VF

Wow, what a trip!

Words can’t describe how elated I felt as I waited for my parents and brother to pull up at their hostel (!) in Queenstown. It has only been a few months, but it was so good to be reunited.

It was also strange, as for the first time since we have arrived, Queenstown became a tourist destination for us and we were finally on holiday there. It was like seeing QT in a different light and I loved it!

We did lots here, including: speeding down a river in a jet boat; seeing the views (clouds) from the top of the Skyline gondola and indulging in their buffet lunch and luge track; zip-lining back down on the steepest zip-line in the world; visiting Glenorchy and snubbing Ferg for a Devil Burger. Sean also sampled the best hot chocolate in the world; Patagonia hot chocolate. I will outline my three highlights of Queenstown below.

1) The Earnslaw Steamboat ride to Walter’s Peak for the gourmet BBQ buffet and ‘Sheep Show’. The boat was launched the same year as the Titanic, however this one is still going! The boat itself was amazing to see, as you were able to observe the steam works below deck. The BBQ was incredible and the sheep show was questionable. We went on the last boat of the day, which meant that the way home was dark, enabling us to admire Fernhill’s fireworks as it was bonfire night. Overall, it was a beautiful experience.

2) The underwater observatory in Lake Wakatipu was an unexpected hit with us. For a small fee you are able to go to a room under the water and watch the huge trout swimming and ducks diving down. For an extra dollar you are able to release food, and all hell breaks loose! A feeding frenzy right in front of your eyes, which also brings out the most grotesque eels from the depths below. We fed them three times.

3) The Novotel $22 local’s buffet breakfast. Totally worth it. Amazing spread of hot and cold food, juices and fruits. Basically everything you could wish for. I also learnt a valuable lesson there; bananas and kiwis do not belong in juicers.

We used QT as a base for a few days and from here journeyed to Te Anau and Milford Sound, before ticking off a couple more things in Queenstown and then heading north.

The drive to Te Anau and onwards to Milford Sound was rather scenic; I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to how many waterfalls we actually saw! I’m sure we would have preferred blue skies and sunshine, however, the rain created so much more to be amazed by.

The effect of hundreds of waterfalls cascading down the mountain was breath-taking. The cruise itself was very leisurely around the sound, however low clouds meant that Mitre Peak was obstructed. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the views we did have of the seals basking on the rocks and of one lonely penguin bobbing in the waves.

Craig bravely stood on the bow of the boat and was submerged into a waterfall, whose waters are said to make ladies look ten years younger. He seemed to have ignored the gender reference, and unfortunately rather than looking 17 again, he just looked like a drowned rat! It must have worked for me though as the other day a customer in the shop asked me if I was still in school. I replied with, “Yes, but as the teacher.” He insisted it was a compliment! We also enjoyed the seemingly endless supply of biscuits and the crewman’s views on natural selection.

We hastily left Milford as we were alerted to an incoming storm which actually resulted in the two day closure of the only road to Milford. We timed that well!

In Te Anau, we experienced another highlight of the trip; the Glow-worm Caves. Just incredible. Also, the tour itself was so seamless and professional, I think we were all impressed.

A crazy thing happened back in Queenstown, just before we headed north. We were crossing the road to go to our cars when I spotted a familiar face waiting at the lights on the other side. I couldn’t believe my eyes; we only bumped into our old neighbours from Swindon! What are the chances?! Small world indeed.

We then journeyed up the West Coast all the way to Picton ferry port. We stopped off at several wonderful sights and places on the way, such as Wanaka, and stayed at Fox Glacier, Hokitika, Westport and Nelson.

Fox Glacier

Craig and I were very much looking forward to this place as Craig had managed to blag a free helicopter and 4 hour hike trip for the two of us. Of course, this turned out too good to be true as we tentatively watched the sky. The trip is weather dependent and lo and behold the rains started an hour before our start time. It was cancelled. We are trying again next month, so keep your fingers crossed for us. Despite this setback, we still had a good time at Fox Glacier and we walked the 2km to the bottom of the glacier itself. It was a very rocky and uneven path, divided by a few streams and with a final steep ascent. A lovely family stroll it was!

