Yesterday was one of those days that are just so bad, that it becomes funny pretty much right away. I arrived in Dunedin on Sunday, after a 6 hour bus ride from Christchurch, where my legs didn't fit between the seats (and I'm only 5'8''!), but I had some good sudoku and my iPod, so it was fine. Once I got to Dunedin, I was greeted by rain and cold...a drastic change from warm and draught plagued Brisbane! One of my new flatmates offered to pick me up, but before we went back to the flat, we stopped by her office, where I met two former Olympians that she works with, which I thought was pretty cool! We got to the flat, where I discovered they still do not have heat. (The landlord had told them he would be installing a heat pump for this winter, but nothing has come of it, but there's nothing I can do since I'm not actually renting it). We ate dinner together, and watched TV for the night. Thankfully, Liz's bed (the girl who I'm subletting from) has an electric blanket, so I slept very well.
Yesterday morning, the rain still had not subsided, and actually with the wind, it got worse. I stayed in bed for as long as possible. After forcing myself out, I got ready to head into town, wearing my hiking boats, pants and winter rain jacket. I could not find the extra umbrella they had, so I ventured out without one. I ended up not being able to find the bus stop for about a half hour. And in that half hour, I managed to work up quite a sweat walking briskly up and down large hills trying to find it! Which actually worked out for the better, b/c once I got there and had to wait in the cold, it wasn't so bad since I was hot at that point. Once I got into town, I managed to lose my gloves in the matter of 10 min between the bank and another store. (At this point I could only really laugh at the situation). I managed to find a well priced internet cafe off the main street of town, which although not really warm, helped me to dry off a little bit.
I wrote a cover letter to a place that I found advertised in the help wanted section of this weekend's paper, and worked on my resume before sending it off to that one place. I decided to wait to print out my resumes to take door to door, since it was still pouring rain, and I looked less than presentable. As I was browsing in the bookstore, my mobile rang, and it was the woman from the gourmet food store and cafe that I had just emailed. She asked me to come in for an interview the following day. Needless to say, I was very, very excited. I just had the interview this morning, and it went well. They asked me to come in tomorrow to begin training to see if I like it, and if they like me. I was nervous about my lack of cafe experience, which they said in the ad was necessary, but that actually wasn't a problem. The new problem, and more major, I think, is that they are under the impression I'm able to work through the holiday season. So, tomorrow I have to go in and let them know that after looking at my flight plans, I realized I cannot be there up til Christmas Eve. Hopefully this won't be a problem, but I can see how they wouldn't want to train me if they're gonna lose me before their busiest time.
If that doesnt work out, I may have to take my skills to a temp agency, b/c I realized that is probably the only employment I will get if I am honest and let employers know I will not be here after Decemeber 18th. Hopefully I'll have a positive update tomorrow afternoon! Until then, I am going to be walking around town, to avoid going back to my freezing flat, and take advantage of the sunny day today! Riding the bus into town today was a much different experience, and I had a lot more appreciation for Dunedin, and I'm looking forward to getting more settled and getting to know this place better.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Whitsundays Sailing
It is 5 oclock on Thursday evening, and I only have 2 days left in Australia, although essentially my trip is over because the next two days are travel days. I have absolutely loved my time in Australia, and definitely am looking forward to coming back here sometime soon (hopefully), and when the weather is a bit warmer!
The past three days, the Ross girls and I, spent sailing on a maxi yacht. The boat, named "Spank Me," was a former race yacht, that won some important race in 1989. So, while it was cool to be on a fast sail boat, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable boat, especially compared to the yachts I was used to from Sail Caribbean! The boat measured approximately 100 ft, and including crew, we had 26 people crammed aboard.
Our group was great, very multicultural--including Swiss, French, Irish, American, Austrian, Danish, and Scottish. Again, we faced the task of changing the rest of the world's opinion of Americans. (Side note: one of the most common comments I hear is "Americans never travel) I must say, I think we did a good job, especially since one of the Swiss guys did admit after meeting us, he did change his views of Americans, from being lazy, loud and self-centered. We were among the youngest on the boat, but there were a number in our age range. The others went up to age 27, but despite the age difference and nation difference we all got along very well.
The first day began in the afternoon, and we immediately began sailing for the inlet by one of the Whitsunday's islands where we moored for the night. Once we arrived, our hostess passed around a snack platter while we got to know each other. We had a delicious, hot dinner, cooked and cleaned for us, which was such a nice change! The wind was pretty strong, and the temperatures were less then optimal (pretty much the story the whole time...) so after hanging out for a little bit, I went to bed pretty early. The next day, we awoke at 7 for breakfast, and the n sailed for a few hours to our snorkeling and diving point for the day.
I was nervous to dive because I had not dived since 2001, but I was comforted by the fact that the dive master on board told me my dive certification was one of the best, and compared to the others who had really speedy courses, in places like Cairns and Thailand, I was a little more reassured. We had split into diving teams the night before, and I was diving with 4 other certified divers in the first group, so there wasn't much time to get myself nervous or fret about the cold! We got to the beach and put all our equipment out and then snorkeled to the coral reef we were to explore. I initially had a lot of trouble getting down, so after a bit, we all came to the surface and two of the girls gave me some of their weights and after readjusting, I was able to get down just like old times.
