After 4 days of ‘relaxing’ and a surgery, Robert was “Itchy” to get moving so he set out for a walk and ended up walking 8 miles round trip through town and along the edge of Lake Te Anau!

The aerial transport modes! Float plane and helicopter!

The water surface modes of transport, boat, from water taxis to overnight small cruise boats!

For being at the edge of Fiordlands National Park, Te Anau itself is very flat and surrounded by agricultural land, mostly sheep & cattle paddocks, but also herds of red deer kept in ‘deer yards’ for a thriving venison export market. Te Anau actually did not exist as a township until 1953 when the Homer tunnel was completed and the road to Milford Sound was opened to general traffic, making the tourist industry flourish!

We had the opportunity today to learn more about the NZ Healthcare system, and we are very pleased with our encounter. Thank goodness it wasn’t because of an accident or emergency, but we thought it was a good idea to talk to a Dr. about a growth on Robert’s forehead. Robert has had several moles and growths removed in the past couple of years, some cancerous, some benign. This growth came on about 3 months ago, not in evidence when he saw his dermatologist before we left Bend or when we had our photos taken for our International Driver’s Licenses. It seemed to be growing quickly and Robert researched dermatologists in the area. NZ is notorious for intense sun and UV light and they have a healthcare program to educate and screen for skin cancers. We couldn’t book an appointment online, so we decided to call the nearby Te Anau clinic. We had to wait a day because Jan. 6 is a National Holiday, Waitangi Day, to celebrate the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840! When we got hold of them at 8:15am they had an opening at 9:30am! We got there and had a very short wait for a Dr. to look at it. She took pictures to consult with the surgeon, and made an appointment for 3:15pm for removal. We came back at the designated time and were ushered into the ‘operating room/storage room’ and the Dr. came in. After about 40 min. Robert was stitched up and we were heading out the door!

A happy patient! When we left Robert was getting funny sympathetic looks from other patients!

For a total of $651.45 US, Robert got a consultation/exam, surgery, a lab exam of the tissue and a followup the next day! We are awaiting the lab results which will be emailed to us in about 2 weeks.

More relaxing inside as the weather turned cold, rainy and windy! Further inquiry into the tree fuchsia led me to the possum, the most numerous of roadkill we’ve seen throughout NZ! Not to be confused with the North American Opossum, the Possum is a species introduced from Australia in the 1830’s for the fur business. Both are marsupials (carrying their young in a pouch like a kangaroo) but from different families altogether, and I don’t think the American opossum would ever be considered a fur bearer with it’s straggly, thin and very stinky fur! The dead possums here on the roads however look very luxuriant with thick soft looking fur, although I haven’t actually touched a roadkill possum I have to admit.

An image of a live possum from the internet.

Them being nocturnal, we haven’t seen any possum, but they do terrible damage to the forests and native animals of NZ. They eat flowers, berries, seeds and bark but they are opportunistic feeders and will eat eggs, chicks and insects too! They have damaged whole tracts of Tree Fuchsia and eliminated them from some areas! More info on the Possum is HERE. The Possum is trapped throughout NZ and it’s fur is used to manufacture very soft and warm Merino wool/Possum fur garments!

While relaxing today I delved into some of the things we learned during our 3 days of guided hikes. One thing in particular is the Tree Fuchsia, the largest member of my favorite flowering shrub, the fuchsia. This is a native NZ tree and one that is deciduous, losing it’s leaves in the winter. Only 11 of the 260 native NZ trees are deciduous! Most trees in NZ are evergreen, we’ll have to spend a winter here to see what that’s like!

This tree fuchsia was along the Milford Track. The Tree Fuchsia has distinctive orangish peeling bark.

These trees can grow up to 40 ft. tall, with a trunk circumference of about 3 feet. Yet the flower is tiny but packs a nectar punch, feeding the tui and numerous other birds.

Wow, what an exciting 3 days! We are exhausted! Luckily we are moving only about 5 blocks away to a small house in a residential area, away from the hustle and bustle of busloads of tourists on their way too and from Milford Sound! We treated ourselves to a leisurely lunch at the Hotel Cafe after we packed the car with our bags.

Of course we ordered food too! We shared the local pan-fried blue cod and chips! Delicious!