So last time I wrote I was traveling around the north island in that little spaceship. I have since bid farewell to Ginger and am now working and living at a hotel in Queenstown right on a beautiful lake with mountain views out my bedroom window.
I’ll rewind though and give a quick recap of how I got here.
First, Angela and I drove the spaceship all the way to Wellington. Once in Wellington, I stayed at a zebra stripped hostel, literally a five-story building painted like a giant zebra. Anyways, met lots of cool people at that hostel and chilled there for about a week looking for a job. Wellington is a really cool city, lots of restaurants, cafes, shops, art galleries, and design companies, so it seemed like a great place to settle down and work for several months. Apparently lots of people had this idea however, so finding a job there was pretty competitive.
Not wanting to waste more time lingering about Wellington looking for jobs, my new Canadian friend Tara and I decided to hop on the ferry and head to the south island. The ferry lands in Picton, a place we quickly found to be a sketchy cat town. Basically, our experience there started off when a very eccentric woman with crazy Mrs. Frizzle hair picked us up from the ferry to take us to our hostel. We got there to find cats running around the place. This was our first clue about the cat obsession in this town. At least the cats weren’t in the 27 bed dorm room we were sleeping in. Anyways, it was horrible weather so we decided to hit up the library for free internet. We got to the lib, and my friend Tara sat at a computer next to a guy who was googling images of cats. Clue number two. He kept asking my friend to look at pictures of cats. Tara then noticed the stack of cat books lying next to him. Clue number three. Right after Tara told me that she was leaving because of the cat guy, I looked out the window to notice a cat strolling around the front of the library. Clue number 4. As we were leaving the library, Tara grabbed the local newspaper. Picture of a woman nuzzling her cat on the front cover. Clue number 5. We left this city as soon as possible.
We then rented a car and headed straight to Franz Josef Glacier where we had an interview at a five star hotel. The owner of the hotel let us stay there for free for the interview, so after spending the night at a creepy cat hostel in a 27 person dorm room we each had our own king sized bed in a luxurious five star hotel room. We got the job at this hotel, however Franz Josef is a very small tourist town, so we decided to keep moving down to Queenstown, where we had another interview at a hotel anyways.
Queenstown is basically the Vail or Steamboat of New Zealand; a small tourist town nestled between mountains in front of a giant beautiful lake. The views are pretty unreal. There is a small downtown with heaps of restaurants, cafes, stores, and bars. Generally Queenstown is the ideal city where backpackers want to settle down and work, and we luckily we were able to make this happen.
So my friend Tara and I got jobs working at this hotel’s restaurant. (Check it out at www.rydges.com and check on the Queenstown, NZ one). With the job we can live in the hotel in our own rooms (including our own bathrooms) with all meals included for an awesome price compared to the other options around here. Plus access to the hotel’s pool. Housekeeping once a week. Don’t have to cook or do my dishes. Plus that mountain view. It’s no graphic design job, but it’s definitely a good situation. The mandatory menu and wine tasting for the restaurant staff was not a bad perk either.
I should be living in Queenstown until around April, and then after that traveling New Zealand’s south island, or who knows. I plan on taking roadtrips from here, but otherwise I probably won’t have too much to report for a while!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
More Fun in the North
Two major highlights to note this week: Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the Biking Winery Tour.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is a 6-7 hour hike up a snow capped volcano, past thermal mountain top lakes, through some flat plains, through the “bush” as they call it, and through a forest. This hike is supposed to be the best one day hikes in NZ since the scenery is awesome, and I would definitely agree with that. At least for now. Angela got super excited to walk through the snow since they don’t get enough snow in Ireland for it to last. I was less thrilled with this, although it was still fun to trudge through some snow on the top of a mountain. As this walk was over a volcano, often the ground was steaming near the top and there were sulfurically scented thermal pools and craters at the top. The views were amazing! And for you LOTR fans, one of the mountains was Mt Doom. Even though we all know LOTR is my favorite movie ever, we decided not to take the LOTR tour.
