the sickness

bbllllaaahhhhhhhhh.

I'm homesick and regular sick.

Just a cold or something. I called in sick and slept the entire day. Plus, I lucked out and it was our one sunny day of the week so that helped. The sun shines on the bottom half of my bed for most of the afternoon so I was curled up in that wonderful, healing warmth. Thank goodness!

So the job stuff is all up in the air. Yes I have the massage job but I'm wondering if the company isn't just a little bit sketchy. I'm still waiting to see what my contract is going to be like and how that will work with the lease at the new accomodation that I'm supposed to move into at the end of this week. Mostly I'm concerned with the "What if" that involves me leaving before my contract is done. I'll be sure to inquire about that before I sich anything.

I just feel kinda like New Zealand sucks. I know, I kow, that's not fair - I'm in a bad mood and I haven't really seen much of NZ at all. Franz Josef is NOT New Zealand. It IS a very small part of it but that's it. I can't sum the rest of the country up by it. But why is everything so expensive and everyone so indifferent? Why don't I feel more excited about being here? And if that's how I really feel then why don't I leave?

I guess even in my worst mood I still have hope that there's potential just around the corner, and I just need to give it one more chance. I hure hope I'm right.

Chelsea is gainfully employed

Erg. I don't like technology today. I just did this update and it didn't work so now I have to re-do it!

very quick update:

I got a full-time position as a massage therapist here in Franz Josef. I'll work part-time until mid december when I finish at the motel. After that I'll be working 4 days on, 3 days off so that I can still travel around the south island a bit. I'll just have to rent a car I guess. My contract goes until the end of april so I'll be spending the entire summer here. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet, or even how I feel about Franz. We'll see.

(I'm trying to hurry this because I pay for internet and I only have $2.50, which buys me about 40 minutes. I'll do a much longer, more interesting update later when they fix the ATM here)

Rain, rain, go away, come again... in 15 minutes.

Oh wow. I'm in a tropical version of Canada. Weird...

Franz Josef.

I arrived here yesterday evening after two bus rides, an overnight stop in Christchurch and a plane ride (in reverse order). Anyone who has the opportunity to fly with Air New Zealand should take it. They are great, and their safety video was hilarious. If you though the people at Westjet had a good sense of humour you'll love these guys. Anyone with the opportunity to stay at the Base hostel in Christchurch should avoid it, and any other Base hostel for that matter - they're awful (unless you're into that). The whole trip to the south island was nice though. Lovely scenery. I took Atomic Shuttle east from Christchurch at 7:30am and it rained all the way to Greymouth on the west coast. It stopped raining long enough for me to drop off my bag for a couple hours, go to the nearest outdoor sports store and spend way too much money on a beautiful pink rain jacket before it started raining again. And rain it did. I switched shuttles in Greymouth (hense the shopping/waiting in the rain) then headed south along the west coast to Franz Josef. The whole time I was looking out the window expecting to see deer or elk or moose, but NZ doesn't have those animals. In fact, the only animals in the wild other than birds are rats, stouts, and possums (but they call them squash'ems) plus the sea creatures like whales and seals and more birds. Lots of sheep (obviously) and cows though. I got here at 4:30pm-ish, met my employers, saw the motel I'm working at, got a very quick tour of the town, and was taken to my new "home".

I'm sharing a 3 bedroom house with 5 other girls. My room roomate is from France. The rest are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, England, New Zealand, and Canada (oh that's me). I also work with all of these ladies. They're nice enough. I haven't really gotten to know them much so it's not like I can really say more than that. Is it weird that I immediately assumed that I'd have problems with the french girl? Does that make me racist? She's fine actually (and I'm fine too). 3 of them leave in a month, then we'll get two more - another english girl and an american girl. :D

The town is small. Quite small. "Town" may actually be an exagerration. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in SPECTACULAR scenery! O.M.G! Seriously. I'm stunned every time I walk out my door or look out my window. Oh, and there are parrots here! I saw a dead one so I know there has to be more (yes I almost cried and could be heard wispering "wake up, don't be dead").
Anyways, I had my first day of work this morning and it was ok. I'm just cleaning motel rooms so really what can I say? It's actually a really nice place though. When I hear the word motel I instantly imagine stained things, broken things, and garbage (and prostitutes); but these units are very clean (thanks to me and my team) and very modern looking. This is a high end motel! I like it as far as cleaning jobs go because I have to walk outside to get to the next room - and you know how I feel about walking outside. Did I mention the scenery? It's SPECTACULAR. Yeah. It's hard work though. I'm going to have a strong back (or a broken one, eek) and a strong core (or a hernia, aaaaaahg). But I only do that for 4 hours, 6 days a week. Saturdays are my set day off.

Hey, I've been in NZ for two weeks now! It feels like a year and two weeks. Interpret that how you like.

Here is the very exciting part though: I'm getting a second job in the evenings so that I'll actually have money. Plus, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't juggling too many obligations. Why is that exciting, you may ask. Well, I went to an interview for a job I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about and mentioned that I'm a massage therapist. Everyone here knows everyone else; and her friend is the assistant manager at the Hot Pools Spa and they just happen to be hiring massage therapists. So I went there to meet this person. I think she is wonderful. I think the Spa is spectacular (there I go with that word again...) and sometime tomorrow I will have a proper interview including a trial massage. She seemed quite pleased with my credntials, experience, and attitude so I think I have a very good chance of getting this. I really hope that I do. If I don't I won't sweat it, I'll just go back to the gift shop (which despite being retail would still be fun). Or I'd do something else. I'm ridiculously employable thanks to all my strange jobs and adaptability (somebody had to say it).

So I guess that's it for now. I'm feeling better. I'm glad I'm here. I'm proud to see that I'm willing to make the most of it, whatever it turns out to be (I had my doubts about me)...

One last thing, that pink raincoat I mentioned has come in use many times already. Franz Josef gets approximately 178 days of rain per annum. But it's more like they get 365 days of rain, but each rain is short in duration, starts and stops like a switch, and is relatively mild. I kinda like it actually. Plus, I smile everytime I put that jacket on so I can't wait until it rains again!

at last! Employment!

During my 4 hour bus trip back to Auckland I recieved a phone call in regards to a job I had applied for a few days before. It's a housekeeping position in Franz Josef, which is on the south island on the west coast. This little town's claim to fame is a big 'ol glacier. Supposedly the town has a population of approximately 300. Eeeek! I will be working in a motel called 58 on Cron and living in a staff accomodation that sounds like it's seperate from the motel itself. I still have to pay rent but it's subsidized. I think the proprietor said there were 3 or 4 other girls living there that'd I'd be working with too. I only have to work 9am to 1pm each day so I can get another job in the afternoons/evenings if I want. I think I will. I was excited about it until the bus driver told me it's the STD capital of NZ! He also said it was a ghost town. That really killed my enthusiasm, but I think I will still go and give it a shot anyway. If it's lousy then I can always leave, and atleast I'll have a chance to settle for a bit and make some money. Plus, that guy had a much different personality than I do, what he hates I might not mind or may even enjoy (well, I don't think anyone is keen on STDs but I wasn't planning on shaking up anyways).

Speaking of shaking up - as many of you may remeber, I had a running half-joke before I left about meeting and falling in love with the rich, charming, handsome, fun kiwi bloke of my dreams, and getting married and living happily ever after. Well I haven't met him yet. In fact, there is a man shortage on this island and the south island for that matter. I'm told that statistically there is a 3 to 1 ratio of women to men in my age group. Fiddle sticks! So, I guess I'll have to settle for an Aussie... ha ha! just kidding (well, half-kidding). That actually works out well though. I've met quite a few people who are in relationships and either traveling without that person and wishing they were at home with them, or traveling with them and fighting/compromising all the time. I'd rather do my own thing and enjoy the places I'm at. I'm having a hard enough time doing that while I worry about money (not that I'm having any serious finacial crisis, I just am running low on the money that isn't my savings. I would like my savings to stay just that).

Thus, tomorrow I head over to IEP to organize some paper work, put some things in storage, and get help booking a cheap flight to the south and a bus to the west coast. We'll see how this all works out...

Paihia, Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach

Hello all!

It's been a little while - or atleast it feels that way. I have been in Paihia for the last four days and managed to pack in A LOT.

