West Coast

January 31, 2010

On Monday morning I went in and signed up for fruit picking. Unfortunately they don’t have any jobs until February 20th. I went for a quick run that afternoon and then met the Stray bus and headed to Marahua. The town of Marahua is located just outside Abel Tasman National Park and the backpackers I stayed at was only 1 minute from the entrance to the National Park. Five other people and I stayed in a large tent that was slightly cheaper than the dorm rooms.

We had a barbeque the first night, which included chicken, pork sausages, beef, a giant salad, hashbrowns and mussels. I tried the mussels although I have to say I was not a big fan. That night we went for a walk on the beach. The tide was out and we were able to walk a long way. We walked back in the dark and then spent some time by the fire.

The next morning Alex and I went kayaking on the coastline of Abel Tasman. It was my first time kayaking but I enjoyed it very much. After a few beach stops for some snacks, we landed at the watering cove and had some lunch. The sun came out and we sunbathed for a bit and just before we were about to leave a bumblebee stung me.

The walk back to the backpackers was quite scenic with golden beaches, lush rainforest and bright blue waters. It took us about three and a half hours but after the first hill it was relatively flat. That night, after a three-hour nap, we celebrated Laura’s 20th birthday with leftovers, ice cream and candles.

The next morning we were on the bus early. We stopped at a few spots for pictures and went to see another seal colony. We also stopped at a place called Pancake rocks. The rocks are layered and form blowholes where the water spurts out at the top. I think it was low tide when we were there so I didn’t get to see that but I think I could have sat and watched the waves crash against the rocks all day.

Next stop was Barrytown. Stray always stops here and they have a theme party that night. They have a room full of old clothes that you can use and bins full of accessories. Our theme was heroes and villains and we had people dressed up as Super Stray, Super Tourist and Hitler among others. I used eye shadow to create a mask and used my sarong as a cape. We played some drinking games and I ended up playing the piano at the end of the night.

The next morning I went for a run down to the beach. When I got back they announced that the winner of the dress-up contest was Hilter, which was sort of bad considering it was the anniversary of Auschwitz. We then got on the bus and headed to Franz Joseph. We stopped at a Jade factory on the way where they turn the green stone found on the beaches into fine jewelry and sculptures.

Franz Joseph was absolutely stunning. It is a small town on the coast with the Southern Alps rising up behind it. The Franz Joseph Glacier is close by and attracts thousands of tourists every year. Most of the people on the Stray bus and I did the full day glacier walk. We walked through the valley and then up the steep rock pile before hitting the ice. Then we spent over five hours exploring the caves, crevices and fresh water pools that have been formed. At the end of the day Lara and I spent three hours in the hot pools across the street.

The next morning we were on the road early. After a stop at the stunning mirror lake (too bad it was cloudy and raining) we traveled through the Haast pass to get to Makarora. Half of the group went on a jet boat ride down the river (half price!) and afterwards I had the most amazing meal of lamb chops, mashed potatoes and peas all smothered in gravy. After a quick shower we all met at the pub for some drinking and karaoke.

The next morning we were on our way to Queenstown. We stopped at a town called Wanaka where they had a place called Puzzle World. Lara came with me and we had a great couple of hours going through the maze and checking all of the optical illusions. Later we stopped by the A.J. Hackett bungy site in the Kawarau gorge. Some people jumped today but others, like Lara and me, will be throwing ourselves off the bridge tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.

My friend Monia and I will be hopefully staying in Queenstown for a while. Tomorrow, after the bungy jumping, we will look for work and try to find a cheap place to rent out for the month. I think Daisy, our male driver, is going to help us look since he has lived here for 4 years. That’s it for now. The travels are going well and I really hope I can find a job here and make at least some money.

On the Road Again

January 24, 2010

Change of plans. The job hunt was not going well and the constant rejection and sitting around doing nothing all day was getting to me. So I have decided to start traveling. I bought a Ron pass from the Stray travel company, which covers the whole South Island. If I make some money I would like to upgrade to the Bret pass, which would allow me to see the rest of the North Island before I leave.

