Queenstown and Wanaka

I'm a bit fed up with always starting these blogs off with a "helloooo" or a "hi everyone" so I'm just gonna say BOO!
After Christchurch, we drove down to Queenstown. The time of serious things, like getting a job, had started. W Spend two days there, literally just spending time handing out cvs, and going to agency's. Also spending time having a few pints, as that's what Queenstown is about, so "when in Rome". One of the nights we actually decided we wanted to save money on staying somewhere, so we went on a hunt for a doc campsite (department of conservation).
We had met a girl in a car park earlier that day. She was also living in her transport ,but just a hiace (a van) with just a bed in the back. We had started talking cause she was setting mouse traps in her van, and had to clear everything out. Lots of people out here have the same problem. As lots of travellers in NZ live and drive around in their vans mice are pretty much invited in by all the smells of food. Unfortunately for the last week or so she had hardly got any sleep, as all she could hear was scratches inside the roof lining. Running up and down, up and down.
Jamie and I got the location of the campsite from her, and promised to meet up there. Unfortunately, we didn't start to make a move till well after dark and it was so creepy making our way. Most of the doc places are out in the middle of nowhere with no lights. I look back now and find it so funny, the amount of times we went driving to look for free places to stay and get ourselves in a pickle. We start saying "where are we", and "i cant see a thing!" then we drive too far and get ourselves stuck in gravel, or sand, or I feel freaked out because we are driving along in a very heavy van, down some dirt track in the middle of nowhere in the dark, and all of a sudden the track becomes horribly steep. oooh it makes me shudder just thinking about it.
Luckily, nothing bad ever really happened, and we did make it to the campsite, and the girl and a friend of hers came round, and we had a really nice evening. The stars where amazing that night too. The next morning we bushed our teeth from the water in the Queenstown lake. I love those random evenings!

That was the day we left for Wanaka and never went back.

Wanaka was the first place we got jobs in, and to be honest I'm glad, Ive really enjoyed living here. Its got much more of a smaller community here. You can walk to everything in max half an hour. If you pop out to the supermarket you will always see someone you recognise. Hell even the people working at the check out recognises you. Due to the job I got as well, working in a outdoor store that is also the place to hire any equipment and book transport to the 3 local ski resorts, ive gotten to know a lot of the people that come here for the season. It doesn't pay well, but this whole season ive had free hire for me and Jamie (and just recently his friend Emily from home) free transport for me and Jamie up to the resort (40 minute drive) and 30 % off anything they sell from there and also the sister snowboard shop across the road!. RAD!

Jamie got a job on a building site, firstly with one guy, who turned out to be too much of a grumpy moaning bastard (scuze the french), but he got a job straight away after he left (who wants to deal with someone like that when they are travelling?!) the other guy. For a while he wasjust labouring but 2 or so weeks ago now he was ut onto plastering, and he is much more enjoying himself. He can be in chrge of what he is doing now, and he is also able to prove his worth.

We have been enjoying the week more and more. We have now met and fallen in love with a lot of really lovely people now, both travellers and locals. This town has a great atmosphere, the locals positivly welcome the travellers with open arms. Everyone gets on, and thats what i love about this place. Granted work for me now has got very tedious and boring (what do i expect, its shop work, and ive always hated it, even when thats most of my experience!), but thats coming to an end soon on the 12th of october.