Well, I'm on my last night at the Skotel Alpine Hotel, the highest hotel in New Zealand. I think. I head out tomorrow to go to the Coromandel Peninsula for some beach time with Max, Jas, Sam, and Lou.
BUT - I owe you guys lots of fill ins from what I've been doing and haven't been blogging about recently!
When I left you last (last major update) I had attempted to jog your 'get-out-and-go' enthusiasm by talking about what I had been doing and all the crazy things that we all had planned and everything we were doing. All of that still applies. I promise to just give you updates this time.
I had just finished a dodgeball tournament with the guys (and gals) I worked with and then we just continued working. Unfortunately, we kept working for the mountain and the mountain quit doing any work for us. It took weeks for it to snow again. So, to pass the time, Treat came to visit me!
Pictures here - of my whole trip. Enjoy. It's from my whole trip, mind the ones you've already seen and skip ahead.
Treat came to visit and we partied it up in National Park. We drank in the hot tub. For 8 hours. It was amazing. Honestly, we had a blast. We had such a blast we missed our bus. The next morning. Ok it was the next afternoon but cut us some slack.
We caught the bus the day after we were supposed to leave and took it down to Wellington. We got there late at night and the drinking commenced immediately. We hit up a few bars and thanks to Treat, I remember about half of it.
The next morning we were out seeing the city, walking around and ultimately going to a soccer game of the Wellington Phoenix! We walked in at minute 5 right behind the opposing team's net to see the Phoenix score immediately! We sat through the next 85 minutes of game-time watching the Phoenix hooligans rile up the opposing team and gawking at how bad the officiating was. One of the highlights of the game was the goalie pulled a dirty move and got away with it, much to the dismay of the Phoenix fans, and so once the keeper touched the ball at all the entire stadium "Boo'ed" him. Epic times. The Phoenix won, 2-nil.
We enjoyed the sights of the city and especially the food. Sushi, thai, indian. But most of all, we enjoyed our days off. It was, most of all, Treat's vacation so we did anything he wanted to do and that usually happened to be what I wanted to do as well. We saw two movies in theaters (something nice for both of us). We also got to see Weta workshops. Weta is the company that is responsible for pretty much of all of the animation, design, and effects for Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and multitudes of other movies. While we didn't get to see inside the workshop we got to see tons of stuff from the movies (not just LotR) and a cool video highlighting everything they've done and the evolution of their company.
That more or less wrapped up what happened in Welly. I'm not going to disclose many of the shenanigans that went down for the sake of the well-being dignity of many of those involved. Needless to say, fun was had by many an early-20's somethings.
More to come later. That's just the first update.
Kev
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
I feel charged up...
Quick note - I got my charger back. I will be posting a long-ish update about what has been happening in my life during this hiatus soon enough. I do have internet access again and my computer is at 100% (and more importantly my charger can keep it that way) so I will be able to fill in all you folks of this INCREDIBLE time I've been having here. That was only half sarcastic because I absolutely love it here but most of my friends have left already because it's the end of the season.
Things owed to readers -
1. Stories of Treat's visit (pictures may be included)
2. What it's like to work at ski resort as the season ends
3. Hiking to the crater of an active volcano and only getting a little bit frightened when the military base 100k away is bombing stuff (pictures included)
4. Final-ish thoughts of time spent at a Kiwi ski resort
5. Insight? Maybe? Though I hate getting serious on here, it's like trying to express shit to a wall.
I miss home mucho and I'll love you forever if you send me a Cajun Filet Biscuit from Bojangles. Not even sure it will get through customs but DAMNIT it's worth a try. My sous chef is going to name his next pet Bojangles because I've talked it up so much.
6. I miss Bojangles/Cook-out.
Get ready for the next exciting installment of "Experience of a Kiwi-time," coming soon to the interwebs near you!
KP
Things owed to readers -
1. Stories of Treat's visit (pictures may be included)
2. What it's like to work at ski resort as the season ends
3. Hiking to the crater of an active volcano and only getting a little bit frightened when the military base 100k away is bombing stuff (pictures included)
4. Final-ish thoughts of time spent at a Kiwi ski resort
5. Insight? Maybe? Though I hate getting serious on here, it's like trying to express shit to a wall.
I miss home mucho and I'll love you forever if you send me a Cajun Filet Biscuit from Bojangles. Not even sure it will get through customs but DAMNIT it's worth a try. My sous chef is going to name his next pet Bojangles because I've talked it up so much.
6. I miss Bojangles/Cook-out.
Get ready for the next exciting installment of "Experience of a Kiwi-time," coming soon to the interwebs near you!
KP
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Minor Setback....
So...a few days ago my computer stopped charging. Naturally, that leads to a rundown of a battery and ultimately a computer that won't turn on.
I will not be able to skype anyone any time soon. I will rarely post updates (insert hilarious comments here about this already happening) and e-mail or facebook will be just as rare.
So, damnit. Yea.
Talk to ya later.
Kev
I will not be able to skype anyone any time soon. I will rarely post updates (insert hilarious comments here about this already happening) and e-mail or facebook will be just as rare.
So, damnit. Yea.
Talk to ya later.
Kev
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Slackin!
I know! I know! I've not updated you folks on my goings on in a while! I sincerely apologize. As some of you know, one of my best friends, Treat, recently visited me on his mid tour leave from Afghanistan. I can't WAIT to tell you all about it.
The short of it is - Treat came, he saw, got wasted, conquered, drank more, partied with Kiwis and Aussies and Germans and such, and left.
The long of it will have to wait but I've added pictures to Facebook and I'm a bit tired so I'll have to upload select pictures at another time, sooner than later hopefully. For now, enjoy this public link to my facebook photos of my New Zealand adventures. Yay Pictures!
I'll try to keep more up to date next time.
Also - for any and all wondering. My mailing address is
Kevin Peters
The Park
National Park
New Zealand 3948
Stay Classy.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Kiwi Living and Worldly Adventures
Well Folks, I've just crossed the 2 month mark of my travels. Ironically, I can hardly call it travels at the moment. Apart from the first week, I've lived in the same room for the last 7 weeks. It's a very expensive room but totally worth it as I have my own space, my own fridge, my own double bed, AND - my own bathroom.
Most of my time is spent at work, on the mountain. The mountain has an enormous amount of potential for incredible terrain and epic skiing. However, riding the lift up and watching the waterfalls on the mountain, as beautiful as it is, is a sad reminder of how shitty the weather is for snow on the central plateau of New Zealand. Today was my day off. If there was good weather I would have gone up to the mountain. However, it rained. It rained where I live and it rained on the mountain. Yea, where all the snow is. Where all the skiing takes place, it rained. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. On the mountain. Where all the skiing is supposed to take place. Tomorrow is my day off too. On both of my days off this week I will not be able to board. Ugh.
But it has been fun living and working here. Many of my coworkers are awesome and everyone else I've met, save a few, have been either awesome or decently cool :) Below are two pictures taken from the Dodgeball tournament. The Lorenz Bar and Cafe Kitchen Crew (where I work) became the Lucky Bugger Club for a night and donned our Chef uniforms for a night of Dodging, Ducking, Dipping, Diving, and Dodging. From left to right is Sergio, Matias, Joyce(bottom), Matt(top), and Max.