I booked the trip on Tuesday and was to depart from Amberley the next morning. They sent me a confirmation email that stated they would pick me up on Wednesday January 20th in front of the Amberley public toilets at 9:45 am. John took some time off work to bring my bags and me to the pick-up point and waited with me for the bus. We were there about half an hour early and finally called Stray at 10:15 to check if the bus was coming. They put me on hold for a long time and eventually came back on and told me they would call me back. John went back to work and I waited for another hour and half before I called them back to ask if I should be waiting for a bus or not. Apparently they knew that I needed to be picked up they just didn’t know where and had passed through Amberley before we got to the pickup point. They offered to put me on a public bus that night but I opted to wait for the next Stray bus on Friday.

Wednesday afternoon I went shopping at the local grocery store (not cheap) to get ingredients for a couple of meals. The food is slightly different here and I had to make a lot of substitutions. The only hashbrowns they have are like the ones you would get at McDonalds but I did find some shoestring french-fries. I could find reasonably close substitutes for the rest of the ingredients and headed back to the house. After watching some NCAA basketball (on every afternoon for 4 hours) I started making porcupine meatballs and cheesy hashbrowns. The porcupine meatballs were looking good but after 45 minutes in the oven I noticed that they were burning on top. They were supposed to cook for another hour and a half. Suddenly it occurred to me that the ovens in New Zealand use Celcuis, not Fahrenheit. I quickly turned the heat down to low and hoped I hadn’t done too much damage. Luckily the hashbrowns turned out well and the meal was okay.

That night I prepared some sausage brunch and put it in the oven the next morning. I was not able to make caramel biscuit rolls due to lack of biscuits but the brunch turned out well. Thursday night Nicky and her kids came over for dinner. Sammi is 7 years old while Gibson was 5. They had boundless energy and enjoyed dragging us outside to show us the tricks they could do.

Friday morning I packed up again. Stu was going to drive me over to meet the bus at around 9:20 but at 9:05 my phone rang and the bus driver informed me that he was already there.

We stopped once for food on our way to Kaikoura. After that stopped our driver, Mambo, split us into four groups and we had a trivia game about New Zealand. The winning team got a bottle of wine. My team did not win although we did get a bonus point for out team name, Naked Sheep for Gollum. When we got to Kaikoura we drove out to see a seal colony before checking into our hostel. My new friends, Naomi and Elko, and I went for a walk and sat for a while on the rocky beach. That afternoon I went for a short run before taking a nap. For dinner I had some free vegetable soup followed by a delicious Hawaiian burger. That night I watched the end of the sixth sense and then read until I fell asleep.

The next morning we rode to Picton. Half of the group got on the ferry and headed to the North Island while the other half of us checked into our hostel and went to explore. I asked around a little bit about work but it didn’t seem like there was much available in the area. That night we went down to the waterfront for the Maritime Festival. There was a live band and fireworks. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel and talked for a couple hours before going to bed.

The bus picks us up in about an hour. I am going to ask to be dropped off in Motueka and will stay there for the night. In the morning I am going to go to the fruit picking office and see what the have available. If I am not able to start work right away I will either go to Nelson and look there or to Marahau for the next leg of my Stray pass. I am hoping I will find a job in the next couple of days. I will then work for 5 weeks before continuing on my travels. I’ll keep you all updated.

The Job Hunt

January 18, 2010

Well the job hunt has not been going very well. I had responded to around fifteen online job listings but only heard back from one. The ad said modeling and that woman and couple models were needed. I’ve always wanted to try modeling so I requested more information. I got a response the next day saying that it was nude modeling and that if I was still interested I should email back for details.

I had also applied for a job with Greenpeace that sounded promising. It was to raise awareness about Greenpeace and their projects throughout New Zealand. The training was done in Christchurch, which is only 50 km away, and I would then get to travel. They wanted a minimum commitment of three months, which meant I would have had to extend my trip by a few weeks but the pay was quite good. They were supposed to get back to me within 48 hours but I haven’t heard anything yet.

John has been calling around to the local businesses for me to see if anyone had any work. No luck there either. Usually there is a lot of work in the vineyards but the grapes are not ready to be picked and no one is hiring. I guess they are having financial troubles. John did find Stuart (John’s son) and I a day job cleaning out a shed for a local woman. She said that we were hard workers and that she had more work for us to do. We gave her our numbers but haven’t heard back from her.

