Our last day as guests of the Rotary Club of East Coast Bays and what a day it was.
Firstly it was off to the North Shore City Council where Beverley Rogers met us and then introduced us to the personnel who would give us an overview of local government in New Zealand. Steve Goeldner who is a specialist in Planning gave us a great insight into the methodology of how they approach the many aspects of planning and then Marie Bradley who had also been our guide for the previous day talked about the environment and how Council approach the various arms of environment planning and control.
We then had morning tea with the Councillors and after a quick photo session we were surprised by the Deputy Mayor who presented the team with silk ties and scarfes. Tania and Brian went off to have an interesting discussion with Rob Pitney about the upcoming merger of Councils and the effect that it is having on marketing and communications planning whilst Rogen and Kelly enjoyed a briefing session with Francois Schoeman who is Council's Human Resources Group Manager.
We left the Council very impressed with their attitude towards ratepayers and their respective roles and duties.
Off to lunch then we headed to North Shore Hospital to meet Jane Hunter who is the executive Director of the Hospital Foundation. Jane is also a Rotarian. She took us on a guided tour including a short video of the hospitals funding arrangements. We managed to see every aspect of a hospital from the emergency area to the outpatients area and even the birthing area was on the agenda. Jane is an inspirational lady with an unmatched internal strength that keeps her going against the odds.
We all left with a very high opinion of the work that Jane has done in conjunction with Rotary and various other fundraising bodies.
Tomorrow sadly is the day we leave our wonderful hosts, and Coordinator Bob Baird who have made our stay with the East Coast Bays a memorable one.
From all the team our thanks for your kindness, fellowship and generosity.