Life

Finally! I've started work last week up at Terrace Downs. It was a long and stressful process to get my work permit. But nothing like what's waiting for me when I apply for residency so I consider this as a rehearsal. When I put in my application for a temporary work permit based on my job offer as a waitress on the 25th of february I thought it could be all arranged in a week. Oh yeh right! If the job was on the skills shortage list it would take a day but if not 60 days! Nothing could be done to speed up the process, even when my employer tried to argue they really desperately needed staff, no go. So I rested in the thought it would take a while and that week I jumped in the car a drove to visit my friends Brenda and Geert in Hanmer. I met them last year. They're Dutch and immigrated to NZ two years ago and own a hostel. It was lovely to catch up with Brenda and talk Dutch 3 days straight! They even made it to the dutch newspapers with their hostel, read this. http://www.brabantsdagblad.nl/regios/udenveghel/2944006/NieuwZeeland-niet-ideaal-maar-beter-dan-Nederland.ece

After my little trip I was back home again and spent time having lunch with Sinead, going Ice skating with Kristy, Micheala and Jonty, dinner party's at Sinead, coffee at the cafe in Hororata ect. And then one day I got an e-mail from Goril. Goril is renting my apartment in Rotterdam and during the 10 months I was home we became friends. Her cousin was getting married in Australia so she decided to book a ticket from Sydney to Christchurch! I had something to look forward to and started planning our 5 day road trip. Unfortunately she arrived on the 18th of march, just a day late to join in with the Irish fun.

Monday the 17th of march was Paddy's day. The day all Irish over the world celebrate Saint Patrick and the fact that he brought Christianity to Ireland by getting piss drunk! Sinead invited me along and we met up at 10.30 for breakfast in an Irish pub. By the time I finished breakfast and was drinking my coffee the rest of the table was all ready half way down their first pint of Guinness! I didn't want to stay behind so ordered myself a gin and tonic, not a good idea at 11am. But all turned out well, after a slow start I caught up and we went from pub to pub. Beautiful day, sunshine and blue skies. Irish everywhere, all dressed up, face painted green, Irish music and dancers. Good thing about starting early is that we were all in bed at 11pm.

Next day I picked Goril up in the afternoon and we drove straight to Akaroa. I had planned a route to all my favorite little places in NZ within a reasonable drive of Christchurch. Next day we started early with a boat trip and saw penguins, dolphins and baby seals! Half way on our drive to Hanmer we stopped for a little dip in the ocean. All though a couple of weeks earlier we thought winter was here, this week was like a second summer. Over 30 and sunshine all around! Only down side was that the main attraction in Hanmer are natural hot springs and seeing that is was stinking hot we opted not to go and boil in pools of 40 degrees.

Next day we were of to the west coast. This drive over Lewis pass is in my top 3 of favorite roads in NZ. Along with Desert road on the North Island and Lendis Pass further south. Lewis pass runs along the river bed and along the last bits of Southern Alps where they stretch to the south. Then you hit the west coast and the scenery changes completely. The west coast contains of rain forest because it basically rains 250 day a year. The roads are windy and there are beautiful cliffs and little sandy bays. We stayed in Punakaiki, visited the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. The next day we did a couple of hours hike before getting in the car to head to my home. I was a bit nervous for the fact that I wasn't sure my car would make it over Arthur's Pass because it has some small problems with climbing... and when we saw steep warning signs sweat was breaking out. I made it but don't ask how! In first gear crawling up the mountain with 20k an hour, so lucky there was no traffic behind me hihi. When home we quickly got changed and we were off to Neil's 55th birthday party. Neil was here last year too so he's one of the few people still standing from the Grasslands and learned to know and love. Fun night, kiwi BBQ and catching up with everyone.

Goril's last day we spent in Christchurch. Going to the Art Centre Markets, walking through the botanical gardens, along the Avonriver, over the bridge of remembrance and then drove to Sumner beach for a walk along the waterfront and a drink. Later that night met up with Sinead and went for a lovely dinner.

Next day I was a bit sad to drop Goril of at the Airport. I really enjoyed the company and it was a good feeling being back on the road. It brought back the feeling from last year and showed me why I love this country so much!

Luckily there wasn't a dull moment in the week coming. Through Ann I got a cleaning job for a couple of hours a week, Tuesday I went to Sinead to help her paint her kitchen for a couple of hours and returned home the next day at 10pm! But I love painting and the result is amazing. Bright green cupboards with the rest of the kitchen white. Got some idea's for my own kitchen one day.

Friday I went into town to meet Brenda who was coming to Christchurch for the weekend. I also had some business to sort out with Immigration. When I lodged my application I was told it wouldn't be a problem if my visitors visa would run out before the work permit would come through. After Sinead pressing me to ring to confirm that, because she was told the same and got into trouble, the immigration officer I spoke to said I had two options. Either withdraw the application, go oversea and apply again or risk being removed from the country! This completely stressed me out as you can imagine. I sent a fax explaining everything and Friday morning I was on their doorstep. The line was hideously long so went to the nearest phone and started ringing. I'm normally not pushy but I was really upset and wanted to be completely reassured that I would not be in trouble and that the fact that I would be in the country without a permit for a while wouldn't effect my application for residency later on. After mentioning lodging an official complaint I was put through to the manager of the Christchurch Branch, left a message, was called back a hour later. She reassured me that everything was fine and there would be no consequences. But because I had had such an upset she was going to see to my permit in the next few days ;-) An hour later my phone rang again and she gave me the good news that my permit and passport where sent with courier post and I would have them the next day! What you can make happen just by raising your voice slightly and be persistent! An hour was all it took to get me a permit till the end of the year!

So Started work that same week. It's all good. The people I work with are all quite young but nice. The place is located in a beautiful but far out place. It's a golf resort, http://www.terracedowns.co.nz/, and if there are little house guests it can be very quite in the restaurant all day. On the other hand when it's busy, it's busy. Enjoying being active again and feeling tired after a long day of work. Such a good feeling and I sleep like a baby.

Also started to redecorate my room. I'm staying in the guest room at Toby and Trudie's. This room was also full of camping gear and a futon couch / fold down bed. This basically meant that there was no room at all to move around, let alone put in a set of drawers. So for the last 3 months I've been living out of my suitcase. This week I cleared out the whole room. The futon is now in the living room and they're trying to sell it on trade me. I had bought a chair at a clearing sale some time ago and last weekend I bought a set of drawers at a boot sale in Hororata. Yesterday I went into town bought a mirror at a wreckers, a stereo and a new duvet cover. All together I've redecorated and created my own space for $150,- / 75 euro! Me happy!