Hokitika

What a strange, sleepy town! We arrived at about 6pm but everything was closed and there wasn’t anyone about. Very bizarre. We got something to eat and headed to bed. That night was very loud and windy and the storm claimed the ashtray outside our apartment. This wasn’t a huge loss however we were informed that the storm had forced some garage roofs off and caused power outages. The highlight of Hokitika was that we finally saw a kiwi bird (two of them, and they look like cartoon characters!), Craig and I hand-fed eels and stroked them (silky not slimy) and I had the best steak, cheese and bacon pie for lunch. They love their pies here.

Westport 

The drive to this place was incredible. Like amazingly incredible. We stopped off at a few scenic spots on the way, including the longest swing bridge in the Southern Hemisphere at Buller Gorge and the interesting Pancake Rocks.

Due to the ‘April-esque’ weather, we quite literally followed a rainbow to Westport. Here we were most grateful to the staff at Johnny’s for serving us so late. The young lady serving us was like a tour guide; she told us everything about Westport and where to go. Unfortunately we were off again the next morning but if we ever come back we know where to go!

Nelson

On the way to Nelson we stopped off at Cape Foulwind, and it was as it said on the tin…it stank! There we strained our eyes to see the fur seals on the rocks below; they know how to camouflage themselves! The babies shuffled along in a cute way and the huge males just impersonated a lump, only moving if another male infringed on their personal space. Again, the drive to Nelson continued along the stunning coastline. In Nelson Craig and I enjoyed an ice-cold Mac’s beverage at The Vic Brewbar in the CBD before a quick stroll on the beach.

Dinner was great at Speight’s Ale House, however we have discovered that Kiwis can’t seem to do a decent apple crumble. Even though we were excited by the custard (it usually comes with ice-cream here), the crumble turned out to be granola. Granola…

The next morning we drove to Picton to catch the ferry across to the North Island. The ferry journey took 3.5 hours. That’s a long way! It looks like the English channel on a map. We probably had the best value meal of the whole trip on the ferry. $7.90 for fish and chips. Bargain.

This concludes the South Island blog entry. We were told that a quarter of the population live in the South and the rest on the North Island, and judging by how many people we saw, I believe that. I have to say though, I adore the South Island and the breath-taking sights and places it has to offer. The lack of over-crowding makes it all the more special. It made it even better experiencing the magic with my family.

Stay tuned for the North Island entry. Peace out party people.

CS

I’m currently sipping a pint of Mac’s passion fruit IPA which I have found a taste for since being in NZ. We’re in The Vic pub in Nelson having driven from Westport earlier today. It’s still the first week of our road trip and there’s already been a lot of driving and walking so far.

Being outside Queenstown is refreshing and we can finally see NZ’s true colours. We know that Queenstown is a bit of a bubble so we refrained from believing that the rest of the country is the same. The first noticeable difference is that most of the places are pretty desolate and can feel like ghost towns at times with not a single person in sight. But I love that. It’s a great change from the busy streets of UK towns and leaves you feeling like you’ve got more of your own space.

The journey to the top of the north island has so far been pretty spectacular, with forests, straight open roads and coastal roads with crashing waves to name but a few. I’m really enjoying taking in the views whilst driving the most amazing roads I’ve ever seen in my life.

I’m content with where we are right now. It’s sunny here in Nelson and this seems like a pretty cool place. Having driven through so much rain that we could hardly see where we were going, we love how quickly the weather can change here (when it turns sunny anyway!!) and one day is hardly recognisable from the next. Fingers crossed for some sun on the rest of our trip. Vicki is going to do another post soon on where we’ve been and what we’ve done so far.

