Pictures from my Travels Thus Far

I now am able to access the internet at work and therefore, have the ability to upload all of the pictures I’ve been snapping along the way. I hope you enjoy the pictures and encourage you to imagine the fantastic surroundings. Most times the pictures just don’t capture all of the beauty.

Cook Islands

Exploring Auckland

Auckland Botanical Gardens

Sunset at Mt Eden

Auckland Domain

Starlight Symphony for One

The perfect evening – not too cold, not too hot. Sprawled out on the grass, I’m not sure how the evening will turn out. The field is set-up to expect an extremely large crowd, the speakers are rigged up and playing music for the people arriving early before the show, and I’ve found a nice little patch of grass to lay on. I grabbed the book I’m reading to pass the time since it’s only about 6 pm and the show doesn’t start until after 7.

(I arrived early because I didn’t really have any other place I needed to be. It’s crazy. I don’t know how many other times in my life I will have the luxury of not really having anywhere I need to be. Every morning I wake up and decide what I’m going to do based upon the whim of the moment. What an indulgence!)

I’m sitting in Auckland Domain, one of many parks in Auckland, NZ. This one is quite large and also has a greenhouse, fernery, the Auckland Museum/War Memorial, and a smattering of lakes, sculptures, and walks. For my family and friends back in St. Louis, I’d relate it to Forest Park. I’m waiting for the Starlight Symphony. The evening is a free performance of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra and guests.

I finish the crappy chic lit book that I’m reading (My Life on a Plate by India Knight ~ I’d give it a 4 on a scale of 10) just as the show is starting and the sun is setting. They have timed the beginning of the symphony to the setting sun. The pinks and purples float in the sky, behind a row of tall-ish trees. The evening’s hosts take the stage and give a whole bunch of information about the evening’s sponsors and such.

The show ends up being extremely enjoyable and not all orchestra music I’ve never heard of. They have a variety of stars, who I can only assume are popular and well-known to the Kiwis, joining in with the orchestra. The Prime Minister welcomed us to the show (to think I haven’t even been here 2 weeks and I’m at the same place as the PM!). There was a children’s chorus, a special Starlight Chorus, and others. They had the Kiwi Idols (yes, they have that crazy show here in NZ too) come up on stage to sing Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water. The Lady Killers sang a cover of Geri Halloway’s “It’s Raining Men” which I’ve never seen at an orchestra performance before, but it was fun. They also did some NZ songs that I was one of the few in the audience that didn’t know the tunes.

During the first half, they played a waltz so that all of Auckland could get up and waltz. This being my first time and all by myself, I didn’t waltz but watched all the kiwis. The very nice lady next to me, noticed afterwards that I was very clearly alone. We got to chatting and she offered me a glass of wine. I toasted her with my first glass of wine that I’ve had since I landed, and I learned she was originally from England. She and her boyfriend/husband (not sure which) have been living here for several years. They were extremely friendly and after they discovered I was a backpacker, insisted on giving me some food in addition to the wine, they had to “take care of the stray.”

As the evening began to wrap up, I heard the 1812 Overture, the Star War’s theme was played with the laser light show, and they did a fireworks show. After the fireworks, I got my stuff together so I wouldn’t miss the bus and started to head off the field. The orchestra played the NZ National Anthem to close the night. For the first time in my life, I found myself in a country where I was surrounded by people happily singing along to their national anthem and I didn’t have a clue how the song went or a single word. It was one of those moments where I felt excited to be experiencing such an event and at the same time missing America a wee bit. (It was only a tinsy bit, I’m back to normal now.)

A very fun and entertaining evening – and of course, better than free (since I was able to mooch off the neighbors)! Perfect for a backpacker’s budget.

Auckland Domain

Almost Speechless ...

Sitting on Oneroa Beach, Waiheke Island, New Zealand. I’m scribbling this down on the Matiatia Ferry Terminal/Waiheke Bus route map, the seagulls circle overhead. They swoop in a pattern, reminding me of a mathematical equation that I don’t know how to solve. They are swooping and making that annoying pitch-yell at nothing in particular. Seven. I can count seven boats in the cove, four sailboats and three others. The others are a type of boat I’m not exactly sure how to categorize.. hmmm… motor boats I suppose? The ocean waves lap in on the shore, a nice lulling sound, in the indescribable way ocean waves do. To my left is mostly green trees, dotted with a house here and one there. To my right, several cliffs jut out filled with houses and seagulls, with greenery to finish out the view. I glance down at my watch and see that it’s 4:15 pm on Tuesday, February 20^th. I gaze all over and I’m attempting to soak it all in and remember it for when I return. (return where? To the backpackers? Home? …. Hmmm…) Could I have planned it better, I am wondering to myself?

I’ve been in New Zealand scarcely longer than a week and I’m sitting on Oneroa Beach enjoying the scenery and thinking about my new home (which will be Waiheke Island starting next Monday). I have just secured a position at Cable Bay Vineyards as an event coordinator. Andi, my new supervisor, picked me up from the ferry that arrives about once an hour. He (yes, a male with an “i” at the end of his name, not a “y”) took me back to the brand new vineyard facility, opened just last week and gave me a full tour. The vineyard was designed to welcome in visitors to their unique vineyard that Cable Bay wants you to experience. (More on that after I begin work next week.) The full tour includes the restaurant, bar, wine tasting room, back office, courtyard, private room, and a trip to the basement to hear about the work yet to be completed.

After the tour, Andi and I set down at a lovely stone-ish gray table, outside in the sun to have a chat. As the sun gleams in my eyes, I’m contemplating if it is rude to continue this job interview with my sunglasses on. Andi offers me some water, which I’m excited to learn they have sparkling water available, and gratefully accept. I decide I should probably take my sunglasses off while we’re talking, realizing I should have sat on the opposite side of the table. Andi tells me about the Cable Bay partners, his experience, and so on. I tell him about my previous job experience and how I’m just perfect for the job. I asked him what system he was using currently to book events. He explains how he has scraps of paper, varying in size and color, that he uses to write notes and details on. They all are stacked in no particular order underneath his calculator. I’m enticed by the challenge, the allure of getting to create whatever system suits me best and realize I’ll have to troubleshoot it through myself.

The final part of my quasi-interview, (why can’t all job interviews be so laid back and easy?) is a tour of the island with Andi. He drives me to the neighboring vineyard, Mudbrick. While he explains how Cable Bay is quite friendly with their “competitor” Mudbrick, I remind myself that I need to e-mail Karen and turn down her waitressing job offer. We continue on the tour to see two different beaches (glamorous! I can’t wait to go back), through the little town, up and about to show me where he lives, the big ol’ grocery store, and back around. While in the car, we chat casually about schedule (right now, I think days is where we will start you) and what I’ll be making. He explains that he’s not sure how much of my time I’ll be doing the event coordination, but that he’ll ensure I will have a full 40 hours/week to fill in the time and that he’d like to train me in the restaurant and ‘cellar door’ wine sales. Then, he offers to drop me back off at the ferry.

From the ferry, I decide to walk back in to town (despite my heels screaming at me not to do so, as they are breaking in a new pair of shoes that are most uncomfortable) and lay on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. It’s not even 3 o’clock yet, what’s the hurry? I have five days left before I start work at Cable Bay and loads to sightsee and do before I arrive back to Waiheke on Monday. I am enthusiastically looking forward to settling into an almost dreamy job on such a dreamy place. I’m almost speechless that I could have planned my adventure so well and have everything working out exactly like I had hoped.

Exploring Auckland ...

Another crazy thing I’ve noticed about people down here is that they are barefoot often and at places I’d never think of going without shoes. Not only do they walk down the street shoeless, they stroll casually through the grocery store and hop on the bus, too. No shoes, no shirt, no service is clearly not a rule down in these parts. …

