Dining Out, Onehunga & a Creepy Cabbie

After my first day of work, I still had a busy day ahead of me with two friends still in town =) After changing out of my work clothes, I met up with Ricky in front of the Starbucks and we went to some really cool, small bar that was nearby. We stayed there chatting until just before 6:00 pm, then I was off to meet up with John at his hostel. It was John’s last night in New Zealand, so we had made a plan to go out for a kind of going-away dinner for him. I went to his hostel, and I must say that by that point, the Friendz hostel staff probably thought I was a long-term resident haha. Between chilling there with Marie one week and then John the next, I was probably at that hostel nearly as much as the people who were actually staying there. I found John in the lounge watching some TV with the others.

During the time that I was at work, he had apparently become more of a local than I! He’d found some really great local spots to eat, including a breakfast place he had frequented, as well as this inexpensive Japanese restaurant on Lorne Avenue called Mentatz. We ended up having dinner at Mentatz—delicious calamari, a teriyaki chicken rice bowl, and a Japanese beer—sooooo good! After dinner, we went back to John’s hostel so he could give me all the food, etc. that he didn’t need anymore. Among everything else, I was privileged enough to inherit Arash’s ridiculous bag of spices and herbs that he’d left with John before flying to Asia haha. Love it! I’ve actually used some of them too. =) Plus, John never used his free jet boating voucher, so he gave it to me to use…so awesome! I haven’t gone jet boating yet, but I will certainly enjoy it when I do. We walked back to my flat, chatted with Emma, fit in some final rounds of playing cards and even added in a few old-fashioned games of checkers.

Since Emma and I had work first thing in the morning, and John had a flight to catch the next day, we ended our game night pretty early and said goodbye. I was glad I got to see him again while we were both in New Zealand & I’m sure I’ll reunite with him and Arash again while visiting Canada someday! Luckily, I still had one more day to spend with Ricky before he flew out to Indonesia. After work on Thursday, I met up with Ricky again. We had dinner at another Japanese restaurant called Saika, which was also quite good. After staying there for a while chatting, we walked around some of the shops on Queen Street, where Ricky bought a little baby outfit for one of his nephews back in Indonesia. The rest of our evening was spent in Onehunga, yet another suburb of Auckland. Getting to Onehunga, however, turned out to be quite a challenge indeed!

We could have easily taken a taxi there, but for me, that seemed an unnecessary and expensive option. So, I asked some storeworkers which bus stop we needed to go to in order to get to Onehunga; they told me the bus stop by ASB bank. Ricky and I subsequently walked a few blocks up in the freezing cold weather, battling the even colder wind toward the ASB bank near my flat. Well…it turned out to be the wrong ASB bank. Wrong bus stop after wrong bus stop, our hunt seemed to go on for ages. We finally found a bus stop in front of another ASB bank that plainly said “Onehunga” on it..pheww! Well, after we got on the bus, the driver informed us we were still wrong. I’m still not sure how that was even the case. Nonetheless, the driver instructed us to just sit down and he would take us to the correct bus stop.

He took us all the way to the suburb of Newmarket, dropped us off right in front of the bus stop we needed, and refused to take any money for the bus ride =) Very nice guy. The bad news was that the bus to Onehunga didn’t come for another 30 minutes! Cold and bundled up, we looked at each other and said, “Cab?” Haha. After all that trouble, we ended up just taking a cab anyway. So, we spent the rest of the evening in Onehunga, which was a pretty nice area. Since Ricky works as a chef for the Crowne Plaza hotel chain, he gets super cheap deals on food, drinks, etc. at all of the hotels associated with that chain, including the Holiday Inn in Onehunga. It had a perfect lounge area for hanging out and catching up, standard with comfy couches and a fireplace. We had such a great evening, lots of laughs, etc. After giving him a big hug goodbye and wishing him a good flight for Friday, Ricky got me a cab back to the city. Fortunately, I knew I’d see him again relatively soon, as he would be flying back into Auckland after his four-week trip in Indonesia. =)

The cab ride back was….interesting to say the least. I’d heard that many of the cabbies in Auckland can be a bit sketchy, but I hadn’t actually experienced it until that cab ride! The driver asked me all sorts of questions about Ricky, whether we were dating, etc. THEN, he proceeded to hit on me! This 40-something-year-old Indian guy asked me out for a drink haha. I just sidestepped it as best I could, and then went on to endure an additional 15 minutes of awkwardness before being dropped off in the city. Eeek! Just as a precaution, I made sure not to get dropped off in front of my flat. I must admit it made for an amusing story though. I stayed in that Friday night (and did NOT go out on a date with the creepy cabbie man haha). After being on the go for a solid couple of weeks, I needed a bit of a rest. My inactivity didn’t last long though…until the next blog!

