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Published: January 3rd 2018
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I don't know where to start but I should probably mention that I still don't have a job. I actually had trails and interviews but in the end they always wanted people with experience or people that stay longer than 3 months. I was disappointed but then I saw a job offer as a waitress in Marlbourough Sounds. I was very excited but as soon as I arrived I realised that a lot was going wrong at this place... But let's start from the beginning.
While woofing in that hostel I got to know new people with whom I had a good time among others Aonghus, Matthias, Mathilde and Christian. One day we went to the Nelson lakes, which were nice but not as impressive as I thought. Just before Christmas Adela came up from the South and we enjoyed ourselves while going to a restaurant, watching 'Wonder' at the cinema, relaxing on the beach and driving to Picton to do paddle boarding. Furthermore we were getting ready for Christmas. The 24th December we went to the beach and in the evening we had a lovely night with people from Sweden. The 25th December we spent on the beach as
well but as I was going to start my new job the day after I had to leave Nelson in the afternoon. I have to admit that it was not the best Christmas that I had so far. It was ok and actually skyping with my family made it better but when I arrived in Marlbourough Sounds and had to clean and put my room together my mood changed. Since there everything went downhill. When I started work the day after we were only 3 housekeepers and we had to work from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. (without a break) because otherwise we wouldn't finish by the time people would check in. This became worse the 2 next days as we had to do 50 beds which was simply not possible. But we had to make it possible since the owners just didn't care, which implied that I was told to not replace the sheets from the beds because they didn't have enough of them and it would take to much time... What was even worse is the fact that I applied as a waitress but I ended up as a housekeeper and washing dishes in the evening. They promised
me that I could easily work up to 50 hours which was actually nice but the catch to this was that working without breaks and the fact of not knowing when we start and finish made me crazy.
In addition, it was an accommodation and food offer because there is no supermarket and therefore it's hard to get food. While the food for the customers was lovely we got very basic and unhealty food. Also they didn't give us any snacks which makes it hard to have energy to work all day long. In addition, we didn't have Wifi so I couldn't talk to someone that I love.
Another thing was that I didn't even sign a contract. I talked to Sonia and Luke, who had been there for 1 week and they told me that I should definitely ask Michelle, the supervisior, for a contract as there are other people that didn't get payed. When in the morning I wanted to ask Michelle for a contract she told me that she just quit her job because she got blamed for things that were not her fault. This leads us to Mike, who is a waiter and has been there
for ages. He wants to get a higher position in that hotel and that's why he speaks bad behind everyone's back... I'll come back to him in a second.
The housekeeper I was working with, Rowena, is from the Phillippines and she works on salary, which means that she's supposed to work 40 hours/week but because that hotel is understaffed she works up to 75+ hours/week. She told me that it's ok because she likes work. However when we had a deep conversation about this topic she told me that she doesn't have a choice because she needs the money to send to her children so that they can go to school and have food. When the third day I decided to leave this shithole and I told her that they are not treating her well, she repeated that everything is ok and I told her that nothing is alright with that place and that she knows that. Giving me a hug and looking in my eyes she nearly started to cry. I was helpless in that situation and when I think about it makes me so sad as I know that Rowena's story is just one out of so
many peoples life that suffer the same vicious circle.
The third day after my shift I was talking to Sonia and Luke, who were outraged because they tried to contact the owners for so long but they just never got an answer from them. They were at the point of leaving this place which made it easier for me to leave with them. As Michelle had left we didn't know who to talk to so we just went down to inform Mike. He asked me if I would work that evening and when I told him that I'm not sure about staying there he didn't care at all said 'alright' and went away. From there on it was sure for me: No way I would stay another second with these bastards who made me cry 3 nights in a row.The way the owners treat and exploit their staff made me leave this place once and for all. As Sonia and Luke are in an urgent need of money they decided to stay.They talked to the owners, who finally replied, and told them that they don't anymore accept these working conditions. Obviously they didn't like their statement and they got fired
a few days later.
After I left, I hiked a part of the Queen Charlotte track, where I had a view over the busiest and main traffic highway between the north and the south island. The next day I was hiking to the french pass, which is in the Marlbourough sounds, before I made my way back to Nelson. There I met Julia and Katja, the 2 girls that I got to know in Cromwell. I was so glad to see them again as it reminded me of these happy days back in the South. And then faster as I realised it was New Years Eve. We were getting ready buying food and beer, of course. The campsite we stayed at offered a 'shuffle bus', which we took to go downtown. When we arrived in town, we enjoyed some beers next to the river and waited until Christian, a guy that I met while I was working in the Prince Albert BP, joined us. Finally reunited we made our way to the main square, where they played live music. Faster than we thought the countdown started. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, oneeeeee...... and there we
are 2018! It was very exciting and special for me as we were 12 hours in front of the people in Europe:D While they were still stuck in 2017 we were already in a new year. But obviously the best part was that I celebrated with people that I love. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!
The day before, Christian and I decided to do the heapy track, which is one of the great walks, together. It was actually a bit funny as he booked the hike and the same day I told him that I would like to do that hike as well. So we went back to the department of conservation so that I could book as well but unfortunately one hut was compelety booked out. At first, Christian wasn't sure about skipping that hut and hike 30km the third day so that we could to the hike together. But after convincing him that it would be fun he cancelled that hut. We were lucky as he didn't have to pay any fees. So yeah I'm looking forward to survive these 30km and in general the whole hike:D Can't wait!
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