On Friday I went around town and inquired about any employment opportunities. The local grocery store and the restaurant across the street gave me applications to fill out but it didn’t sound like they needed me anytime soon. I can still try the local preschools and there is one other vineyard employer but it just seems like no one is hiring around here.

This morning I went on the internet to check for jobs in Queenstown. I didn’t find much there but I went onto picknz to look for fruit picking jobs. When I went on the website earlier this week it said that no one was hiring in any of the fruit picking districts. I had also sent an email to one of them and was informed that they had enough workers at the moment. Today, however, the website said that there were jobs available in all of the districts. I sent emails to the south island districts asking about job availability and accommodation. Hopefully I will hear back from them tomorrow.

Besides the job search I have spent some time at the library since they have free wireless internet. John and Stuart have taken me into Christchurch a few times and I have an opportunity to get to know some of John’s family. On Saturday night I went to a BBQ hosted at his sister’s place where I met at least 15 of his family members. I ended up exploring the yard with John’s nieces and playing Life and darts with them. They had lots of animals including a dog, a cat, chickens and a peacock.

One of his nieces, Tiddles, has cancer in her knee. She was between chemo sessions when I met her and had a decorative green and red cast on her leg. She recently lost her hair, which prompted John to shave his off as well. She is generally a happy girl and gets around well on her crutches. I am supposed to have pizza with her at some point before I leave although she's not supposed to have take-out due to the higher chance of food poisoning.

On Sunday the family invited me to go on a train ride with them. It wasn’t the nicest day but it was cool to see the countryside. That night Tiddles went back to the hospital. She starts another round of chemo today.

Well the job hunt will continue and hopefully I will have news of my great new job soon. Miss you all!

Bay of Islands

January 11, 2010

On Wednesday morning Warren and I woke up early, checked out of the hostel, put our extra bags in storage and caught the 8 am Stray bus to Paihia. On the way we made several stops for food and gas. We stopped by the beach and were given a glass-bottomed boat tour. After eating lunch by a waterfall we arrived in Paihia around 4 in the afternoon. We got settled into the dorm room and joined the others for a BBQ. After a few drinks at the bar we went for a walk along the beach and called it a night.

On Thursday most of the group that traveled with us the day before went on a day trip to Cape Rienga. Warren and I decided to do that trip the next day. Instead I went in to the clinic to get some antibiotics (I just can’t stay healthy) and we spent the rest of the day on the beach reading or in the room sleeping. We met up with the rest of the crew when they got back and sat in the hot tub before having a drink at the bar. I had some trouble falling asleep that night. The bar is located next to the dorms and I could hear everyone partying.

Friday morning we were up early and on the bus by 7:15. After a few more pick-ups we stopped to grab some brunch and headed onto 90-mile beach. The beach is actually 64 miles long and is used as a road with traffic cruising along at a whooping 60 mph. After some picture stops we hit the sand dunes for some sand boarding. The climb was not easy but Warren and I managed to drag our boogie boards up to the top three times and race back down.

The trip continued with a stop at Cape Rienga, the northern most point of the north island. The Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet here and the views were stunning. On the way back we stopped at a fish and chips place to eat. Back in Paihia we went out for garlic cheese pizza and some dessert. The next morning we checked out of the hostel before 10 am and went to get some breakfast pizza. After a little time on the beach watching a family obstacle course race, we got on the Stray bus back to Auckland.

I was not a big fan of ACB Base where we had stayed earlier so when we got back we got our bags from ACB and checked into Snow and Surf down the road. After getting settled in we went out for ice cream and then settled in for the night. After some more Prison Break we called it a night. Again I had trouble falling asleep. The window was open and there were many people enjoying Auckland’s nightlife.