Now to explore Nelson and head further north in the morning. North island here we come.

VF

Today was incredible. 

We were transported back to being learners, which was both terrifying and exciting. I think that once you’ve learnt to do something well and continued on that path, it can be daunting to start afresh. Also, you forget what it’s like to be a learner and the highs and lows which come with it. For many, it is dreaded, especially when it essentially closes doors, rather than opens them (at first anyhow). 

This is what it was like for us. The whole mountain is open for us as skiers, however by learning to board those beautiful, steep pistes are suddenly a no-go zone and we’re back to the baby lifts. Sigh. 

Craig and I are both essentially self-taught boarders however the transition was easier as we already know how snow feels and behaves. It was just a matter of distributing our weight differently on two edges, instead of four! For us it was a matter of getting used to having one massive tray secured to our feet and then having a go. And another. And another. And another. Until eventually-boom-we got into the swing of it! 

For me, that was earlier in the season when I decided to give it a go on my own, while Craig was working. I had three days of gritting my teeth and perseverance. Craig’s turn came on Friday where he strapped on a board for the first time and spent half a day getting the hang of it. 

So today, we had a full day (!!) to practise our new skills and become more confident boarders. And today, we conquered that mountain!!  

It was amazing! In the morning I was fortunate to make use of a 2 hour, essentially private, lesson I had, which was gifted to me by a friend who didn’t need it. The instructor told me a gem of advice and then click! It all fell into place!

Craig was practising during my lesson, and I relayed what I had learnt to him. We both massively improved and by the end of the day had gone up all the lifts and even made it down a rather steep blue without a single fall, turning smoothly throughout. 

Proud is an understatement. 

Today I remembered the complete and utter joy of learning. I remembered the determination, the motivation, the resilience and the passion. I remembered HOW to learn and imitate others. I remembered how to learn from my mistakes and not to punish myself when I went wrong, but to grow from it. I remembered how to set goals for success. I remembered the feeling of complete exhilaration when I was successful and how damn proud I was with my achievements and the achievements of others. I remembered learning is fun! 

It was a feeling like no other. I was literally whooping, laughing and singing throughout. 

Today I remembered what it was like to be a child again and shine with those ‘light bulb’ moments!

CS

So this week I felt on top of the world, and I was pretty much there up in the mountains.

Not only did we ski at two mountains that we hadn’t been to before but we also did the highest bungee jump in New Zealand. It was pretty high, a 134 metre drop with an 8 second free fall in fact. I really didn’t know what to expect and I tried not to watch the videos of other people jumping so that I wouldn’t be put off, but I caved in and watched them anyway. It didn’t help.

When we boarded the bus there were plenty of locals doing the same, as it was locals weekend giving us 50% off the price. This also didn’t help the nerves as there were people we knew, so to back out now wouldn’t just mean a bruised ego, but a friendly chicken remark here and there around town. As we got closer to the jump we climbed up through a fair few stories and up some steep gravel tracks.

Over the top lay the AJ Hackett swing and the country’s highest bungee jump. We flung ourselves into the appropriate harnesses and safety equipment and boarded the small cable car over to the platform, which was held up by a few bits of wire, or so it seemed. Once on the platform they called out our names; me first and then Vicki, which suited me just fine. She was trying not to look down but that’s pretty hard when you’re up in a box in the sky.

They set us up with the appropriate attachments and walked us up to the tiny platform over the Kawarau River, hearts beating pretty quickly. There’s one more check and then 3, 2, 1, go. We both went first time, you know you have to do it and the longer you wait the worse it gets. So we were happy that we just went. Here’s a photo of me going over the edge with our videos below.

Next up was my birthday on Friday. We both had the day off so leisurely woke up and got ready to go skiing, which would be a first for my birthday. The weather turned out to be incredible and the skiing was awesome, it was such a great way to spend a few hours on my birthday. Being in the sun on the mountain with Vicki was perfect. Sounding soppy but it’s true.