The biking winery tour was a totally different experience, but similarly awesome. We went through this “On Yer Bike” company, and they basically provide us with bikes (that have adorable euro style baskets), a delicious packed lunch, maps, and helmets. Then we just head off through the country roads to all the different wineries. The roads were thankfully flat, and it was a gorgeous sunny day. Since it was labour day, it was actually not busy at all, so we were often the only ones at each winery. We stopped at 5 wineries, bought a couple bottles along the way, and even some chocolate at the last winery. We were definitely feeling good. On the way back to the bike company, we got a bit lost. Luckily, however, we were in NZ where people are extremely nice. So this family saw us biking out their window and thought, “oh, those poor girls are lost.” So their son hopped in his truck, picked us up, and took us back to the bike company. Yay for friendly kiwis. And that concluded our tour!
Another fun side note. One of our nights we stayed at this free campsite surrounded by sheep fields in the middle of nowhere. Usually at free camps there are lots of campervans similar to ours with similarly aged backpackers. At this camp, however, there were mostly actual RVs in clusters, and you could tell people had really set up shop there. Family reunion style. Angela said it looked like a Pike settlement (like Brad Pitt’s hood from the movie Snatch). Let’s just say it was pretty redneck. Everyone had dirt bikes, and they would throw a whole family on a dirt bike and bike around. They would even bike on over to the bathrooms. That morning I woke up to the lovely sound of sheep baaaing. Good times in the countryside.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Traveling Around in a Spaceship!
Since my last post (which was posted at the same time as this one due to a lack of internet), I have left Auckland and the temporary job and embarked on a roadtrip with an Irish girl I met my first night in Auckland. Basically I came home from work Thursday night and Angela, my Irish friend, said "I’m going to rent a campervan, want to go on a two week roadtrip tomorrow after work?" I decided to go for it. So right after work on Friday we began our roadtrip of north island in a bright orange campervan called a spaceship. We named our particular spaceship Ginger. I’m sure you’re envisioning an old Winnebago or a Volkswagen van, however the campervans here are basically regular minivans that have a bed in the back (which fold out to be full size), a baby fridge, a little burner, all the kitchen essentials we need, and even a dvd player. Check this out if you’re still curious.
http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/
So here’s the rundown of our trip so far:
Day 1: After work drove down to Hamilton to stay with Angela’s friends from back home.
Day 2: Went to this beach/surfer city called Raglan. It is still spring here, not summer, so there were only a few parasailers and no surfers or even swimmers. Still, it was a really nice beach and the drive there through the countryside was amazing. It is really hilly here, and I learned that a road that appears to be straight on a map is in fact extremely windy. The Kiwis are not bothered by this at all, and still extremely fast and even pass on curves. Oh well, does make for beautiful drives.
Day 3: Left Hamilton and headed for the Coromandel peninsula. When we were driving we thought we were going through the set to Jurassic park. Lots of weird palm trees and tropical plants, pointy looking rock formations, and mountains. I looked it up though, and Jurassic Park was filmed in Hawaii…. Anyways, drove to Hot Water Beach. We walked along this beach for awhile, then checked out Cathedral Cove, another beautiful beach with this giant natural arch. (I went to both of these places the next day, so more on that later). This was also our first night actually using the campervan as a camper, and we realized that you A. Can’t just park on the side of the rode and need to stay at registered camps. B. This can expensive, so maybe it’s worth the risk to just park wherever…. This night we paid for the campground, but later….
Day 4: Walked down to Cathedral Cove again. Stunning views, looked like Thailand, beautiful day, etc. Then headed over to the Hot Water Beach. This beach is right above some underground hot springs, so when it’s low tide people start digging holes on the beach to make themselves little hot tubs. It’s the craziest thing. First, you rent a little baby shovel. Then, you have to feel for a spot in the sand that is really hot and just start digging. Pretty quick hot water will start pooling up in your hole, and ta da, you have a homemade natural hot tub. As it is homemade it wasn’t perfect, parts of ours were scalding hot, and then a foot away was pretty cold. It still worked out for us though, and we spent a while chilling in our hot tub on the beach watching other people try and find a nice spot. Pretty funny to see people just walking on the beach yelling when they walk across a spot that’s boiling.
