Where was I last time I wrote... Yeah I left Tauranga to work as an Au Pair. It was about 1.5 months ago. No that I haven't had time as I work only 30 hours per week.I got sucked into the routine that didn't include sitting at the computer that much. I took some time before self-indulgent traveler got used to look after the little ones. It all has gone well. I've been really relaxing in a dairy farm in Waikato. The kids and their parents are lovely. I got a nice family and that's all that matters to make a good Au pair experience.
Ok I promise to get back with more details about my and kiwi family's daily life when I get back there because right now I am taking 2 weeks off. The family didn't want me to miss the South Island and they gave me some time off to tour around the most beautiful part of the country. They are not that busy at the moment but it will get busier again in October. But the kids have calf club on 25th of September, I don't want to miss that so I wanna be back then. I'll explain what is calf club later on.
But now I am in Queenstown. I started travelling a week ago. My host mom took me to Hamilton where I hopped into a train to Wellington. It was dear but a scenic journey indeed. Took about 8 hours from Hamilton. It was like 1st class travelling but I am afraid that I can afford to take it only one way. All Blacks were playing rugby against Argentina, so also flights were expensive. The city was packed with rugby fans. I was lucky that I found a bed in a hostel a day before.
Wellington is a lovely city, it is the true capital of the nation. Easy to walk around, although it would have be even easier to walk around if it hadn't been so damn windy. I spent most of the day in a museum, it is massive, interesting and free. I was grateful that the winds cooled down by the next morning when I was to cross the sea to the South Island. Sea was not rough and I had a pleasant sea journey. I didn't stay in Picton but proceeded to Nelson, booked the Southern discovery bus pass arranged by Magic bus tour. I've met some other Au pairs but they are staying for longer and leave travels around the island till later. Renting a car would have be boring and too expensive. It is not exactly a motorway but the roads are curvy around the mountains. The scenery is amazing.
September is pretty quiet season here in NZ, It is the first month of spring but it is still a bit chilly and here in South, skiing season is almost over. But it is quite easy travel, got bus pass for half a price and also accommodation is more likely to be available with a short notice. Magic bus tour is all right as you can change the dates as you go but I have got only about 2 weeks so I kind need to rush through anyway. One night in one location but here in Queenstown I am gonna be 4 nights, till Tuesday 18th of September,
From Nelson we have travelled along the West coast through Greymouth, Franz Josef and Wanaka. Franz Josef is famous for glacier. The weather was sunny and clear but I didn't feel like paying to get up there. Although there are no mountains and glaciers in Finland, for me it just a piece of ice. Though I must mention that the ones who did it loved it. I was happy enough to walk to the lookout to the glacier.
I have been planning to do a skydiving in Taupo, However, the morning was really beautiful and clear as we left Franz Josef I changed my mind. Yeah why not do it in Wanaka? I signed for it. You don't wanna miss the good weather. Well it was sunny but unfortunately it picked the strong winds by the afternoon. We were dropped off and picked up by skydiving staff anyway who informed us that the skydiving had been cancelled for the rest of the day, most likely for the following day as well.
I didn't have have to hang on in Wanaka only because of skydiving. There will be other places to do it sooner or later. Wanaka is like a small skiing village. I saw pretty many people carrying snowboards so I take that there is a ski resort around there. The skydiving lady who drove us back to our accommodation mentioned about a very personally decorated cinema. Sounded perfect to me. It is an independent cinema, there are different type of chairs, sofas, even a car you can sit down, drink beer, eat home made biscuits or food. They even have a half time you can go get more food or drinks and bring them back. It was like a home with a giant silver screen. I like and recommend if you end up in Wanaka, West coast of the South Island in NZ someday.
We arrived in Queenstown yesterday. We stopped at the original Bungy jump bridge. Five of us signed up for the jump, plus our busdriver. I didn't jump because I want to the big one since I missed the skydiving. They do that in a different location. The original jump is from 43m and Nevis one is from 134m. Well here we go again, it was too windy for the big jump. The original jump can be done even in windy conditions but not the big one. I am booked in at noon today. Hmmm let's see how it goes. It is pissing rain and so foggy that I can barely see the snow top mountains. I haven't bothered to stick my nose out just yet so I don't know whether is too windy or not. Perhaps it's easier to jump into the cloud of mist. I'll go the meeting point at noon to see what happens.
Wow, I got started to write again. This was a long rushed through piece of writing as it is hard to summarize everything I've experienced during the past weeks or even on this bus tour. But I'll regret if I write nothing down. So hopefully I'll be writing a new entry tonight or tomorrow of my very first bungy jump experience. If not I'll sit at the front of the fire place and try those famous burgers here in Queenstown.