On Sunday morning we checked out of the hostel, grabbed some breakfast and went souvenir shopping. We hung out at the hostel a bit longer before grabbing some pizza at Adana’s (fantastic!). We then got on the bus to the airport. Warren had a 6 o’clock flight back to the United States while I had a 6:30 flight to Christchurch. After checking in our bags we watched one more episode of Prison Break before saying our goodbyes. I’m really glad Warren was with me this first week and a half. I’m going to miss him a lot. I feel bad that we didn’t get out of Auckland more but I hope he enjoyed his time here. For those of you who were wondering, Warren and I are now back together. ☺

The flight into Christchurch was quite scary with the worst turbulence I have ever experienced. However, we did land safely. John Hodgens met me at the airport. He had worked at the farm with Van during the harvests of 2001 and 2002 and had kept in touch with the family. He brought me back to his place in Amberley where he lives with his son Stewart. I cannot express how grateful I am to John for letting me stay at his place until I get things figure out. He is even helping me look for work around Amberley.

Monday morning Stewart, his girlfriend Mel and I went into Christchurch to run some errands. I took my phone in to get unlocked and bought some shampoo and conditioner from the supermarket. I spent the afternoon at John’s office looking for jobs on the internet. I sent out quite a few applications and will hopefully hear back from a lot of them in the next couple of days. The job service at ACB was not nearly as helpful as I had hoped and I have pretty much decided to find work on my own. We’ll see what happens.

That’s it for now. Hopefully my next post will be filled with adventures from my new job. Miss and love you all!

Adventures in Auckland

January 5, 2010

Interesting trip so far. My first flight went smoothly besides having to wait an hour for the plane to de-ice. I sat in the very last row and was able to sleep for part of the flight. I met Warren at baggage claim and we walked over to the international terminal. We went up to the food court and got something to eat. On our way to find somewhere to charge my computer we saw that the ticket counter was already open. After waiting in line Warren was told he could not check in unless he had a printed itinerary proving he would be leaving New Zealand. I almost got in trouble for chucking my bag a couple of feet when told that I should wait over there until Warren got back but I should put my backpack in the plastic bag provided.

We scored exit row seats on the first long flight and after a 3-hour layover in Fiji got on the final flight to Auckland. After we landed, went through customs and immigration, changed money and got our bags we found the bus and were dropped off in front of the hostel. They couldn’t find my booking right away and when they did they had me down for a 38-night stay. They tried first to charge us full price for the double room. I eventually went and printed out the confirmation page they sent me with the nightly rate from when I booked the room.

After we got settled in we explored for a bit. The hostel has a great location and we just blocks from Sky Tower and minutes from the harbor. We went back to the room and got ready for the night out and went out to eat at a nice restaurant. Later that night we checked out the Globe bar and then went to find a spot to view the fireworks that brought in the New Year.

Warren’s family believes that the way you spend New Year’s Day is indicative of how the rest of your year will go. For that reason, we tried not to spend very much money and instead spent most of the day exploring the city. We walked down to the harbor and spent the afternoon reading on a bench near the water.

On Saturday we got up and bought tickets to Rangitoto, which is a young island that was formed from volcanic activity. We walked up to the top and around the crater where the volcano used to be although it is now covered with trees. After walking to the top we checked out the caves. A couple of kids volunteered to show us the way through. We then headed over to the lighthouse and the beach for an hour before going back to the ferry. I enjoyed the views of the city but was less than happy on the hour and half walk from the beach to the ferry. It was hot, I was tired, I was thirsty and we ran out of water. So thanks Warren for putting up with me.

Sunday morning we slept in and then got dressed up for lunch reservations at the Observatory, which is located at the top of Sky Tower. They had a lunch buffet that Warren took full advantage of. We also got to see a couple of groups do the skywalk and the skyjump right beside where we were eating. After lunch we went to the observation deck, took some pictures and then headed back to the room. We were going to go out to Minus 5 (an ice bar) but I ended up not feeling well that night and we ordered some pizza and stayed in the room.

Monday morning we slept in again and went to a local park in the afternoon. We got some cookies and some ice cream and then spent the evening in. We spent a lot of time watching Prison Break and also refined our chess skills. On Tuesday I finally met with the job placement agency (Monday was a holiday). They weren’t very helpful but they seem to think I have a promising future in fruit picking. Warren came with me that afternoon as I set up a bank account and applied for an IRD number. We also tried unsuccessfully to get my phone unlocked. That evening we booked a trip to the Bay of Islands, did laundry and cooked dinner at the hostel. More to come about our exciting trip…