Cheers,
Ash

Ashley, The New Face of AMP

I officially started my new job on June 15th, and my first day of work at AMP started off just as comical as the morning of my interview the day before. When I spoke to Tim from OCG a few days prior, he’d told me he would email me all the information I needed in order to get into the building, including contact numbers of the people there, etc. Well, go figure, he sent the information to the wrong email address and I never received it. Since I already had the address for the AMP building and I thought I knew what floor I needed to go to anyway, I figured, “Meh, how difficult can it be?” As it turns out, very difficult. I arrived around 7:00 am, as my shift was scheduled to start at 7:15 am. I walked into the revolving doors of the massive AMP Centre b uilding, and quickly found myself surrounded by impressive marble floors and walls, a striking stone statue, and a large, flat-screen computer-like device that I was unfamiliar with. I soon realized that the device was actually for accessing the elevators.

I watched a few businessmen and women as they swiped these credit-card like access cards, keyed in their floor numbers, and were then provided with a message on the screen telling them which elevator to board. Fancy, eh? Seeing as I didn’t have an access card, however, it posed a bit of a problem. So, I proceeded to semi-stalk this woman, told her my predicament, and asked if she could help. She was really nice, took me to her floor (as she didn’t have access to any other floors) and made some phone calls. She said that I needed to go back down to the lobby, walk next door to the Price Waterhouse Cooper tower, and talk to the security guard on duty, as he had access to both buildings. I did exactly that, told him my predicament, and he kindly took me to the 21st floor to AMP. However, when we got off the elevator, the place looked completely deserted; the security guard kept asking me if I was sure I was supposed to start at 7:15 am since the place didn’t even open until 8:00 am.

I kept telling him that I was positive, and that Tim at OCG had mentioned to me that I would be one of the only people there that early because my job was to involve sorting and scanning all the mail first thing in the morning. Well, come to find out, AMP had three levels within the AMP Centre building. So, it took another 10 minutes or so of walking around the different levels, asking the few people who were even there at that hour if they had any clue who I was. FINALLY, we met two guys who had been expecting me! Phewww, what a relief. From there, my experience at AMP has been nothing less than grand! I have never in my life been so spoiled at a job, and I still can’t believe how lucky I am to have gotten it! My desk was located on the 19th floor right next to these huge windows that overlooked the gorgeous harbour and the bustling city below. It Iiterally felt like a dream to be working in such a massive corporate building right in the middle of New Zealand’s largest city.

I met quite a few new people through work, including my boss Campbell (very chilled out and laid back young Kiwi guy), Sandra from England (h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s), Ivy, Smita, and Winnie from India, local Kiwis Chris, Melissa, and Alisha, plus Sea and Julieta. They are all really great =) Sandra was a temp like me, along with three other girls: Tracy, Fe, and an Irish girl whose name wasn’t worth remembering. It was the Irish girl’s last day working there though, so all the temps including me went to the coffee shop downstairs for a pre-approved, extended break as a kind of goodbye get-together for her. It is so convenient to have a nice little coffee shop literally located at the bottom of our building! For lunch my first day, the same group ate together in the cafeteria on the 20th floor. The cafeteria is nice too, with huge windows overlooking the harbour, really modern tables and chairs, a fancy coffee machine, a couch, and even a few computers along the wall. Not too shabby! Oh, and a completely random, massive wooden cut-out of a high heel used to sit in the corner of the cafeteria as well. Not sure what the purpose of that was, but hey, it added a little something to the décor. =)

AMP is a large insurance/investment company that handles life insurance, personal investments, business insurance, personal insurance, and retirement trusts. During my two-week assignment, I worked for the Kiwisaver department of AMP dealing with people’s work-based retirement savings. Personally, my job involved sorting through, separating, date stamping, and scanning all of the incoming Kiwisaver mail with Sea and/or Chris first thing each morning. Then, the rest of the day purely consisted of data entry—indexing all of the scanned items into their proper categories, processing changes of addresses, updating clients’ contact information, entering new clients into the database, etc. I know such work probably sounds incredibly dull to most of you, but I’m kind of one of those weirdos that doesn’t mind it at all.

Plus, the pay was ridiculously good and AMP is a brisk, 15-minute walk from my flat. So, after leaving home in the morning, it was no time before I was inside the AMP Centre, swiping my access card on the crazy computer device for the elevators. However, let me go on to tell you the other perks of the job: we are provided with free tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and milk at all times. Then, at least twice a week, we are given tons of fresh fruit—bananas, kiwis, grapes, mandarins, pears, peaches, and apples. On top of that, we are regularly rewarded with “morning teas” for doing good work—these usually include little sandwiches, sausage rolls, fruit, cake, cookies, and more. I’m not done yet…I can’t count the number of other times that free food has just been laid out on the counters next to the free coffee stations or on the counters in the cafeteria, without any explanation for its presence.

The real kicker is still to come though: occasionally on Friday afternoons, a DRINK TROLLEY comes around with free alcoholic beverages! That’s right people…no joke. White wine, red wine, beer, spirits, and mixers—all available for the taking. I was completely dumbfounded when I saw the drink trolley for the first time! What can I say…it’s a different world over here, haha =) Since I started work so early, it also meant that I got to leave early every afternoon. So, Chris and I left work at 3:15 pm, stopped by a restaurant/bar around the corner so he could get a drink, then walked to our flats, which are actually right down the road from each other. Now I know I have a neighbor I can borrow a cup of sugar from if ever needed haha. Overall, it was a great first day at my new job and I couldn’t have been happier!