I think my favorite part about living here so far is the stories of past adventures and future endeavors of those I work with and I know. I've met Kiwis, Americans, Aussies, Czechs, Germans, Chileans, Argentinians, Canadians, Brazilians, and French. And probably more that I can't remember or have no idea what their nationality is. In the kitchen I work with 2 Kiwis, 2 Chileans, a Dutch, an Aussie, 2 Argentinians and occasionally a German, an Englishman, or an Estonian.
One of the German guys, I have worked with 2, plans to go home after the season. However, he doesn't have enough money to catch a plane ride and knows he won't make enough money to buy one by the end of the season. He plans to catch a boat home. He doesn't know how but he does know that it might be his only way home. He and the other german guy have been traveling around the world for the last few months. Last season he worked in Austria at a ski resort where he told me after each shift the employees got a shift beer. Except it wasn't just a shift beer, it was however many shift beers you wanted after your shift.
The Dutch girl, Joyce, is competing in a sky diving competition next week. She's been traveling for months already. She's been diving with sharks. Granted, she cheated as she was in a cage but still awesome.
My head chef, Matt, a Kiwi, is going to Queensland, Australia after the season ends to open up a cafe or restaurant that he and his sister are going to finance together.
My sous chef, Max, another Kiwi, is going to work in British Columbia with his girlfriend to work at another ski resort and he hopes to work in Fine Dining. He's worked in almost every other genre of food service and is ready to tackle fine dining. He's an awesome guy and a good chef as well.
Sergio, the Argentinian, has been working in New Zealand for a few months before the ski season started and has told me about an awesome place he worked before hand where he cooked and said the bar he worked at was the best place to party in that town. Gives me good hopes to travel around New Zealand myself.
Two Aussies from where I live, Shannon and Ashley, have been traveling around New Zealand for months before they arrived in National Park to work at Ruapehu. They've seen incredible sights around New Zealand and I hope my travels have some similar aspects to their journeys.
So many more descriptions of travels and ideas for the future make me wonder why I haven't done this earlier. It's not like life is any different here in certain respects but in many others it is vastly different. It's the same everywhere you go really. You start living somewhere new, you meet new friends, you fall into new habits or create new ones with the same effects, you eat the same way if you can, you sleep the same way and you do the same things you enjoy.
But when you live in a place so vastly different it makes you think more about what you've done and what you want to do. I've realized that I love snowboarding, but I love playing ultimate more. I've realized that working in a kitchen isn't such a bad thing but I don't want to make a career out of it. I've realized that traveling alone is as hard as I thought it might be but didn't realize that friends would come easier than I thought.
I look forward to the rest of the season, I look forward to better weather. I still want to hike to the crater atop the active volcano and have a picture of me snowboarding next to the volcanic lake. I want to hike one of the volcanoes that helped depict Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings because, well, because that is just an awesome bragging right to say you snowboarding down Mt Doom. I look forward to whatever happens next to me in New Zealand. Whether that is working at a golf course in a town dominated by incredible views and extreme sports or living and working in they city, I imagine I'll have a good time. But I will be thinking about what to do next. As should you.
Think about what you are doing now. Is it fun or exciting? Is it what you want? What do you want to do? Don't know? Even better! Get out and do something crazy! Go travel around in another country for a few weeks or days even. Get a visa and go work there for a few months. It might open up your eyes. It might give you a break from the normal and mundane. It might make you change your life. It might be nothing more than a vacation. But who complains about vacations? Get out there, do something fun.
Kevin
Most of my time is spent at work, on the mountain. The mountain has an enormous amount of potential for incredible terrain and epic skiing. However, riding the lift up and watching the waterfalls on the mountain, as beautiful as it is, is a sad reminder of how shitty the weather is for snow on the central plateau of New Zealand. Today was my day off. If there was good weather I would have gone up to the mountain. However, it rained. It rained where I live and it rained on the mountain. Yea, where all the snow is. Where all the skiing takes place, it rained. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. On the mountain. Where all the skiing is supposed to take place. Tomorrow is my day off too. On both of my days off this week I will not be able to board. Ugh.
But it has been fun living and working here. Many of my coworkers are awesome and everyone else I've met, save a few, have been either awesome or decently cool :) Below are two pictures taken from the Dodgeball tournament. The Lorenz Bar and Cafe Kitchen Crew (where I work) became the Lucky Bugger Club for a night and donned our Chef uniforms for a night of Dodging, Ducking, Dipping, Diving, and Dodging. From left to right is Sergio, Matias, Joyce(bottom), Matt(top), and Max.
We had an alright night. Out of about 30 teams we made it to the quarter finals. We won 3 and lost in the Quarters. There are usually things to do. But when there aren't we enjoy the quiet days as well. Too many and we get stir crazy though.
I think my favorite part about living here so far is the stories of past adventures and future endeavors of those I work with and I know. I've met Kiwis, Americans, Aussies, Czechs, Germans, Chileans, Argentinians, Canadians, Brazilians, and French. And probably more that I can't remember or have no idea what their nationality is. In the kitchen I work with 2 Kiwis, 2 Chileans, a Dutch, an Aussie, 2 Argentinians and occasionally a German, an Englishman, or an Estonian.
One of the German guys, I have worked with 2, plans to go home after the season. However, he doesn't have enough money to catch a plane ride and knows he won't make enough money to buy one by the end of the season. He plans to catch a boat home. He doesn't know how but he does know that it might be his only way home. He and the other german guy have been traveling around the world for the last few months. Last season he worked in Austria at a ski resort where he told me after each shift the employees got a shift beer. Except it wasn't just a shift beer, it was however many shift beers you wanted after your shift.
The Dutch girl, Joyce, is competing in a sky diving competition next week. She's been traveling for months already. She's been diving with sharks. Granted, she cheated as she was in a cage but still awesome.
My head chef, Matt, a Kiwi, is going to Queensland, Australia after the season ends to open up a cafe or restaurant that he and his sister are going to finance together.
My sous chef, Max, another Kiwi, is going to work in British Columbia with his girlfriend to work at another ski resort and he hopes to work in Fine Dining. He's worked in almost every other genre of food service and is ready to tackle fine dining. He's an awesome guy and a good chef as well.
Sergio, the Argentinian, has been working in New Zealand for a few months before the ski season started and has told me about an awesome place he worked before hand where he cooked and said the bar he worked at was the best place to party in that town. Gives me good hopes to travel around New Zealand myself.
Two Aussies from where I live, Shannon and Ashley, have been traveling around New Zealand for months before they arrived in National Park to work at Ruapehu. They've seen incredible sights around New Zealand and I hope my travels have some similar aspects to their journeys.
So many more descriptions of travels and ideas for the future make me wonder why I haven't done this earlier. It's not like life is any different here in certain respects but in many others it is vastly different. It's the same everywhere you go really. You start living somewhere new, you meet new friends, you fall into new habits or create new ones with the same effects, you eat the same way if you can, you sleep the same way and you do the same things you enjoy.
But when you live in a place so vastly different it makes you think more about what you've done and what you want to do. I've realized that I love snowboarding, but I love playing ultimate more. I've realized that working in a kitchen isn't such a bad thing but I don't want to make a career out of it. I've realized that traveling alone is as hard as I thought it might be but didn't realize that friends would come easier than I thought.
