Volunteering is for the birds...

In my search for a job in Queenstown, I emailed the Kiwi Birdlife Park to see about work.  When Brad’s family visited back in November, we went here and saw all sorts of cool NZ birds including a kiwi!  I can’t lie, seeing that iconic little beast set my heart aflutter.  There weren’t any jobs available, but the guy I was emailing suggested their volunteer program.  I’ve kind of been so wrapped up in being abroad that frankly I forgot volunteering existed, but was happy to have the opportunity to support the park and give back to NZ.   Brad and I met with Paul the volunteer coordinator on Wednesday, and today we were in behind the scenes supporting the park!  Our project was fixing up the enclosure for 4 birds: the deepest diving duck called a scaup, shovellor ducks, oyster catchers, and a black stilt who happened to be one of only 140 in the world.  We put on some "gummies" (rain boots) and dug rocks from the center of the pond and moved them to the outside to prevent flooding and to give the scaups some depth to dive.  It was hard work, but being in with the birds was cool and when were done the little baby scaups got to dive for the first time!  They were so sweet, it made it all very rewarding.

The black stilt, 1 of 140 in the world

Me and the oyster catchers chillin'

Scaups enjoying their new deep pond:

On the way home we took a little plunge in the old lake:

And decided to hike the path up home to enjoy some amazing views (and some crazy looking tree roots):

Now I’m just counting down the days (7!) until my parents, sis, and BroLo come! 

"Heading south to see the sun go down on camp fire light, to join the singing at night... Heading South, heading South." -Roy Orbison

We’ve arrived in Queenstown!  After a 4 ½ hour bus ride to Auckland, staying the night, and catching 1 hour flight the next afternoon, we made it back to the South Island.  We spent the first few nights in a hostel while we searched for jobs and apartments with our new Canadian buddies, Jesse and Jami.  I had really good luck meeting a girl at a 7-11-ish store who said she just left a job cleaning at a hotel for really nice bosses, but wanted more hours and was sad to leave.  I dropped my resume off that afternoon, and they called me back later with a job 4 to 5 days a week!  I start tomorrow and hope it works out.  I may want to work odd jobs here and there to make some extra spending money, but I’m really glad to have the work.  We also lucked out and found a really great apartment on the ground floor of an incredibly nice kiwi family’s house.  They are letting us rent on a week by week basis for a great rate, and also give us rides into town all the time, invited us up for a BBQ and to hang in the hot tub, and overall are just really cool people with 2 adorable sons.  Oh and our view may be one of the best in Queenstown.  And they have a chocolate lab.  And two cats.  And they didn’t make fun of me when I brought soy sausages to the BBQ.  Keepers!

Flying over Golden Bay

... and 15 minutes later flying over dessert...

...with snow-covered mountains out the other side.  God I love NZ.

Arrived in Queenstown!

 Brad immediately reports and puts out a fire at a hotel.  My hero.

Jami and Jesse ordering at Ferg Burger, at QTN fave

Walking to town?

Brad can never resist jumping into the water!  Love this pic.

Having a teapot at World Bar

 

Tridon

J.D.

"What time zone am I on? What country am I in?" "It doesn't matter, it's five o'clock somewhere." -Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffet

The last hoorah in The Bay of Islands: The Rock overnight cruise.  This may be my favorite thing I’ve done in NZ.  22 hours of cruising around the Bay of Islands going fishing, BBQ-ing, night kayaking, snorkeling, and spending a few hours on one of the more remote islands.  $188 NZD and there was an incredibly fun crew, perfect weather,  and bar on board.  Can’t be beat. 

We met up with our friends John and Katie who we knew from Dunedin and are traveling around NZ before moving to Australia.  After spending a day in the beach in Paihia we got on board around 5 and set sail for the islands.  The cruise started off with a paintball-shooting contest where whoever shot the floating target duck (Amelia the Aussie duck) got a free drink.  Never one to miss out on a free beer, I nailed the girls division.  Next they set whoever wanted to fish up with rods and bait.  They were fishing for snapper, but they had to be over 27 cm so no one was able to keep what they caught.  Katie was also not allowed to keep the chunk of coral that she reeled in.  Next, all 25 or 30 passengers headed in for a delish BBQ dinner, then got ready for night kayaking.  We only paddled a little ways away from the boat, but without the light you could see the amazing sky full of stars and the phosphorescence.  This is something that everyone should see in their lifetime- the water lighting up like pixie dust at any disturbance was absolutely breathtaking.   You could even see streaks like shooting stars where fish were darting away.  We paddled back in and up to our little bunk beds for some sleep before another big day.

The next morning, we had breakfast and geared up for snorkeling.  We swam out in the FREEZING water (about 17 celcius) to a rock where you could dive for oysters and “kina” (sea urchins).  I didn’t want to dive for any of those, but I paddled around and checked out some sweet fish including wrasse, starfish, and a very curious leatherjacket who I was very enchanted with until I dove down to get closer and saw that he had teeth.  Not cool.  We swam back aboard for out last stop to Waiwaitoria (“albatross legs”) Island, which was one of the most gorgeous beaches I’ve ever seen in real life or the movies.  We hiked to the top of its hill to check out the amazing views, then swam around in the crystal clear water and relaxed on the white sand.  I could have sat there forever, but sadly it was time for the 2-hour journey home.  As the cherry on the cruise sundae, we saw a few dolphins swimming around and enjoying the sea as much as we were.  Magical.  I really couldn’t have asked for more.

St. Paul's Anglican Church in Paihia

Chilling on the boat

Shooting at Matilda

Kissing the undersize snapper good luck!

Night kayaking... just as dark as it looks!

Top of the hill at Waiwaitoria Island

Oysters and kina (sea urchin)

Dolphin!!

Awesome crew member Yuki getting ready to chop up a kina