I am nearing the end of my second week of working at Cable Bay. Right now I’m munching on a delicious biscotti that has some chocolate moose on top. The kitchen brought it in to the office, so it was an experiment or a mistake. Either way, it’s yummy. So far, things have been going extremely well for me. I have learned how to do inventory (so exciting, I know!) and created a new inventory form since previously it was all calculated by hand.
I spent Thursday evening working my first shift in the restaurant. (But first we had dinner. It was very delicious ~ beef and potatoes and salad. Yummy!) I had three pairs of New Yorkers, which I found pretty humorous. We have a pretty decent sized staff for the amount of business that we do. We have a food runner, an expo person, and the manager is always helping to clear a table or bring them their wine. Some people do tip in New Zealand, although it is not customary or expected like it is in America. They are all surprised to hear that 20% is what servers expect to be tipped in America. The tips are all put into a tip pool which the manager than divides up among everyone. The kitchen staff is tipped out by the floor staff which is also different from home. I am also working a dinner shift tonight and they asked me to come in on Sunday. It has been a very busy week and thus the short blog update as I’ve only got a few minutes time.
Next week, on Monday and Tuesday I will be training in the wine tasting room or “wine cellar.” The lady who has been working in the cellar, just put her notice in and so they’ve asked if they could train me on it and have me help out on Mondays and Tuesdays because its not very busy. That way I can do tastings if we have people come through, but if there is no one I can just work in the office.
I have moved out of the hostel. Yeah! I really was hating it and was quite miserable. Unfortunately, I’ve only moved into another temporary situation. I met a very nice lady named Alison but her “sleep out” is only available for 3 weeks. A “sleep out” is a very common thing here on the island. I don’t know if its persistant throughout of New Zealand or not. It’s a detached room from the main house that works out to be about the size of a one simple bedroom. The one I’m currently renting has a nice queen sized bed, dresser, small table, and a lamp. Just the basics. I have access to the main house, kitchen, laundry, and TV in the family room. I’m happy to accept it for the time being. It’s close to work and extremely clean. (The backpackers was dirty and uncomfortable.) I’m on the hunt and looking forward to meeting some people and looking at places tomorrow afternoon. Ideally, one of them will work out for the longer-term. That’s my other trouble. I’m not staying long enough to “let” (aka rent) a place long-term, which is about 6 months, but I am also not planning on staying short term, for a month or less. Frustration … but hopefully it will all work out.
Wine Update: If anyone wants to order a case, I can get the California distributor to ship it to you. You will only have to pay trade price (so below retail) and shipping. Just email me and let me know which ones you’d like specifically and I will get you a price.
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