clinic@cavershamphysio.co.nz; 4877323
CAVERSHAM PHYSIO NEWSLETTER No.32, February 2017
Hello again,
As I listen to the familiar sound of another drenching for the garden happening outside, I hope you are all feeling if not bronzed and rested, then well-read and rested! What a challenging summer it has been, but by the time you are reading this hopefully the sun will be shining (as it now is outside too!), the wind will have abated, and summer 2017 will be here for a good few weeks!!! I think our son Ben has been having chill at last in London, as their temps were the same as ours for most of Christmas, but we should be pleased that our wind issues are meaning we are not inhaling smog at Beijing/London levels, as he is. His daily commute on his bike to work in Soho has left him with a cough this week, so he is off to buy himself a mask! At least we don’t have that complaint thanks to regular gales!
Our 2017 does seem to be off with a hiss and a roar. Blair kindly looked after you all at Caversham whilst we snuck a wee break up in Central. Nicki returned from her favourite haunt in Kaikoura and helped him, and we are all back to normal again now. Geoffrey took our daughter Margie off to explore the “Shania Twain” track up the Motutapu Valley, discovering just how necessary it was to walk on all fours at one section, and sadly not a surprise that an experienced walker slipped and died there since its opening. It was a lovely explore though, and they missed the crazy weather that was happening further in the mountains. It was interesting to discover an English family, who now live in Australia, were spending the weekend in the hut, whilst they rented out their home in Wanaka for a lot more than the $5 hut fee …… Not quite what our country has designed its backcountry huts to be for I’m sure! Anyway, a lovely time away, and always great to get into the hills. Barbara’s knees are managing 1.5hours cycling around Wanaka, but not quite up to as long on walks, but making great progress, so I’ll be tramping again at the end of this year/2018 I’m sure. Sadly the news for the Physio Pool fills us all with despair, as if it wasn’t for the rehab I was able to do on a daily basis initially there from the first week I broke both tibia, I would not have progressed nearly as swiftly or regained such great function. We are all going to have to get active and ensure this important resource is kept, whatever the decisions in Wellington. The corner section where the Pool sits, will accommodate the rest of the facility being built around it I’m sure – we just cannot let this incredibly useful and necessary resource go. If you have not needed it yet, you can be sure that in the next 30 years you or your family will benefit from it, so please help our decision makers take a long-range view, enabling the many fundraised upgrade dollars to be used.
Geoffrey also over the holidays kept his athletics training up to speed, as he is competing in the World Masters in Auckland in April! We had a great ride during the holidays exploring the bike tracks around Queenstown – we were lucky to pick a day with a light tail wind for our ride from the Queenstown Gardens to Gibbston vineyard. It was a gorgeous ride, and if any of you have not yet explored these rides, I would strongly suggest you take your bikes and get there. The area is peppered with great tracks, with very reasonable gradients designed for families, so very easy to be able to ride safely! We took our togs, and had a lovely swim in the river part way along, so a perfect day!
Blair’s cycling has also been ramping up again, and he is about to compete in the series of South Island races over the next few months. We wish him all the best, and if his first race result at Sam’s was anything to go by, he is in great form! Talking of cycling, we at the clinic are all going to be part of the Aotearoa Bike Challenge in February. If your workplace hasn’t registered yet, do sign up. There are great prizes on offer, including a trip to Croatia! As the NZTA has kindly given money to make our main cycling routes safer in Dunedin (YAY!), activities like this will become safer each year, so get on out there and start your day with a commute to work. If Barbara can bike from Andy Bay to Mercy Hospital 4 months after fracturing both legs, I’m sure you can do a wee trek too! There are lots of places with bike libraries for people to borrow bikes, so start off on gentle rides like the Maia track, which is free of cars entirely, and make 2017 your year to get back on a bike. Another fun activity we all love to support is the yummy Go by Bike Breakfast in the Octagon, this year on 22 February, starting at 6.30am and runs through until 9am, so just turn up and enjoy a FREE breakfast of fresh fruit, croissants and coffee whilst chatting with other cycle commuters.
We are thrilled to have two new faces joining us this year. Vanessa Gordon, Physiotherapist, is going to be working with us part time, around looking after her little children. Vanessa is a friend of Fiona’s who many of you will remember, having met and worked alongside her at SDHB, and now comes to us with many skills from Waihi Physiotherapy and Acupuncture clinic. She will be working for us on Tuesday and Friday mornings, and has a special interest in all forms of community physio, pre and post-natal physiotherapy, and helping people rehab back to work.