The evening was spent at an all you can eat buffet, courtesy of Dad, so by the end of the evening I couldn’t eat or drink anything else. I made sure I put into practice my buffet piling techniques that Henry and I honed during our many years going to Pizza Hut!

What a birthday!

We had a couple of days exploring the skiing at Cardrona and Treble Cone, with discount as I work in the ski industry. I still can’t go anywhere without getting some discount 😉

Cardrona was fantastic and we had a free advanced lesson to improve our technique. We both learned something new and we are trying to put that into practice, so hopefully we can continue to improve our skiing!

Treble Cone was on another level. The view over to Wanaka and beyond was amazing and the day was as clear as it gets. The skiing over in the back bowl was powdery and fun, with a few black runs thrown in for good measure. For end of season skiing this was bloody incredible. There’s still no other feeling like being in the mountains with fresh spring air rushing past with views that go on for miles.

Next up, snowboarding on Friday, wish me luck…

CS

Queenstown's landscape defines it completely. The looming mountains of The Remarkables, which you'll find on any postcard of the town, are a massive draw for tourists and those wishing to move here from far away. The mountains were the main reason that we came here, so that we can ski.

What we didn't realise is that there are so many other reasons to come to Queenstown, and from talking to people that come into the ski shop the skiing is such a small part of the town. But that doesn't come without its problems.

Queenstown is so attractive that there are issues with housing, transport and the volume of people using the roads. Granted, the roads are pretty good compared to London and other major cities but there are constant upgrades to the road network causing chaos during rush hour. If you want to go to the mountain it's easier to go between 9 and 4, otherwise it can take twice as long.

In terms of housing everyone basically lives on top of each other in Queenstown. We are living in flat D and the land was originally one property. A, B and C are all built in steps on top of each other. The rest of the town is pretty much the same and if you happen to live in a house expect to have at least 5 or 6 flat mates. It's not ideal for us but it's not long term and is doing us really well to start off our travelling. We feel lucky to have the place we do with so much demand for flats and rooms here. You get the picture anyway.

The weekly pay in Queenstown means that the hospitality business is less cyclic and people don't run out of money by the end of the month, so bars thrive. Having a lot of people here in their twenties helps as well though.

The town is small and there's a lot of tourists here at the moment during the height of winter, which keeps me in my jobs. When that dies down though so will work so I'll see what September and October hold when they come around.

Everywhere you go in Queenstown you'll see something that will stick in your memory forever, just a walk down the road is a print from a postcard. That's why people love it and as long as the mountains surround Queenstown it will thrive.

VF
Following Henry’s request, here is another blog post! 

So, we’re trundling along quite nicely! We’ve paid off the credit card (our ski passes) and now we only use our earnings, which is great! We are working hard and allowing ourselves the occasional treats, for example we had TWO ice creams last week. Ferg ice cream is better than Ferg burger. Just sayin’. 

Last night we spent my $100 winnings from the retro ski night competition. It was delightful! We had calamari to start, then a mixed grill each and finished with a chocolate pudding! A jug of beer to wash it all down and we were most satisfied!

 We then toured a few bars, sang 3 karaoke songs (Offspring, Tom Jones and The Clash) and finished the night eating a sausage on a stick ($1!), sold as a hot dog. Craig was impressed by the even coverage of ketchup, despite the fact it lacked the dog. Or the hot. Which one is the bun?! Why is it called a hot dog in the first place? I’ll Wikipedia it later. We all know Wikipedia is gospel. 

Breaking news- I now realise that I’m no longer a binge-drinking uni goer and last night confirmed this. 

We had a smooth Disaronno and coke in 2 separate bars called Barmuda and Bardeaux. These were sophisticated affairs where we sat in comfortable armchairs and in front of a roaring fire. The lights were dimmed in an elegant but mysterious way and good music played in the background. I loved it. So inviting; cosy yet cool. 