Cheers,
Ash

Another Free Bus Tour? Yes Please

So, I woke up bright and early for my 8:00 am interview the next day, after basically having zero sleep...oh, the agony. The woman from Velocity Recruitment whom I had scheduled the interview with on the phone the previous day had mentioned the fact that the elevators would not take me to their floor until exactly 8:00 am. So, she said not to worry if I didn’t get to the interview until a few minutes after 8:00 am. Well, by 8:05 am, the elevator still wouldn’t allow me to go to the 12th floor. In a moment of genius, I decided I would just go to the 11th floor, then take the stairs up to the 12th floor so as not to be any later for my interview. Well…my plan would have worked out perfectly if it weren’t for the fact that the building had locked access stairwells! In other words, I was in for a big surprise when I tried to exit the stairwell onto the 12th floor, only to find out you needed some type of security card or key to gain access to that floor. I thought, “Okay…don’t freak out. Just go back down to the 11th floor.” Yeahhh…the exit to every single floor was locked, leaving me stuck in this darn stairwell by myself, not knowing what the hell to do!

I had my phone, but didn’t have the number to Velocity Recruitment—even if I’d had it, I kept imagining my phone call to them. “Yes, um this is Ashley King. I was scheduled to have an interview at your office at 8:00 am. I’ve actually been in the building since before 8:00 am, but haven't made it to your office yet because I've somehow managed to get myself stuck in your stairwell. Yes…my apologies.” Haha. =) Luckily, after a frantic ten minutes or so of being stuck, a young businessman appeared out of nowhere and saved the day! I asked if he could be my hero, and he graciously obliged and lead me to the exit. Phewwww! What a start to a morning! The interview itself went really well though, and they even provided me with some delicious hot tea after my stairwell ordeal haha. After the interview, it was time to go meet John for our free bus tour around the city! Two different bus tour companies offer free tours around Auckland for ‘new backpackers’ as a way to try and get you to sign up with them for the rest of your travels around New Zealand. Brigita, Sontsa & I previously went on one of the free bus tours upon our initial arrival in New Zealand. However, the people that actually run the tours don’t really care if you are a new backpacker or not. So, John and I took full advantage!

In total, only about five other people ended up being on the bus with us. After some quick introductions, our first stop was the Auckland Harbour, where a local Kiwi guy talked to us about the jet boats you can ride in the harbour. Known for their thrilling maneuvers and quick, 360-degree spins, jet boats are quite popular in many of New Zealand’s big tourist spots. The guy had us all line up on the deck for a wee little competition, offering a free jet boat ride for the winner. The test was a simple one: be the first to put on a lifejacket and fasten it properly. The catch was that the vests were equipped with really strange clasps. John had it done up in seconds though and won the free jet boat ride worth $65—sweet! Next, we were all handed free ferry tickets and took the ferry over to Auckland’s historic harbourside suburb Devonport, which has been compared to Sausalito, California. While there, we explored the green hills of North Head, a volcanic headland within Devonport that was previously used by the military for coastal defense and still has old bunkers and tunnels left behind.

Plus, before heading back to central Auckland, we all had a tasty pub lunch at the Masonic Tavern in Devonport; built in 1866, it is one of New Zealand’s oldest pubs. While at the pub, I received a phone call from the temp agency I’d interviewed with that morning: the Serious Fraud Office was definitely interested in hiring me but just wanted to do an interview first. Done! We scheduled an interview for 4:00 pm that day. After Devonport, the tour bus took us to the Auckland Museum. Even though John and I had literally just been there a couple days before, it was still fun. I spent most of my time watching some local school children being taught The Haka, an intimidating ancient Maori dance that is also well-known for its use by New Zealand rugby teams. The last stop of the tour was the Harbour Bridge. Just like my first free bus tour with Brigita and Sontsa, we were given harnesses and helmets to walk across the bridge to the big pod in the middle where the bungy jumping station is located. However, since our group was really small and no one was bungy jumping (although I would have if I’d had the money!!!), one of the workers bungy jumped for us, purely for our entertainment.

After being dropped back off on Queen Street, I had to run back to my flat to get ready for my second interview of the day. The woman I met with at the Serious Fraud Office was really nice and the job itself sounded great. However, after all was said and done, the woman found out after making a couple of phone calls that I actually wasn’t allowed to work there. To my dismay, the job would have required me to be a New Zealand resident. Gutted! Oh well…at least I had the other 2-week job still lined up. After my interview, I attempted to meet up with Ricky again. Unfortunately, my lack of sleep and full day of excursions had caught up with me by that point, and I proceeded to get myself semi-lost trying to find where he and Ken were. Ricky ended up telling me to stay where I was, and literally came running to find me =) Then, he and Ken were sweet enough to drop me off at my flat so I could take a much-needed nap. Ear plugs in, and I was out.

