Hi everyone

After Sydney I moved onto New Zealand (south island). Really my main concern was trying to find work because finances were running low. I arrived in Christchurch, which was very quiet. The YHA hostel only had a few people staying in it, so after a few days I decided to move onto Queenstown. Before arriving I had heard that it was 'party capital of New Zealand' and a great place to go skiing :).

I booked into base hostel for a few nights to start off with, after a few days a guy called Pete aka 'Pistol Pete' arrived from Christchurch, I had met him at the YHA and arranged to meet up when he got he to have a few drinks and have a look around etc. Pete had been to Queenstown before so knew all the places to go and see. The first things that struck me about Queenstown is how beautiful it is and how breath taking are its surroundings. Queenstown is build right on the edge of lake wakatipu which is New Zealands longest lake at 291km and is its third largest.

I started job hunting straight away when I arrived in Queenstown, I went around all the bars and shops handing in my CV. I also followed up a few things I had in the pipeline. One of these was possibly getting work with a company called Real Journeys (www.realjourneys.co.nz/). The Walter Peak farm station is located at the other side of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown (see the picture at the top of the blog), it is a sheep and cattle station run by Real Journeys, the boat the Real Journeys operates is called the TSS Earnslaw, its is a vintage steamboat and is quite an amazing sight. I managed to get an interview with Andrew (the restaurant manager over at walter peak) to work as a waiter. I went over on the TSS Earnslaw, talked to Andrew and then toured the farm. It certainly would have been an incredible place to work but I didnt get the job. As I kept looking for work I managed to fit in a few days skiing at Coronet Peak ski area. Its about a 30 mins bus ride from the centre of Queenstown, I was told for the end of the season the snow was pretty good. I had a geat couple of days on the slopes with Ryan aka superman (cos he can't snowboard) and Chris aka cripple, even if I was a bit sore (I need to going running).

I continued to look for work in Queenstown and met some really wicked people at the hostel, like Chris from oz aka cripple becuase is broke his wrist snowboarding, i went on the slopes with him a few times. Another load of people that is met were all the boys from room 112 who were sound lads but all have now left except Ryan who is working at a hotel bar . I dont think any of them could handle the pace of Queenstown for to long. I love the place as there is so much to see and do e.g. bungy jump and ski dive. I hope this blog is better and that everyone is good.

p.s. a new blog is coming soon.

See you in a few years.

Al x