We are Kiwis Again: The Pains Begin

Saturday, February 22, 2020

The Pains Begin

On the Monday after the bush fires had cast a shadow over us, for me unpleasantness was to come. Pain began to creep into my body to the degree that a booking had been made for me to visit the local GP on the next day. I drove down to St Heliers, was given a prescription for pain killers, paid my $100 (£50) and returned to base.
Despite the pain I kept my promise to drive the girls out to 'Kelly Tarltons Sea World'. It could not have been a worse day. It seemed that every parent in Auckland were taking their children to an indoor activity. Apparently I got a browny point from my grandchildren. There was one parking space and I beat the other guy to it by reversing the big car, tidily into the space at first go.
I struggled round 'Sea World' taking the usual crop of photos from penguins to sea horses.

The following day the pain was so bad that in the evening Sally called an ambulance to take me to hospital. Waiting times are no better in NZ than they are in the UK. For hours I lay on a trolley in the A and E unit. A canulla was attached, blood was taken, I was X-rayed and CT scanned. Eventually a doctor came, pronounced that nothing was broken and that I had a trapped nerve at the bottom of the spine. A slight change my medication was made and I was taken home by Sally.
One thing to note is that all of this was free as NZ has a reciprical arrangement with Australia and the UK. Also, the ambulance service is funded differently to ours. Whereas our service is privatised so that the fat cats make the profits, in NZ it is a charity whereby the fat cats make contibutions.
For the next two days I stayed in bed. On the third day I managed to get upstairs.
On Sunday Joni and Fiona arrived. They had made a road trip up from Wellington with visiting family who they left at the airport to fly over to Australia and then home. After a brief visit Fiona flew back to Wellington. Joni stayed on as the three of us were to drive back to Wellington.
I paid a further $100 to see the GP and 'Tramadol' was added to the medications. Nothing improved, so Joni ferried me to 'Outpatients' and we were there from 4.30 pm to 7.00 pm.
We sat it out in 'Ambulatory Care'. For most of the time we sat next to a homeless guy. (Yes! They exist in Auckland). He was discharged, but on our way out we saw him coming back in again. The same test of leg movement was made and an ultrasound scan taken. Cheeky Joni now knows more than me about what goes on in my body. Eventually the lady doctor turned me on my face and pulled my right leg back. There was some screaming. A diagnosis of femoratica was pronounced. The treatment did not change.
The next day there was pain, but it was mangeable. The following day (for some reason) we reduced the pain killers and the pain was unmanageable. On Friday there was better pain manageament and I slept well.
I was just about ready for a 10 hour car journey to Wellington. Eleven days of the holiday had been lost. But now we were off.
It was an early start and the plan was to stop for breakfast at the historical settlement of Ohinewai. Unfortunately, there was failure in the announcement of opening times so we pressed on to Huntley. Despite my poor mobility I insisted on sitting at a window overlooking the Waikato River. Joni had to go outside and take me some pictures of the view.

Unknown to me it would be of the Huntley powerstation. This station is said to burn coal and oil. It has been legislated that the cooling water must be no more than 25 degs centrigrade before returning to the river. The Waikato River is the longest in NZ and of great spiritual significance to the Maori people.
On south we went; leaving the SH1 to by pass the rapidly growing town of Hamilton. Soon we were on one of the best features of NZ; open roads, surrounded by beautiful countryside. We had an occasional glimpse of the railway line that would carry us back to Auckland. It is difficult to chart our way south. Chiefly because Joni did all the driving and secondly because we were quite mindlessly following the SATNav. (It has been questioned that these devices have robbed us of our sense of geography.)
The first of my problems was now to come. We stopped in a small settlement which had a fabulous restaurant. However, as soon as the first piece of delicious food went into my mouth (Sensored). I had to apologise to the staff and explain to the other diners that is was not the food and that it was my meds. Further along, at another township, we pulled into a MacDonalds for an ice-cream. It was thought that I could digest this. Fifteen minutes later it was proved wrong. At this point I must say that given the history of my reaction to pain killers, I carried a little bucket.
As I have explained, I am uncertain of the route or the sequence of events, but we did stop to view the beautiful Lake Taupo.

We were now in volcanoe country. This is Tongariro National Park. From miles away you get a glimpse of the tallest of the volcanoes, Ruepehu. It is so tall that even in the summer there is snow on the summit.
Soon after we get a glimpse of the more traditional cone shaped one which is Tongariro itself.

Joni and Fiona have made the Tongariro Crossing in the summer and snow board here in the winter.
From here we swung in a south westerly direction back along the SH1 through townships running along the Tasman Sea. At a place called Otaki we turned off to its beach. I am pretty sure of the location as I sat on a bench facing the northern edge of Kapiti Island.