I look forward to the rest of the season, I look forward to better weather. I still want to hike to the crater atop the active volcano and have a picture of me snowboarding next to the volcanic lake. I want to hike one of the volcanoes that helped depict Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings because, well, because that is just an awesome bragging right to say you snowboarding down Mt Doom. I look forward to whatever happens next to me in New Zealand. Whether that is working at a golf course in a town dominated by incredible views and extreme sports or living and working in they city, I imagine I'll have a good time. But I will be thinking about what to do next. As should you.
Think about what you are doing now. Is it fun or exciting? Is it what you want? What do you want to do? Don't know? Even better! Get out and do something crazy! Go travel around in another country for a few weeks or days even. Get a visa and go work there for a few months. It might open up your eyes. It might give you a break from the normal and mundane. It might make you change your life. It might be nothing more than a vacation. But who complains about vacations? Get out there, do something fun.
Kevin
Friday, July 30, 2010
Checkin in
While I have many updates I have been uber busy! The dodgeball tournament was a great success even though my team only made it to the quarter finals. Out of about 30 teams I consider that a success for a bunch of silly people dressed in Chef uniforms.
The mountain has recently gotten dumped on last week and is looking much better. Trails that were littered with rocks last week have become pristine white trails. The mountain does get busy on weekends and those are the days I happen to work. Today was a long day, I was in at 6:45 am and out at 6 pm. I expect tomorrow to be about the same.
On an awesomely positive note one of my best friends, Treat, will be visiting me in late August and I hope to get a week to two weeks off so that Treat and I can examine the finer culture of Kiwi drinking and life as a whole. Given the opportunity, we may even hit up Australia.
On my next post I promise to post pictures of the happenings around my work and personal life as both have been pretty exciting. For those of you on skype, I will do better to get on and have some time to chat. I still haven't gotten any postcards out but hopefully I will soon.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the States (or wherever else you might be if you are reading this) and hope to talk to many of you soon!
Kevin
The mountain has recently gotten dumped on last week and is looking much better. Trails that were littered with rocks last week have become pristine white trails. The mountain does get busy on weekends and those are the days I happen to work. Today was a long day, I was in at 6:45 am and out at 6 pm. I expect tomorrow to be about the same.
On an awesomely positive note one of my best friends, Treat, will be visiting me in late August and I hope to get a week to two weeks off so that Treat and I can examine the finer culture of Kiwi drinking and life as a whole. Given the opportunity, we may even hit up Australia.
On my next post I promise to post pictures of the happenings around my work and personal life as both have been pretty exciting. For those of you on skype, I will do better to get on and have some time to chat. I still haven't gotten any postcards out but hopefully I will soon.
I hope everyone is doing well back in the States (or wherever else you might be if you are reading this) and hope to talk to many of you soon!
Kevin
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
How's that for irony?
Welp...I believe I last left you all mentioned the fact that I had a sore throat for 2(ish) weeks and I had no other symptoms. Interestingly, the night I wrote that and went to sleep I ended up getting the chills and cold sweats as I tried to fall asleep. I hardly slept, waking up every 15-20 minutes with a pounding headache, continued chills/sweats, and nausea when I finally got up for work. So...for the next... 6 days (on the 5th day I finally went to the Doctor on the mountain) I was out of work until - TODAY! Turns out I had tonsillitis. Ain't that a bitch. Penicillin and anti-fever drugs (their names escape me) help me with a quick turnaround and to jump back in it.
Interestingly, I still haven't gotten paid due to some form not getting filled out by yours truly (though I was told I filled everything out). Instead, I got an advance on my pay in the amount of almost my entire paycheck so I could afford some things.
On an awesomely positive note there is a Mountain Dodgeball tournament among staff. The Kitchen will be competing and I can't wait to play. It's in two days. I plan on being as Neo-esque as possible. Were meeting before the tournament to watch Dodgeball. We've decided it's our training. Oh, and we're wearing our chef's jackets as a uniform. Wicked!
I'm exhausted - doing nothing for a week and then jumping right back into work makes you tired.
I'm healthy again, I have money, and life is fun! I'll fill you in on more later!
Interestingly, I still haven't gotten paid due to some form not getting filled out by yours truly (though I was told I filled everything out). Instead, I got an advance on my pay in the amount of almost my entire paycheck so I could afford some things.
On an awesomely positive note there is a Mountain Dodgeball tournament among staff. The Kitchen will be competing and I can't wait to play. It's in two days. I plan on being as Neo-esque as possible. Were meeting before the tournament to watch Dodgeball. We've decided it's our training. Oh, and we're wearing our chef's jackets as a uniform. Wicked!
I'm exhausted - doing nothing for a week and then jumping right back into work makes you tired.
I'm healthy again, I have money, and life is fun! I'll fill you in on more later!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
NZ has been taking my breath away...
More specifically it's been taking my voice away. For the last two weeks I've been battling a sore throat that made me have no voice for about two days last week and today it reared it's ugly head again today. I believe it's the incredibly dry air and me not doing a good enough job hydrating myself so I've been working on doing that today (I think i'm approaching 2 gallons as I write) and adding a little brown sugar to some really hot water to soothe the throat. I'm not sick, but it is a MAJOR annoyance.
Work has kicked off in fantastic fashion as for the last week and a half I've gotten the breakfast shift! Meaning I start work at 6:45 every morning, so I have to get picked up at 6:15 outside of my apartment complex, so I have to get up between 5:30 and 5:45. It also leaves me no time to make breakfast as the communal kitchen opens at 6:00 and that doesn't really leave me much time to make anything. I tried to combat that by making muffins to eat in the morning. I made one pack of muffins (6 jumbo) and in less than 24 hours I had eaten all of them. Instead I just munch and nibble on breakfast items at work.
School holidays (aka - summer break for us, except they get them in the winter here) have started and that means we get slammed at work. Well....that's true and not so true... Last Friday kicked off school holidays and we were quite busy. I barely got a second to step off the grill during work and I didn't take one of my ten minute breaks that I was entitled to because we were so slammed. Friday was busy but it was a cakewalk compared to Saturday. Saturday was ridiculous. I cooked nonstop from 6:45 in the morning to 2:30 which is when the kitchen closes except for small items like fries or salads. I literally stayed on the grill during that time, no breaks, didn't even go to the bathroom during that time. I just stood over the grill and cooked open chicken sandwiches, burgers, steak sandwiches, steak and eggs and everything else that was made on a grill. Since then...work has been slack a little. I still went in at 6:45 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday but it was so slow on Monday and Tuesday that I was sent home at 10 and noon, respectively. Kind of a joke in my mind considering we are supposed to be busy but the one caveat is that the mountain was closed both days. Today was my day off. I either wanted to go to the store or go snowboarding. Neither happened.
