Only Exams to go!

I have now completed all assessments that are internally assessed and just have three exams to go until the end of the semester! Very excited that my first year is coming to an end, to be able to celebrate the fact that I have done eight university level papers and am still going!

I will be doing one paper over the summer period- impaired body function (science); this is to get me ahead for next year, as in the first semester I will be doing purely nursing paper with out this science one meaning I can concentrate on my nursing, and placement without having impaired to do as well.  In second semester I will have four again, including my last science paper of the degree- pharmacology.

By science papers I mean the health sciences that come under their own category for paper numbers, as they are not part of the nursing department, and are used for more than one degree.  Most of my other papers are all nursing based.

Placement is over, and so are lectures (almost)

Last friday was my last day at the hospital on placement, it was an amazing experience and I can't wait for next years Nursing placements! I am nearing the end of my first year at university, I handed my last assignment in on Sunday night (due Monday 9am) and only have tomorrow's catch-up lecture and a lab, and then I'm on study leave for my exams!

I have one next Thursday which is a practical examination, And the a week a half break until my three written exams.

I will finish the Aussie posts at some point... but for now, I should study.

Australia Aug/Sept 2014- part 3

On the third day we were in Tasmania we did the convict trail and went out to Port Arthur.  It was a relatively long drive but ended up being pretty amazing.  We saw some extraordinary sights on the way, as we stopped at "The Blowhole", "Tasman's arch", and also "The Devils Kitchen".  They are various formations and degradations that the ocean has created over time.

The boards I have a kind of photograph of give very limited if any explanation as to the natural occurrences, I suggest using google if you are interested any further.

 I will add a video* of the "action" soon, in another post.

 I will add a video* of the "action" soon, in another post.

*if it lets me.

Australia Aug/Sept 2014- part 2

Tasmania! 

We left for the airport super early in order to get there on time- which we did in plenty, and then learnt that the plane would be delayed by half an hour at the least.  This was due to fog over Launceston (the destination for this leg of the trip).  Once we finally made it into the air, after being called for over the intercom on a final boarding call... (lets just say there were a lot of "firsts" to this trip).  

We had a relatively non eventful flight, until we were above the top of Tasmania where we were yet again, put into a left hand hold and were left circling Tasmania (I think I counted five times at least!- it was for about an hour.)  With at one point during that time when the Pilot said that it was okay that we're just waiting for 600-1000m of visibility on the ground, and we had an hour and a half fuel left (reassuring until we had been the for an hour).  We had a plane that was coming in from Sydney at the same time ahead of us, which attempted landing once, and at last minute couldn't, then attempt again, and if that wasn't to be had, they were diverting to Hobart.  If that ended up happening (which it didn't) we would have followed a similar path I would think.

The plane from Sydney in front of us waiting for the fog to clear/lift.

Launceston Airport

We got off the plane, finally, and got a car (SUV type thing) to drive around in for the next four days and headed North-ish.  We had no itinerary and were just kinda figuring out what to do as we felt like. Not the way I'm use to doing things, but it worked.  

We ended up in Deloraine where we found an info centre and they suggested a few different place to us.  One being the Marakoopa caves where we had an hours guided tour, with the history and how it was formed.  And then we headed to Trowunna Wildlife Park- which was possibly my absolute favourite/highlight of the trip!  

Marakoopa Caves

At Trowunna, we got to hold a wombat, touch/pat a Tasmanian Devil, feed kangaroos, pet the said kangaroos and their joey's, and shake hands with them too.  We saw other animals but the Tassie Devils, kangaroo's and the wombat were the more interactive sorta ones.

Daniel with the wombat.

Me with the wombat.

Cute Tassie Devil!

Feeding a kangaroo- from the bag of pellets.

Joey.

Me with the kangaroo.