I woke up a few hours later still feeling completely groggy, but needing to get up regardless. Daiana had a group of friends over at the flat, including Luciana who I had met a few times before. Luciana was on her way out just as I woke up, so I caught a ride to town with her and made a plan to meet her at Cassette. I went to John’s hostel, still half-asleep, and then the two of us walked over to Cassette for some free Tuesday-night pizza and beer. Once there, we met up with Luciana and her friend Juan (also from Argentina), and the four of us stayed there for a couple of hours chatting and eating pizza. Luciana and I did some dancing as well. I saw a couple of my favorite Surf N Snow hostel friends there again too—Francois and Manuel! Plus, I ran into Neve from Ireland and Derrie Anne from Whales, who I had also met while staying at Surf N Snow. I would have gotten Ricky to join in on the festivities too, but he had already made plans to see The Hangover II during the same time. We didn’t stay out too late though, as I needed to be in relatively good condition for my first day of work the next morning!

Cheers,
Ash

Job Offer, Cooking Blunders & Reunion with Ricky

Ricky was scheduled to come to town late the next morning on Monday, June 13th. However, his flight from Wellington to Auckland got cancelled due to the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption in Chile. I ended up spending the day chilling out with Daiana at the flat, did some laundry and some cleaning. At one point, my mobile phone rang; I answered it, entirely obvious to the fact that it would be the one call that would completely change my current situation! It was Tim from OCG Consulting, one of the temp agencies I had signed on with, calling to offer me a job!! It was just incredible because I had literally planned to book my tickets home the very next day, preparing myself to leave New Zealand the following week. The job was to begin almost immediately on June 15th, just two days from then. It involved doing data entry for a company called AMP, and it offered a fantastic pay rate—heaps more than what I was paid at Chambers Restaurant in Napier!!

The catch, however, was that the job assignment was only scheduled to last two weeks. Still, with such great pay, I decided that two weeks of full-time work there would at least help me re-build my bank account back up quickly. That way, even if another job didn’t come through after this one ended and I still had to go home early, I would at least be going home with money instead of completely broke. SUCH A RELIEF!!!!!!!!! I went over to John’s hostel to hang out and share the good news. Oh, something I should mention is the fact that John never purchased a New Zealand sim card or mobile phone, mainly because he never needed to while traveling with his friend Arash, as they just shared a phone. However, Arash had flown to Asia a few weeks prior, leaving John without a proper communication device. Plus, John’s laptop had recently broken, so he couldn’t even use the Wi-Fi spots around the city to send messages through email or facebook.

So, anytime plans changed a bit or I needed to get up with him, I had to go sneak into his hostel to try and track him down. I felt like such a stalker haha. We ended up walking around town a bit that afternoon and went into a few shops. While we were out, I received a phone call from a woman from another temp agency whom I had sent my resume; she asked me if I would be interested in a job at Auckland’s Serious Fraud Office—epic! She thought I would be perfect for the position due to my background at the law office back home in Tallahassee and my experience in handling legal documents. The job assignment was to be a two-month contract doing administrative work, with even higher pay than the other job I had been offered earlier that day, AND it was criminology-related! It is amazing how just how quickly things can change.

Just that morning, I was without any job prospects and potentially going home months earlier than planned. Then, by that afternoon, I had two potential jobs lined up! I told the woman on the phone my predicament with having the other job offer. She said it was up to me, but that she would try to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible on her end, with interviews and such, so that I could know for sure whether her client definitely wanted to offer me the job. Since John and I were scheduled to go on an all-day bus tour around the city the next day from 9:00 am until around 3:30 pm, she put me down for an 8:00 am interview to get officially signed up with their temp agency and go from there. Sweet! Anyway, after checking out some shops around town, it was close to dinner time. John and I went to my flat to grab the ingredients I had previously bought to make dinner, then went back to his hostel for the cooking to begin (we didn’t stay at the flat to eat because Daiana wasn’t really keen on having anyone over while she didn’t feel good).

The plan was to cook a pasta dish (of course) with seasoned mince beef and a tasty tomato mushroom sauce. I had already warned John not to expect greatness. However, maybe I should have warned him a bit more. By focusing all my attention on the mince and making sure it was seasoned just right, I didn’t pay nearly enough attention to the actual pasta and managed to completely overcook it haha. Oops! What can I say...it’s a good thing I’m not planning on being a housewife =). We ate the pasta just the same, and John had nothing but nice things to say haha. Too polite! After dinner, we enjoyed some more card games and I got a text from Ricky that he had finally landed in Auckland. He had somehow managed to get a later flight out of Wellington, which was great news since he was scheduled to fly from Auckland to Indonesia the next day to visit all of his family back home. John was keen on staying at the hostel, so I left to go meet Ricky and his friend at the Crowne Plaza bar.

