Homesick for healthcare

Let’s rewind a bit, shall we?

Three weeks ago, I was intent on getting travel insurance. Mostly because, preparedness is engrained in me – but in a way that’s not sane. Seriously, you should see the size of the bag I take on overnight trips.

But, I soon discovered that you could only get travel insurance for up to 3/4 of a year and well, that wasn’t going to cut it for my purposes. So I did a little research and found that I could get insurance here in NZ under my working holiday visa. Only thing was, I had to be in the country to apply. Cool, I’ll sort that when I get there.

Except, I didn’t expect to end up needing to see a doctor on my second day in NZ. And not to worry, everything is fine; I just needed a prescription. The catch here, is that I’m a spoiled Canadian who is accustomed to my oh-so-free-healthcare that permits me the luxury of visiting a doctor whenever my nose so much as runs a little. (Which, because I’m a hypochondriac, I do.)

So an appointment that would’ve cost me nothing at home, put me back $200 here. Ouch. Just another thing I’m going to have to get used to.

But the day wasn’t all bad. After my doctor’s appointment, I went and got a coffee in town and then sat on the lake’s edge and tried to stop rubbing my eyes in disbelief that this is my new view.

Tomorrow is my first day at Mons Royale and I’m a little nervous. It’s been my dream to work for a company in the biking/skiing industry. But now I’m worried I don’t know enough about the sports themselves. Fake it ’til you make it? We’ll see.

• JB