Advertisement
Published: November 9th 2014
Finally, the day arrived to move on, ready for more travels!
After exactly 8 months, I'm leaving the hotel. I can't believe I stayed this long here! The fact that it's an excellent place to save money, THAT'S what kept me here for so long. It would have been hard to find another job with the same conditions I had here, and with the possibility to save well. I'm surely going to miss the hotel, but I couldn't wait longer to leave. Most of all, I'll miss the people at work. I've met so many people, most of them friendly and cool..."most", but not all hahah! The majority I'll never see again, but many I'll probably see again in their home country or in Curaçao one day. I'll also miss having my own room, my own space and privacy. And I will surely miss not having to cook at all, not having to worry about buying food etc.
During these 8 months I've seen several people come and go and that's how it always will be at the hotel. Those who have worked here for many years, have seen hundreds of people come and go.
The skiing on Mt. Ruapehu was definitely an unique experience and I hope to be able to ski some day again. Working here will remain an experience of a life-time and I'll have good memories from this place! But I'm happy that I don't have to help with guests with their bags anymore, no more splitting beds, no more setting-up the conference room for functions etc, no more room services, no more filling wood baskets and keep the fire going, no more vacuuming, no more cleaning the glasses of the main door, no more security checks, no more clearing tables in the lounge etc. etc., I'm free!!!
The other guy from Curaçao is here at the hotel, Joseph "Joey" Statia together with his Canadian wife, Jessica Gallant. We didn't know each other personally, but I read an article about his travels a few years ago and I contacted him. This year he suddenly told me they were coming to New Zealand and I told them to apply here at the hotel and they got the job. They're both very friendly, easy-going and nice people to have around. Sadly enough, they came just 6 days before my last
working day so we couldn't hang out too often. A pity they didn't come earlier! It was so cool to have a Curaçaoan colleague and to speak Papiamentu at work. I felt like staying a bit longer now that I have a fellow countryman here, and also because I could get along well with most of the new staff-members.
Last month I met a girl from Curaçao also here in the village. She lives in the Netherlands and was travelling in New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia. Her name is Jeanine, she's a friend of an acquaintance of mine. I knew she was in the country but we met by coincidence. I told her where I was working, but she had no idea she was actually in the village where I am. Later that evening I went to meet her at the place she was staying and had a drink and talked a lot. 😊
These last two days I've been packing, cleaning my room and doing my last bits of laundry, including my uniforms which I have to give back. During my last night I had a gathering at the staff lounge. A lot of colleagues came
and we all had some drinks, talked and had some music on. Lot's of mixed feelings, but the decision is made, I'm leaving!
I'll be going to Auckland for one night, from where I will fly to the South Island of New Zealand and travel there for about 2,5 weeks. I will meet with some ex-colleagues who are working on the South Island now. During the last 2 months I started doing some research on the internet, looking for flight options and prices, possible itineraries, local information, visa information etc. for destinations that I have in mind. It's a LOT of work but the more research I do, the more exciting I get to hit the road and travel again! I'll be challenging myself by visiting certain countries which seem interesting to me, but maybe not so interesting to most other people.
Kind regards!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.041s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0221s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
taracloud
Tara Cloud
Congratulations!
Saying goodby seems to be the hardest part of traveling, but then there are the hellos that make it so fun. It looks as if you made a lot of great friends there and even got to ski! Congratulations on staying for eight months to earn lots of money for further travels. I've heard New Zealand is pretty amazing, so I look forward to your adventures there. Best wishea!