I walked in and was greeted by a big hug from Ricky, then he introduced me to his friend Ken from India. Ken was so nice, and the three of us had a good time hanging out in the fancy Crowne Plaza lounge/bar area. The guys were hungry though, so we left there and went to one of the many Indian restaurants in town. They enjoyed what was apparently some really good Indian food, and over the course of dinner, both of them told me some crazzzzy stories about experiences they’d had in their home countries. Pheww…definitely a far cry from New Zealand! Regardless, I have no doubt that both countries have beautiful things to offer as well =). Also during dinner, Ricky received a text from JetStar (a popular airline on this side of the world) saying that his flight to Indonesia had been cancelled due to the ash cloud. Ricky was so upset and discouraged. We went to one of the closest internet cafes so he could check on the status of other potential flights going out, etc.

The news wasn’t good—when all was said and done, he had to spend an extra four days in Auckland before he could fly out. Day after day, flight after flight just kept getting cancelled due to the ash cloud. Ricky appropriately termed it “the most anticipated trip of his life.” I really hated it for him, but at the same time, I was glad to be able to spend some more time with him before he left. To take his mind off the frustration, we all went out for a night on the town. First place on the agenda was Danny Doolans, where we met up with another one of Ricky’s Auckland friends Danika and her boyfriend Ryan. The five of us had a ridiculously fun night having a few drinks, hanging out by the warm fire that was blazing behind our table, and listening to the music. Ricky and I made sure to do some dancing before we left too. Ken headed out early, but Ricky, Danika, Ryan and I stayed at Danny Doolans until at least 1:00 am, and then went to another bar that Danika knew. Interview? What interview? ;-)

Danika was hilarious because she insisted that we all take a cab to the next place, which I thought was rather odd since basically everything is within walking distance in central Auckland. When I asked her where the bar was, she told me the name of the road, which was literally one road over from Danny Doolans—probably a three-minute walk haha. According to her, she just couldn’t be bothered to walk that far =) The next bar was pretty cool—a small hole in the wall with a chill atmosphere. We all stayed there until the wee hours of the morning. When all was said and done, I didn’t end up going to sleep until 4:00 or 5:00 am! Yeahhhh…let me just take the time to express that promptly waking up two to three hours later in order to get ready for my 8:00 am interview was just as painful as you may think. As the phrase goes though, “If you’re going to be dumb, you gotta be tough.” Haha.


Cheers,
Ash

Local Turns Tourist

In the end, I turned down the sketchy restaurant job. With no other job offers on the table, it was time to take a serious look at my finances. It was Friday, June 10th and my flight to go back to The States was set for September 23rd. As much as it pained me, I made a phone call to Air New Zealand to see how much it would cost to move my ticket forward a few months to the week of June 20th. The answer: approximately $300.00. However, the flight was only to take me as far as Los Angeles. I hadn’t yet purchased a ticket from LA to Florida. So, then it was time to research the cheapest possible flights out of LA back to one of the airports near Panama City. After some investigation, I found I’d be paying at least another $300.00. The hard truth was I barely even had enough money to cover the cost just to make it home; without the help of my parents, I would have been screwed. Before booking any new tickets, I decided to wait just a few more days, holding out the slightest glimmer of hope that another job opportunity would come up. I selected June 14th as the official decision date; if no job offers had presented themselves by then, I would be booking my tickets that day to go home the following week. The thought of leaving New Zealand under such bad circumstances was absolutely crushing. I don’t think I would have ever forgiven myself, always thinking, “What if I hadn’t done this..or that…” or “If only I had done this differently…” Needless to say, I was feeling pretty low.

Yet, I had a full week ahead of me with two more friends scheduled to come to Auckland. So, I put on a smile and pushed myself to enjoy what could potentially be one of my last weeks in New Zealand. The first friend scheduled to come in on Saturday was John, one of the Canadians whom Sontsa and I traveled with in the south island a few weeks prior. Then, my Indonesian friend Ricky, whom Sontsa and I had couchsurfed with during our travels, was due to arrive on Monday. Beforethey came to town though, one of my British cousin’s friends Mary got in touch with me. She lives in Auckland as well, but I had only briefly met her during my first initial week in New Zealand. So, we met up again that Saturday at the Aotea Centre, where the Auckland Arts and Crafts Fair was being held. The place was packed with people, and the items for sale were really awesome…very unique and fun. It was enjoyable just to walk around and look at everything. Afterward, Mary and I went to grab a coffee at this fantastic coffee shop that she knew. Located upstairs on one of the side roads off of Queen Street, it was a well-hidden gem. We sat on one of the couches inside, drinking delicious mochas and chatting for hours.

Then, it was time for me to go greet John at the bus stop down by the harbour. He was originally only going to stay a night or two, then go a little further north for a few days to see some more New Zealand highlights before coming back to Auckland to fly out for good. However, by the time he got here, he was all traveled out and decided to pass on going up north. Lucky for me, that meant I had a sightseeing buddy for the next 5 days! After he first arrived, we walked to the Frienz hostel to get him set up there. I was happy to be able to see Lysann again at the hostel, the German girl Marie had previously introduced me to while staying at Frienz. Then, John and I were off to do a little exploring around the city. We walked down to the harbour, admired the yachts, strolled along The Viaduct by the flashy restaurants and bars on the water, then made our way back up Queen Street to find some food. John was quite funny, having us walk further and further up Queen Street… and beyond, determined to find the perfect place to eat that was both cheap and good. In the end, we settled for some tasty kebabs. After dinner, we wandered around Albert Park (my favorite park in Auckland), then went to Cassette (my favorite bar in Auckland).