Then we left these suave establishments and went to the raved-about Winnie’s. I so wish I had been blessed with Craig’s blocked nose. It reeked of sweat, bodily fluids and desperation. 8 years ago, I would have loved it, I’m sure. Now I just feel old. I had to work hard to keep a look of distain off my face, and I’m not entirely sure that I succeeded. We had one drink and left, never to return. Fair play to the people in there having a good time…crack on! I think it is just no longer for me. Soulless with shit music (excuse my French). I also now need somewhere with cleanish, useable toilets. Winnie’s isn’t that place. 

I don’t even like rosé any more! It’s just too sweet. Cor blimey, before you know it, I’ll be drinking red!! I’ll let you know when that happens. I feel completely happy, chilling with Craig in front of a fire, with a glass of crisp white. Perfect!

And I’m not even feeling hungover this morning. This is because I am also now sensible… yes! That’s right! I drank water in between each beverage! Smug. 

Anyway, enough about that. A quick note on the ski fields. 

I can’t get over how tiny the resort is, and how soulless it is! NZSki basically own the mountain and must be making millions, however I simply can’t see where this money goes apart from paying their army of staff the bare minimum they can! The lifts are old, without footrests, there is only one canteen with a very small range of decently priced food, the transport is often delayed and costs extra to the lift pass, the pistes aren’t marked… it all just seems crazy and unprofessional as a company. There are some great slopes and great skiing but it could be expanded and so much better!

I know, I know it’s small and you shouldn’t compare it to the Alps, but I can’t help but thinking even small improvements would go such a long way. They did Christmas in July on the 25th last week and it could have been a really fun event. However it ended up being completely half-arsed and just flopped. That sums up NZSki. 

I guess part of it is because QT isn’t a ski town. Its primary feature or attraction isn’t actually the skiing and mountains, as I had initially thought. It’s an adventure capital! People come here to do everything adrenaline-pumping like bungee jumping, paragliding, sky diving, going super fast on boats down rivers etc etc. Skiing is part of that but a large percentage of tourists come here and only do it for a day, as part of ticking off their adventure ‘done that’ list. You just can’t appreciate skiing or boarding after one day!!! But that’s how it is and it’s not going to change so we need to go with the flow and accept it. 

Whinge over!

In other news, we’ve been a bit ill recently. Craig hardly ever gets ill so this cold is driving him mad. He doesn’t get much rest, working days AND nights so that doesn’t help. I think we’re coming towards the tail end now and sleep is probably the medicine we need most. Some buttercup syrup wouldn’t go amiss either!

I love working at the rock shop. A lady took a photo with us (Giovana and me) the other day. I feel famous. 

QT is lush. I might moan a bit about NZSki, but overall I proper love it here. We’ve got a good thing going! We have some exploration plans in the pipelines and I’m looking forward to what the upcoming months have in store!

Missing family and friends lots though. Massive congrats to Vicki and Stephen, and Joe and Nat on their engagements! So much love! Thinking of you all and sending my love to England, Germany and wherever else you all are! 

Peace out x

Ps. About the karaoke. I didn’t get booed off. Result. And some muppet sang a Meatloaf song. It seemed to take hours. That’s just not karaoke etiquette.

Pps. Btw, I’m not saying I don’t like going out and dancing…I love to dance! I think I’ve just become a bit more picky on where we go to drink and dance, if that’s the mood we’re in! 

VF

I’m very happy to report that everything is going well! Craig and I definitely now have a slightly smug feeling that ‘we’ve made it’. We’ve managed to tick all the boxes necessary in order to set-up and settle in QT for the foreseeable. A sigh of relief please, in case you were concerned. No need to be!