I’ve been walking non-stop and it has yet to show off in dropping pounds. (One can hope it will pay off eventually…) Since I arrived on Monday evening, I have spent every afternoon out and about seeing the sights of Auckland. Tuesday I walked forever attempting to find things that I needed – an internet café, food, etc. etc. Wednesday, I climbed up Mount Eden, an inactive volcano, a short distance from where I’m staying. The view is amazing and you can see all the way into the city, around it out, out into the harbor. It’s quite narrow in the Auckland area so you can see the Pacific Ocean and the Tasmanian Sea from this point. I also checked out several of the adorable shops in “Mt Eden Village” shopping area. There are several fun looking places to eat, tons of little boutiques, and I even found two thrift stores! On Thursday, I explored all around Auckland’s harbor. [I was quite sad to discover there are no beaches nearby and easily accessible. I will have to plan on how to get out to them next week.] I visited the Maritime Museum while I was downtown, which proved to be quite interesting. Friday I was lucky enough to have a day off to enjoy around town. One of the main attractions in Auckland is the Sky Tower. The tower is the tallest structure (I think) in New Zealand and you can ride up and look all around. Of course, they have a revolving restaurant (which I didn’t eat at! too upscale for a backpacker) where you can enjoy the vista views. New Zealand is all about adventure activities and you can do the Sky Jump, which is really more of a fall, of 192 meters off the Sky Tower ~ www.skyjump.co.nz. It’s not one of the ever-so-popular-bungee jumps that are frequent in NZ, it is more of a free fall to a drop zone. Being intensely afraid of falling (I won’t even go on roller coasters at Six Flags), have no fear I didn’t even consider attempting this. (I did however, score myself an authentic Sky Team Crew shirt at the Red Cross thrift store for $0.50NZ so I can commemorate myself watching others fall from the sky.) On Friday, I also visited Auckland City Hall – a 19^th century building that was recently restored to all of its splendor. Of course, I was too late to catch the tour. Better luck next time. Outside city hall is Aotea Square, which hosts a fantastic market on Fridays & Saturdays. I enjoyed wandering through all the booths and had to restrain myself from buying some of the chic clothing that many solo-designers hawked. I figure, there is always next week to return and try to score some more stuff. After Aotea Square, I walked all the way down to Victoria Park market. This market was much more geared toured tourists and not nearly as exciting and fun as Aotea Square. Oh well. I finished off my afternoon by checking out Albert Park. Albert Park is interspersed with the University of Auckland’s campus. Albert Park is old and historic and in magnificent condition. The tremendously manicured lawns and trees are landscaped with a whole range of statues, fountains, and even a gazebo. After all that walking, I was so exhausted that I re-heated some leftover food and vegged out on the couch for the evening.

Exploring Auckland

Auckland Botanical Gardens

Sunset at Mt Eden

Adjusting to the Kiwi World…

They drive on the opposite side of the road, for starters. I am constantly looking the wrong way when I want to cross the road. I’ve only been honked at twice and haven’t had a near miss just yet. They supposedly speak English ~ but they use all sorts of weird words and its more similar to British or Aussie English than it is American. Over here, when they are speaking of thongs, they are talking about flip flops. A jumper is a sweater. The currency is different -- $1 and $2 amounts are coins not bills (I’m pretty sure that is typical of most countries outside of the US). Everything is in metric and I’m still working on adjusting to those conversions. Everything from buying food to figuring out the temp takes me a lot more time. I look pretty stupid at times trying to figure things out. At major 4-way intersections downtown, when the pedestrian guy goes to green traffic is stopped and you can go straight or diagonal which is kind of fun.

Right now, I’m staying in a nice and quiet suburb of Auckland called Mount Eden. It’s called Pentlands – www.pentlands.co.nz. I am doing a work exchange for 2 weeks. So, in turn for cleaning for about 3 hours a day, 5 days out of 7, I don’t have to pay for my accommodations. I’m not cleaning the Pentlands though, I am cleaning Bamber House, which is slightly annoying. The Bamber House appears to be a little bigger and nicer. Of course, it would be nice if I was staying at the same place I was working, but luckily it is only about a 5 minute walk. Today I was assigned bathrooms. I didn’t finish all the bathrooms by 12:30 and when I got back to Pentlands one of the other girls I am working with, told me that I was trying too hard! She told me that you just do enough to get by so you’re out of there before 12 pm. I believe I have a habit of being an over achiever, but I don’t know that I’ve ever been told not to try so hard. It’s also sort of on the embarrassing side when your mate tells you to try less. I suppose I should have figured it out on my own. Yikes….

So that’s life down here in New Zealand for now. I don’t have to work tomorrow (Friday) and I’m very much looking forward to sleeping in and deciding what I’m going to do for the day.

Ps. There are not yet any pictures up because my laptop can’t connect to the internet at the hostel and I uploaded all the pics to my laptop and deleted them from the SD card before I realized I couldn’t get wireless. Hopefully the pics will be up soon!