The following day we headed down to Hobart and had a look at the Salamanca Markets, and walked around the wharf and looked around a bit before walking up a MASSIVE hill that overlooked Hobart- pretty amazing sites, pity we didn't know that you could drive up there in the first place! The walk was pretty neat though- and we saw a wild wallaby on the way back down.

Hobart Wharf.

Top of the hill! Looking out over Hobart/ Tasmania.

Australia Aug/Sept 2014- part 1

This is going to be much easier for me to write, and for you to read if I break it up into parts.

On August 27th I headed off over the Tasman, from Auckland to Melbourne for a bit of a holiday (Uni mid-semester break) but mainly to go and visit my brother, Daniel.  Flying with Jetstar I was a little sceptical, but the flights were on time (apart from delayed due to fog coming into Melbourne) and were pretty good flights even if I was bored half the time due to no "backseat" entertainment.  They did offer around iPads at a cost, but I had my laptop to watch a movie on, but only got halfway through it due to motion sickness- hence being bored (even though its only a four hour flight too).

My plane through the boarding gate window.

The plane was due to land in Melbourne at 11pm local-time (1am NZ), we were originally half an hour ahead of schedule due to good tail winds and taking off bang on 9pm (they weren't having to hunt down passengers for once!)  When we would have been landing the pilot said over the intercom that the plane was being put into a left-hand hold getting to circle over the city due to fog on the ground.  Half an hour later we were cleared to land, and disembark.

Daniel met me at the airport and took me back to his fathers house where I guess you could call "base" for the trip as I only stayed there for three nights.  Daniel went to work the next morning and so I spent the day with Irene, she showed me around the local area a little, and went to see the new marina development, the beach, Werribee mansion and the mall.  We had lunch out and spent the afternoon back at the house, where I went for a walk to explore the area and finished watching the movie I didn't get to finish of the plane.

That night when Daniel was home from work we looked up places to go and things to do in Australia and ended up booking flights for 7am the next morning from Melbourne to Launcestion, Tasmania!

Early Morning Beach Walk

This morning I woke up at 4.30am.... Yes, that early, and couldn't get back to sleep.  So at 5.40am when I had had enough of lying in my nice comfy warm bed watching the sky I decided to get up and have a shower and throw some clothes on and head out to Browns Bay beach.

Its morning like this where I wish I was back in Orewa and had a the beach a two minute walk away... as it is now a 10minute drive to the closest beach!!

Looking out to Rangitoto Island

North end of the beach

I got out there at 6.30am when it was still pitch black and went for a walk along the beach and took some photos as I went, there were a couple of other people but not many.  The sun rose at 7am and it became a little busier.  Once the sun was right up I went to find the closest supermarket for bread and milk and well... I went to put the bread in the toaster earlier and found it was mouldy. Yuck! And the milk.. well, can't have a coffee without can I?

About 6.45am

Browns Bay

South end of the beach

Browns bay beach at 7.15am

I plan on going into Uni as soon as the library opens at 10am to finish (hopefully) my essay and sheets to do to hand in on Monday.. well that are due Monday.

Just another uni post...

In the week coming up I have three assignments due, I am just extremely thankful that none of them are on the same day! I have one due Monday 9am, one Friday midnight (I think), and the other on Sunday at midnight.  Weird times as all the assignments that I have done previously have all been due on the Monday at 9am.

I have also found out where I am spending my two weeks on placement.  I have been given my ward, times, charge nurse, and also the other student in my class who is sorta like my partner in a way.  I have my first 40 hour week doing 3pm-11pm Monday-Friday and the second week is 7am-3pm Monday-Friday.  I will be car-pooling with a friend as we have to pay for parking and petrol costs.. so that will at least be halved between us!

Right now.. it is half past mid-night, my flat is extremely loud as there is a bunch of drunk teenagers downstairs.  I feel sorry for the neighbours! I text a friend who is next-door and she had been wondering what was going on... that was two hours ago.  Its getting louder as it gets later.

Its also my 100th post!!!

Semester Two!