I had a blast diving. While I remember loving it in the Caribbean, I had forgotten that amazing high I got from being under the water and in a completely foreign and astounding world. The next day we were meant to be sailing to the outer great barrier reef, which I was looking forward to especially because it meant that I could cross off another thing on my list of "things to do in life"list. Unfortunately, the poor weather prevented this from happening, but we were able to dive at another site, just off one of the other islands. This time I had a lot more fun (if that's possible) because I was a lot more confident about what I was doing, and more focused on the stunning coral and underwater life than on the actual diving. The two girls in front of my buddy and I saw a reef shark and a manta ray...I was so mad I didn't see those two animals, but, honestly, everything I saw was so impressive, I can not complain at all. The coral had beautiful vibrant colors, and was a lot more extensive than I can remember any coral we saw in the Caribbean.
My experience diving off the Whitsundays Islands made me want to continue to pursue diving around the world. I am already planning on coming back to Australia so I can go to Cairns and do the actual Great Barrier Reef sometime in the warmer months. I am going to start checking the discount airfare sites every so often to see if I can get a good deal. I also am going to make sure that when I travel to S.E. Asia I dive there as well. We got back to Airlie Beach on the third day around 11, and immediately proceeded to our hostel to take much needed showers and rest. While the sleeping conditions weren't too bad, our early mornings made us exhausted. Our boat is meeting up tonight at a bar for drinks and dancing, and I'm looking forward to being able to hang out altogether at night without having to wear lots of layers and shivering in the wind!
The past three days, the Ross girls and I, spent sailing on a maxi yacht. The boat, named "Spank Me," was a former race yacht, that won some important race in 1989. So, while it was cool to be on a fast sail boat, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable boat, especially compared to the yachts I was used to from Sail Caribbean! The boat measured approximately 100 ft, and including crew, we had 26 people crammed aboard.
Our group was great, very multicultural--including Swiss, French, Irish, American, Austrian, Danish, and Scottish. Again, we faced the task of changing the rest of the world's opinion of Americans. (Side note: one of the most common comments I hear is "Americans never travel) I must say, I think we did a good job, especially since one of the Swiss guys did admit after meeting us, he did change his views of Americans, from being lazy, loud and self-centered. We were among the youngest on the boat, but there were a number in our age range. The others went up to age 27, but despite the age difference and nation difference we all got along very well.
The first day began in the afternoon, and we immediately began sailing for the inlet by one of the Whitsunday's islands where we moored for the night. Once we arrived, our hostess passed around a snack platter while we got to know each other. We had a delicious, hot dinner, cooked and cleaned for us, which was such a nice change! The wind was pretty strong, and the temperatures were less then optimal (pretty much the story the whole time...) so after hanging out for a little bit, I went to bed pretty early. The next day, we awoke at 7 for breakfast, and the n sailed for a few hours to our snorkeling and diving point for the day.
I was nervous to dive because I had not dived since 2001, but I was comforted by the fact that the dive master on board told me my dive certification was one of the best, and compared to the others who had really speedy courses, in places like Cairns and Thailand, I was a little more reassured. We had split into diving teams the night before, and I was diving with 4 other certified divers in the first group, so there wasn't much time to get myself nervous or fret about the cold! We got to the beach and put all our equipment out and then snorkeled to the coral reef we were to explore. I initially had a lot of trouble getting down, so after a bit, we all came to the surface and two of the girls gave me some of their weights and after readjusting, I was able to get down just like old times.
I had a blast diving. While I remember loving it in the Caribbean, I had forgotten that amazing high I got from being under the water and in a completely foreign and astounding world. The next day we were meant to be sailing to the outer great barrier reef, which I was looking forward to especially because it meant that I could cross off another thing on my list of "things to do in life"list. Unfortunately, the poor weather prevented this from happening, but we were able to dive at another site, just off one of the other islands. This time I had a lot more fun (if that's possible) because I was a lot more confident about what I was doing, and more focused on the stunning coral and underwater life than on the actual diving. The two girls in front of my buddy and I saw a reef shark and a manta ray...I was so mad I didn't see those two animals, but, honestly, everything I saw was so impressive, I can not complain at all. The coral had beautiful vibrant colors, and was a lot more extensive than I can remember any coral we saw in the Caribbean.
My experience diving off the Whitsundays Islands made me want to continue to pursue diving around the world. I am already planning on coming back to Australia so I can go to Cairns and do the actual Great Barrier Reef sometime in the warmer months. I am going to start checking the discount airfare sites every so often to see if I can get a good deal. I also am going to make sure that when I travel to S.E. Asia I dive there as well. We got back to Airlie Beach on the third day around 11, and immediately proceeded to our hostel to take much needed showers and rest. While the sleeping conditions weren't too bad, our early mornings made us exhausted. Our boat is meeting up tonight at a bar for drinks and dancing, and I'm looking forward to being able to hang out altogether at night without having to wear lots of layers and shivering in the wind!
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