After our relaxing day at the spa we drove further north up the Coromandel peninsula. About an hour from the point of the peninsula, the roads turn into gravel one-lane roads. This was definitely the scenic route; beautiful but kinda rough. We were constantly dodging potholes and animals (we saw cows, goats, turkeys, sheep, and a wild boar or really hairy pig), forging creeks, and hoping no other cars would be around a winding corner of the road. They also warn you that once the road turn to gravel there are no more ‘petrol’ stations or stores for food, so we had to bring it all with us. This drive was totally worth it though, probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. That night we camped at a campground again (by campground I mean they have some drop toilets and sometimes cold showers, and you just park wherever).
Day 5: The next morning we did a 6.5 hour hike up and down the mountains/hills, through sheep fields—we were on the inside the sheep fences so we often found them on the trail—through jungle/rainforest, and down by the beach. For the entire 6.5 hours with sweeping landscape views, there was no sign of civilization, minus some trail markers. Definitely amazing. That night we drove to a different area in the Coromondel, parked by a reserve area parking lot, and luckily did not get a ticket for spending the night.
Day 6: Hiked around for a couple hours in the morning and then drove to the Waitomo Caves. Here we went black water tubing. This means we wore all out wet suits, boots, and helmets with lights, and floated/walked through a cave. We jumped off little waterfalls with our tubes, climbed rocks, went through rapids, etc. We had only our little helmet lights for most of this, but we even turned those off at the slower spots because the caves are known for their glowworms, which you only see in the dark. They are these tiny green worms that glow, obviously, and in the dark they look kinda like stars. After the 3 hour tours they have nice hot showers for you (good since we are camping….) and free bagels and soup.
Next we drove to Mt. Manganui, which we thought was a mountain. When we got there we realized it is in fact a beach town with a large hill. Oh well. We again parked in a beach parking lot along side other campers, and enjoyed another free night.
Day 7: This would be today. I am in Rotorua at the moment. This place is known for extreme sports and expensive Maori cultural experiences, neither of which interest Ang and I. So therefore we are on the internet for the first time in a week typing away.
Next up will be Taupo, Mt. Tangariro, Ohakune (Mordor from LOTR), Napier, and Finally Wellington. I think when I am in Wellington I will look for a job and stay put, but who knows.
http://www.spaceshipsrentals.co.nz/
So here’s the rundown of our trip so far:
Day 1: After work drove down to Hamilton to stay with Angela’s friends from back home.
Day 2: Went to this beach/surfer city called Raglan. It is still spring here, not summer, so there were only a few parasailers and no surfers or even swimmers. Still, it was a really nice beach and the drive there through the countryside was amazing. It is really hilly here, and I learned that a road that appears to be straight on a map is in fact extremely windy. The Kiwis are not bothered by this at all, and still extremely fast and even pass on curves. Oh well, does make for beautiful drives.
Day 3: Left Hamilton and headed for the Coromandel peninsula. When we were driving we thought we were going through the set to Jurassic park. Lots of weird palm trees and tropical plants, pointy looking rock formations, and mountains. I looked it up though, and Jurassic Park was filmed in Hawaii…. Anyways, drove to Hot Water Beach. We walked along this beach for awhile, then checked out Cathedral Cove, another beautiful beach with this giant natural arch. (I went to both of these places the next day, so more on that later). This was also our first night actually using the campervan as a camper, and we realized that you A. Can’t just park on the side of the rode and need to stay at registered camps. B. This can expensive, so maybe it’s worth the risk to just park wherever…. This night we paid for the campground, but later….
Day 4: Walked down to Cathedral Cove again. Stunning views, looked like Thailand, beautiful day, etc. Then headed over to the Hot Water Beach. This beach is right above some underground hot springs, so when it’s low tide people start digging holes on the beach to make themselves little hot tubs. It’s the craziest thing. First, you rent a little baby shovel. Then, you have to feel for a spot in the sand that is really hot and just start digging. Pretty quick hot water will start pooling up in your hole, and ta da, you have a homemade natural hot tub. As it is homemade it wasn’t perfect, parts of ours were scalding hot, and then a foot away was pretty cold. It still worked out for us though, and we spent a while chilling in our hot tub on the beach watching other people try and find a nice spot. Pretty funny to see people just walking on the beach yelling when they walk across a spot that’s boiling.
