Stroke in New Zealand

Living with stroke in New Zealand

From David G Ray

March 2002

The calendar tells us that it is summer time in New Zealand. It is a bit like the old joke "Summer arrived last Thursday but we were having lunch and we missed it." At this time last year the country was experiencing droughts but this summer has been very wet. I suppose it is nature’s way at balancing out the seasons.

The first meeting of the Lower Hutt Stroke Club was one of introductions and greeting old friends who have had stroke. Two weeks prior to this first meeting, our committee had decided on a varied programme for the first part of this year. This programme consists on a mixture of entertainment, talks by guest speakers on aspects of living and managing stroke, and outings to various locations. Our first meeting of club members was to introduce this programme and explain the coming events in more detail. A couple of our members then gave accounts of how they had spent the Christmas/New Year break. Our president spoke of his holiday in South Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand. This was particularly interesting to me because I was born in South Canterbury and had lived there for 22 years. Another member spoke of her work for the Forest and Bird Society, in particular planting native trees on one of the two islands in Wellington Harbour.

My wife and I recently had a short holiday in Wanganui on the west coast of the North Island. We went there specifically to have a ride on the steam driven paddle steamer names the "Waimarie" on the Whanganui River. (The spelling of the name of the river, that is with a "h", is the Maori name of the river.) This vessel was launched in 1900 but sank in 1952 and ended up being buried in the mud. It was found and restored to its former glory being recommisioned in the year 2000. Wanganui was a busy port in the early days of the 20^th century and the "Waimarie" plied the river for 50 years carrying cargo. In fact it was one of an extensive riverboat fleet, working the river. The "Waimarie" is now the only surviving paddle boat steamer from the golden river era in New Zealand’s history. It has been faithfully restored after lying in the river for 41 years. Although its water tube boiler is a replica, its engines are fully restored originals.

The out and back journey took 2 hours although the river was very dirty following recent heavy rain. Although the voyage was slow and therefore did not go very far up the river it was a very enjoyable. We had the run of the boat including the engine room and were even allowed, in fact encouraged, to shovel coal onto the very hot fire although this was not easy with the aftermath of a stroke. Refreshments, including beer and wine, were served but the opportunity to drink in the scenery was more enjoyable.

The next day we drove up to the Taranaki towns of Hawera and Stratford. Both towns together with the surrounding countryside are steeped in New Zealand history and it was most interesting to see the places where Maori fortifications had been situated. We had hoped to have a view of Mount Taranaki, also named Mount Egmont, but our view was thwarted by low clouds. However we managed to get mislaid (not lost) but eventually drove into the town of Opunake which is better known for its off shore natural gas and oil wells. By now we were back on the main road and were able to return to Wanganui.

Our journey back to our home in Eastbourne was to drive through the city of Palmerston North and over to the Wairarapa district. We stopped for lunch at the Mount Bruce Native Bird sanctuary. This is a very important site for the rearing of native birds and other native creatures such as the Tuatara lizard. Endangered native birds such as the Kakapo, the Saddle Back and the Takahi are bred here for release in areas where they will be safe. We then went on to look at seven electricity generating wind turbines before spending the night in Greytown. Greytown is only 50 kilometers from Eastbourne but we did not want to end our little holiday so we stayed the night in this very picturesque town. It did not take us long to drive home the next morning but we had had a very restful and nice time away.

Having a stroke does not preclude me from doing what I want to do especially with the help of a very understanding wife. I hope that all stroke victims do enjoy life and do those activities that they want to do.

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009