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| Arrowtown in the Fall |
Frustrated. Confused. Hopeful. These are the emotions I have
felt over the past 6 weeks as I transition into a new home and community. The
last 6 months of my journey in New Zealand have been filled with epic road
trips, stimulating island getaways, and sunny beachfront living. Traveling like
this is very exhilarating, but there comes a time when you just wish you had a
place to call home for a bit and live out of a closet instead of a suitcase. I
felt like the next few months of my journey would be well spent settled in a
small community where I could build relationships, have a steady job to start
saving for Australia, and have a place to unwind and soften into. In my mind, I
had a few places to choose from: Queenstown, Arrowtown, and Wanaka. To help
make my decision, I decided to do some WWOOFing in Arrowtown at the Poplar
Lodge working as one of their housekeepers in exchange for housing. It was such
a wonderful experience. I was situated in a very small town of about 2,000 that
was known to be the most picturesque town in NZ to view Fall foliage and I had
hit Fall right on the nose when I arrived. During my month there, I was able to
go on some amazing hikes, enjoyed their week long Autumn Festival, tasted some
famous homemade pies, met a wonderful bunch of travelers at the hostel, and was
able to experience the vibrant city of Queenstown. Arrowtown was great and
filled with lots of character as it was one of the first gold mining towns in
NZ, but as I imagined the town in winter, it did not seem to be a place that
would have much going on. I also quickly realized that Queenstown was not a
place I wanted to settle into because of its city feel and heaps of tourists everywhere
all the time! I was looking for a smaller community to be a part of and I knew
Q-town was not going to offer that to me.
After much advice and checking out the scene myself, I
decided to make a new home in Wanaka. With a population of about 6,000 year
round and a ski season population of 25,000, it quickly reminded me of my
hometown, Wolfeboro, NH. In addition to the similarities in population, the
lake and mountains brought me back to the gorgeous views of Lake Winnipesaukee.
The mountains here are much more dominant here and covered halfway with snow
which makes it all the more magical. I entered Wanaka on May 7 and moved into a
house with a lady named Betty. She’s a 73-year-old spitfire and I love every
ounce of her! My other roommate, Amy, was a pleasant surprise from God. We were
connected through a local church as we were both looking for housing in the
area and it turns out that Amy used to live in Asheville (in 2007) and we have
a few mutual friends! Small world eh?! So now we share a room in Betty’s place.
College style, baby! I never thought I’d share a room again, but after sharing
rooms at the hostel in Arrowtown and with the lack of income, I knew this was
the best decision.
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| Wanaka |
The last month and a half has been quite challenging for me
because I had no clue how hard it was going to be to get a job in Wanaka
straight away. I had heard that it was their slow season, but I truly didn’t
think that I wouldn’t get a job for weeks. With May/June being their shoulder
season, most businesses were not going to hire anyone until July, which meant I
was forced to live off of savings and get creative! I hit the ground running
applying at every restaurant, attending networking meetings, and emailing event
planners and venues all over town. Through my gift of networking, I have found
some cleaning and house/dog/babysitting jobs in the mean time. It was quite the
challenge for me not to get frustrated at having to pay rent and bills, buy
food and gas, while not having income! I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long
without having a steady income. It definitely makes you grateful when you have
a job! VERY grateful! J
I am finally starting my waitressing job this week and I am excited to get a
schedule set up for my life here in Wanaka. I do have to admit that having the
time off was at first frustrating and boring, but as I got to know people
around town, we were able to plan some fun gatherings which all of us have been
able to attend. I know this will change once we all start our jobs, so I have
really enjoyed the impromptu potluck parties and socializing out on the town. I
am really excited to continue to meet more travelers and get settled into this
place. I plan to stay here until the beginning of October and then road trip up
North to see some sites on the North Island that I haven’t seen yet and then
head to Australia! My flight back to North Carolina will have me there on
November 18! Woo hoo! Til then, I will continue to discover all of the beauty
that NZ has to offer in the form of landscapes, people, food, and recreation.
Cheers!
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| Lake Hawea |
