No Shirt No Shoes No Problem!

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Hello again everyone, I’m in a town in the Bay of Islands area called Paihia. It may be fall in the southern hemisphere but they apparently forgot to tell that to people here, it’s still 25 degrees out and I had to buy sun screen or risk looking like a Hussmann lobster. I’m doing a little job hunting in the area here, there are a ton of hostels here, but many are winding down as the season is coming to an end, there are also a couple grocery stores that have help wanted signs. Probably part time stuff but if I can take $40+ home after tax then I can start squirreling some away for transportation in the near future. May not be that exciting to travel half way around the world to work as a stock boy, but this is that kind of work that is going to keep me half way around the world seeing new and interesting towns like this one.

The hostel here isn’t bad, they’re all 8 person dorms but they aren’t too busy right now, there’s only me and 2 others in my room (Ryan a Canadian from Saskatchewan and a Tim from Holland). This town has a pretty laid back feel to it, lots of beaches and little parks, and a few good hiking trails that I plan to go on in the next few days, I’d very much like to work in the area. Shoes also seem to be an optional thing, I'd say that 1 in 6 people here go without shoes (when it's sunny at least). Kind of an odd thing to see when you're in a bank to say the least.

I’ve posted a few shots I took at the beach from the evening I got here and a couple more from the following day, the water is as inviting as it looks. We took a swim for a short while the other day and had planned to make an attempt for the island that’s looks like it’s only a short distance away, but got rained out by what can only be described as a cooler version of a tropical storm. Perhaps we’ll give it another shot tomorrow if the weather is a little more forgiving.

I’ve come to a love hate relationship with my jandals, it’s so warm here that I need to be wearing them with shorts, but they are chaffing on the inside of my foot pretty badly. I’m going to try some moleskin, but I think I’m just going to have to build up a little more callous on that normally tender part of foot. Who knew looking the part of a beach bum could be so much work?

Not much else going on, I’m dealing with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) in an attempt to get my tax number. You get the machine run around for a while then they ask you to leave your phone number and will call you back when they can to confirm that you are you and will then give you the number. Still waiting on that number but I can still apply for a bunch of jobs while I’m at it.

That’s about all there is now, I’ll update again soon.

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Comments

[Stan]

Wrong Direction?
Good to see you on the move,but as winter is approaching a quick look south before settling in the north may have been a thought. Oh well at least it is sandal weather,you can't complain about that! Deb is chatting with Emily in Calgary and its snowing there!Looking forward to next set of pictures,being on the water's edge is my kind of place. I think there's some mussel aquaculture near there,you can always stretch the job experiance a little and say you have worked at your family's shellfish farm in Canada.You never know what may get you in the door! Good luck with the IRD, I hope they work better than those in Victoria!Use us as a reference if needed ,it won't cost you much when you get back.Safe travels.... Stan

[anonymous]

Sounds like a nice place. Keep up the good blogging. Leslie