changed colour due to too much sun exposure so we decided that he should have it removed as it was being nipped every time he shaved and causing pain and discomfort.

We hadn't needed to see a doctor at all up until that point so we weren't sure how to go about booking one.

I knew that there was some sort of reciprocal agreement between our two countries so we called a few medical practices to explain our situation and see if we could make an appointment.

In the end we accepted an appointment for him at the City Medical Centre as a private patient as we would not be in Wellington long enough to register with Medicare then with a GP practice and then wait for a check up appointment to come through before a treatment appointment could be booked at a later date.

We had some medical cover on our travel insurance scheme so my husband decided to proceed with a casual registration on arrival so any treatment required could be immediate.

Parking in Lambton Quay, the heart of Wellington's CBD district, was not easy so I dropped him off and drove around the area for a while until I found a legal parking space.

Traffic wardens are rife in central Wellington.

I joined him soon after he had registered and paid a flat fee to the value of £60 which included consultation, treatment and prescription if any medication were required.

He then just needed to wait about 25 to 30 minutes to be called. 

The doctor was extremely quick and efficient; she told him that it wasn't a mole at all but what they called a cutaneous horn which is not uncommon in middle aged men.

She explained that he was right to have it removed as it 'looked a little angry and was a funny colour' but she had no other concerns about it which was good.

It turned out that she was originally a Brit herself, also from Surrey but when she went to spend her elective medical placement in New Zealand soon after qualifying as a doctor in the UK, she loved it so much that she decided to stay.

She then married a Wellingtonian, had children and settled in Wellington.

We told her that had we been a little younger ourselves, we would certainly consider doing the same thing.

At that point she mentioned the difficulties that the UK and the rest of Europe were experiencing with regard to Coronavirus and wondered whether we were considering staying in New Zealand longer.

The fact that she would even mention that did make us seriously think about it.......again.

Once she had attacked the offending cutaneous horn with liquid nitrogen, she explained that it would fall off on its own in a few days time.

It had all been very easy and efficient; definitely worth the £60 payment he was charged for it.

After we left the doctor's surgery, we decided to treat ourselves to coffee and croissants at Wellington's famous Dillinger's café-brasserie which happened to be just across the road from the City Medical Centre.

The coffee was absolutely wonderful as were the excellent croissants au beurre which had either been freshly baked there or imported from France very early that morning; they really were that good.

But if you do go to Dillinger's in Wellington do not expect excellent service. 

We waited a long time for our croissants to arrive and when they did, they came without our coffee so we had to wait even longer for that. 

Wifi was excellent though so we used the time we had there to research long-stay options in New Zealand if we did all decide to weather the Covid storm in glorious isolation, Southern Hemisphere style.

We found a few viable options which we would discuss with the others later. 

I am sure we could persuade our house sitter in the UK to stay a little longer or to at least pop in occasionally to make sure everything was ok.

Maybe we would end up as New Zealand residents after all

The Beehive 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_(New_Zealand)

We met our daughter and her partner at Bats Theatre after our coffee at Dillinger's then all four of us went back to Cuba Street in search of an op shop (charity shop), as we wanted to donate several bags of clothes, shoes and books to a good causes prior to leaving Wellington in a few days time.

When travelling for long periods of time, one inevitably accumulates more 'luggage' than is comfortable, so it is a good idea to discard what is not required on a regular basis.

The only problem with the op shop we went to that day in Cuba Street is that it was like no other I had ever seen. 

It was modern, beautifully laid out and some of the items for sale were new or nearly new. 

There were also designer clothes, shoes, bags, lots of books and so much more which we didn't really need but found difficult to resist.

We ended up buying a pair of New Zealand designer shoes each, a new handbag for me and couple of very pretty tops. 

Not exactly the outcome we expected from our trip to the op shop but we were very happy with our purchases.

The next thing we had planned to do that day was have our hair cut; it had been almost four months since we last had it done so a trip to the hairdresser was long overdue.

My husband found a traditional looking barber's not far from the op shop, who could cut his hair straight away, I had to walk a little further away to find a salon that could take me but when I did, my stylist Cindy did a pretty good job and the receptionist ordered me an excellent cappuccino from the coffee shop next door. 

Of course I didn't realise then that this would be the last time I would be able to go to a hairdresser before early November. 

I did wonder at the time whether Cindy had cut my hair a little too short but in the long lockdown months that followed, I was so very grateful that she had done.

I met the others at Panhead once I had finished and not long after my arrival we set off for the Beehive.

Our daughter's partner had a very good friend in Wellington who was studying at Oxford University at the same time he was there. 

She was working as a parliamentary civil servant in Wellington when we there in March 2020 so had invited us for a private tour of the Beehive and a drink in the members' bar there.

"The Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings, located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay",

"It is called the Beehive because its shape is reminiscent of that of a traditional woven form of beehive known as a "skep", though we discovered later that it was named after a popular matchbox brand with a 'skep' design on the front and the name Beehive Safety Matches.

"Construction of this iconic New Zealand building began in 1969 and was completed in 1981".

"Since 1979 the building has housed the offices of the prime minister and other ministers".

"Thus, the name "Beehive" is closely linked with the New Zealand Government".

"It is often used as a metonym for the New Zealand leadership at large".

"The top floor of the building is occupied by the Cabinet room, with the prime minister's offices directly beneath on the ninth floor (and part of the eighth)".