So, Craig is busy most days, and indeed nights, being a ski-hire-guy and the fun police (security) and I have turned, rather delightedly, into a crazy rock lady at Hettie’s Rock and Crystal Shop. I simply couldn’t be happier! For 4 days a week (!) I am surrounded by beautiful stones, crystals, fossils and jewellery BUT I am being as good as I can and limiting adding to my personal collection. I’m trying. It’s very difficult though as some of you might remember I’ve always liked a pretty stone or two. The two people I work with are also wonderful so I really have lucked out. Bye bye horrible call centre!! 

I have also found a tutoring job for two sessions a week which I will start in a couple week’s time and I do the odd hour helping Craig and Dardy in the hire shop when it’s busy. 

I know what you’re all thinking…all work, no play? Wrong! Tuesdays are ski days!! I will tell you about today’s ski day, as it was most interesting. 

It started early this morning. Craig, being worked to the core and tired to match, is unfortunately a bit under the weather and has a rather nasty cold. Nevertheless, determined to finally get to Remarkables, we got up and made it to the 08:45 bus/truck. We have skied at Coronet twice because the first time Remarks was shut due to the possum chewing through the power cable and last time we were forced to abandon the HUGE queue for Remarks due to traffic etc etc.

Alas, bad luck comes in threes and we were once again almost forced back to boring Coronet BUT we put our feet down and held our ground (stayed sat on the bus). Basically, due to a truck overturning en route, a 40 minute journey turned into almost three hours. 

We stuck to our guns, however the long journey, early start and the pesky cold virus finally took its toll on Craig and he suffered a migraine. We went up to the restaurant instead to give Craig some rest and have a spot of lunch (loaded sweet potato wedges of surprisingly decent value).

We realised rather quickly that it would have been a wise decision regardless of health when we looked outside. It was a complete whiteout. Thick, heavy snow coated everything and it honestly didn’t look any fun. 

After a while, Craig felt a little better, and as we simply couldn’t go back without having done at least one run, we finally geared up and made it onto the chair lift. Just as we were about to sit down, the lift lady said ‘Have you been up there yet? No? Oh, the conditions are very difficult but you can choose not to go if you like!’ We had already taken our seat by then. Great. 

I can tell you that the lift journey was very painful. And it seemed to go on forever. I feared that the tip of my nose might be taken by frostbite. Newly pierced and all. Obviously we did make it, in one piece, without frostbite. But it was cold. Then we skied down…without seeing. It was like there was just a blank piece of A4 in front of us! 

We might not have been able to see, but we could feel and my goodness, the snow was a powdery blanket of soft heaven! It was glorious!!! I can’t ever remember skiing in conditions that soft! We just wished we could see it! 

One run was enough hard work so we had a well earned rest and hot chocolate. 

We decided to do one more run and then head back, disappointed perhaps, but at least we could finally say we’d been to Remarks. We finished our beverages. We looked outside. Were those mountains? Yes! We could see! In fact, the sun had finally come out! Wow, wow, wow, what a difference! A completely new resort! 

We went up a different chair and on the way heard some boarders whooping with sheer joy. And we could see why. The powder was remarkable (!) and mostly untouched! We got in our first pow ski and it was amazing! So bloody soft! We glided on top and actually managed to ski it rather well! We did that chair lift twice and I think both our techniques improved just from today. It was incredible!

And just like that, the weather decided enough was enough, fun had been had, and a whiteout was back on the cards. We squeezed one more run in from another lift and called it a day. 

We were pleased we stuck it out otherwise we would have missed that powder opportunity and who knows if we’ll experience it quite like that again.

We topped off our day with a Devil Burger (better and cheaper than the Ferg equivalent), before Craig started his bouncer-ing shift for the evening. 

Unfortunately we won’t be going skiing for the next two weeks as I have a market research job during the holidays, but we’re already looking forward to experiencing Remarks again, hopefully in the sunshine, after a good dump the night before. 

That’s all from me! X

PS. I customised my devil chicken burger with added brie cheese. Might be better than the pizza. It’s a close call. 

CS

So this week we went skiing for the first time in New Zealand. As you can see from the photo, the scenery is bloody amazing! The snow still needs some time to get to really great skiing conditions, but our first day was a lot of fun.

The mountain is very different from European resorts, generally there are only 4 or 5 lifts and the runs are fewer but still as fun to ski. The lift queues are also not so much of a fight, with someone directing you into each gate, that’s kiwi organisation!

So the first mountain we went to was Coronet Peak and we’re hoping to head up to The Remarkables mountain next week (it was closed for a couple of days this week as a possum chewed through a power line!) and we’re looking forward to a few more runs opening up in the next couple of weeks. Can’t wait for the views up at The Remarkables!

VF
Hello! It’s Vicki, as shown by my above initials. 

We are officially Queenstown residents! As I sit here in our little box, I can’t help but feel so bloody lucky that we have somewhere to live! I can’t imagine the continued stress of still looking for accommodation AND a job, whilst staying at massively expensive hostels and lugging my 32kg luggage around. Stress was not supposed to be included in our adventure! At least it’s only half the battle now… the battle of the jobs. I’ll keep you posted on that front. “Two weeks, two weeks! All the jobs will be out then!” Hmmm. We shall see…

We’ve only been here for 13 days and despite the slow start, we’ve come far. We hired a car on Tuesday and drove to Dunedin to watch the Lions vs Highlanders. That was exciting! Amazing chance to see our team on the other side of the world! What I didn’t expect: the opposition to boo before every kick… we have respect in England! Despite that, it was a good game and very close right to the end. And we got foam fingers… result! 

As we had the car we grasped the opportunity to go to the famous Pak’n’Save to do our first proper food shop. Hours later, over 300 bucks spent and finally unpacked, our box is finally kitted out and feels like home. Ahhhh!

One last thing that I feel important to share. On Monday night we had just moved in and still needed to buy essentials such as washing up supplies etc so we decided that we would go out for dinner as it was actually cheaper than going to FreshChoice, the local, expensive, supermarket. 

So we went to Searle Lane, where Craig works, to make the most of their deals and his discount. We had a 7 dollar (!) pitcher of beer and the best part…a 4 dollar pizza each. And it has been my favourite pizza in my life so far. No joke. Not only was it a mere £2.30, IT HAD BRIE ON IT!!! That’s right… brie! It was amazing and I can’t get over it. I might become a regular at the bar just for their pizza happy hour. Brie, my friends, brie and cranberry. Magic. 
Thanks for reading, peace out. 

CS

The last week has been really interesting for us and we’ve had to work really hard applying for jobs but Thursday was a real turning point! After an interview for a security job at a bar I was offered the position and asked to start last Friday night, which was bloody great. We then went to view another place to stay for the season and we were offered it!! So our world in Queenstown was changed within a matter of hours! Vicki is searching for jobs and we’re hopeful she’ll get something in the next couple of weeks.

One thing that we’ve learnt here is that Queenstown is dog eat dog for jobs and accommodation so we feel really chuffed that we have started to make some progress here! Rooms in houses are in such high demand that there is almost an interview process to live there and the owner gets to choose from a panel of people. It’s like being on a really shit version of Britain’s Got Talent. We were lucky to get ours, obviously with some skill involved 😉 , as there were over 25 couples that viewed it! John, the landlord, chose us so we’re well happy to be moving in tomorrow.

There’s just so many people arriving in Queenstown and not enough rooms and jobs yet, although there should be more jobs once the season really gets going in a few weeks! The housing situation is almost becoming unbearable here so the local council and NZSki really have to do something about it in the coming years. There’s over 900 new people coming to work for NZSki with nowhere near enough places for workers to stay.

So in summary, things can really change so quickly in this town for anyone moving here for a short period of time and so many people have said that anyone looking for work just has to keep persisting. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of this in the coming weeks.

Here’s a photo that I took from the lake this evening. The view makes all the hard work worth it.