Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Unfortunately its the former. Before I even got the chance to start my future career as secret shopper extraordinare, I got loaded down with work. First I got a couple days laboring work from my temp agency, then Steph's hotel called and needed help with a conference. Before I knew it, I had 6 straight days of work. I haven't played frisbee golf in over a week. It's horrible. Actually the work wasn't so bad. I had three days at Steph's hotel - two helping remove dirty dishes and other misc work during conferences, and another doing the same during breakfast. I'm not actually taking any orders or anything, which is a relief. Everyone there is pretty nice, and there are people from all over - Scotland, England, Israel, India, and even a couple Kiwis. I also had a half day helping a guy deliver furniture, and two days setting up this huge tent for a cherry blossom festival in nearby Alexandra. All pretty easy. I was actually kind of looking forward to taking Steph to the festival, since the cherry blossoms around here are blooming and really pretty, but I didn't see a single one in Alexandra. Not sure what's going on there. Anyways, Steph also had a busy week, working 5 days at the hotel. We got to work together during one of the conferences, which was a bit strange but altogether pretty good. I got to keep an eye on her when any guys started flirting with her. I swear I heard guys say "so where ya from?" to her at least 4 or 5 times. Nobody asked me once. Maybe it's the southern accent, but I have a feeling there was another reason...

Speaking of jobs, I think I've found my real gig for this summer: riverboarding guide. Riverboarding (aka sledging or river surfing) is where people willing pay money to jump in a raging river (freezing cold, I might add) with only a wetsuit and a boogey-board. It's quite strange but I've heard it was a lot of fun, so when I saw an add in the local paper looking for guides, I jumped on it. Today I started a 4 day course, which will be followed by many more trips on my own (tagging along with the guests), a safety rescue course in mid-November, after which I will be an official NZ riverboarding guide. I'm a bit nervous about people trusting me with their lives, but hopefully the courses will take care of that. We did a total of 5 runs today, and I have to be honest here, it wasn't that great. Did I mention the water is freezing? They said it was about 46 F. We had wetsuits of course, but still. This played a big part in it being not-so-fun, but also its pretty tough (and I am out of shape). The river is quite strong and you have to do a lot of kicking. Cramps and tired legs followed. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Regardless, I'm going to have to tough it out because it should be a great job come summer. Here is a link to a clip of what I'll be doing: (FYI the rapid in the clip is called "man-eater".)


Work has kept us pretty busy since our last post, so we haven't really done anything else of note. Everybody should be happy to hear that the recent flooding in Georgia has even made our news here in NZ! We saw a story about all the flooding, then another about the sinkhole that swallowed the car in Gwinnett county (they didn't mention Gwinnett by name though). Too bad they missed the part about how the car was broken into and its stereo stolen while in a sinkhole. Come on, that is funny. Steph also wants me to mention a hot news story around here - apparently some Auckland police entered a house with a search warrant. Since nobody was home, so they decided to take advantage and play the owner's Wii - for EIGHT hours. The owner had a hidden camera and it was all caught on tape. The video of a guy jumping up and down when he bowled a strike on Wii Sports was classic.

Hope everything is good in the states. Stay dry. Wish I could do the same...

Routeburn Track and...coffee

That's right, big news down here. Steph got a coffee maker. Not sure if we've covered this yet, and maybe it should be one of New Zealand's "quirks" (I've realized how lame that part of the blog is), but they don't really do normal coffee here. It's hard to even find a coffee maker in the stores, and when you do they are expensive. Apparently they used to have it, but once espresso machines got popular and came down in price, EVERYTHING switched to espresso. In fact, you can't even get regular coffee (they call it filtered coffee) at most coffee shops, except Starbucks of course. You can get different concoctions like the "long black" (shot of espresso and hot water), "short black" (just espresso), or "flat white" (espresso, hot water, steamed milk). And that all leads us to Steph getting a coffee maker off Trademe, which is the NZ equivalent of eBay. Of course she is very excited and insisted this news be the headliner to today's blog.

Steph is also enjoying her work so far. She works 4 days this week and 5 days next week. Mostly its dinner shifts but she does have a breakfast/lunch shift tomorrow and a conference or wedding every now and then. That has been good to keep her busy and provide a little cash flow for us, while I continue to sit on my butt unemployed. I have a couple of leads for lawn mowing services, and apparently a tortilla factory in town is looking for people. Now don't everybody flock to New Zealand at once, there's only so many of these "dream jobs" to go around and I don't need the competition. On another slightly embarrassing note, in my desperation to find something to do, I have officially signed up to be a secret shopper. While there aren't many opportunites around here, it does look like I'll get a free meal at McDonald's ("maccas") and some free gas ("petrol") from Shell. Things are looking up!

