So going overseas had been my big plan for the past year and I whiled away hours doing research on google about where, when, why and how. I had settled on saving enough to go for a year - without working - and wanted to start in Central and South America.
I read a few articles on crewing on various yachts as a way to get around the world and see a few places. Not professional crewing more a social experience where you share expenses. So I was had found a website I really liked and I checked it nearly every day as a way of distracting myself and also of seeing where people went to and from at this time of year. Then one day this notice appeared...
"N.Z. => THAILAND. We are looking for a nanny taking care of our children 5 and 8 on our journey from New Zeeland to Thailand starting June 07. Fluent English is required. Female, age between 20 and 35. "
I had never seen anything like that on there before so I wrote an e-mail, more out of interest than anything and recieved one back the same day. Over the course of the weekend Alfred and Steffie, a german couple currently summering over in Auckland, and I exchanged more and more information and I became more and more excited about the possibilities. After a phone call on the Monday we decided I was to fly over to Auckland to meet the family, including my two possible charges - Isabelle (6) and Killian (9), over the March long weekend.
The next four weeks passed very very slowly and then the time came. They all picked me up from the airport and over the next three days we stayed on the boat, wandered around Auckland, ate and drank lots and basically got to know each other. We all got along famously including the children and I so it boded well and they offered me the job on the last afternoon.
Verena is a 70ft yacht custom-built in Holland in 1998. She is very very comfortable and homely and weighs 50 tonne. I have my own cabin and bathroom at the front of the boat and she has all the modern conveniences of home. The route plan is to head from New Zealand around June 15 to Thailand via New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
So it has been six weeks since that fateful weekend and I havent stopped rushing around trying to organise everything. It seems the list of things to do only grows as my time of departure (May 16th) gets closer. At the moment its all a muddle of injections and bank accounts and address changes, plus trying to make time to catch up with all my closest friends before I go.
I finish up at work on the 11th of May and am heading to NZ with my parents where we are hiring a campervan for two weeks and driving from Christchurch to Auckland. Hopefully we will get to see all the sights like Milford Sound, West Coast Glaciers and Roturua but I will keep you informed.
So thats the lead up... Hopefully I will be able to get on the internet fairly regularly and keep everybody up to date. :)