After our relaxing day at the spa we drove further north up the Coromandel peninsula. About an hour from the point of the peninsula, the roads turn into gravel one-lane roads. This was definitely the scenic route; beautiful but kinda rough. We were constantly dodging potholes and animals (we saw cows, goats, turkeys, sheep, and a wild boar or really hairy pig), forging creeks, and hoping no other cars would be around a winding corner of the road. They also warn you that once the road turn to gravel there are no more ‘petrol’ stations or stores for food, so we had to bring it all with us. This drive was totally worth it though, probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. That night we camped at a campground again (by campground I mean they have some drop toilets and sometimes cold showers, and you just park wherever).
Day 5: The next morning we did a 6.5 hour hike up and down the mountains/hills, through sheep fields—we were on the inside the sheep fences so we often found them on the trail—through jungle/rainforest, and down by the beach. For the entire 6.5 hours with sweeping landscape views, there was no sign of civilization, minus some trail markers. Definitely amazing. That night we drove to a different area in the Coromondel, parked by a reserve area parking lot, and luckily did not get a ticket for spending the night.
Day 6: Hiked around for a couple hours in the morning and then drove to the Waitomo Caves. Here we went black water tubing. This means we wore all out wet suits, boots, and helmets with lights, and floated/walked through a cave. We jumped off little waterfalls with our tubes, climbed rocks, went through rapids, etc. We had only our little helmet lights for most of this, but we even turned those off at the slower spots because the caves are known for their glowworms, which you only see in the dark. They are these tiny green worms that glow, obviously, and in the dark they look kinda like stars. After the 3 hour tours they have nice hot showers for you (good since we are camping….) and free bagels and soup.
Next we drove to Mt. Manganui, which we thought was a mountain. When we got there we realized it is in fact a beach town with a large hill. Oh well. We again parked in a beach parking lot along side other campers, and enjoyed another free night.
Day 7: This would be today. I am in Rotorua at the moment. This place is known for extreme sports and expensive Maori cultural experiences, neither of which interest Ang and I. So therefore we are on the internet for the first time in a week typing away.
Next up will be Taupo, Mt. Tangariro, Ohakune (Mordor from LOTR), Napier, and Finally Wellington. I think when I am in Wellington I will look for a job and stay put, but who knows.
I Take it Back, Auckland is a nice City When the Sun Comes Out
*fyi, all of this was written awhile ago when I didn’t have internet!
Last time I wrote I had not really ventured outside the 10 block radius known as "Cbd" or "Central Business District," aka Auckland’s downtown. Turns out a combo of leaving this area plus sunshine equals a nice city.
To check out what’s happening around Auckland, I climbed to the top of Mt. Eden. This was actually more of an hour-long walk up a hill, but still the view from up there was amazing! Mountains and/or water in every direction. Green cones created by past volcanoes popping up in the suburbs. I can’t even really describe it besides just repeating the words "beautiful" and "awesome" or perhaps "breathtaking," so just check out the pictures and see for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2630459&id=8623916&l=9c02410d2d
If the biggest metropolitan area looks this beautiful, the rest of the country has got to be incredible.
After this little trek I strolled down to an area called "Ponsonby." This would be like the Filmore street of San Fran (but of course not nearly as cool), the Brady street of Miltown or kinda a more busy and non pedestrian version of State St. Either way, much nicer than the "cbd" area. But more importantly, Ponsonby is the place where I stumbled upon "Burger Wisconsin," a burger restaurant claiming to make the "best burgers in the world." Haha Wisco represent. Also in the photos. It was even red and white. Finding a Wisco anything was quite surprising since usually the only references to American states include "tex mex" restaurants, "mexi cali fresh" a chipotle-esque restaurant, (thank god they have Mexican food, I was warned otherwise), and some various New York references. I didn’t try it (too expense) but I checked out the menu and generally it sounded about right. Burgers loaded with cheese and other random fatty, delicious goods. They even had a burger with artichoke cream cheese, just like my beloved dane burger.