Leah McHale is our other new face and is joining our clinic as our Massage Therapist from February. Leah is a regular at our Pilates classes, enjoys Zumba, Running (her next event is the St Clair Vineyard Half Marathon in May) and is an Accounts Manager as well! Leah graduated from Aoraki with a Dip Advanced Therapeutic Massage with Distinction in 2013, and has since added to her toolkit by completing courses in Advanced Myofascial Release Techniques, and Dry Needling, Acupressure and Pain Management. Leah has been asked to be a travelling team sports massage therapist for the Warriors, Bulldogs (NRL), Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby), in amongst providing massage for many elite athletes (Marathon, Ultra Marathon and Triathletes) and particularly enjoys working with back-into-it athletes and weekend warriors. She has worked alongside physios and acupuncturists in various facilities, helping people after surgery, accidents, sports injuries, chronic pain, frozen shoulders and many other injuries. She also has experience working with oncology patients and enjoys providing massage at her grandmother’s rest home. Her massage specialties include Therapeutic Deep Tissue and Sports Massage, Myofascial Release, Neuromuscular Therapy, Dryneedling, and Pre and Post-Natal Massage, so we are thrilled to be able to have Leah working alongside us at the clinic on Wednesdays and Fridays. The charge for an hour massage is $60, and gift vouchers are available.
Everyone who bikes to their Physio/Massage/Pilates session during February is in the draw for a fabulous prize
As you know, we are all rather keen on our cycling, and as February is traditionally the month we make the most of summer and encourage riding as much as possible, we have decided to offer a special prize to one lucky cyclist who arrives at our door for their Physiotherapy, Massage or Pilates session during February. You will all be put in the draw, so dust off your bike, and harness it to the CAVY bike stand out the front when you arrive (just don’t forget to lock it or you will be as sad as Barbara was when hers was stolen from there this time last year by some light-fingered layabout!). We do have a bike lock inside the clinic, should you forget yours! Anyway, let’s see how many park up at one time – CHALLENGE!!!, and we have a great prize awaiting one of you, drawn at the end of February.
Pilates restarts for the year on Monday 13 February and Tuesday 14th 5.30pm or 6.30pm. Classes this year will cost $120 for the term (Mon 8 sessions – Otago Anniversary), or $135 for Tuesday classes (as there will be 9 sessions). All classes need to be paid for on the first week of term, and we urge you to confirm now if you would like to ensure your place for Term 1. Classes run until the week of Good Friday, and then we have 2 weeks holidays.
The RNZ Ballet is back in town in Feb and Geoffrey will be providing the physiotherapy for the troupe this time round whilst Blair is out of town cycle racing, but then Blair will continue to provide care for this fabulous group of artistic athletes throughout the rest of the year. Geoffrey has also been asked to provide the Physio service for the Otago Athletics team at Nationals too, so a busy time for all! Blair’s Bike Fits are being hugely appreciated by the biking community too, so if you would like your set up reviewed, he will provide a comprehensive assessment/set up, and deal with anything that may be causing injury or discomfort – we are also happy to provide vouchers. Blair also enjoys running analysis, so don’t hesitate to get in touch, or ask for this extra advice if you would like any. We were very proud of his achievement as Otago’s Cross Country Senior Men’s Champion last year, and recently Geoffrey broke an Otago record in the 3km at the Caledonian – turning 60 last year seems not to have slowed him down!
Ben has also been having fun in London, so I will finish with this report from his clubmate that I’m sure will appeal to all the Cross Country athletes amongst you – the writer certainly has a marvellous turn of phrase!
“On a beautifully, wintry, sun-drenched Richmond park 23 Ranelagh’s found the start. It’s a cracking run because it winds round the park on a different, yet challenging, course to what we’re used to. So long as you follow the numerous yellow flags you can’t go wrong. Now about those Yellow flags… yet again it is saddening to report that someone / something decided to uproot some flags in a critical part of the course near Pens Ponds. I could see the outstanding Ben Anderson (who led by miles throughout) running in circles, arms flailing and looking confused. He’d gone left and followed the flags but this should have been straight on. Not that we were to know this. Shortly the leading pack had grouped and were all running round like headless chickens until we spotted three Milocarians sneak through on what looked like the right course. A mad dash through some woods then put us back on course and shortly after was a marshall adorned in flags showing the correct route. We (politely as possible!) told him about the sabotage but by the sounds of it he didn’t think to move from his flag station as annoyingly several other groups of runners went wrong too. So back to the race and the impact this had. The outstanding Ben Anderson amazingly managed to pick off the three sneaky Milocarians for a superb win, quite how he did this I don’t know as he had it all to do with 1.5miles to go. It was inconsequential in the end as the 23 put in a great performance to snatch the win with Milocarians in 2nd, Hecules Wimbledon taking 3rd”
Best wishes to you all for an equally successful start to 2017, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if we can assist you getting back to work and play. We are open 8-5pm Monday to Friday, and the Walking Group: Tuesdays 5.30pm.
Geoff and Barbara, Blair, Vanessa, Leah and Nicki. 4877323, clinic@cavershamphysio.co.nz.
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