Sunday 19th February – 09:18am – Time to move on from the last 5 weeks, and start my new adventure down south, starting with my crazy first weekend in Queenstown…

After the world-wind that was Samoa, it felt oddly satisfying to slip back into the backpacker life, and jump onto yet another public transport marathon. I slept in Auckland airport for 3 hours, before I was rudely woken by a security guard saying the terminal was opening. This was my signal to trudge down to the domestic terminal, and start my long awaited transit to Queenstown. Due to the nature of flying, I found myself with far too much time on my hands, so my mind began to wonder. Towards the end of my stay in Samoa, I was beginning to wish the days away, and regretted staying for so long. However, looking back I feel like I needed the break. The mosquitoes and flies were unbearable yes, and I was beginning to get ill from the infections on my feet, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and loved the change. Who else can say they spent 5 weeks in Samoa working in a beach bar and coaching a village rugby league team…

After a small debacle in the airport which included another Mr Smith, Jose or Chris, stealing my seat on the flight, I was able to board and settle in for the quick 2 hour journey down south. To be a 100% honest, the sheer amount of flights I have taken over the last 6 months I am genuinely surprised it hasn’t happened earlier. There has to be hundreds of Mr Smith’s flying every day.

The journey flew by (ha, get it) and before I knew it I was slowing to land in easily the most jaw dropping airport I had ever seen. The Queenstown airport is planted in the middle of 3 mountain ranges, and borders a beautiful lake. As someone perfectly described to me earlier this week, imagine the Peak District on acid. The scenery is just plain gorgeous, and you can see the Lord of the Rings style ranges on every turn. After landing I caught a bus into the centre of Queenstown, and met Ryan and Joe for some catch up beers. We played some frisbee golf in the park and had a great time. Catch up beers turned into a fully fledged night out, one which surprisingly I can actually remember all of this time – a rarity when going out with Joe and Ryan. In-between drinks I stumbled to the Nomads Hostel and met up with the manager, who I had previously organised a meeting with to discuss a potential job. The chat went well, and the guy said he would call me as soon as a position became available… I’m still waiting for the call…

I was staying at the Sir Cedric’s Bungi Backpackers for 2 nights, having fully expected to find work and a more secure place to live from then onwards. After checking in I found the hostel quite hipster esk but homely, with some nice people and a comfy bed. After roughly an hour of being in the hostel, I unpacked some clothes, had my first hot water shower for 5 weeks – incredible by the way, got dressed for some drinks, and headed towards the camp site the guys were staying at. In typical fashion we smashed more and more beers off, and I ended up cutting my thumb on the top of a bottle. It was a tiny cut, and didn’t even hurt, but would come back to haunt me big time. We headed to a sports bar for a game of pool, and started heading out to a few night clubs. Joe was so drunk he got sent home after the first bar, and somehow Ryan drank through the smashed barrier and almost sobered up the more he drank. He actually lasted the whole night before disappearing this time. Kieran and I ended up playing pool in a nightclub until the early hours, then stumbled back home. I met some great people, and felt pretty sure I would get a job the following day. I planned to get up, go give CV’s out and sort my life out.

I woke the next morning to find my thumb had swelled up big time. It ached and I could barely bend it. After grabbing some food, I watched 2 films in the hostel while I waited for Elaine to ring me back from the Cardrona Hotel. Joe and Ryan had dropped the bomb shell that they were leaving NZ for at least a few months, and I had started to realise I was going to run out of money. Having originally wanted to work and live in Queenstown, I now realised I just wanted a good, well paid job, with some friends and in a nice place. After speaking to Elaine, I felt confident I had found the right place. Kieran and Marley were already working at the pub, and I was offered a room on site with cheap rent. It suited me to the ground, so I accepted the job and made plans to leave the next morning. Before going to sleep I ran into a few problems however;

My thumb had swelled up even more, and my foot was in pieces. I had 10 infected cuts/bites on my body, which were collectively sapping my energy. I genuinely felt ill for the first time in ages, and could feel my blood being poisoned by the infection. I decided to bite the bullet and head to the doctors early the next morning, which is one of the smartest decisions I have made since coming to NZ. I got to the health centre at 08:00am, and immediately had to pay $90 just to be seen by the doctor. After the consultation, I then had to spend a further $60 on penicillin tablets, cream and a wash for the cuts. It drained my money and I realised I was in a bad way. I had very little money, and felt like I was dying. Despite feeling like crap, I collected my luggage and began trying to hitch hike to Cardrona. I was told it was fairly easy to hitch hike out of Queenstown, but it still took me nearly an hour, even with my hand made sign….The first driver took me 10 minutes up the road to Frankton, and I was picked up almost immediately by two downhill bikers who had hired a car for the weekend. They were driving to Wanaka, so took me all the way to the Cardrona Hotel. They were really cool guys, and even drifted round some of the corners on the windy road from Queenstown to Wanaka. I got to the hotel in record speed, and before I knew it I was moving into my teeny tiny box room for the next couple of months.

The first few days at the pub were a blur. I was quickly trained in the bar, the floor and as a dish washer. They had squeezed me in for the first few days, and I split my time between the bar and the kitchen washing dishes. It was a real baptism of fire, but I loved the fact I was finally earning money, and threw myself into it. The staff were really friendly, and I got to grips with the job a lot quicker than even I expected. Marley, Kieran and I went into Wanaka a couple of times in my first few days, as it’s only a quick 20 minute drive down the road. Ryan and Joe came to stay for a couple of days before their flight, which made the start of the new job even easier. I would come in from a shift or on a break and find them drinking in the living room and having a laugh. That combined with the fact I got on really well with some of the other members of staff, made the first week a great one.

The next week I was finally back on the bar 5 out of the 7 days in the week, and managed to get Tuesday off to go to rugby. I hitch hiked down early, and managed to chill in Wanaka for an hour before training. It was a fun session, and I was pretty happy with how I played. The journey back took nearly 2 hours, as expectedly nobody picked me up for a while. I understand nobody wants to pick up a hitch hiker in the dark, so I walked nearly an hour and a half before somebody picked me up. It was long and annoying but at least I managed to get some training in!