I don’t think I mentioned before that Cassette is located on a sweet as road in Auckland called Vulcan Lane. As soon as you walk onto Vulcan Lane, it is like walking onto a road in Europe. I absolutely love it! John and I stayed at Cassette for a couple of hours chatting and filling each other in on our travels. Then, we called it an early night, as we had big plans for the next day. I met him at his hostel in the morning, and we headed out for a full day of exploration. For an extra boost of energy, we grabbed a chocolate crepe from one of the small vendors on the way out—delish! To much amusement, it quickly became apparent during our day out that I was a miserable excuse for an Auckland tour guide haha. John and I soon switched roles, with him showing ME around my own city =) We walked to the Auckland Domain, where the Botanical Gardens and the Auckland Museum were located. The Domain is actually Auckland’s oldest park (a random fact I learned at a quiz night the other night). I had previously been to the Auckland Museum with Sontsa and Brigita my first week in New Zealand, but was happy to go again. Among other things, its exhibits offer a lot of information on Maori culture, the wars New Zealand had been involved in over the years, as well as the infamous earthquakes and volcanoes the country is known for.

One particular exhibit is interactive and pretty intense. It involves you walking into this miniature house, which is set up to resemble an Auckland living room, with a couch, a television, and large bay window that is meant to be overlooking the harbour. What many of you may not know is that Auckland is actually a massive volcanic field made up of 49 different dormant volcanoes. So yeah, the exhibit quite intensely demonstrated what one could expect to experience if a massive volcanic eruption were to occur in Auckland. After all, New Zealand is certainly a tectonically active place these days! After seeing the museum and the gardens, we decided to walk to one of the nearby suburbs, Parnell. We took a really random path through the park’s woods to get there, but managed to find our way (correction: John managed to find his way and I just followed him haha). Parnell is New Zealand’s oldest suburb, but it is very chic and generally known for being a bit upper-class. It is famed for its cafes, restaurants, galleries, and charming boutique-style stores. After walking around for a bit there, John and I took the local city bus (Link bus) back to the city center and continued our exploring elsewhere. We walked all the way up the whole of Queen Street, making it to Upper Queen Street, over to K Road, and eventually all the way to Ponsonby Road, reaching the Ponsonby surburb of Auckland.

Before that, I had only ever been to Ponsonby for the trial runs at the restaurant. So, I was quite excited to properly check out the trendy little suburb. Like Parnell, Ponsonby is more of an upper-middle class area, known for its great cafes, restaurants, art galleries, and up-market shops. Yet, it doesn’t have a pretentious feel to it at all—definitely one of my favorite spots in Auckland! I owe it to John for prompting me to step out of the little bubble I had formed for myself around the city center =) Who knows how long it would have taken me to step out of my comfort zone if it weren’t for him. That night, I wanted to cook John dinner as a thank you for all the times he and Arash had cooked for Sontsa and I during our travels with them. We made a plan for him to meet me at the flat in a few hours. However, I had a change of plans when I got home and Emma and Daiana were about to leave to take Daiana back to the emergency room again. I of course felt like I needed to go with them. I stayed at the hospital with Daiana for a few hours while she had more bloodwork done and ended up getting an IV drip. The good news was she was going to be fine. I hated seeing her so stressed though =( Emma came back to the hospital to take Daiana home, and I went to John’s hostel. Since it was past dinner time by then, we just ended up spending the evening playing cards. It was really fun though; some of my best evenings in New Zealand have involved playing card games in hostels =)

Cheers,
Ash

Trial, Error, and News from Home

The same day Marie left on June 9th, I received a phone call from a restaurant regarding a position I had applied for online. The position was as a food runner/waitress assistant at this 5-star restaurant called Sidart in one of Auckland’s nearby suburbs, Ponsonby. The woman I spoke with asked me a few questions about my recent waitressing experience at the 5-star restaurant in Napier. Satisfied with my answers, she asked me if I could come in for a “trial run” at the restaurant that night. I of course jumped at the opportunity for a potential job! In New Zealand and Australia, it is not unusual for employers to have potential employees come in for what they call trial runs. Basically, it is completely legal for them to have you work for free so they can see whether you are actually capable of doing the job. Crazy, I know. So, the woman told me, “You need black shoes, a black shirt, and black pants.” Check, check and check. After looking up directions to the restaurant, I decided to make the “short” walk there instead of taking one of the city buses—mistake number one. See, I had never been to Ponsonby before; hence, I had no idea that the main road to get there (Victoria Street) is potentially one of the steepest streets in Auckland. What I expected to be an easy 15-20 minute walk turned into a 25-30 minute hardcore aerobic exercise.

