My first week and time away from hospital

It's about a week since I started to my travels. I'm now settled in and getting into it here.

My day in hospital runs from 8 am to 4 pm week days, but that is flexible if I choose. I'm also on call in case of an emergency in one of the outlying settlements. If we get an emergency call we need to go by helicopter to pick them up after a telephone triage.

The hospital has been very welcoming, even giving me a set of keys so I can come in at night to use the internet to stay in contact with home.

Yesterday I went with one both of the lab technicians and my host's husband for a trip by sea kayak round the island. We were guided by one of the lab techs as that is his main business with the lab work and radiography side lines. The sun was intense, but due to the sea temp (possibly around 1 deg C) we had to wear dry suits in case of capsize. Putting my hand under water to take some pictures of icebergs was a painful experience. I'm hoping to go for a swim before I leave, but now I've seen how cold the water is I don't expect to be in for long. It is a strange experience on the water here. All you can hear are the waves lapping the shore and then there is a huge boom as the stress in an iceberg gets too much and a crack propagates through it, this then repeats a few times, sometimes resulting in a piece breaking away and the berg turning over. For this reason we didn't go too near to the big icebergs or hand around for too long. There is a risk of either a piece breaking off above you or a piece breaking off from below the water and then hitting you from below.

Today a few of us went for a walk, even though it is cool / cold in the shade, once you are in the sun you start overheating quickly. Dressing for any activity in this place is a nightmare.

I'm still trying to find a way off the island to go for a walk on the bigger / higher islands near by.

Sorry that there are no pictures, but I've no way of resizing them. I will add pictures once home to complete the story.

If you want to go kayaking check out Nikonaj's website. DYODD first though.