Moving into Russell, Bay of Islands

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Hey, first I appologise for the awful wave at the end of the video, awful!

Anyway, this is where I'm living for the next few months hopefully. It's a small town called Russell in the north of NZ, a few hundered km north of Auckland. Not got a massive population but once the summer hits there will be a big boom. I decided to take the job at the Thai restaurant, I feel like for the last few weeks all I have done is spend money and I reallised that I really needed to start making some money if I'm going to have anything left for my travels after NZ. There's not an awful lot to do in Russell except get out and about and get down to the beach so I should be able to save up a decent amount of money for travelling on in NZ. I'm planning to stay no longer than mid-March, hopefully the start of March so that I still have a bit of the summer left to get out and see more of the country.

So my job isn't the best but it's fine. My bosses, chef and her husband are okay. Myself and the new chef are now living in their old house which is awesome and for only $70 a week, which is about 33 pounds (there is no pound sign on the computers over here!), so it's really cheap. I might end up sharing my room with a nother girl if they hire someone as it gets busier but for now I have a great room to myself with an en-suite and everything! I am so happy just to have a base, and a bit of space to just chill out and unpack the awful backpack! I've already started deciding on things that I won't be taking with me once I leave here. Packing lights as is defo the way forward!

So the job is mostly cleaning the restaurant in the morning and trying to find jobs to do to keep busy. The owners are nice enough, just not as friendly as I would like to be honest, but it doesn't bother me too much. All the customers are really nice and I can chat away to them so I'm fine. Also, Russell is a really friendly place, everyone says hello or Kia Ora as you pass them in the street. I obviously also wait the tables but I also have to do work in the kitchen as well, it's quite a lot to learn and the fact I don't speak Thai doesn't make things easy! But Jiraporn has good English and Charlie, her husband is a Kiwi, so I'm managing! Just hope they appreciate the fact I am actually a really hard worker!

Anyway, decided I needed to meet some people my age so last night I went for a wander to one of the pubs. I'm well proud of myself for going on my own - haha! Didn't think anything would come of it but ended up chatting to some people and going back to their house for some beer and then went to the beach with them today - result! There's Joe and Nicki are together and who's house it was and then Joe's brother Liam and their mate Pete. It's great! Went to Long Beach with Nicki and Liam today and soaked up a lot of rays! Don't think I got burnt so that's a good day! Nicki seems really nice and she works in Russell as an elictricain so she'll be about a lot so hopefully I'll have some good mates for the summer for my days off! Glad there are actually people my age here!

So, Charlie says he's going to make up a roster so we can all organise our social lives... It's great though because I want to do my Padi while I'm out here and it's a really good price according to Erin and it's a great place to do it! So I'll save all my money for that and further travel and I'm sorted!

I'm chuffed this is all working out so well, fingers crossed it stays like this!

Really miss you all still but feeling much happier now I'm settling in!

Love Charlotte xxx

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Photos

My Living Room
Viewed from the kitchen

My Kitchen
Viewed from the living room.

Oldest Standing Church in NZ
...apparently.

Comments

[Paul Hyett]

Mmmm....
Was that a wink i saw in the mirror? Px x