The mountain wasn't closed but I didn't go boarding because only the beginner slope was open and from what I here, it was packed and the lift lines were ridiculous. I didn't go to the store because no one I knew went to the store today. I've been asking around for someone to take me to the store for the last 4 days and haven't made it yet. I ate my last bit of spaghetti tonight for dinner. I have some spiral pasta left, about a kilo of frozen vegetables, and one serving of pasta sauce left that I made about a week and a half ago. I also have half a loaf of bread, half a jar of peanut butter and about 3/4 of a jar of jelly. There is a tiny gas station that is also like a mini supermarket but the prices are insane. I bought food for my first week from there and then went to the store the next week and was astounded at the price gouging. One packet of budget spaghetti (.5 kilos) cost 80 cents at the super-market. It costs 1.60 at the gas station. It's similar for all the other food items. Tomorrow I'm going to the store thanks to a cool Brit couple named Sam and Louise that I've been hanging out with.
Non-work related things have been exciting. The world cup has been prominent in every day life and most of us are predicting a Netherlands/Germany final. With the Dutch win this morning that might actually happen. The bars are quite upbeat during the right time of the week. One bar (called the Ho) hosted all the RAL (Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the company for which I work) staff that sort of kicked off the season that was great fun. What's better is they have a free pool table and you get a card that tells them you are staff and you get cheaper drinks. What's shit is most of the drinks are Vodka mixers. Whatevs.
Another bar(Schnapp's) hosts bands every Thursday and the first one was fantastic. Named Spider Pig, the rock cover band threw a pretty good party at the bar and I spent most of the night playing pool and trying to speak over the band (Hint, this was the beginning of my lost voice). A good time was had by all.
My apartment complex also threw a shindig that they called the Winter Olympics. When people make jokes about how New Zealand is behind the rest of the world, this is part of what they mean... But, it was a great deal of fun. A lot of people from RAL showed up as well as many people from the apartment complex (most of them were RAL anyways). I met the rest of the Americans that night as we all teamed up to try to beat the rest of the world in challenges ranging from a dice game where you had to eat a bar of chocolate with a fork and a knife wearing mittens after rolling a 6, wall-sits where one person from each team had to wall-sit, the flour cake game where candies were hidden in a 'cake' made of flour and you weren't allowed to use your hands to get them out. After a few hours of intense competition (and other games that I cant all remember) the USA took second behind the 'Dutch' team. Naturally I was very disappointed we took second but I was a bit more livid when I found out the 'Dutch' team was made up of, 1 Dutch girl (whom I now work with ironically), 1 Brit, 1 Scot, 1 AMERICAN (I was very unpleased finding that out), 1 German, and 2 others that I cant remember. Ironically, there already was the "United Nations" team but there was also a British team and an American team. I still give Joyce (the dutch girl I work with) shit about it occasionally.
I've also made good friends with most of the staff of the complex where I work and have partied with them a bit as well. Everyone I've met here has been awesome and at some point I'll have to bring my camera out and take pictures with everyone to share with you all. I am having a fantastic time, minus the sore throat and voice loss. Working or not, I have had a great time so far in NZ. I know that as the season picks up the parties will do the same. I hope my throat can keep up. I leave you with a picture of the 5:30 am sky down in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I didn't think to capture a major southern hemisphere constellation but that will come later... If you think I haven't covered something let me know and I'll do my best to fill you in on other stuff that I have left out...
Also, I finally bought some post cards so some of you might be getting some postcards soon. Well see how long the NZ post takes.
Love and miss you all
Work has kicked off in fantastic fashion as for the last week and a half I've gotten the breakfast shift! Meaning I start work at 6:45 every morning, so I have to get picked up at 6:15 outside of my apartment complex, so I have to get up between 5:30 and 5:45. It also leaves me no time to make breakfast as the communal kitchen opens at 6:00 and that doesn't really leave me much time to make anything. I tried to combat that by making muffins to eat in the morning. I made one pack of muffins (6 jumbo) and in less than 24 hours I had eaten all of them. Instead I just munch and nibble on breakfast items at work.
School holidays (aka - summer break for us, except they get them in the winter here) have started and that means we get slammed at work. Well....that's true and not so true... Last Friday kicked off school holidays and we were quite busy. I barely got a second to step off the grill during work and I didn't take one of my ten minute breaks that I was entitled to because we were so slammed. Friday was busy but it was a cakewalk compared to Saturday. Saturday was ridiculous. I cooked nonstop from 6:45 in the morning to 2:30 which is when the kitchen closes except for small items like fries or salads. I literally stayed on the grill during that time, no breaks, didn't even go to the bathroom during that time. I just stood over the grill and cooked open chicken sandwiches, burgers, steak sandwiches, steak and eggs and everything else that was made on a grill. Since then...work has been slack a little. I still went in at 6:45 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday but it was so slow on Monday and Tuesday that I was sent home at 10 and noon, respectively. Kind of a joke in my mind considering we are supposed to be busy but the one caveat is that the mountain was closed both days. Today was my day off. I either wanted to go to the store or go snowboarding. Neither happened.
The mountain wasn't closed but I didn't go boarding because only the beginner slope was open and from what I here, it was packed and the lift lines were ridiculous. I didn't go to the store because no one I knew went to the store today. I've been asking around for someone to take me to the store for the last 4 days and haven't made it yet. I ate my last bit of spaghetti tonight for dinner. I have some spiral pasta left, about a kilo of frozen vegetables, and one serving of pasta sauce left that I made about a week and a half ago. I also have half a loaf of bread, half a jar of peanut butter and about 3/4 of a jar of jelly. There is a tiny gas station that is also like a mini supermarket but the prices are insane. I bought food for my first week from there and then went to the store the next week and was astounded at the price gouging. One packet of budget spaghetti (.5 kilos) cost 80 cents at the super-market. It costs 1.60 at the gas station. It's similar for all the other food items. Tomorrow I'm going to the store thanks to a cool Brit couple named Sam and Louise that I've been hanging out with.
Non-work related things have been exciting. The world cup has been prominent in every day life and most of us are predicting a Netherlands/Germany final. With the Dutch win this morning that might actually happen. The bars are quite upbeat during the right time of the week. One bar (called the Ho) hosted all the RAL (Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the company for which I work) staff that sort of kicked off the season that was great fun. What's better is they have a free pool table and you get a card that tells them you are staff and you get cheaper drinks. What's shit is most of the drinks are Vodka mixers. Whatevs.
Another bar(Schnapp's) hosts bands every Thursday and the first one was fantastic. Named Spider Pig, the rock cover band threw a pretty good party at the bar and I spent most of the night playing pool and trying to speak over the band (Hint, this was the beginning of my lost voice). A good time was had by all.
My apartment complex also threw a shindig that they called the Winter Olympics. When people make jokes about how New Zealand is behind the rest of the world, this is part of what they mean... But, it was a great deal of fun. A lot of people from RAL showed up as well as many people from the apartment complex (most of them were RAL anyways). I met the rest of the Americans that night as we all teamed up to try to beat the rest of the world in challenges ranging from a dice game where you had to eat a bar of chocolate with a fork and a knife wearing mittens after rolling a 6, wall-sits where one person from each team had to wall-sit, the flour cake game where candies were hidden in a 'cake' made of flour and you weren't allowed to use your hands to get them out. After a few hours of intense competition (and other games that I cant all remember) the USA took second behind the 'Dutch' team. Naturally I was very disappointed we took second but I was a bit more livid when I found out the 'Dutch' team was made up of, 1 Dutch girl (whom I now work with ironically), 1 Brit, 1 Scot, 1 AMERICAN (I was very unpleased finding that out), 1 German, and 2 others that I cant remember. Ironically, there already was the "United Nations" team but there was also a British team and an American team. I still give Joyce (the dutch girl I work with) shit about it occasionally.