Well.... I am already two and a half weeks into semester two, it has been a super busy two weeks as well! I have spent the last two days in the library when I am not in lectures from 8am til 5pm or so writing assignments.. (trying to at least) and doing other work and quizzes for my papers too!

(Oh, and I passed all of my last semester exams/papers!)

I could almost call the library my second home! I did spend last friday in there all day but not to much exactly got done as other nursing classmates came and we sat talking (more like grossing out the people around us) about our experiences and things we had come across within our last placement/ work and general nursey things... As level one of the library is a more group/ able to talk to people study area.. its never quiet, so didn't make us feel too bad!!

Its scary to think there is only three and a half week until mid semester break and I get to go and see my brother in Australia!!!! Super excited!

O-Week!

Orientation Week for Semester Two!

Just a frosty morning walking up to Uni... (I keep wishing it was snow.. but its not!)

O-Week for me is basically just a week of 11am-1pm games and free food, and free all sorts outside of student central at Uni, the main (and official) stuff happens in semester one, but the still have a week of fun activities in the second semester.

Here are some photos from it:

Outside of student central (main cafe/amenities centre (and my science lab block) is the building to the right).

Tayla and myself... with a bunch of ANZ reps... BLUE!

Holidays!

Over the semester break/holidays I got up some pretty awesome stuff! -Never ended up doing Rangitoto because the weather didn't want me to ;)

LOTS of stay at home- relax days! I spent a day colouring in, drawing, reading, and writing in pyjama day one day.. other days I watched movies/ TV, and some.. I just sat and did not all that much, it was really good, and rather relaxing!

I took Libby (Toni's daughter) down to the Auckland Domain to meet someone to take her to her Dads, with Toni and Sam (her son), and we went through the car wash on the way back (something apparently neither had done..) IT WAS COLOURFUL FOAM!!

When I was due to go down to work to meet someone for a catch up I had to sit in stopped traffic because they were chopping trees down and doing landscaping work down the Waiwera hill to make it safer I am assuming because of slips an rock fall that happen there quite a bit!

North Head

On the second Friday after my exams had finished friends from high school Bailey, Stacey and Strachan had organised to go to the tunnels at North Head in Devonport once the first semester of University was over, to catch up with each other as Bailey was in Dunedin for first semester, I was at Massey and the other two were together at Auckland Uni.  We also spend a day at Stacey's hanging out and watching movies all day the following Wednesday.

Stacey, Bailey, Me

Rangitoto Island

Strachan, Bailey, Stacey, and me with the city in the background!

Tawharanui with Taylor

During the first week of the mid year break I spent an afternoon out at Tawharanui Regional Park/ Beach with Taylor taking photos and exploring the area a little bit.

I love the landscape of Tawharanui, Summer is just amazing here! We plan to go back and camp over summer here too as they have camp grounds!!

These are a few of the photos taken as there were over 400 by the end of the day.

 

Taylor and her flat rock... 

We took heaps of pictures trying to catch the splash as the waves hit the rocks

Me and the crap shell we found...

Semester one is complete!

So, my first semester at University is now finished, its over, its complete.

I sat my last exam this morning and so I am now awaiting my results which I think take about three weeks from the end of the exam period to be marked and put online for us to see.

This afternoon I was a bit baffled as to what to do.. I am thinking I am going to need to find some projects to work on over the semester break as I am not going to have episodes of Greys Anatomy to catch up on.. but I am thinking about starting the Games of Thrones series.. not to sure if I want to enter the obsession that everyone has over it though.

I have a busy couple of days ahead of me and then it will die down and I hope to be off exploring and adventuring, one plan is to go to Rangitoto Island, to do walks around there and to spend the day there.  I believe that Rangitoto Island is New Zealand's newest formed volcanic island, approximately 600 years old.

Tomorrow I am involved in the National Men's Health Day in Northcote with a team of student nurses taking blood pressures and blood sugar levels (yes, sticking people) among other things.

