Well, one week has past since we arrived down under. It's been quite a blur since we arrived here. After landing and getting settled in our new home, it's been go go go to get a car, bank account, mobile, job and juggle life around to suit our new surroundings. The change of season and change of temperature did a number to my head I think, I went from summer weather, longer days ... to cooler winter climate and short daylight days. Ben and I both have felt quite tired, and getting over the jeg lagg took a little bit of time.
We are living with our friends Thomas and Liz. I met them in Japan in 2012, while I was there visiting Ben and traveling. We live up on Fernhill, just outside of Queenstown, in Sunshine Bay. It's a sweet little home. It's very warm (which is abnormal for a NZ home) and it sits up high on the hill, so we have a beautiful view of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables. It's a perfect location and we couldn't ask for more.
The weather was extremely rainy the first full day we were here. Everyone was very excited though, because that meant it was snowing up top in the mountains. Since a week has passed, the weather has been steady - sunny days and partly cloudy days. The temperatures have varied between -1 to around +5. The climate is nice though, it doesn't rain too much and it doesn't snow much in the valley.
The only real wildlife they have around this area are birds. Lots and lots of birds. There are so many different musical sounds to listen to, and they are all new to the ears. I cannot familiarize myself with anyone the new songs. I'm really enjoying it. I've seen goats and sheep, and a couple possums hit ont the road. There aren't any real predators at all in the country. It's very different. I went for an hour run this am, and got a little lost in the forests behind our place. It was wonderful. Millions of songs from millions of different birds and ... the best part, I didn't have to worry about bears or cougars. What a treat.
I'm working Part Time for Small Planet Sports, which is a backcountry retail store. It's similar to Escape Route in Whistler, but very small and has a lot of character. I work with a worldly group - Kiwi, French, Canadian, Israeli, Irish.. it's totally a transiet ski town. Couldn't mistake that for anything else. I love working in places like this, because you get to meet and become friends with folks from around the world. It's a good thing too, as when you are traveling and end up in certain places, you usually have a friend who can show you around or let you use the couch. Visa Versa when they visit Canada.
I'll be hopefully getting more work as the season progresses and the Heli Ski companies kick off. Ben is searching for work, as much as he can. He doesn't currently hold a working visa, so it makes it a little tough. But, like myself, once the heli skiing kicks off - he'll be better off.
It's quite expensive to shop for food in this country. I've noticed it's a lot worse than being in a resort town in Canada. We did a big 'bulk' shop - lots of rice, potatoes, onions, carrots, oatmeal, eggs.. all those items that keep and maintain the feeling of 'full'. It's hard not to feel tempted to go out for dinner and drinks constantly. As, that is what people do here. It's nice we are living with a couple that likes to make dinner and drink at home. Ben and I both have experience in resort towns, and knowingly fight that feeling of spending money out.
We have taken a handfull of photos since we have been here. I feel like we just haven't had enough time to do anything but organize. We are still looking for a car, which is proving to be harder than we once thought it would be. It seems there is a lot of shit out there for sale. A lot of expensive shit. So, we have gone and looked at a couple with no concrete decisions. We even tried a vehicle out, the other day. We were driving to the Remarks for a ski tour up Single Cone. The car seemed a-ok and we were stoked we finally found a goodie. These thoughts came tumbling down when the car pretty died and came to an immediate stop half way up the 13km road. It wasn't able to move anymore, and we ended up having to leave it up there for a tow-truck to grab it. Steve (our friend who is a mechanic and who was going to sell us the car) felt extremely bad. Anyways, the search goes on... hopefully we will find one that isn't stinking like dogs, broken down, bashed up, old as fuck or too expensive.
I joined the local gym/recreation centre here. I hope I can get back into my swimming. I miss it.
I've gone skiing twice already, one little tour and once to Corrent Ski hill. Both times were fun, and I'm looking forward to doing more. I like my new skis, I am able to actually ski them better. Which is good.
I will be adding photos to this blog asap. All of the other blog posts I've written from our USA trip need to be updated with images. I know reading these posts is quite boring without something to look at!
R.
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