I've also made good friends with most of the staff of the complex where I work and have partied with them a bit as well. Everyone I've met here has been awesome and at some point I'll have to bring my camera out and take pictures with everyone to share with you all. I am having a fantastic time, minus the sore throat and voice loss. Working or not, I have had a great time so far in NZ. I know that as the season picks up the parties will do the same. I hope my throat can keep up. I leave you with a picture of the 5:30 am sky down in New Zealand. Unfortunately, I didn't think to capture a major southern hemisphere constellation but that will come later... If you think I haven't covered something let me know and I'll do my best to fill you in on other stuff that I have left out...
Also, I finally bought some post cards so some of you might be getting some postcards soon. Well see how long the NZ post takes.
Love and miss you all
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Well, I've now lived in National Park, New Zealand, for 12 days. I've been working for 7 days. It's fantastic being back in a kitchen and cooking again. Granted, we don't do that much cooking - it's more like throwing stuff in the microwave and then throwing it in the deep fryer or the grill. But we do cook a lunch for the workers building the new cafe at the top of the mountain. We cook up a big serving of something (stew, lasagna, etc) and give it to them with some bread.
I'm number 3 in the kitchen behind the Head and Sous chef. Primarily because I speak English! The other two people in the kitchen are from Chile. But so far I've had a great time working and unfortunately it's still kind of slow and I'm still working on learning the menu and how to make everything on it so I don't have much to report other than that.
The weather has continued to be kind of shitty so most of my time is spent either in my room or the lounge. I have been enjoying the World Cup and hope to see the US beat Algeria and I've been REALLY enjoying teasing all the English folks here whenever they try to make a crack at me or any other American I can just say "Draw!" and they all just slink down without another word.
And because I don't have too much to report I'll just share some pictures of where I'm living and working!
I'm number 3 in the kitchen behind the Head and Sous chef. Primarily because I speak English! The other two people in the kitchen are from Chile. But so far I've had a great time working and unfortunately it's still kind of slow and I'm still working on learning the menu and how to make everything on it so I don't have much to report other than that.
The weather has continued to be kind of shitty so most of my time is spent either in my room or the lounge. I have been enjoying the World Cup and hope to see the US beat Algeria and I've been REALLY enjoying teasing all the English folks here whenever they try to make a crack at me or any other American I can just say "Draw!" and they all just slink down without another word.
Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) in the morning.
The lovely location where I live.
The lovely location where I work, Mt Ruapehu.
A view of the resort from the parking lot.
Looking back down the mountain from the parking lot.
Another shot up the mountain when the road crew just brought up a food truck.
The icicles at the kitchen windows. The wind does one hell of a job on them.
The main lodge, rentals on the left, cafe on the right.
Another cafe down on the right looking out to the horizon from the mountain.
Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu at dusk.
Another cool shot of Ruapehu at dusk.
More updates later! Once I get another sunny day when I don't work I'll take pictures of where I actually live and some more of the goings on down in New Zealand!
Monday, June 14, 2010
A Train Ride To A New Home. And 3 Sunless Days...
It's been a week since I've last filled you all in on my shenanigans down in the southern hemisphere and I feel like that is exactly what I've been doing. Nothing but shenanigans. Very fun shenanigans.
When I left you last it was a Monday evening and I was heading off to get dinner. I'm pretty sure that night I headed off with Leon (the Englishman I roomed with) and Neil (a Welsh Rugby player and a friend of Leon) to Wendy's much to Leon's dismay. Neil was all about it because they had a '5 dollar chicken burger meal.' Neil spoke with such a thick Welsh accent so that I could barely understand about every 3 words that came out.
Continuing on with that night we traversed back across the street (Wendy's wasn't that far from the hostel) and went down into the Globe bar (the hostel's downstairs bar). My problem with trying to recount these next few nights is that I didn't write down my own personal journal during the next few days and I don't exactly remember what happened which night. I'm about to do my best to recount the nights chronologically.
On one of the first nights I met a Welshman named Gez who I quickly befriended as well an English girl named Marie. Like every night in the Globe bar, we played pool for an extended period of time and ended up meeting an Irishman named Mark. After a few hours in the bar we ended up playing one of the last games of pool against two Kiwi girls. Trash-talking galore between the two teams (Gez and myself versus...Jojo and Angry Kiwi Blonde) ultimately led to friendship and an invitation to another bar where they were going. Dylan (a kid from LA) and Angry Kiwi Blonde really hit it off together and walked off into the night, thankfully towards the next bar. Myself, Gez, Marie, and Mark followed about 2 blocks behind while Jojo and the other members of her group jumped in a car towards a bar named Forte.
See...I know the name of the bar now but when Jojo was explaining it to us none of us caught the name. We lazily chased Dylan and AKB hoping to make sure we caught their next turn before they turned down a street we couldn't see. It worked until about 2 blocks away from the bar when we lost them. We had no idea they turned down an alley and we just continued down the same side street we were already on. I suggested we stop and ask for directions to any bar that starts with an 'F.' Naturally, neither the Irishman nor the Welshman liked the idea and the English girl didn't think any of us would do it. The good news is we were passing a strip club and I could just ask the bouncer if there was any bar that starts with an 'F' and quickly directed us back two streets, down an alley, and it would be on the left.
Ok, really long story short, we stayed out until 6 in the morning. The night consisted of lots of drinking, lots of rounds bought by lots of varying peoples, and lots of flirting with women of varying nationalities. The most hilarious part of the night was when Marie commented on Jojo's purse asking if it was Chanel. Jojo said it was and quickly pulled out her Gucci wallet and Versace sunglasses. She quickly asked us what we thought she did for a living and I immediately and jokingly responded stripper. I got ready to fire back any comment she threw at me but instead she merely smiled and nodded. She continued on o explain to us that Forte, the bar in which we were currently patrons of, was the bar that many of the strippers in Auckland hung out with after their work day (or night). It was definitely one of my more fun nights and one of my more expensive.
The next few nights were comparably tame and were spent almost exclusively in the Globe bar playing pool with a variety of people though Marie, Gez, Mark, and Leon became my staple of friendship and I may have promised Mark a round at Pinehurst (Mom we may have an Irish visitor, refill the liquor cabinet).
On my last night in Auckland before I grabbed the train down to National Park I figured I would either call it a night around midnight or just stay up all night until I had to catch the train at 7 in the morning. Hanging out with the aforementioned crew you can assume which one I did and if you can't assume then you clearly have no idea who I am.
Instead of reiterating nearly everything I've already said I'll just show you a few pictures of the night which nearly mirrored the night I just explained with more alcohol and less strippers.
My last night in Auckland was fantastic thanks to many of the friends pictured here and any I missed. Gez is supposed to come visit me soon and I won a 2-for-1 Bungy jump off the Auckland Bridge that I'm supposed to Bungy with Mark. I imagine I'll see many of them again soon.
