I had a very productive day off today. The weather was bad because of the cyclone but I decided I wasn't staying around the cafe today. When there was a small break in the rain I headed up to the main road and got the first car to pick me up and take me into town. Once there, I went to the iSite (the info center) got some ideas of things to do today. I also got information about a tour on Kiwi birds that I will be taking next Tuesday. The tour is into the bush where we will capture a Kiwi bird for it's biannual health check. It must be part of tracking the health of the Kiwi population or something. Either way, I think it's gonna be really cool! Plus the tour is taking place up at the top of the peninsula where I haven't been before. The woman at the info center who is also going on the tour offered to give me a ride so that's nice.
After I went to the info center I ran a few errands and then met a friend for coffee. After that I went out for lunch and then looked into getting a bank account here. I can't wait to come back to the states and be able to say I have an off shore account. How cool will that be?!
After all that excitement I did a bit of hunting for a car. I didn't find anything but met some nice people along the way. I then started walking out of town up towards the Gold Stamper Battery, a gold mining/processing place. On the way I walked past the Top Pub where they've had a sign out for a few weeks looking for help in the bar. I've thought about asking before but today I finally decided to go in and ask after the job. I walked out 5 minutes later with a bar tending position and I start Thursday. That happened a little faster than I expected but I need the money now that we will no longer be getting paid much at the cafe. And if I really want to take 3 weeks or so to get to Queenstown I'm gonna have a lot of gas and accommodation and food expenses along the way so it'll help with that. I really have no idea what I've gotten myself into but if it's no good I can just quit. I'm looking at this job as my gateway into the bar tending world and that it will help me to get a good job in Queenstown and the experience I need to get a bar tending job at the Buffalo Chip for Sturgis in the next couple of years - whenever I come back to the states.
After I got my second job I finished my walk up to the Gold Stamper Battery where I took a tour with one other woman from France. The information was interesting - we learned about volcanos and gold mining. Apparently gold mining started here in the Coromandel in 1852 only 3 years after gold mining started in California, in 1849. There is still lots of gold in the hills here and lots in the harbor as well - run off from the processing done in years past. The guy giving the tour brought this up - which I know all about from my raffle ticket selling experience at the anti-mining fundraiser. I mentioned that I knew they were prospecting in the harbor and he replied "Yes, that's my company." When he said that I was very happy I hadn't said anything about my raffle ticket selling days. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be up for a civilized dialogue about the situation. I got this feeling after he made a joke on the tour about suicide bombers and a woman on the tour said it wasn't a funny a joke. He simply replied "Yes, it is" to which she again replied "No, it's not." I really had to take her side on it. Maybe it's a funny joke in the right context but not then - and not in today's political climate with so many people dying from suicide bombs everyday, everywhere in the world.
Tonight I went on a walk with Shelley and her lady friends. The walk was good - every though it was very windy. Wind gusts of up to 120 km per hour are forecast for this evening. Shelley invited me to come into her preschool, where she works, tomorrow to do a craft with the kids. I think it will be great. I'm very happy to have met Shelley. She's been really nice and inclusive, inviting me to all sorts of things around town, and introducing me to lots of locals. It's really fun getting to know the people who live here.
In other news, I got the 6th Harry Potter at the library today. Yay! The librarian is from Vermont - always fun to meet a fellow American - and is named Bill Idol. He's the real Bill(y) Idol however, since he's pushing 80 and was born before the other Billy Idol. I also started reading the Hobbit today. Since I'm here in New Zealand I feel like I should read this book. It's also good to read before I go to Hobbiton.
Okay, that's all I've got for now. The ladies are watching a movie while I'm writing this blog and I'd like to join them.
Best!
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