By the time I arrived at the restaurant, I was red-faced, a bit out of breath and sweaty. Thank goodness for deodorant, perfume and black clothing! The restaurant was located upstairs in an area called Three Lamps Plaza. After going up the stairs and sliding open the massive door to the restaurant, I was greeted by Marie, who I had spoken to on the phone, and the other waitress whose name escapes me. The restaurant itself was very small with only about 12 tables, but it was extremely posh, elegant and intimate. The girls were really sweet, both local Kiwis. One of them looked down at my black sandals and said, “Do you have some shoes?” I replied, “What do you mean?” As it turned out, I needed black closed-toed shoes in order to work the shift…mistake number two. I honestly should have known better. Since time was of the essence, I had to catch a bus back to town, run back to the flat, and quickly change my shoes. Fortunately, Emma was home and offered to drive me back to the restaurant. After a flustered return, I met the kitchen staff, including Sid the owner, and they all seemed friendly and easy-going. I spent the rest of the evening basically shadowing the girls and learning the ins and outs of all their restaurant procedures.

It was during this time that I learned the restaurant had THREE menus that guests could choose from: a nine-course tasting menu, a four-course menu, and an a la carte menu. Do you know what that meant? Yeah, I was expected to memorize all of the items on all three menus. This was not a particularly easy task when the menu items involved such descriptions as “Second Course: Venison, cauliflower, smoked date and capers; Easterbrook quail and rabbit loin with almonds and gingerbread; and free range pork, celeriac, and garlic tortellini.” Plus, cutlery had to be re-set after every course for every person, potentially meaning up to nine re-settings per person throughout an evening! It was pretty full-on. My trial run lasted about 2 ½ hours, and I did well. However, Marie and Sid asked if I would mind coming in for one more trial run the next day during the lunch shift so they could see how I did in a busier environment. I accepted. Marie said that during the next shift, I would be shadowing Tasman, the person who currently had the job I was trialing. When I arrived for lunch the next day (with closed-toed shoes), I was introduced to Tasman, a beautiful Maori girl in her 20s who had rockin style.

She seemed very confused upon meeting me, and asked, “So, what are you here for?” I told her I was shadowing her for the food runner/waitressing assistant position. She responded in a disturbed voice, “Oh…you mean, my job. You’re my replacement?” Awwkward. Apparently, the owner hadn’t bothered to tell her that he was firing her, and I was how she found out. Real nice. I was completely naïve to the whole situation. She later went on to ask, “So, this job was advertised?” I answered, “Yes. I applied for it a few days ago.” I told her I didn’t want to take anyone’s job, and that I’d had no idea of the situation. She modestly told me not to worry about it, and that she would be fine. For the entire trial run, Tasman remained mostly pleasant, worked through her shift as normal, and trained me on her job. The job, by the way, was verrry stressful. Everything had to be ‘just so,’ with absolutely NO room for error—precision and excellence were key. Plus, it was busy. At one point when I was in the kitchen polishing glasses, one of the younger chefs asked me how it was going. With telling anxiety on my face, I whispered “Not too fun.” He responded by saying, “Oh, you think this is bad…wait for a Saturday. Saturdays are mental.” Comforting, very comforting.

Near the end of what turned into almost a 4-hour trial run, I noticed that Tasman, Marie, and Sid were all missing. That could only mean one thing. Sure enough, were firing her…while I was there and before I had even accepted the job! It was ridiculously inappropriate on so many levels. After firing her, they called me out back as well. Tasman was still there…crying. I felt so horrible. Sid and Marie went on to tell me that they thought I did well and asked if I was still interested in the position. I told them I would need to think about it. Honestly, after seeing how they treated Tasman, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the thought of working there anymore. Plus, it would only be a part-time job, and by that point, I was in desperate need of full-time work. Not to mention, Marie and Sid would never disclose the hourly pay rate of the position. They kept sidestepping it, basically saying we would “discuss the pay later,” once I decided to take the job. Pretty sketch. When I told them I would have to think about whether or not I wanted to accept the position, Sid yelled back over to Tasman (who was still crying from having just been fired) and asked if she could work on Saturday after all since I had to think about taking the job! Unbelievable.

I left there feeling completely defeated. I had worked my bum off without pay for a total of nearly seven hours over two days, all for nothing. Just the thought of turning down a job while being so close to being in debt was completely overwhelming in itself, but at the same time, it’s what my gut was telling me to do. Plus, I felt so wretched about Tasman and the whole situation. Really though, weighing in on my mind even more than those things was a much more serious matter from home. I had received a call from my Dad a few days prior, telling me that the cousin whom I am closest to was in the hospital. It took a few days for it to even sink in, and when it did, I just didn’t know what to do. It was such a helpless feeling to be on the complete other side of the world knowing someone I loved was in such a physical state. Since then, however, I am elated to say that my cousin’s health has progressively improved and I recently spoke to her on the phone as well. It meant soooo much to be able to hear her voice. My thoughts are with her every day as she continues to get stronger and stronger!