Anyways, moving on from wi’s claim to fame, I left Ponsonby and headed towards the harbor front. This was surprisingly beautiful as well. While walking along the harbor I started hearing tons of cheering, an announcer, music, etc. Then I started noticing an increase in saris and brownies. Following the noise, brownies, and saris led me to Auckland’s Diwali celebration!!!! So many people, so many saris, so much Indian food, so much marsala dosa, and basically so much goodness. Anu, soooooo sad you were not there. L The whole fest was on this pier right on the harbor, so I kept walking down the pier towards the stage where a bunch of super cute Indian girls were dancing to Mundian To Bach Ke. Awesome! I learned this was a dance competition, so more choreographed dancing followed. These adorable little girls were the best, all wearing matching little saris and choreographed dancing. Totally Bollywood.
Once the older and more boring kids got onstage I left to find some Indian grub. I decided to go all out with some butter paneer, a large samosa with chutney, and a mango lassi.
Basically, the combination of sunshine, great views, and all things Indian made me love Auckland/New Zealand. Can’t wait to explore the rest of the country.
the meantime, I am living at a hostel with a sauna, hot tub, tv in the bathroom…?, rooftop kitchen/sun deck, and still that free tiny dinner. I am still doing data entry for this company that’s starting up an amazon-esque website. This basically entails sorting through thousands of items and making sure they are labeled correctly. Although this is incredibly boring it does pay, my boss bought me some of the best hot choc I’ve ever had, and once in awhile there are some products that make me chuckle. And there’s an office dog.
Okay that’s all for now. Not sure how these blogs work, so hopefully I am not boring you!
Last time I wrote I had not really ventured outside the 10 block radius known as "Cbd" or "Central Business District," aka Auckland’s downtown. Turns out a combo of leaving this area plus sunshine equals a nice city.
To check out what’s happening around Auckland, I climbed to the top of Mt. Eden. This was actually more of an hour-long walk up a hill, but still the view from up there was amazing! Mountains and/or water in every direction. Green cones created by past volcanoes popping up in the suburbs. I can’t even really describe it besides just repeating the words "beautiful" and "awesome" or perhaps "breathtaking," so just check out the pictures and see for yourself.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2630459&id=8623916&l=9c02410d2d
If the biggest metropolitan area looks this beautiful, the rest of the country has got to be incredible.
After this little trek I strolled down to an area called "Ponsonby." This would be like the Filmore street of San Fran (but of course not nearly as cool), the Brady street of Miltown or kinda a more busy and non pedestrian version of State St. Either way, much nicer than the "cbd" area. But more importantly, Ponsonby is the place where I stumbled upon "Burger Wisconsin," a burger restaurant claiming to make the "best burgers in the world." Haha Wisco represent. Also in the photos. It was even red and white. Finding a Wisco anything was quite surprising since usually the only references to American states include "tex mex" restaurants, "mexi cali fresh" a chipotle-esque restaurant, (thank god they have Mexican food, I was warned otherwise), and some various New York references. I didn’t try it (too expense) but I checked out the menu and generally it sounded about right. Burgers loaded with cheese and other random fatty, delicious goods. They even had a burger with artichoke cream cheese, just like my beloved dane burger.
Anyways, moving on from wi’s claim to fame, I left Ponsonby and headed towards the harbor front. This was surprisingly beautiful as well. While walking along the harbor I started hearing tons of cheering, an announcer, music, etc. Then I started noticing an increase in saris and brownies. Following the noise, brownies, and saris led me to Auckland’s Diwali celebration!!!! So many people, so many saris, so much Indian food, so much marsala dosa, and basically so much goodness. Anu, soooooo sad you were not there. L The whole fest was on this pier right on the harbor, so I kept walking down the pier towards the stage where a bunch of super cute Indian girls were dancing to Mundian To Bach Ke. Awesome! I learned this was a dance competition, so more choreographed dancing followed. These adorable little girls were the best, all wearing matching little saris and choreographed dancing. Totally Bollywood.
Once the older and more boring kids got onstage I left to find some Indian grub. I decided to go all out with some butter paneer, a large samosa with chutney, and a mango lassi.