"The upper portion of the Beehive also contains the offices of other ministers; senior ministers are situated at proximity to the prime minister's office according to their ranking in Cabinet".

"The seniority of a minister is reflected in how far up the building they are".

"Some ministers, especially junior ministers, are based in Bowen House", which is next door to the Beehive.

"Other facilities within the building include function rooms and a banqueting hall on the first floor of the Beehive, which is the largest function room in the parliamentary complex".

"The parliamentary catering facilities, run by Bellamy’s include a bar known as Pickwicks or (due to its position in the building on the third floor and second corridor), Copperfield's café, and the Member's and Member's and Guests restaurants".

We think we were in Bellamy's for our drinks that late afternoon but we were just told it was the members' bar.

"The Beehive also contains a theatrette, commonly used for government press conferences, a gym and a swimming pool".

"The parliament building is used by members of Parliament who hold meetings or are discussing bills or new laws".

We were so lucky to have been able to have that private tour of New Zealand's parliament building and then to have been treated to drinks in that prestigious members' bar.

Our lovely Wellingtonian friend had also arranged for us to sit in the gallery during Prime Minister's Questions the following afternoon where we would see the remarkable Jacinda Arden herself responding to questions from ministers from all sectors of the House.

We couldn't believe it when she told us that it had been confirmed; such a unique and wonderful thing to be able to do. 

We really did feel like honorary New Zealanders at that point 

Just For Funny

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the Beehive followed by drinks in that very exclusive member's bar.

Our daughter and her partner's Wellington friend was delightful and had been an excellent addition to our party.

We were enjoying it all so much that when we finally checked the time we realised that our daughter and her partner only had 30 minutes to get back to Bats Theatre before their show was due to begin.

Fortunately our car was parked close by and I only had one glass of Prosecco so I was able to drive them straight to Bats just in time for their penultimate performance.

We then parked our car in Tory Street and set off back to the Cavern Club where we had booked ourselves into Just For Funny billed as "a slew of the best mystery guests you haven't yet heard of".

The Just For Funny showcase, claimed to be "the finest live comedy-showcase-podcast at the Festival".

"Comedians perform comedy and answer quiz questions about the stupidest recent news items".

But this is very much an 'audience participation' event so we were all given pen and paper and we were all asked to read out or act out in turn, our answers to the most ludicrous media questions.

But as ludicrous as it was, it totally worked. 

It was hilarious. 

I suppose it was another Best of Wellington event, though on this occasion instead of just doing a ten minute slot each on stage in turn, their particular style of humour emerged from how they delivered responses to their quiz questions and the quips and repartee that accompanied them.

Very entertaining indeed 

We agreed to have a late drink in Dixon Street with our daughter and her partner after the show so we thought we would drive there rather than walk that way we could just drive straight home from there afterwards rather than have to return to Tory Street to pick up the car.

We ended up back at the bar at the Tapere Nui Theatre as I could order a cup of tea since I was the designated driver again.

As in Australia, most of the pubs we went to in New Zealand did not serve hot drinks.

As this was a fringe event bar only, it was beautifully empty when we got there late that evening. Just us and a small group of friends at another table.

We talked about all the wonderful things we had seen and done in New Zealand since our arrival on 18 February and our daughter and her partner were feeling sad that they would be leaving that wonderful country in less than 48 hours time.

We mentioned the fact that so many of our friends had now messaged us about the desperate situation in Europe and suggested that we should consider staying in New Zealand where it was definitely safer.

We told them that even my husband's doctor at the City Medical Centre wondered if we were considering that.

As our daughter's partner was booked into the Adelaide Fringe for three weeks from the following Monday, they had to fly to Adelaide as planned on 5 March.

The Adelaide Fringe is the second largest Arts Festival in the world after Edinburgh so they could not cancel at the last minute with no warning. 

Besides, they had arranged to stay with our friends in Glenelg who we met up with when we were there in late January and they didn't want to let them down. 

After the Adelaide Fringe they would be having a holiday in Tasmania before starting work in Melbourne for its Fringe Festival in April.

They had loved New Zealand so much though that they were seriously considering spending the following year there. 

Our daughter was already looking at potential teaching jobs in Wellington or Auckland where her partner would be able to find regular work in comedy clubs and theatres in and around those cities as well as taking part in the fringe events in 2021.

We set off for home just after midnight but the route I took from Dixon Street was very different from the one I was accustomed to.

This time I ended up on a main highway with a stream of angry lorries behind me clearly anxious to board the first possible ferry to South Island. 

The tailgating was so bad that it caused me to miss my turn to Wadestown so I ended up on an isolated highway going to heaven knows where in the dark with no opportunity to turn around for a good ten minutes.

When I did eventually turn around, I was back in lorry traffic to the port but this time I held my speed and did not allow the lorries to bully me.

What I didn't know then was that I had been caught 'speeding' on camera and we received a $60 fine in the UK in mid April.

We tried writing to various Wellington police departments about the injustice of that fine in view of the fact that I was being tailgated and flashed by angry, aggressive lorry drivers and had I not matched their speed, it could have been potentially dangerous.

Sadly my complaints fell on deaf ears and the fine was taken anyway. 

Fortunately for us we still had several bottles of Marlborough wine in our Wadestown accommodation.

If ever I needed a drink for medicinal purposes, that was it.

A very unfortunate end to what had otherwise been another totally perfect day in New Zealand.