On a much less positive note I decided to trim my beard today. I plugged it into the adapter, plugged the adapter into the wall and flipped it on while standing in the bathroom. It buzzed for all of .2 seconds before I heard a loud POP and soon began smelling smoke coming from the actual trimmers. I AM NOT PLEASED. Because of this, instead of looking like an incredibly traditional mountain man, I have shaved my face. This is the first time in a LONG time it's been clean shaven. I am less pleased than if I could have just trimmed the damn beard...
Pictures of my new home and my freshly (and unhappily) shaved face coming soon as well as updates of what I've been doing in my new home coming soon.
Love and miss you all. (Especially you followers I don't know, that's just kind of fun)
17 out
When I left you last it was a Monday evening and I was heading off to get dinner. I'm pretty sure that night I headed off with Leon (the Englishman I roomed with) and Neil (a Welsh Rugby player and a friend of Leon) to Wendy's much to Leon's dismay. Neil was all about it because they had a '5 dollar chicken burger meal.' Neil spoke with such a thick Welsh accent so that I could barely understand about every 3 words that came out.
Continuing on with that night we traversed back across the street (Wendy's wasn't that far from the hostel) and went down into the Globe bar (the hostel's downstairs bar). My problem with trying to recount these next few nights is that I didn't write down my own personal journal during the next few days and I don't exactly remember what happened which night. I'm about to do my best to recount the nights chronologically.
On one of the first nights I met a Welshman named Gez who I quickly befriended as well an English girl named Marie. Like every night in the Globe bar, we played pool for an extended period of time and ended up meeting an Irishman named Mark. After a few hours in the bar we ended up playing one of the last games of pool against two Kiwi girls. Trash-talking galore between the two teams (Gez and myself versus...Jojo and Angry Kiwi Blonde) ultimately led to friendship and an invitation to another bar where they were going. Dylan (a kid from LA) and Angry Kiwi Blonde really hit it off together and walked off into the night, thankfully towards the next bar. Myself, Gez, Marie, and Mark followed about 2 blocks behind while Jojo and the other members of her group jumped in a car towards a bar named Forte.
See...I know the name of the bar now but when Jojo was explaining it to us none of us caught the name. We lazily chased Dylan and AKB hoping to make sure we caught their next turn before they turned down a street we couldn't see. It worked until about 2 blocks away from the bar when we lost them. We had no idea they turned down an alley and we just continued down the same side street we were already on. I suggested we stop and ask for directions to any bar that starts with an 'F.' Naturally, neither the Irishman nor the Welshman liked the idea and the English girl didn't think any of us would do it. The good news is we were passing a strip club and I could just ask the bouncer if there was any bar that starts with an 'F' and quickly directed us back two streets, down an alley, and it would be on the left.
Ok, really long story short, we stayed out until 6 in the morning. The night consisted of lots of drinking, lots of rounds bought by lots of varying peoples, and lots of flirting with women of varying nationalities. The most hilarious part of the night was when Marie commented on Jojo's purse asking if it was Chanel. Jojo said it was and quickly pulled out her Gucci wallet and Versace sunglasses. She quickly asked us what we thought she did for a living and I immediately and jokingly responded stripper. I got ready to fire back any comment she threw at me but instead she merely smiled and nodded. She continued on o explain to us that Forte, the bar in which we were currently patrons of, was the bar that many of the strippers in Auckland hung out with after their work day (or night). It was definitely one of my more fun nights and one of my more expensive.
The next few nights were comparably tame and were spent almost exclusively in the Globe bar playing pool with a variety of people though Marie, Gez, Mark, and Leon became my staple of friendship and I may have promised Mark a round at Pinehurst (Mom we may have an Irish visitor, refill the liquor cabinet).
On my last night in Auckland before I grabbed the train down to National Park I figured I would either call it a night around midnight or just stay up all night until I had to catch the train at 7 in the morning. Hanging out with the aforementioned crew you can assume which one I did and if you can't assume then you clearly have no idea who I am.
Instead of reiterating nearly everything I've already said I'll just show you a few pictures of the night which nearly mirrored the night I just explained with more alcohol and less strippers.
Like I said earlier, games of pool always begun the night at...
The Globe Bar! The Bar beneath the hostel.
Gez and I in the Globe bar...put too much cider in him and this happens...
Lying on the Auckland sidewalk screaming obscenities. Mark loves him too apparently.
The next bar! I have no idea what it's called but they served drinks in teapots!
And we turned those teapots into a neat little drinking fountain.
And we had quite a few of those teapots...
The stripper bar! Sans strippers. Mark may be ready to take his clothes off though so who knows...
I found a tree to climb! The cops who pulled up right as I climbed the tree thankfully didn't stop me.
Aaaaand a picture of six in the morning where Mark is 'this close' to getting another Guinness.
On a much less positive note I decided to trim my beard today. I plugged it into the adapter, plugged the adapter into the wall and flipped it on while standing in the bathroom. It buzzed for all of .2 seconds before I heard a loud POP and soon began smelling smoke coming from the actual trimmers. I AM NOT PLEASED. Because of this, instead of looking like an incredibly traditional mountain man, I have shaved my face. This is the first time in a LONG time it's been clean shaven. I am less pleased than if I could have just trimmed the damn beard...
Pictures of my new home and my freshly (and unhappily) shaved face coming soon as well as updates of what I've been doing in my new home coming soon.
Love and miss you all. (Especially you followers I don't know, that's just kind of fun)
17 out
Monday, June 7, 2010
God Save the Queen! (Happy Birthday Queenie)
Well, I've spent two nights in Auckland now and I've already learned some interesting things about the city and New Zealand as a whole. This list includes Auckland is the 5th largest city in the world, geographically. Apparently, according to my English roommate, Auckland is the gay capital of the Southern Hemisphere. And, Kiwis as a whole (so really New Zealand) hold themselves in high regard. To put it more specifically, New Zealand seems to suffer from the Napolean Complex. They seem to think they are quite awesome (a theory I'm still in the midst of testing).
Man, how to keep you guys informed. When I last left you it was my first day in Auckland and I had only been sitting on the library floor trying to update you guys. Since then I have experienced some interesting things.
Once I got checked into my hostel I met my roommate, Leon, from England. After nominal introductions I quickly wanted to set a competitive tone with the upcoming world cup match so close. I asked him if he was getting nervous regarding the upcoming battle between our two countries. He quickly fired back, "What battle?" What battle? The World Cup man, soccer's biggest stage. Sorry, football's biggest stage. APPARENTLY, Leon doesn't like soccer. Er, football. Leon prefers baseball of all things. Unsure of how to continue the conversation because of how bamboozled I was that I just met an Englishman who didn't give a rat's ass about one of the only games that matter in England, I'm pretty sure we bumbled around with a variety of topics until I mentioned I was going to go find lunch and he invited me to a little pub a few blocks away.
I brought my backpack with the idea that I'd walk around after lunch and try to capture the heart of Auckland with my camera. Instead, Leon and I shared a few stories over food and a pint and then I mentioned I wanted to walk around Auckland so he decided to give me a walking tour. The walking tour lasted all of 20 minutes and we actually hit up most of downtown Auckland.
I hadn't realized how small it was but we even walked around the Harbor for about 5 minutes checking out the giant sailboats and pleasure yachts. That just makes me want to be rich as shit and have a boat I can dock anywhere in the world. I wonder if my cook pay will catapult me towards that dream. I'm guessing not likely.