Basically, the combination of sunshine, great views, and all things Indian made me love Auckland/New Zealand. Can’t wait to explore the rest of the country.
the meantime, I am living at a hostel with a sauna, hot tub, tv in the bathroom…?, rooftop kitchen/sun deck, and still that free tiny dinner. I am still doing data entry for this company that’s starting up an amazon-esque website. This basically entails sorting through thousands of items and making sure they are labeled correctly. Although this is incredibly boring it does pay, my boss bought me some of the best hot choc I’ve ever had, and once in awhile there are some products that make me chuckle. And there’s an office dog.
Okay that’s all for now. Not sure how these blogs work, so hopefully I am not boring you!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Greetings from New Zealand!!!
Hello from New Zealand!
Just thought I would start a little blog as promised….
Well it’s been just a few days here in Auckland and already I can tell this is going to be an interesting/awesome experience. Auckland is absolutely full of people just like me, solo travelers who didn’t feel like finding a real job back home so instead decided flying to the other side of the world and living from a backpack amongst beaches, rainforests, glaciers, and mountains was a better option. Presently, I would say this is quite a good option. Apparently there are a bunch of jobs here, people are super friendly, and the nature is beautiful. Pretty good sich. If anyone wants to come down here and join me, just let me know! (Mom I promise I will come back).
So let me give you a rundown of the last few days:
Day 1:
I arrive at my 500 person hostel and start questioning my decision. Wasn’t sure how I was supposed to make friends with a gazillion people everywhere, many speaking different languages (mostly German), living with randos, etc. However, I immediately met people, made friends, and haven’t really been “alone” since.
I also noticed that birds love flying around inside of buildings here. I am currently in a coffee shop and a bird keeps landing on my table. ??
Day 2:
Walking/bus tour of Auckland with my new friends. It’s alright. There’s a reason New Zealand isn’t known for it’s cities….
I notice that not only do they drive on the other side of the street, but they also walk on the other side of the sidewalk. You never realize how much people follow the rule of sticking to the right until you keep running into hoards of people in a city that does the opposite. Note to self, look right for cars and walk on the left.
Day 3:
Orientation for IEP, the program I am here through. Find out 3,000 are currently in New Zealand on this program, and that does not include the thousands of people here without doing the program. In fact a vast majority of people just show up without any sort of program. Again, apparently I am not the only person with this idea. I also find out all the different ways to go about this whole NZ work/travel thing.
At night, head down to the hostel bar with more new friends for a free glass of pink champagne (just like Milwaukee, you get free drinks if you are a girl). Found out having a casual drink doesn’t work so well at hostel bars, as hostels here in Auckland try really hard to develop a “crazy good party bar” reputation. Won’t go into details, but we did not stay there long.
Day 4:
Free BBQ at a beach outside the city. This consisted of 3 pieces of white bread, a small burger and hotdog with a sketchy consistency. Oh well, better than nothing plus the beach was fun and some people started a rugby game which was fun to watch. Since this was everyone’s first time really getting out of the city center I noticed that this place is beautiful! Just ten minutes outside the city and you can see all these islands and mountainous looking hills in the distance. Houses nestled along the cliffs and beaches. And this place is known for not being beautiful. Can’t wait to explore the rest of the country.
I definitely learned that the term free is used pretty loosely here. This was especially reinforced after a few of us switched hostels for a cheaper price and a “free meal.” We did receive free food but the portions size would probs not be enough for a baby. However, for cheap you can upgrade to a legit sized meal. Still a good deal. I guess beggars can’t be choosers.
Day 5:
Got a temporary (meaning like maybe 2 days, maybe 10 days) job working for this company that’s developing a new website. Basically I just need to click around on the website and tell them what doesn’t work or make sense. All for $12 US dollars an hour. Works for me.
Well that ends my play by play. I have no idea where I will be or what I will be doing in a few days, so the next entry should be a bit more exciting. I can guarantee you will not be getting a daily play by play as internet is not free here and luckily I have other things to do besides sit at my computer and write about myself. But I will surely continue to write about my whereabouts!
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