The Biggest Bulldozer in the World

This past weekend was once again spent in Westport;  intermittently rainy and quiet, we enjoyed sleeping in late.  We still took a day trip though, this time to the Stockton coal mine for a tour of open-pit mining.  I never thought I was interested in coal mines, but Stockton is the biggest employer in town, and we wanted to see where our patients spent their days.

The coal here is very high-grade, and 100% is exported, mostly to India, China, and Japan but 10% of it goes to the U.S.  None of it is burned for energy but is used to make steel, and the highest grade is used in manufacturing of items such as dialysis filters and space shuttle insulation tiles.  It was a great tour:  the guide used to work in the mine, so he knew many of the workers and drivers, and we got to see all the action.  Of course, we also got to wear hard hats (mandatory safety equipment).

After locating a coal seam, bulldozers, rip up the
hillside to get to the coal.   The coal is then dug out,
transported, graded, ground up, and transferred to even larger trucks.

These larger trucks haul the graded coal to large bins, where an automated system fills carts to be carried down the hill .  One ton of coal is loaded into each cart, three carts per minute, 24 hrs/ day.  The carts are transported via an automatic rope system, down the hill to the train station.  Five trains, with 30 cars each, move the coal to port every 24 hours.  It's a big operation.

After the coal is dug, full-time restoration crews smooth out the hillside, top it with crushed granite and soil, and replant vegetation.  We didn't get any photos of the restored hillsides, but they look pretty good.  The mine is serious about environmental concerns.

Of course, all this digging requires serious equipment, and for some of us, seeing the big trucks was a highlight.  Here I am standing next to the biggest bulldozer in the world (125 horsepower), and Eric is seen next to a "medium sized" truck.
Turns out, the mine likes to hire female drivers because studies have shown women save fuel, report equipment problems earlier and have less accidents.  Way to go girls!

What to do when you actually have to work during the week!

OK so the girls have flown back to the States and our week of vacation is over and we have to work Monday through Friday like other working stiffs, how in the world are we going to maintain our run of continual excitement you ask. Well, aside from the obvious answer that we won't, let's just see. When we arrived the first week was quite cool and rainy and lived up to the warnings that we had received that the West coast should be called the Wet coast and we would spend six months in a dreary rainstorm. Actually after that first week , the weather has been brillant, warm but not hot, sunny , dry and perfect for outdoor activities, unless of course you are a farmer or a blade of grass on the golf course, then you are begging for a return to the more normal rainfall. We are actually on water restrictions due to lack of rainfall. SO you can see, the golf course is quite dry, which has not prevented me from grabbing a quick 9 holes after work on a very playable links type course. Some of the first patients I saw in Westport suggested I join the local golf club and they were quite helpful it getting it set up. Though I am told it is a much more playable winter course, I have had fun on the few rounds I have played. But golf is not the biggest draw locally. This past weekend had two days of horse races with Trotters from all over the South Island and quite a community event . The town has a large and beautiful race facility that is used only a few times a year. There were the races along with food and drink and lots of betting and a chance for the locals to get out and enjoy a beautiful day. But there are other even less American events at work. Though there was a cricket tourney and a croquet event that we missed out one, We caught a few games of lawn bowling which I was alerted to after seeing a particularly sinister knee sprain in one of the contestants in the emergency room. But of course there are also those events which we partake in the states, such as the triathalon, which I competed on with my city hybrid bike and my not ready for prime time running technique. Happily, we have another three day weekend starting tomorrow and are off to the Marlborough wine region for a little wine tasting by bike tour and some nice gourmet meals in the wine country.

Saturday Nights All Right for Fighting

While these families were enjoying another beautiful day here on North Beach, immediately next to Westport, I unfortunately was on weekend call. I actually had been looking forward to finding out what call was like, but having to work when the weather is absolutely perfect is always hard.

And though I was thoroughly beaten up last time I attempted to learn to surf, I am always tempted again when I see other people attempting. The call was pretty interesting and quite varied. We take care of a small number of hospital inpatients who at this point are all quite old and often need somewhat extended stays in the hospital due to their age and frailty. In the US we would likely need to discharge them to some long term care but those resources here are pretty maxed out. I treated a couple kids with fractures. I was called in at 4 AM to sew up a badly beaten teen who was bitten in the face. I think he might have taken on Tyson but it was his lip rather than his ear. Sunday was relatively quiet after that with only a few patients seen in the emergency room I never really got to wear my cape, or helmet or turn on my flashing green light!

Sort of reminds you of Erik Estrada in CHIPS doesn't it?

Monday, after I returned the call car I had the Morning Off. Happily I bought a bike and that Evening Carolyn and I took a ride on near-by Utopia Road, which is quite pastoral and a beautiful little road to ride on.

I know this one reminds you of Erik Estrada in CHIPS

Westport

After a sunny morning stroll along the Island Bay waterfront with Linda we caught a flight from Wellington to Westport. Unfortunately we got nailed with a huge fee for our second bags, be really careful if you fly domestic flights here. We had a smooth flight and had our first view of the South Island West coast from

Westport was one of the smallest airports we have flown into though the welcome was great and the staff from the clinic who met us were wonderful. They gave us a brief tour of the town and then took us to our home, a second unit on a property on the banks of the estuary in town.

We had a wonderful meal at a local pub last night where we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the local folks. We greatly look forward to getting to know them. Today we will do some more settling into our home and perhaps check out the rec center. Still a bit to get done before we start work tomorrow.