Best,
Ash

More Auckland Moments with Marie

The next day, I met back up with Marie late afternoon after doing more job searching and we walked around town and went into some shops. One shop in particular, Real Groovy, became a favorite! I had passed by it many times before, but had never gone in until I was with Marie. What a mistake to have waited—it was brilliant! It had a wide array of fantastic and unique CDs, DVDs, records, books, cards, band memorabilia, old and new clothes, vintage stuff, and more!! Marie went on a full-blown shopping spree and got some really great stuff =) We also went into some of the op shops on K Road (short for Karangahape Road). The K Road area is known for its eclectic collection of shops, cafes and art galleries. Plus, it is a big part of Auckland's bohemian scene, with many venues for alternative music and fringe art. That night, I hung out with Marie at her hostel and met a few new people, including Lysann from Germany. She was a complete sweetheart and so much fun! It was actually really great to be back in a hostel environment, as odd as it is for me to admit that. Hostels were all I knew for 4 months and they are just such wonderful venues for meeting new people. The Frienz staff and people staying there usually went to this place called Cassette every Tuesday night. Starting at 9:00 pm, Cassette gave people working and/or staying at hostels each a voucher for a free drink, plus you could get free freshly baked pizza! Seeing as it was Tuesday, Marie, Lysann and I decided to join.

Cassette was really awesome—nice restaurant by day and cool bar/hangout by night. Instead of wallpaper, paint, or boring picture decor, one entire wall of the bar was made up of folded-up pairs of jeans. Pretty sweet. We all hung out there for a while, eating some free pizza and chatting. At one point, the three of us went out on the balcony and within a few minutes, I saw a couple familiar faces. It was Francois and Manuel from Surf N Snow, the Auckland hostel I had stayed stayed in before! I was soo excited to see them and catch up!! Now, I have seen them many times since then, as Tuesday nights at Cassette have become something of a regular occurrence =) After a while, Marie, Lysann and I walked down to another bar called Danny Doolans, a popular Irish pub on the harbour. Our time there consisted of being chatted up by a couple of random people—first it was an Indian guy who basically quizzed me on my intelligence, then it was a really drunk Kiwi girl named Kimberly who wanted to take us all to Mount Wellington the next day for an “amazing view of the city.” Haha. After leaving Danny Doolans, we stopped at one of the many kebab shops around the city so Lysann and Marie could feed their late-night cravings. Then, it was back to the hostel for the girls and back to the flat for me.

The day before Marie was scheduled to fly out, we had another random Starbucks bench moment. While sitting there chatting, we began to notice that a group of people wearing white jumpsuits were gathering near the intersection in front of us. After a few moments, their numbers increased to a group of about 15 on one side of the intersection and another group of about 15 on the other side. By this time, in addition to wearing the white jumpsuits, they had also put on white plastic masks. We just sat there watching them in confusion. As soon as the crosswalk lights turned green, all 30 of them RAN out into the middle of the intersection, attempted to lay out a white sheet on the ground, then proceeded to fling neon-colored paint onto one another from small squeezable paint bottles. They did this for the full 30 seconds in which the crosswalk lights were green, then as soon as their time was up, they proceeded to RUN back off the street (fully multi-colored by that time). From there, they quickly disappeared into a white van that then immediately left the scene. The only evidence that remained of their presence was some brightly-colored pavement and people with incredibly baffled expressions. Onlookers, including myself and Marie, were just left bewildered. Haha…ridiculously random.

That evening, we met up with a couple of Marie’s Dutch guy friends Jamie and Valentijn whom she had met during her travels around New Zealand. They were in Auckland for the same reason as she: to catch a flight the next morning to go back home to the Netherlands. Sadly, they were both being forced to go home months before they had planned, purely because of financial reasons. It made me realize that I could be another one of those stories if I didn’t find a job soon. Nonetheless, the four of us hung out at Starbucks for a bit, then decided to go check out the Globe Bar down the road. Globe Bar is attached to the Base Hostel, and it doesn’t maintain the best reputation in comparison to the other bars in Auckland. For one thing, you can barely hear one another talk because the music is so loud. Still, the four of us stayed there for a little while hanging out and practicing the delightful sport of people-watching. We didn't stay out too late though since the guys' flight was scheduled for really early the next morning.

After saying goodbye to them, Marie and I of course finished our evening chilling on the bench again in front of Starbucks until really late. The next day, I met back up with her to see her off before she got the bus to the airport. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself when I initially saw her walking toward me from her hostel, dragging behind her the most MASSIVE suitcase I think I have ever seen. She originally came to New Zealand with a proper backpacker’s backpack, but after accumulating too much stuff, she ended up purchasing that mammoth of a suitcase to fit everything in haha. I walked with her to the bus stop, the same one I had walked Sontsa to just a couple of weeks prior. Before the bus came, I wrote in Marie’s travel journal to commemorate some of our moments together in New Zealand. Then, within a few minutes, the bus pulled up and it was time for me to say goodbye to yet another friend. I was so thankful that we were able to spend so much time together in Auckland before she left though. She is such a sweetheart and I have no doubt I will be seeing her again in Europe one day as well. =)

Cheers,
Ash