I am then going to be going straight from the event to hitting my bed and having a nap before I go to work and do a night shift. They joy of having a holiday and being able to ring work to actually ask for some shifts instead of other things!

Exams are here

My Semester One exams are finally here... The past four months of classes, placement, dissections and labs have come to an end and exams are taking their place for the next week.  A weekend full of study and of course a touch of procrastination, and yesterday filled with study groups and collaboration with my nursing mates over past exam questions and lots of laughter... We are a rather loud bunch... especially when there are multiple groups of us over the bottom floor of the library making a bit of noise with people trying to study around us.

We had that exam today, my nursing praxis paper.  That exam was worth 50% of the final grade and we must get 60% in the exam to pass the paper...

My exam on Friday is human bioscience... the dissection paper! That one is worth 50% too, and I must get 40% in the exam to pass the paper.

Next Monday I have my academic writing and research in nursing paper.  This one I have already passed as I got my second assignment results yesterday and needed a scraping pass to pass the paper without the need of relying on the exam.  The exam is only worth 20% and not set passing percentage in it.

Next Tuesday I have psychology as a social science exam, there is no set mark in it though, just have to get about 40% to pass the paper with my grades from my assignments combined as the exam is worth 60% of the final grade.

Endocrine System Revision..

I thought that I should go and do something another classmate did for learning and studying for exams for the endocrine system: blow up the guy in our lab book from A4 to A2...

I went into the local warehouse stationary to do this.. and as expected.. a couple of weird looks, I guess that is what will happen when you ask them to do that to diagrams of the body, guessing this will be my life from now on... life of a nursing student!

He's rather big... and on my wardrobe door now

Not expecting you to be able to read it... just my notes for each gland/part etc.

First Semester is coming to an end...

My first semester at University is coming to an end soon, this is my last week of lectures before going on exam leave! I have my normal classes and labs this week and next week I think I have two revision sessions for two different papers, but put on the same day to save those that travel from coming in twice as majority in my bioscience class are nursing students.  I have my first exam of four, on June 10th and the last on June 17th, where I will then be done for the semester and awaiting my final marks I get for each paper.

Spontaneous night to the City...

..Taylor and I started off by Taylor deciding to come to my flat after she finished work and then we wanted to do something different, spontaneous and just to get out of the house... so we went to Takapuna Beach, then headed off to have dinner at Pita Pit.

...Taking random "selfies" (I hate that word with a passion..) at the beach...

KiwiYo for dessert..

This is just the beginning of our random, just cause we felt like it trip into the city on a Saturday night.

After eating and as we were about to head back to Albany we were on the road to the motorway on/off ramps, talking about how I love the massive bendy curve bit from Esmonde Road North, and how Mum always forgets and hates it and seems to end up heading into Auckland City.  

On our way into the city we had a few options of where we wanted to go and explore and ended up at the Skycity parking lot where we thought, hey, lets go up the Skytower just for the fun of it! 

Down to buy the tickets... I didn't have my student ID on me but he let me get in for student prices! YUS!

Going up... up... up... 51 stories up! 

You could see the city from inside the lift!

Taylor's first time EVER going up the skytower!!!

Random skytower photos..

AUCKLAND CITY!!

Standing on the glass.. scary when it decides to creek!!! haha..... we jumped on it too!

Taking photos of the magnets.. (I should keep this in mind sometimes...)

Love this one!!

After the skytower we went for a walk to look at the cathedral.. (Skytower is the red lit building in the distance)

......Photos....

Sad to be leaving... 

actually it was cause these people tried to use the ticket booth before us..... we were there first.. :)

It was a rather awesomely spontaneous trip into the city but it was pretty cool to see the city at night and walk around Hobson Street and down a couple others... walking past clubs and bars... Hurry up and turn 18 Taylor!! 

Finished my night off with a cider at my flat :)