From Dr Graham McGeoch, a General Practitioner and Director of the Better Health Group:

I like fishing and Better Health practices are all situated really well to take advantage of Anglers’ Eldorado, New Zealand.

Barrington Medical Centre and Moorhouse Medical Centres are only an hour from two of the best salmon rivers in the Southern Hemisphere. Brown and Searun trout can be caught within the same distance in probably 30 different rivers, lakes and streams.  All this is available on a single licence for NZ$116 per year.

Better Health’s Diamond Harbour medical practice is situated in Lyttelton Harbour, where sole, flounder and rig can be set netted or drag netted after work.  The boat ramp at Charteris Bay is a popular starting point.

Banks Peninsular juts out into the Pacific Ocean from Lyttelton and its many bays are teaming with crayfish.  The visibility can be low due to the snow-fed salmon rivers flowing into the sea but in the summer, stable patches of weather allow dozens of crays to be taken on scuba. The scenery above and below water is spectacular.  Spear fisherman target butterfish (green bone) and moki. Both are good eating fish.  I got a large cray snorkelling less than 20minutes boat trip from Diamond Harbour last year.

Better Health Timaru is right on the ocean and also has salmon, trout and sea fishing on its doorstep.  Moeraki is just down the coast and is renowned for its blue cod fishing.

A good way to find out about fishing in NZ is to look at the following links:

http://www.gonefishin.co.nz (pictures on me on here!)

http://www.fishing.net.nz

http://www.nzfishing.com

Thinking about arranging a practice exchange? If you’re a doctor who enjoys a game of golf, here’s an even better idea:

Arrange a locum for your practice and come and work as a doctor in Canterbury.  Then you can enjoy some of the finest golf in the world in your spare time.

New Zealand has the second highest number of golf courses per capita in the world. Because New Zealand is a small country, you’re never more than a short drive away from a green.

In the Canterbury region, we have some outstanding public greens and top level resort golf courses, and even though they’re extremely popular, you never feel crowded on a New Zealand course. In fact, most of the time, you can play a round of golf with a mate or two and feel like the only people around for miles.

Here is a sample of just a few of the awesome golf courses in and around Christchurch and Canterbury in New Zealand’s South Island:

Clearwater Golf Resort http://www.clearwaternz.com/

Minutes away from Christchurch Airport and only 15 minutes’ drive from central Christchurch city.

Terrace Downs Golf Resort http://www.terracedowns.co.nz/

I hour’s drive from Christchurch, this golf resort is on the Rakaia River, minutes from Lake Coleridge and only a short drive to the Mt Hutt ski field.

Hagley Park Golf Club http://www.hagleygc.org.nz/

Right in the heart of central Christchurch, this course is open to all comers.

Russley Golf Club http://www.russleygolfclub.co.nz/

Only 2 minutes’ drive from Christchurch Airport, this long established championship course has a large following of admirers.

Charteris Bay Golf Club

5 minutes from Diamond Harbour and 25 minutes’ drive from central Christchurch, this is one of the quietest courses in Canterbury. Perfect if you want to get away from the city for a peaceful round of golf, surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city, hit the international headlines when it experienced a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 4 September 2011 and then a 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011.

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Doctors have noticed that it is much easier to pursue and develop a special interest in medicine in New Zealand than in the UK or Ireland.  Doctors working as General Practitioners in Better Health medical centres are able to work a mix of general practice sessions and triage walk-in clinics, as well as focus on more specialised work such as:

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The business of general practice in New Zealand is set to change over the next decade as older doctors and nurses retire, whilst demand is set to rise as the NZ population ages and replacement doctors and nurses become harder to recruit into general practice.

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