Since Steph had the day off yesterday, and I hadn't yet completed my secret shopper orientation, we decided to check out some of the supposedly great hiking we have nearby. The weather has actually been really good lately, and yesterday was no exception. It was calm and sunny and reasonably warm (when in the sun at least, the shade is a different story). So we decided to try out one of the "Great Walks", which are nine "premiere" hikes (called "tramps" here) all over New Zealand. We have 3 or 4 of these Great Walks within about a 2 hour drive of here, but the closest is the Routeburn Track, at only an hour and 15 minutes away. All of these walks are multi-day trips and have huts set up along the way for you to stay at. Steph wasn't that impressed with the weather and wasn't very keen on spending the night up there, so we decided on just a day trip. We only hiked to the first hut and back, which is, at 6.5 km each way, only 20% of the total hike. Because of this, we weren't really expecting too much, but were really impressed with what we did get to see. It had hardly rained in the last 2 weeks in Queenstown, yet the forest was damp and cold, with moss and ferns growing over everything not covered in gravel (i.e. the path). There were birds chirping and buzzing around, and poisonous traps periodically placed to kill the invasive stouts (ferret-like creatures). How lovely. We got to cross at least 3 or 4 swinging bridges, which were always fun to bounce around on and freak Steph out. A lot of the track was along the Route Burn river, which was astonishlingly clear. The entire time I could not get over how amazing clear the water was. We stopped for a snack at a little beach area next to the river with a huge pile of trees that had been left after a flood. It took me about two minutes before the branch I was balancing on broke and I fell in the frigid water, though luckily it was only my feet. Eventually we made it to the Routeburn Flats, which is a huge flat area (surprising I know) covered in tall grass with the calm river flowing through. This was the location of the first hut, which is similar to something you'd see at a summer camp. There were two big rooms filled with bunk beds and foam mats, a communal room, and a kitchen. Only two other groups were there at the time, and it appeared nobody was spending the night, but I imagine these could be pretty fun and lively in the summer. We had our lunch in the grass next to the river and headed back down to our car.

the start of the Routeburn Track

We were so impressed that we're planning on doing some more of these in the near future. Not only do we have the time (cough, cough), but its low season for the next month and a half and thus its much cheaper and less crowded. In the summer you usually have to make reservations and the cost is normally tripled. For the most famous and popular track, the Milford Track, you usually have to make reservations months in advance. In fact, we are probably going to make reservations here pretty soon to do the hike next April. So over the next month or so we'll try to check out some more Great Walks and maybe even stay in a hut or two...our heat pump is still broken so its probably warmer in those huts than it is here.

Steph on the first hanging bridge

Routeburn Flats

Update from Queenstown: Jackets Win!

In case you haven't heard, our beloved Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets beat Clemson today. It took a good deal of searching, but I was able to find streaming audio of the game from radio station in Savannah. When planning this trip to New Zealand, I was kind of thinking it would be good to take a little break from college football and other US sports that occupied a lot of my time and often led to a lot of grief (hear me Braves?). Once season started, though, I don't think I'll be able to stay away. I've been researching how I can watch the games I want to see, and its not looking good. If we sign up for the cable provider here, we'll get ESPN Australia, which shows some US sports including about one college football game per week. I have a feeling that won't be quite enough, so right now I'm looking into having my parents set up a device called a Slingbox that sends their tv programming to me over the internet. They haven't heard this plan yet. Anyways...that's about enough of that.

Steph has begun her training for her wait staff work, and has 3 or 4 shifts over the next week. Barista training went well, though it looks like she'll mostly just be waitressing. I interviewed for a job at the same hotel this morning, where I got the same reply as everywhere else: nothing until November. Looks like Steph will be the bread winner for a couple months. I may have to look into the professional frisbee golf league as an extra source of income - I got my first hole in one ever the other day. I jumped up in the air and squealed like a little schoolgirl. Steph seemed less impressed, especially when I double-bogeyed the next two holes. Being unemployed and all, I should have plenty of time to perfect my game in the coming weeks.

Other than that, we've basically just been settling into our new place. The heat pump appears to be broken given that it only blows cold air and the coils have frozen over. It took all my mechanical engineering skills to come to that conclusion. Hopefully we can get that fixed soon, since right now we're back to freezing our butts off. I was hoping to get a fishing pole and license to give me something to do, but apparently any new license is only good for the upcoming season beginning October 1st. I'd have to pay $55 just for the rest of this month. I'm way too unemployed for that.

We've moved all our pictures into separate folders, so click the link over to the right to check that out. All the pictures are uploaded, including some of our new place.

I've just looked it up and there is not professional frisbee golf league in New Zealand. Darn.

NZ Quirks

#3 - the letter z is pronounced "zed"

#4 - all the wall outlets have on/off switches

the road to Glenorchy

view from Queenstown Gardens of the Remarkables

our lounge and deck

Big Day Tomorrow

09-09-09 marks a big day for us tomorrow - Steph starts her new job at the Heritage hotel in Queenstown, and we move into our new place - a townhouse pretty similar to the one we had back in Atlanta except for one thing: location. Our new place is fully furnished, about 2 years old, really nice, and right on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. It was a bit more than we wanted to pay, and we're going to have to work at least probably 40 hours a week just to pay all our bills, but being right on the lake is going to be totally worth it. The guy who owns it said there is good
fishing and swimming right below our complex, so we're looking forward to that come summer. Its about 3 or 4 kilometers outside of Queenstown (maybe 2.5 miles), but there is a nice path along the lake that we'll be able to use to walk or bike into town.

