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Picton Travel Blogs

Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By Laurene
November 1st 2009

The hangover Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

I woke up with a pretty good hangover but I dragged my butt out of bed for work. I made some toast and then went to see how Carolin was. She was worse off then me haha. She asked me for some toast so I brought her a piece and then she couldn’t remember asking for it and told me she didn’t want it haha. Silly girl! She had to ask for the day off because she couldn’t get out of bed haha. I was on kitchen duty which was ok. After work we didn’t do anything else. Carolin and I [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 22nd 2009

A day of nothing Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

My fav
A bunch of NZ guys brought over some old american cars and fixed them up.

Another cloudy day, another day in the library using internet. Honestly, we didn’t do much today. It was Audrey’s last day so we all visited with her but thats about it. Not exciting at all. [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 21st 2009

Canada vs germany vs france Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

My girls

Slept in a bit to start my first day off. It was cloudy again so I decided to walk over to the library and use their free internet which is better then the one at the hostel. Did a bit of research on jobs and updating my blog while talking to mom on skype. By lunch time it was super sunny and the clouds had disappeared so I walked back to the hostel and met the other girls who were just finishing up work and after we ate lunch we all walked down to the harbour and played a round of [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 20th 2009

I need some sun! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Cloudy again. I swear I haven’t seen the sun shine in like 6 days!!!! After work we decided to walk into town anyways just for something to do. It was really windy so we just walked back. Pretty uneventful night of playing uno haha. Tomorrow is my day off. Hope it’s sunny!! [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 19th 2009

BBQ dinner Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Audrey

After work today we decided that the 4 of us (Audrey, Patty, Carolin and I) would have a bbq for dinner. SO we set off for the grocery store. For $6 each we bbq’d some potatoes and chicken kebabs and had some salad. Wine and beer were a few dollars more but it was all delicious even if it was cold and cloudy. [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 18th 2009

Small town of Picton Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Patty and Carolin at the hostel

Woke up to yet another rainy day. Seems to be the norm here lately. Yep, I woke up with quite the cold this morning. After work we played some more uno. The skies stopped raining for a while so Carolin and I walked into town and looked around main street. Picton is a really small town. Just one main street but there are a few cafes and some jewelry stores and an art gallery. [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 17th 2009

Yatzee with zee germans Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Bed duty again today. Raining again today. Today we played some Uno and I did my laundry and then we played some yahtzee. It was a really exciting day haha (sarcasm!) I feel like i’m getting another cold which doesn’t make me too happy. [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 16th 2009

Free dinner Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

After breakfast we got our new assignments for the day. I was meant to be the driver and pick up and drop of people from the ferry but then I discovered the hostel’s van was a manual so I couldn’t drive it. I’d rather not try to learn how to drive a manual on the wrong side of the car. So I was back on bed duty. Since it was raining outside AGAIN we ended up watching 2 movies. Since it’s Friday we get $25 to go out and buy some food for all of us workers and cook up a [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 15th 2009

First day of "work" Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

I woke up and grabbed some free breakfast (toast, jam and cereal) and waited until 10 am to start my new ‘job”. Peter is the owner of the hostel and gives each of us certain jobs to do that day. I was on odd jobs for my first day. Since there was a lot of people leaving I helped Audrey with making beds. We have to strip the beds first of their old bedding and then put the new stuff on. Pretty simple. Audrey is from Paris, France and has a cute french accent. After I made the beds I vacuumed [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 14th 2009

Off to the South Island!! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Photo 2

American girl was checking out this morning as well and going to the train station across the street from my ferry terminal so we left together. We left our bags at the hostel and went for some breakfast when I figured out that I left my glasses in the room. So back we went and I luckily found my glasses. We set off on the walk to the ferry terminal with our bags and everything. It was a 20 minute walk but it was soooo hard with all our stuff and the wind blowing so hard at us. I got on [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton