Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Although I am in an 8 bed dorm, since 4am I have heard distinctly more than 8 different alarm clocks going off. There have been beeps, music, talking time ones, I am pretty sure I heard an animal one at one stage! Grey skies meet me this morning, so I reluctantly wear trousers, and as I walk out of the hostel I realise I am dressed head to toe in Fat Face clothing…..including my scarf. The 5 years of working there certainly shaped my wardrobe and come in handy! I wonder round then lake again, and the town (there is a bit more to it than I thought last night but not much), before treating myself to a nice breakfast. I head back via the supermarket to stock up on food for the next two weeks – it’s going to be a basic few weeks to stick to my budget but it will be worth it to maximise the amount I can spent on activities whilst here!
I pop into a few places including the post office which double as the bank, and whilst in there, and chatting to the cashier, I hear my name being called. Bizarre as I
know no-one here! It turns out that is in fact a rather short but friendly looking man in his early 30’s named John, who is the husband of the lady (Caroline) I am doing my volunteering for. I then get excitedly introduced (on John’s part, not mine) to all the other locals who are in the post office – needless to say I emerge not remembering anyone’s name or face and I feel slightly like I have walked into a scene of the movie Hot Fuss and am now waiting for the murders to start!
Caroline and I meet as 2pm outside the hostel, as arranged, and instantly we get along, she is very friendly and we don’t stop chattering on the whole time. We head to the little cinema (yes there is a cinema) and inside it is very posh and luxurious. There is a bar inside, and we both have the most scrumptious hot chocolate and turn our attention to the next few weeks and work etc. The owner of the cinema is a helicopter pilot, and he filmed a half hour show named Ata Whenua, only to music, showing images of the fiordland. The cinmena was
built for the sole purpose of screening this show he had made and edited, I had read somewhere that it was a must see, and Caroline had got us free tickets to go and see it, so after we had finished nattering we went in and watched. The images were just totally out of this world, showing different areas of the fiordlands that can only by accessed from the sky and in different seasons.
On the way out Caroline mentioned the cinema also shows other films, and that tonight wast the final showing of les miserbalers, and that her and John were going if I would like to join them. There was one or two seats available so I got a ticket.
At 6pm I had a meeting about the day with nature that I was helping with, next Sunday on Children’s day. The nature day has been advertised all over the South Island, and has lots of activities through the woodland for kids to come and interact with…..I am running the den making area! It looks like its going to be quite an event, so it will be good to see what happens. After the meeting it
was a quick nip back to the hostel, change into something a bit smarter (nice to have a reason to put them on) and head straight back to the cinema for Les Mis. As arranged I meet Caroline and John in the bar for a drink before the show starts (you take your drink in, and they even serve food like sharing platters in there). The show is amazing, so much better than I thought (as its all singing), and it was a very civilised and enjoyable evening all round.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.181s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.1204s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb