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April - October 2016
A 174-day adventure by Steve Read more
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  • Steve WyngaertNew Zealand
    Day 142

    Days off! FUN DAYS!

    September 10, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Well I have had a busy past few days trying to make the most of my last few weeks here in Tekapo (while enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather.... well mostly) while trying to not drive myself crazy at the same time.

    Thursday, I was lucky and got a lift to Mount Cook (which is the tallest mountain in New Zealand) by my boss. She is also the lady that owns the house that I live in. She is an amazing person and is one of the reasons why I have been able to last this long in the job. I was having problems coping with a lot of things which I will wait until the contract is completely over to say exactly. Anyways she picked me up along with a couple of my other coworkers before doing the hour long drive to the tracks. Of course the day that we decided to go was the coldest day we have had in the past week and it was actually snowing/hailing most of the time we were there. On top of it the mountain was mostly hidden behind a very thick layer of clouds. Oh well, we still made the most of it. I finally decided to take my GoPro back out and try to use it as best I can so most of my pictures were me kind of testing out several different settings to see what looked best and what I could use later on in my trip. I actually found a time lapse setting and had that on most of the hike with it attached to my bag. It caught some pretty amazing scenery and a few funny moments. I think I will start to use that setting a little bit more often.

    The next day, it was another "active" day. I cooked most of the day, did my laundry, applied to a shit-ton of jobs and obviously went to the Springs to take advantage of the ice (which is closing in a week!), and the tube park. In the end I didn't even bother going to the rink, deciding to go to the pools and sauna instead of the rink. I got a few more pictures and a video from my GoPro by using the clip I bought on my foot instead of on my bag. It worked... Well kind of, I kept dropping it and forgetting to hit the start button. Oh well.... I then went to a coworkers house to have a drink and a bite of the best restaurant in town.... Hmmmm kohans..... I need to go there a little more often since I have only been there twice so far.

    Oh well, today I am off to work before going out with coworkers to celebrate the end of winter and wish all the best to the people who are leaving next week (pretty much nearly half of the staff....). Anyways enough for now, I need to get off.    Read more

  • Steve WyngaertNew Zealand
    Day 144

    So little time

    September 12, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    75 days. It's been 75 days since I stated my contract here in Tekapo. It took me over two months doors learning that I have 20% off nearly any tourist attraction in the area, it could be anything from a helicopter tour, the earth and sky tour or even sky diving. I will try to do some of these things on my days off but that won't be easy. I spent 75 days mostly enjoying the nearby area and only went skiing once. That leaves me with only 18 days until my contract expires and between now and then I have to sell the car that I have here (i have been working on selling it to some coworkers but I don't know how that will go), trying to renew the registration of said car to make the sale go easier, find out a way out of this town, deciding whether or not I need to go to the dentist,and trying to find a job in Wellington as well as a place to live while I am there. All this in just over two weeks while trying to take advantage of this newly found discount. Busy schedule that will keep me busy when I am not working but doable.

    Side note, I still have yet to receive the package that my amazing friends from home sent me but I talked to the marketing person (which is when I learned about the discount...) and she told me that she would forward it to me in Wellington if they receive it after I leave. Whoo thank god that is one less thing to worry about.

    .....

    Late edit. I am hoping for some advice. Today I got two more calls for interviews both seem really promising but they were not willing to interview me through Skype. After a week and a half I have had 6 calls for interviews while my entire month in Wellington last time I had a grand total of 0. I am starting to wonder if I should just cut my loses here and head up to Wellington early. I spoke to my manager and she told me that she would be fine with it (but I would lose my bonus) and she is willing to give me a good reference. What do you guys (the three of you that actually read this) think? I keep flip flopping on what to do. I need to make a decision by tomorrow night.    Read more

  • Steve WyngaertNew Zealand
    Day 150

    Need to focus

    September 18, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    So these past few days have been interesting and quite a bit has happened. After talking on the phone with a few companies who wanted to have interviews with me on friday I seriously considered flying to Wellington to try a get one of the jobs. After much debate, I decided to stay here in the South Island to save some money and enjoy the sights that I will be missing out of in about two weeks. So on Thursday I decided to drive down to Wanaka with one of my awesome coworkers. On my way there I started to feel something funky with the car so I pull over and realise that my tire blew. Luckily we had left quite early in the morning and between the two of us we got back on the road and got a new tired withing an hour before continuing our road trip. We really lucked out that the closest town was two minute drive away and they had a garage that was able to help us right away. In Wanaka we took some amazing pictures, enjoyed seeing people and SIDEWALKS! Basically things that we don't have here in Tekapo. We did some Kayaking and also some rock climbing.

    Friday, I wanted to stay in and get my stuff together but I got a call from my old roommate Jesse and he wanted to do a little road trip out of Tekapo so I decided to go back to Wanaka yet again! On our way over we noticed a hitchhiker so we did what anyone would do and picked them up. They were heading to Queenstown (which is about an hour from Wanaka) so we told them that we would drop them off in Wanaka. By the time we got there, they decided to stay in Wanaka for a couple nights instead of going to Queenstown because it is so beautiful there. With Jesse we had a couple drinks then enjoyed the beach and went rock climbing. I am absolutely shit at it but it is something new that I would never try at home because of the whole terrified of heights thing. I'm slowly learning to face that fear and I think I may have gained a new hobby, I just need to learn how to trust my buddy which has been the hardest part so far.

    Yesterday morning I finally a lot of the things that I wanted to do done. I booked my flight out of this town, tried to push my car onto some of my coworkers who had told me they were interested, attempted to convince a few people to drive me to the airport on my flight date and booked a room in the hostel for the weekend that I arrive from Tekapo. Unfortunately I didn't quite have the will power to get to applying to jobs or cooking my meals for the week so that will have to wait until today after work.

    Quick side note, its now been three straight days that I have slept less than three hours and other than climbing and throwing people off the tube park that I haven't worked out. I am not sure if it has anything to do with it but I will see how it goes. Last day of the ice rink today, I am off to open it for the last time this season. I'll try to get some pictures of me on the rink before it closes down.    Read more

  • Steve WyngaertNew Zealand
    Day 175

    Oh happy day!

    October 13, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    I have been back in Wellington for about two weeks now and things are moving forward. I am pretty sure I have found a job working at the hostel again. It will be paid starting in a couple of weeks which is nice. I feel like despite the fact that they are starting me off slow with few shifts I am catching on quite fast. The only issue with the job is that it will be part time for a bit while they get things together.... Oh well, it's better than nothing. Ill try to stick it out until they figure out how awesome I am and decide to make me full time. 😉

    Since I am starting to work and get paid I think it is about time for me to find my own place to live. It isn't too bad because it will be for more or less the next three to four months and there are so many places open right now with students moving back home for the summer. I've already seen two flats which I fell in love with but each have their advantages and disadvantages. I am viewing four more today so we will see what happens. Ill hopefully have somewhere signed by this weekend.

    I also finally got my package from my friends back home. They are awesome, thank you so much. I will try to call home soon but lately things have been crazy. Other than that I went out for karaoke this week. I don't know if I got better as the night went on because of the alcohol or practice. Ill go with practice and better song choices. Starting off with Celine Dion's my heart will go on is never a smart move. A group of 7 guys singing that song quite terribly was magnificent though.

    I am starting to miss my friends from home, my g family and I know I'll miss my tekapo friends soon enough too.    Read more

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