It’s been just over two weeks since our last post and we can happily say we met all our goals we shared with you- obtaining jobs, deciding on our mode of transportation, finding a place to stay (besides a hostel) and doing some sightseeing/traveling around. Not to mention I’ve alllmost stopped peeling and we are both back in good health.
Shortly after writing, Adrian and I caught a bus to Tauranga (4 hours from Auckland with stops along the way, $12NZ) to start our job searching. We were only there about a day and spent it registering with temp agencies (most require you to come in-person to start using their services). The next day we left for Rotorua (2 hours from Tauranga, $10NZ) for the hostel receptionist jobs we wrote about (yes, we got an interview- check!). After seeing the hostel and getting more details about the two positions, it didn’t seem like something we would be too keen about.
The next day we did some wandering around the town centre and surrounding area then caught a bus back to Tauranga to continue our job search. (More on Rotorua to come once we have spent more time there.) We decided to switch hostels up and stayed at one 20 minutes walking distance from the city centre called “Just the Ducks Nuts”. It was the neatest hostel I had ever stayed at because it was four houses in residential area that were converted to hostel houses. Each house had it’s own kitchen and living room area and in the centre of the four houses was a grassy area with a bbq, hammock and a rugby ball to throw around. With that being said, we were happy we were only committing to 2 days there because the closest grocery store was about 45 minutes walking distance from our hostel and with me walking, carrying groceries, even longer to get back. Our whole Saturday was devoted to the trip!
Sunday we moved back to a hostel in the city centre so we would be closer to more temp agencies we could apply at starting the next day. Unfortunately, they didn’t work out so well for Adrian. Any plumbing or gas fitting jobs would require Adrian to be certified and any plumbing specific or even general labour jobs required him to have his own vehicle. So with those types of jobs being a write-off for him, there was no need for me to continue my job search in Tauranga. We decided it would be best to find work in the tourism or hospitality industries and that meant getting out of Tauranga.
We originally thought Tauranga would be a good place to base ourselves because we would be able to find decent jobs with normal hours and would have the beach after work and maybe hiking on the weekends. Well after a couple days there, we got pretty bored. The only place we felt was worth checking out was the neighbouring town of Mount Maunganui aka Mauao. This is the place that has the nice beaches! and is named after an inactive volcano which you can climb, which we did. Yet another challenging hike! We first walked around the Mount through pohutukawa trees then ventured up to the summit. Beautiful view! The only thing that spoiled it was the unfortunate aftermath of an oil spill not too far from the shore. The ship is still out there but most of the beach has been cleaned up. We actually met a guy at Ducks Nuts who volunteered his time cleaning the beach up and then got the opportunity to stay on a small island with a Maori tribe and continue to clean while experiencing their culture- sweet as!
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| From the bottom of The Mount |
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| Walking around The Mount |
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| View of the town from the summit |
The island is called Slipper Island (www.slipper.co.nz). It is a privately-owned island which is marketed as a resort but it’s really a choice of a campground or chalets for accommodation. The closest towns to the island are Tairua and Pauanui both with a population of around 1,250 but grows significantly for the summer season. It took us about two hours from Auckland to Tairua then another 20 minute boat ride to the island. Our jobs involve anything from cleaning the chalets, to helping guests on and off the boat (if they don’t fly in; the island has it’s own airstrip), to gardening to farm work. In return for our 4-5 hours/day of work, we have free accommodation here plus food for our main meals. Barbara Needham was the lady we spoke with in the “hiring” process and Gordon is her husband who picked us up. They have hired a retired English couple who have been coming to the island for a number of years to help manage the island- Malcolm and Hazel- who we work closely with.
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| On the Slipper Express with Slipper Island in the distance |
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| Home Bay, the front beach closest to the main house, chalets and lodge |
- Atmosphere - With just the four of us here for the time being it’s a nice relaxed atmosphere. We start work around 9, 9:30, tea time at ~10:30, lunch at ~12:30, another tea time at ~3, dinner at ~6. It’s a nice change to not have a million things going on at once with skipped meals.
- Variety of work - As mentioned before there is a great variety of work. For example, we have been cleaning up the chalets the last few days but today we got to do some gardening work.
- Beaches and associated activities - The closest beach is literally right out the front door! It’s a decent size outlining one of three major bays which turns up fish, jelly fish, sting rays, and dolphins from time to time. So far we have seen everything but dolphins. In terms of activities, they have kayaks, canoes and snorkelling gear here and if Adrian and I knew how to fish we could do that!
- Mule - Adrian is loving driving the mule (transport ATV) around.
- Freedom and flexibility - With no guests yet and only the four of us here, we have a lot of freedom and flexibility in our “work schedules” and leisure time.
- Home cooked meals - Our first home cooked meal here was stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon, fish caught the day before, scalloped potatoes and fresh garden veg (they call it veg not veggies). The next night we had steak, crayfish caught day of, mashed potatoes and more fresh garden veg. YUM!
- A place to call home - Not that were sick of it yet but it’s nice to have a place to stay a little while instead of constantly repacking our packs and moving around. Especially for Christmas and New Years.
- Weather - The first two days here were gorgeous and what you would expect for an island in summer but since then it’s been overcast and windy with rainy periods. Hoping it lets up soon!
- Slow for work - There are no guests yet so it’s pretty quiet and we are having to make work for ourselves. It’s also not the worst thing.
- Internet and tv - The tv is not working and the computer/internet is only working half the time. I was also told I would be able to Skype but unfortunately it doesn’t look that way. They don’t have a webcam or even a microphone and Adrian can’t connect his laptop to the internet.
- Laundry - You can only wash in cold water so our clothes aren’t coming out too clean and even after dissolving detergent in warm water there’s clumps all over our clothes.
- Entertainment - Because Adrian doesn’t read and the tv isn’t working, he’s struggling to entertain himself sometimes.
- Generator - It is to be expected for the island but the electricity is run by a generator so we only have electricity for certain periods of the day.
We are planning on staying here for about a month then heading down to the top of the South Island, Marlborough area, to make money working in a vineyard. Mmm, WINE!
We hope to talk to some of you closer to Christmas and for those we might not, have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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