Tuesday was the bus ride from Auckland. That was nice. Nothing particularly special. I enjoy riding the bus so it was good. I took many pictures (all blurry) through my window as we went. The northern New Zealand country side is very lumpy. Not just hilly, it actually looks lumpy like something out of a cartoon drawing. With equally unbelievable colours. We arrived in Paihia at around 4pm. There were two dutch girls on the bus and I was riding with a girl from Quebec who was also on the same flight as me coming out here - doing the SWAP thing as well. So the four of us rented a hostel room together with an ensuite. It was so nice to have a semi-private bathroom. That evening we went acros the street to the party hostel called the Pipi Patch for a $12 BBQ. It was fairly good and that's actually a reasonable price because everything in NZ is expensive it seems. That night was trivia night at the hostel's bar so the four of us girls plus one other were a team called the Moustache Riders in tribute to Movemeber (which is quite popular in NZ). That was really fun. I was the only one of use that has english as my first language so I found I was answering most of the questions, but they got a few that I never would have known and was very surprised they knew. It was a very good time. Wednesday the other 3 girls were of doing their activities so I had the day all to my self! Glorious! I sat on the beach and relaxed, did some laundry, etc. Then at 5 I boarded a boat called the Rock for an overnight trip around the Bay of Islands. There were 2 couples from Alberta, 1 from Calgary the other from Edmonton; plus two girls from Toronto (who were a bit snotty) and an older couple from BC! Yeah Canada! Within the first hour we were watching a pod of Orca swim around us - AMAZING! I got a picture of one of their backs. Then we cruised for a couple hours, did some fishing (didn't catch anything though, probably becaue of the whales), and had a big sit down dinner together. After it got dark we set up to do some night kayaking to see fosforescent algea. There were 3 groups and I was in the third. Unfortunately it was a full moon and a clear sky so the algea couldn't really be seen. But we weren't out of luck as far a spectacular sights go because those orca came back and we were completely surrounded! There was probably 6 of them or so, one of which was a big bull male. It was unreal. The water was completely calm and quite and we could hear them breathing. Then periodically they'd break the water. I had never before seen a real life wild orca! The next morning I watched the sun rise and they made us a deliscious breakfast of porridge, fresh fruit, and cereal. Then we cruised to another island to go for a hike. I got to kayak again because we didn't all fit in the taxi boat. The island was a bird anctuary but we didn't really see any. Once on the boat again we looked for a new spot to go snorkeling and for the weather to clear upot a bit. We did eventually go and it was freezing! But I was determined; I had never snorkeled before or even swam in the ocean really so I had to go. I didn't see anything particularly cool. But I did cut my hand on an oyster bed. After that we cruised back to Paihia and on our way we tried some rowe from some kind of sea creature, I forget the name. It was salty and strange but not particularly bad.

The next day (Friday) I caught a tour bus up to Cape Reinga (with a side trip to the Gumdigger's camp), which is the most northerly point of New Zealand, and it's where the Tazman Sea and the Pacific ocean meet. Some days you can actually see the line where the two seas crash together. We had a really nice day so the line was harder to see. After we went to the west coast to do some sand dune boarding - very fun. Then on the 90 Mile Beach which may have been my favorite. The beach isn't actually 90 miles, I think he said it was mor like 70 but still... We drove down the actual beach which was cool. The tide was on its way out but we still had to be very careful. The Tazman sea is ferocious! Our driver said that the waves were small that day because the weather was nice. They looked pretty big to me. Appearantly there are wild horses in the area but we didn't get to see any. On the way home we stopped at the best fish and chips place in the whole country, it was voted #1 three times or something. But it really was the best fish and chips I've ever had.

Being on the boat on wednesday night was the first time I was able to understand how lonesome I've been. It was because of those bitchy girls from Toronto. I hadn't met many Canadians until that point and they snubbed me. It's hard to find people who get you, and when you're having these incredible experiences you want to be able to share that moment. I was excited to meet them and they were above it. It was mean. However, I did meet another girl from Edmonton on the Cape trip tough and she was fantastic. We may secretly be twins. I needed that, I needed someone to understand me because traveling is stressful even when it's fun. I'm very happy to be here but that doesn't make it easy - it just makes it worth it.

So I'm heading back to Auckland in an hour to regroup. I still have no plan, but I do have some feasible ideas...

the Plan is there's still no Plan

Friday morning I went to my orientation at IEP. It was four hours long and very informative. A little overwhelming in fact. I applied for my IRD (tax) number and that was easy which is very nice. I could have applied for my bank account but everyone (60ppl!) was doing it at the same time and I was very hungry. At the end of the thing, I was lingering around to ask a question about the bank account when one of the guys at IEP asked me if I wanted to work that night serving drinks at a halloween party. It was a work for trade gig. I was still VERY jet-lagged but I really wanted to do it so I said yes. It was put on by a bus tour company called Stray and it was an employee/industry party in their bus garage. It was so much fun! I met a lot of really nice people that I'm sure I'll get to meet again because I have a bus pass with them too.

Saturday I bought a phone. Message me for details.

Sunday was brilliant! I met up with Nigel and his partner Melani for the day. Nigel used to work at VIRG so that's the connection (yay networking!). We started of by doing a quick trip to One Tree Hill for some pictures, then a quick lunch before doing some indoor rock climbing. The gym here was pretty cool. Very spacious compared to ours. But that was about the only thing you could say against VIRG. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't at the same level of standards that's all. They had really neat climbing walls for kids though. I really wanted to climb them but adult children and inner child's were not allowed. Foowey! After climbing we headed over to St. Helen's (?) beach in one of the harbors in Auckland. It was gorgeous - did I mention it was a beautiful day? Well it was. The wind was a bit nippy but the sun was nice and hot. After some ice cream we went back to their place for dinner. They made me dinner! So sweet. I had such a good time with them and their little daughter. I'll see them again no doubt.

And finally today... today was frustrating as hell. I felt very bitchy for most of the day. BUT I did finally get my bank account set up, and I even found a JP to sign an application form for me for free. Then I was happier. Oh, and I finally typed up my CV and applied for two jobs. I was going to apply for more now but my time is about to run out.

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Paihia for two nights in search of... well.... inspiration I guess?