As for Steph's job, she'll be working at the restaurant at the Heritage Hotel, which is about 1 minute drive ouside of downtown Queenstown, but on the other side from our place. It's probably an hour walk to get there, but we figure only about 10 or 15 minute bike ride. Tomorrow she has barista training, which she is very excited about. She's not really sure yet what she'll be doing or what kind of hours, but she said that they have a multi-national staff and that it seems like a pretty fun working environment. Her "trial run" at a country club near here didn't go so well - they basically just sent her out there without giving her a chance to look at the menu or anything - so she's happy that she won't have to be doing that.

As for me, well, I've kind of been a bum so far. I've applied for a lot of jobs, but it seems to be a pretty slow process since it really won't pick up around here for a couple months or so. Right now I'm hoping to hear back from a canyoning operation; they had a few jobs available but I'm hoping to get a chance at being a guide. Canyoning, for those not in the know, is basically climbing down waterfalls and swimming in ravines and what not. Kind of a strange "sport" but right up my alley so that would be a great gig. Otherwise I still think I could get a job at a golf course in a month or two when it gets a litte warmer. Until then, I'll be doing any temp work I can. I did 4 hours last weekend helping take down a conference at one of the local hotels. Basically carrying heavy and bulky tables and chairs and stuff up a huge hill to a truck. Exciting, exciting stuff. I've also been playing lots of frisbee golf, which is always good. Lets hope some of the more adventurous stuff comes through.

On another note, we should have good internet access at our new place, so I should be able to upload photos and blog more consitently. Until then, I leave you with another Quirks of New Zealand...

Quirk #2
Maybe it's because they don't actually have bears anywhere near here, but gummy bears are really hard to come by. Instead, they have gummy babies. That's right, little pieces of candy that look like chubby human babies. Actually the good ones are made by Starburst (no regular Starburst chews though) and they have some goo that squirts out the middle. They're called Crazy Babies. Strange.

Job Hunting and other Adventures

We've been in Queenstown for about 6 days now, and the job hunting is going pretty good. It started out pretty rough, with a lot of people telling us that they were either not hiring at all, or not until the summer season ramps up in 2 or 3 months. We persisted, though, and I've managed to score myself a sweet gig as a temp day laborer. This is the life! Tomorrow I have 4 or 5 hours taking down furniture from a conference at one of the hotels. Very glamourous. Steph has actually done much better, despite not applying at the organic grocer yet. Tomorrow she has a trial run waitressing at a big golf course/housing development outside of town. She hasn't done a lick of waitressing in about 5 years, and at this point it seems like they are going to just throw her in there and "see how it goes". We'll have to wait and see. She's pretty nervous about it and spent about an hour googling the different types of New Zealand wines to get ready. Not only that, but she had an interview for a waitressing job at one of the hotels in town. We've been applying at tons of places, and there are jobs out there, so we think we'll be able to get some work for the time being. Then, once summer rolls around, it shouldn't be difficult at all to get a job. There are 5 golf courses within 20 minutes or so, and all that I've talked to have said they'd have work, so I'm probably going to be doing more of this temp stuff until I can start at one of the courses.

As for housing, we've reserved a motel-type room at the Top 10 holiday park, which is basically the same as a KOA in the states, for $210 a week (about $150 US). It's about 10 minutes out of town, but you can't beat that deal. We were pretty excited about it until we realized how cold the room is. The dinky little wall heater they have in there is on a timer, so you have to reset the stupid thing every hour. Obviously this presents a problem when you are asleep, so despite getting up a couple times every night we still freeze our butts off at night. I don't know why I even bother getting up. In order to heat the place up as much as possible before going to bed, we've been resorting to all means possible. The room has a toaster and an electric kettle, which we are taking full advantage of. Every time we hear the "pop" of the toaster one of us gets up and turns it back on. I repeatedly fill up the kettle and once the water is boiling, pour it into a big dishwashing bucket to steam up the room. I hope you're visualizing a pretty sad little scenerio going on, because that's what it is. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Once we secure jobs we're going to look for an apartment or house to rent. Top criteria = warmth.

We've also had a chance to do a bit of exploring between job searches. We drove up to Glenorchy, which is about 45 minutes away along the lake. The drive was probably one of the most beautiful we have ever done. We did a little walk around the town, but hopefully when we get some time we'll go back and do some serious hiking. Many of the "Great Walks" (best hike in the country) start near here. Today I got my first swim in Lake Wakatipu - my first two swims, actually. The park in town has a frisbee golf course, so I bought a disc and off we went. By the 5th hole I had already been in the lake twice, up to my waist in freezing cold water. My underwear was soaked so once I put my jeans back on it looked like I had wet my pants. Still, went on to shoot a 4-over par, not bad for my first time plus a couple lake shots.

The computer is about to die so I've got to upload. Some new pics are up. Be back soon.