The Sleepy Town of Taree
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2011
1
19
35
Trip End
Ongoing
Taree, New South Wales, Australia
Sunday, November 27, 2011
to go, when we first planned this Round The World trip. However, to gain full registration as a pharmacist, I (Sharndeep) needed four weeks paid placement. The sole place willing to accommodate me for this period was Manning Base Hospital in Taree. It had been a long struggle to find somewhere, but after months of chasing things up with AHPRA, I was finally able to start working. A big thank you to Charles and Belinda, who I consistently bugged during the whole process. It was a bonus that the pay wasn't too low. I had envisioned the equivalent of the UK pre-reg wage, but was pleasantly surprised by the hourly rate. Wages generally seem to be a lot higher in Australia. However, many things are almost more expensive, so guess it evens out.
My coworkers were all very pleasant, and extremely helpful. They obviously took the opportunity to have a few Pommie jokes at my expense. A quick reminder of the last Ashes tour, and showing them the difference between a BBQ and an outdoor hotplate were among the responses I could muster. Thanks to Belinda and David I rarely had to walk home, which was
a relief. I enjoyed finishing at 4.30, and it was great having the extra time at the end of the day - a rarity with the long hours pharmacists generally work in England. Hospital pharmacy was a much more laid back environment compared to community, and it was refreshing not to have to rush prescriptions out to patients as a priority. The first couple of weeks I spent more or less just brushing up for the oral exam, which we had to make a day trip down to Sydney for. Still awaiting the result, but as we are fast approaching the end of our Australian leg, it's almost academic. (Update - passed :-))
We were in Taree for a total of four weeks, and three weeks were spent in a rented house with Liz. She is a vet, and we were constantly entertained by her stories from the clinic. Liz is from Sydney, and she also gave us the lowdown on how different the people from Taree were compared to Sydney. The location was ideal, with the hospital and local amenities not being too far. It took me (Parminder) around forty five minutes to walk into town at first, but eventually got faster and lowered my time to thirty five minutes. We were staying in a nicer part of Taree, and we often got people driving around the area admiring the Christmas lights on our road. The lights on our road were very impressive, but it did look alien to us, since the weather was very unchristmas like.
I (Parminder) was worried that my time here would drag while Sharndeep was working, but surprisingly I managed to occupy my time very well. It was a bonus that Sharndeep left work at 4.30, which meant I only had to keep busy until then. I did intend to work when we first
arrived in Taree, and applied to any vacancy available, but due to the Christmas period it proved very difficult. Everyone wanted to employ young casual staff, preference was under sixteen ...so I had no chance!
Some of you may know that I (Parminder) really enjoy Art, and happened to come across a local artist who was willing to give me informal lessons in the local art gallery. Hazel specialised in mainly pastels and charcoal media, and accomplished a range of award winning portraits and scenery images. I personally, wanted to develop my portrait skills, so asked Hazel to teach me fine detail - which involved shading and getting proportions of facial features more precise. In
addition to engaging in art lessons, I also preoccupied myself by planning part of the rest of our holiday. We needed to book tickets, hotels, transport - the list felt never ending. We had no internet, so I walked daily to the library to complete my list. I got to know the staff at the
library very well, and it became part of my daily routine.
Being in a more remote part of Australia, we were exposed to a bit more of the natural Australian wildlife. However, unlike Lone Pine it didn't involve kangaroos and koalas; but was more along the lines of snakes and cockroaches. The Christmas Bugs were always tapping at the window every evening. Still, we managed to escape without any physical harm - although Parminder may have suffered some emotional distress. We did try to do some sightseeing while we were up in Taree. Hiring a car was vital, as the public transport system in the rural areas seemed to e virtually nonexistent. We made our way around the local beaches from Old Bar through to Forster. Taree itself also had a lookout which overlooked the Manning River. It was all quite pleasant, but nothing exceptional.
