Chapter 4: Hire cars, Hitchhikers and Homemaking

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Greetings family and friends!

Phil and Chris reporting from Queenstown, NZ! Theres quite alot to get through and im sure your eager to hear what has befallen us, so without any further ado...

We left off our last entry having finished our campervan tour, and we were back in Auckland speculating what our next course of action was to be. It was pretty clear we needed to start looking for work, and after some research on the good old world wide web we found we had two main options: firstly, we could make our way east to the kiwi fruit farms and find work in the packing houses, or we could head down to the more mountainous south island and look for work in and around the ski resorts. As we had paid for free travel around the country with the Kiwi Experience bus, we booked our seats and waited for our pick up to take us to the south island as this seemed like the best option to take.

We eagerly turned up for the coach but were dismayed to find that it was actually heading north first, and this would add days onto the journey. As we needed to get south quickly to start earning some money, the 12 day journey on the bus (and the subsequent accommodation and food bills) suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea. So we put our heads together and came to the mutual agreement that it would be cheaper and quicker to hire a car and get down there in 3 days.

After coming to our decision we found our way to the hire place to pick up our car, a fairly new but terrible piece of engineering. We had 3 long drives ahead of us so we got straight onto the number 1 highway and tried to get some miles (or kilometres as they like to use here) under our belt. We slept that night in Wellington and the next morning we had a three hour ferry ride which took us from the north island to the south. We had to pick up a different car here which succeeded in being a bigger pile of shit than the first one, a hard accolade to take.

Whilst continuing on our merry way we spotted a lone female figure by the side of the road, sodden from the heavy rainfall, trying to hitch a ride. Having flirted with the idea of picking up a hitchhiker (or even trying it ourselves at some point) we pulled over and made a quick assesment, coming to the conclusion that she didnt give the immediate impression of being an axe murderer. Where was she going? South. Would she like a ride? Yes, thank you very much.
Her name was Maria and she was a pretty little thing; Chops and I were impressed that at only 19 she was adventurous enough to be hitchhiking alone on the other side of the world from her native Germany. We tried to entertain her with small talk and jokes, and when she could understand our toned down Geordie accents we got on well. That night we stayed in a very homely and comfortable hostel in a place named Greymouth, and the next day we trundled onwards.

We said goodbye to our companion and dropped her off in Franz Josef before driving a while longer and finally ending up at our destination: Queenstown.

Where do we start? Without wanting to sound like a travel brochure, Queenstown is situated beside a Lake Wakitapu and is surrounded by mountains. When we first arrived here there was traces of snow on their peaks which has since melted due to the clear days and warm sun. The most impressive of the mountains are the Remarkables, a tall and brooding range which flank the eastern side of the town. Its a small place which relies heavily on tourism but that doesn't detract from its quaintness. There are a million and one things to do here, especially adrenaline fuelled activities such as skydiving, paragliding, white water rafting, bungee jumping and skiing to name but a few. We've yet to do any major activities yet, but they are high on our list. There are plenty of walks around the town through the surrounding forests, and we have purchased some hiking boots in preperation.

We have found ourselves a nice little Irish bar, Pogs (pronounced Pogues),which has became our local as it were, and we have spent some time in there getting to know some of the townsfolk and watching the Warriors games.

"And who, pray tell, are the Warriors?" I hear you cry. Well, avid readers, because there isn't much opportunity to watch our beloved yet useless Newcastle on the telly we decided to try and get into the big sport over here which is Rugby. The Warriors are the only Kiwi team to play in the Australian National Rugby League and so they tend to have the backing of the whole country. We have actually managed to watch every Warriors game live since we saw our first one back on the North island, and we are very much fans now although we are still learning the rules.

Although we were enjoying getting to know the place, it was becoming apparent that it was quite expensive to be staying in hostels every night so we needed to find a more fiscally viable option. Having perused through the local free 'Mountain Scene' paper, we noticed an advert for a small bedsit for half the price the hostel was costing us. We made a call and had Kevin, the landlord, pick us up for a viewing.

The flat itself is up a very long and steep bank called Fernhill, and consists of a room with a double bed and a fold down settee, a bathroom and utility room and a small kitchen area. It is on the ground floor under a house, and it's in a very pleasant neighbourhood about 40 minutes walk from town. It comes fully furnished with a washing machine, heater, cutlery and fridge amongst other essentials, and so we shook hands with Kevin and told him we would be happy to move in straight away.

And so we have our own little flat, as shown in the pictures. The views of the lake and Remarkables mountain range are spectacular from our street, and we keep having to pinch ourselves to remind us that we are living on the other side of the world, encompassed by all this wonderful scenery.

Having rushed to get down here we were disappointed to find we had came down too early with regards to finding work. We had arrived at the beginning of the years quietest two months before the winter ski season starts, and were advised that we would struggle to find jobs until June. Not to be disheartened, we found a few opportunities and handed out some CVs, hoping to hear back about any possible positions. We recieved a text the other day from a security company who provide doormen for pubs in Queenstown, and so we both had a trial last week. It went well and we were all set to get started, but Phil attended an interview for a job as an electrician last week, so he has actually started work now and has his own van as he will be working in and around Queenstown on various different jobs. It seemed a bit inconvenient for one of us to be working days and the other nights, so the job hunt goes on for Lowe. There will be more and more jobs opening up in the coming weeks in preperation for winter, so hopeully we will both be earning soon.

And so ends another of our infinitely interesting entries blog fans. Anything that has been omitted was either deemed not important enough for publication (its expensive in these internet cafes!) or was forgotten in eagerness to relay our news. You will be pleased to learn, however, that Lowe's camera goes everywhere with him, and if anything even slightly interesting happens, there'll be sure to be some visual evidence.

You may not believe it what with everything that is going on here, but we can assure you that we really do miss everyone, and hope that everybody is keeping well back home!

Until next time,

Your good friends Chops and Lowe x

Post Script: As a footnote, we were taken out for lunch by Kevin and his wife Hazel to a quaint restaurant last week, only to bump into Queenstowns most famous resident. He's behind Lowe with the sunglasses on in the photo, can you guess who it is??

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