We got back to the hostel and I lounged in the lounge with a book (not yours, sorry Mikey, I'm trying to finish Ghost King). I spent about two hours reading before I caved and bought internet time for a week for 50 kiwi dollars. Time creeps along in Auckland at the hostel and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even 5 pm yet after reading for 2 hours and there wasn't much of a plan for the night. Ultimately, at 7:30 pm that night the downstairs bar was serving pizza, I went to the bar for pizza and drinks. I met a Kiwi from Wellington and another Englishman who I played pool with. I learned Kiwi rules, English rules, and taught US rules. I also won most of my games and for that I was quite proud of myself. After giving up the table around 10pm to some other Kiwis, Michael (the Kiwi from Wellington) and I ventured off into the night to find more action.
He asked me what the plan was as two young, attractive Kiwi ladies walked past us. I suggested we engage them and tag along to whatever bar they were going to. We found out they were going to an 80's dance club, brilliantly labeled Boogie Wonderland. Arriving at Boogie Wonderland we found there was a 10 dollar cover. The ladies walked in but I questioned the bouncer and the girl taking the money if it was packed and if the club was full of girls like the ones that just walked in. She more or less said, "There will be later." Clearly, she wasn't the best saleswoman.
We decided to forego boogieing for a time and found an Irish pub at the harbor that will be one of the first places I go when I come back to New Zealand around the age of 50. However, the bar significantly lacked peers in my age group so after one expensive beer, we walked back to Boogie Wonderland wondering what kind of welcoming we'd get from the bouncer and ticket lady. Thankfully, it was jovial. The bouncer saw us, laughed, and let us pass with a single of exclamation, "You guys again?" The money mistress threw out some sarcastic comments as she took our money and I feigned my appall at her comments and told her I thought all Kiwis were supposed to be very nice people. She explained to me, quite clearly, that Kiwi men were great guys but Kiwi ladies were 'bitches.' Yes, that's actually how she explained it to me.
Laughing hysterically, we went into the time machine that was the flight of stairs down into Boogie Wonderland to find black lights, mirrored globes spinning on the ceiling, a constantly changing lighted dance floor, some fantastic 80's apparel on many of the patrons, and an impressive array of 70's and 80's dance music. This is where I learned that alcohol in NZ is annoyingly expensive. I asked if there were any specials for the night. There certainly was and, just my luck, it was a beer special. 3 beers, 20 dollars. Now most of you are probably thinking, "That sounds expensive, but I know if I change that to US currency from Kiwi currency it will sound more reasonable." Well, you might be right if they were pints and you were in New York City. I bought 3 bottles of beer (355 ml or 12 ounces each) for 20 NZD. That would be 13.36 USD. To their credit, it was the cheapest beer I've bought so far. On average, I've spent about 16 NZD for 2 beers. Also, I'm nearly out of Kiwi money already and the Banks are closed today so I cant change without getting ripped off at one of the many currency exchanges.
After meeting a variety of Kiwis on the dance floor I decided to call it quits around 2 am (I think, I honestly have no clue what time it was when I left). Due to my level of intoxication, falling asleep was quite easy. Meaning the room wasn't spinning but I was tired enough to just pass out. Parents be proud!
The next day was also quite slow at the hostel but I finally decided at night I could take some cool pictures of Auckland at night. And by that I mean take pictures of the Sky Tower. For those of you wondering what the Sky Tower is, here.
Like the CN Tower in Toronto, the Space Needle in Seattle, and the others around the globe, it is just another gimmicky tourist attraction with a casino at the bottom. But it is a fantastic piece of architecture to be the centerpiece for photography. I walked around Auckland for about an hour (staying within about 15 blocks of the tower) trying to find good angles to take pictures.
My first was quite close but I found a ledge I could easily set up my tri-pod and catch a cool photo through a tree of the tower.
Man, how to keep you guys informed. When I last left you it was my first day in Auckland and I had only been sitting on the library floor trying to update you guys. Since then I have experienced some interesting things.
Once I got checked into my hostel I met my roommate, Leon, from England. After nominal introductions I quickly wanted to set a competitive tone with the upcoming world cup match so close. I asked him if he was getting nervous regarding the upcoming battle between our two countries. He quickly fired back, "What battle?" What battle? The World Cup man, soccer's biggest stage. Sorry, football's biggest stage. APPARENTLY, Leon doesn't like soccer. Er, football. Leon prefers baseball of all things. Unsure of how to continue the conversation because of how bamboozled I was that I just met an Englishman who didn't give a rat's ass about one of the only games that matter in England, I'm pretty sure we bumbled around with a variety of topics until I mentioned I was going to go find lunch and he invited me to a little pub a few blocks away.
I brought my backpack with the idea that I'd walk around after lunch and try to capture the heart of Auckland with my camera. Instead, Leon and I shared a few stories over food and a pint and then I mentioned I wanted to walk around Auckland so he decided to give me a walking tour. The walking tour lasted all of 20 minutes and we actually hit up most of downtown Auckland.
I hadn't realized how small it was but we even walked around the Harbor for about 5 minutes checking out the giant sailboats and pleasure yachts. That just makes me want to be rich as shit and have a boat I can dock anywhere in the world. I wonder if my cook pay will catapult me towards that dream. I'm guessing not likely.
We got back to the hostel and I lounged in the lounge with a book (not yours, sorry Mikey, I'm trying to finish Ghost King). I spent about two hours reading before I caved and bought internet time for a week for 50 kiwi dollars. Time creeps along in Auckland at the hostel and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even 5 pm yet after reading for 2 hours and there wasn't much of a plan for the night. Ultimately, at 7:30 pm that night the downstairs bar was serving pizza, I went to the bar for pizza and drinks. I met a Kiwi from Wellington and another Englishman who I played pool with. I learned Kiwi rules, English rules, and taught US rules. I also won most of my games and for that I was quite proud of myself. After giving up the table around 10pm to some other Kiwis, Michael (the Kiwi from Wellington) and I ventured off into the night to find more action.
He asked me what the plan was as two young, attractive Kiwi ladies walked past us. I suggested we engage them and tag along to whatever bar they were going to. We found out they were going to an 80's dance club, brilliantly labeled Boogie Wonderland. Arriving at Boogie Wonderland we found there was a 10 dollar cover. The ladies walked in but I questioned the bouncer and the girl taking the money if it was packed and if the club was full of girls like the ones that just walked in. She more or less said, "There will be later." Clearly, she wasn't the best saleswoman.
We decided to forego boogieing for a time and found an Irish pub at the harbor that will be one of the first places I go when I come back to New Zealand around the age of 50. However, the bar significantly lacked peers in my age group so after one expensive beer, we walked back to Boogie Wonderland wondering what kind of welcoming we'd get from the bouncer and ticket lady. Thankfully, it was jovial. The bouncer saw us, laughed, and let us pass with a single of exclamation, "You guys again?" The money mistress threw out some sarcastic comments as she took our money and I feigned my appall at her comments and told her I thought all Kiwis were supposed to be very nice people. She explained to me, quite clearly, that Kiwi men were great guys but Kiwi ladies were 'bitches.' Yes, that's actually how she explained it to me.
Laughing hysterically, we went into the time machine that was the flight of stairs down into Boogie Wonderland to find black lights, mirrored globes spinning on the ceiling, a constantly changing lighted dance floor, some fantastic 80's apparel on many of the patrons, and an impressive array of 70's and 80's dance music. This is where I learned that alcohol in NZ is annoyingly expensive. I asked if there were any specials for the night. There certainly was and, just my luck, it was a beer special. 3 beers, 20 dollars. Now most of you are probably thinking, "That sounds expensive, but I know if I change that to US currency from Kiwi currency it will sound more reasonable." Well, you might be right if they were pints and you were in New York City. I bought 3 bottles of beer (355 ml or 12 ounces each) for 20 NZD. That would be 13.36 USD. To their credit, it was the cheapest beer I've bought so far. On average, I've spent about 16 NZD for 2 beers. Also, I'm nearly out of Kiwi money already and the Banks are closed today so I cant change without getting ripped off at one of the many currency exchanges.
After meeting a variety of Kiwis on the dance floor I decided to call it quits around 2 am (I think, I honestly have no clue what time it was when I left). Due to my level of intoxication, falling asleep was quite easy. Meaning the room wasn't spinning but I was tired enough to just pass out. Parents be proud!
The next day was also quite slow at the hostel but I finally decided at night I could take some cool pictures of Auckland at night. And by that I mean take pictures of the Sky Tower. For those of you wondering what the Sky Tower is, here.
Like the CN Tower in Toronto, the Space Needle in Seattle, and the others around the globe, it is just another gimmicky tourist attraction with a casino at the bottom. But it is a fantastic piece of architecture to be the centerpiece for photography. I walked around Auckland for about an hour (staying within about 15 blocks of the tower) trying to find good angles to take pictures.
My first was quite close but I found a ledge I could easily set up my tri-pod and catch a cool photo through a tree of the tower.
Continuing my venture around the tower in a clockwise fashion I found an intersection that allowed for another, and more clear, view of the tower.
And instead of giving an introduction to each picture here are the rest of the ones I thought might be worth sharing.
And my personal favorite so far...
And at this point folks I'm getting tired and hungry at 5 pm on this Monday evening so I'll have to inform you of my futuristic shenanigans at a later date! (Ky I hope you approve thus far!)
Peace out from NZ.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
And So It Begins...
I have arrived! I currently sit on the third floor of the Auckland City Public Library mooching off their free (up to 100mb of transfer) Wi-fi. I have stopped by my hostel (my temporary home for the next 5 days) and have stored my luggage but I can't actually check in until 1 pm. I've been aimlessly wandering around the city for about 2 hours now until I have finally stopped for a little while at the library.
Pre-travel I had a good time with Mike and Ken as they both stopped by the house on my last night in town so that we could all enjoy a really good cigar before I left. I finally finished packing as mom and I left for the airport at 12:10 pm EST. My final request before I left the country was that I could eat a meal that I knew I would not be able to eat in a very, very long time. So, naturally, there was no other place to go - Bojangles. Oh it was so perfect too...
Anyways, at the aiport Mom helped me with my luggage to the counter and we checked everything in and off I went! It's hard to believe that I'm going to be living for a year with just these three bags...you might be able to tell how excited I am at that prospect...
My trip was completely uneventful which I'm grateful for and I even slept for a good bit of the 12 hour flight. I immediately started watching Nine starring Daniel Day Lewis once I got on the Auckland flight and I'm happy no kids were around. It was practically softcore porn when Penelope Cruz was on screen...but it was also a good movie. After that I enjoyed my dinner, brushed my teeth, drank some Nyquil and went to bed. I woke up and had breakfast an hour and a half before we disembarked. I landed this morning at 7:25 am in New Zealand and only lost my turkey jerky at customs. My illegal knife and my hiking shoes survived the customs agents mostly because no one really gave a crap about the shoes and I told a fib about the knife not being an assisted-opening knife.
After getting out of customs I made my way to the bus stop, paid my 16 New Zealand Dollars and hopped on the bus that took me straight to my hostel (after reading the brochure that I could have saved two dollars by showing my student ID. I arrived at my hostel to find out I couldn't check in till 1 pm but they could hold my bags for me. Since then I've wandered aimlessly (I tried to find a breakfast joint outlined in Lonely Planet but I couldn't find it) around the central part of auckland.
I am getting fleeting memories of the streets from when I came here as a 15 year old. The streets feel, in a strange way, familiar. Also, Auckland seems to be like Seattle on a smaller scale. It is an overcast day today so I have yet to see much of the sunshine and it feels like an early Fall day in Boone right now. Cold enough to have my long sleeves on but that is about it. I really wish I put my flip flops on before I left the hostel! It's getting to be about time for me to go back to my hostel and find out what room I'll be in and maybe some things to do for the coming night and few days. I could also use a nap. Or at least a comfortable chair as I've been sitting on the library floor now for about an hour.
More to come!
Pre-travel I had a good time with Mike and Ken as they both stopped by the house on my last night in town so that we could all enjoy a really good cigar before I left. I finally finished packing as mom and I left for the airport at 12:10 pm EST. My final request before I left the country was that I could eat a meal that I knew I would not be able to eat in a very, very long time. So, naturally, there was no other place to go - Bojangles. Oh it was so perfect too...
Anyways, at the aiport Mom helped me with my luggage to the counter and we checked everything in and off I went! It's hard to believe that I'm going to be living for a year with just these three bags...you might be able to tell how excited I am at that prospect...
My trip was completely uneventful which I'm grateful for and I even slept for a good bit of the 12 hour flight. I immediately started watching Nine starring Daniel Day Lewis once I got on the Auckland flight and I'm happy no kids were around. It was practically softcore porn when Penelope Cruz was on screen...but it was also a good movie. After that I enjoyed my dinner, brushed my teeth, drank some Nyquil and went to bed. I woke up and had breakfast an hour and a half before we disembarked. I landed this morning at 7:25 am in New Zealand and only lost my turkey jerky at customs. My illegal knife and my hiking shoes survived the customs agents mostly because no one really gave a crap about the shoes and I told a fib about the knife not being an assisted-opening knife.
After getting out of customs I made my way to the bus stop, paid my 16 New Zealand Dollars and hopped on the bus that took me straight to my hostel (after reading the brochure that I could have saved two dollars by showing my student ID. I arrived at my hostel to find out I couldn't check in till 1 pm but they could hold my bags for me. Since then I've wandered aimlessly (I tried to find a breakfast joint outlined in Lonely Planet but I couldn't find it) around the central part of auckland.
I am getting fleeting memories of the streets from when I came here as a 15 year old. The streets feel, in a strange way, familiar. Also, Auckland seems to be like Seattle on a smaller scale. It is an overcast day today so I have yet to see much of the sunshine and it feels like an early Fall day in Boone right now. Cold enough to have my long sleeves on but that is about it. I really wish I put my flip flops on before I left the hostel! It's getting to be about time for me to go back to my hostel and find out what room I'll be in and maybe some things to do for the coming night and few days. I could also use a nap. Or at least a comfortable chair as I've been sitting on the library floor now for about an hour.
More to come!
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