07 December 2021
Mihi mai ki a Kiri Cameron who retired from the Murupara Medical Centre as a nurse for Te Ika Whenua a few years ago.
She takes us on a journey recalling fond memories of when she worked with Dr Bernard Conlon.
Here's her story…..
I worked with Dr Bernard Conlon when he ran clinics in Ruatāhuna and would stop in to see patients in Te Whaiti and Minginui on his way back to Murupara.
Invariably with him was a trainee medical student from Auckland Medical School, a fully packed truck filled with Bernard’s equipment as well as me, the nurse jammed in next to a chilly bin & other bins full of medical supplies on either side.
We would travel a winding, narrow and metal road with an odd slip on the roadside. We were lucky if you’d pass a grader to move some of the big rocks to the side of the road. We often contended with dust from the vehicle in front if it hadn’t rained for a while.
Our whanaunga who reside in Te Urewera know every corner of this road and if there were any accidents - it was mainly strangers who thought they could travel to Rotorua from Wairoa through Ruatahuna in half an hour.
They would end up making it to Murupara, a car door open and vomiting on the side because of speed, winding roads and the steep inclines!
Back then, some travellers who drove through this remotely beautiful valley also had a perception that Ruatāhuna had a petrol bowser and would need to ask to borrow a can of petrol from our wonderful locals there.
Still, in my mind, I remember one piece of advice given to a tourist, ‘turn off your motor and let it cruise down the hilly parts.’ I'm sure they never came back through that way again. State Highway 38 through the majestic Te Urewera National Park is stunning but the road can be scary for people who’ve never travelled through there before.
During the winter the ride, with the frost or snow, was picturesque and the medical students were always in awe of the scenery and the beauty of Te Urewera.
After the last patients were seen in the school clinics in Te Urewera, we visited and enjoyed the hospitality of Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Whare before heading back to Murupara.
We always got back to the surgery late but your work wasn't finished with unpacking & labelling of samples to send to the lab the next day or that night if you were lucky to catch someone in the team travelling back to Rotorua.
Often after returning to the surgery, Bernard would continue to see patients. Always a good listener, you’d often hear him having a chuckle with his patients before he’d wrap up for the day and head home. Such is Dr Bernard Conlon, a dedicated, caring and conscientious person to his patients.
He mihi nui ki a mātou tākuta, ki a koe Bernard kōrua ko tō hoa rangatira a Britta | Many thanks to our doctors. To you Bernard and your lovely wife, Britta.
He tākuta hūmārie kōrua. He tākuta arohatinonui, he tākuta Rangatira | You are both humble doctors. Very beloved doctors who are leaders.
Tīhei Mauri Ora.
Nāku iti noa nei nā,
Kiri Cameron
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