Poutama Lodge

Wednesday was my first day at work, and oh boy what a rough go! Haha. Not at all. It didnt take me too too long to find the building when I arrived in Takanini that morning, I was given directions to the street by a man payin gfor his petrol at the cash which was super lucky. I walked up and was suprised by a girl who walked out to see what I was doing (I was of course taking a photo of the builiding because I was so shocked). Its just a house on a normal residential street. The girl who came out turned out to be my preceptor Becky who is from Wales and over here on a work visa. We took a tour of the facility and I learned that it is not as much hands on rehab as I had thought it would be. We sat in the yard and did some chart reviews so i could get to know the clients that live here, and talk about what the OT goals for each were. (Becky just came in and said I hope you arent saying its one big skive, which means I get away with doing nothing...so now I have to make something up haha)Once people were all up and about we went on an outing. Our first stop was to one of the workers house to play with her new puppies. Oh I am in the right line of work. Then we were off to the bakery where they purchased my lunch and we ate it down on a gorgeous beach. I swear the water here changes colour every day. We then went to a different beach to walk along and collect shells for my collection. When we returned to the lodge we wrote up the client notes (because a lot of the goals have to do with how they interact on the outings and physical activity) and then I was off work at around 3. Becky is super nice and she is just 24 so we have heaps to talk about. She has done a lot of travelling and since she is a new kiwi herself she has already done the travelling around here so she can give advice on where to go and what to skip. I think my only new friend here will be her...:)
I learned heaps on our outing from Becky and Eileen another staff member, like names of flowers we have pics of, that rangitoto is the landmark of New Zealand and you can see it from all over the island, and it is the oldest volcano here apparantly...it last erupted 600 yrs ago!
JoAnna also loved her first day so we are off to a great start and are in right proper moods. We spent the evening walking around the water front looking for apartments because Becky lives down there and says she pays the same rent for better. We couldnt find where she lived so we just went into a rugby shop. I asked if they had posters and from that one question we ended up having a 45 min convo about rugby. We even got an autograph and our picture taken with a rugby player in the store. We found out that the first game here is the 2nd of February, so we are excited that we will get a chance to see some all blacks in action. The teams playing are the Auckland blues and the Christchurch cruisaders.
My second day has also been great. We had a meeting with some social workers on a potential new client, because Becky has found that working in private practice has resulted in clients being accepted that are not so much rehabilitatable but just because they have the money to pay. She shwoed me around the new property that was purchased next door to be turned into a transition house so that clients could practice living more independently than they do in the house currently. She is hoping that the two of us will get to create this new program together (It was supposed to be open in December). We went on an outing again to the beach but we took a picnic this time. It was out at mission bay which is where Jo wanted to go yesterday but it was pretty late by the time we wouldve gotten away and too cool outside to enjoy a beach. After our walk we went up to Baston Ridge with is important in the history of the Maori people and their clash with the Europeans...The europeans arrived and tried to just take the land and gave the maori village 10 days to remove themselves...but the Maori refused and protested for 100 days but in the end lost. Now they have the Waitanga which allows maori the right to protest the taking of their land in court and receive monies for their losses. However there is only one year left on that law and after that no more claims will be taken. The computer here doesnt have a hard drive connection so I am not usre how I will upload pictures. Today I learned more about the Maori culture and Becky is looking into getting me into a course to learn more about the Waitanga. The hut that is across from my apartment is called a Moari (pronounced moe-rye but dont say it slow like a canadian or they will laugh at you...I speak from experience) and they use them for a gathering place (like our church) funerals etc. The maori people have different tribes...just like the native american has micmac and mohawk...and they all have their own maori. Also Poutama means stair way to heaven.
Well I am in the office surrounded by people so I best be off...cheers!