Weeks 25 & 26
Life in Auckland, the good, the not so good and the ugly. These weeks show my willingness to work not so good jobs in order to get money. Us enjoying like as much as we can in Auckland and trying to settle in.
Week 25
Day 168 (16/02/11) Salad girl day 2
It was my second day working as a salad girl in the shopping mall today. I was fine nothing exciting happened. After work I went to do some shopping before going home and starting to bake my blueberry muffins. I like baking because I get to eat what I bake for breakfast the next day.
Day 169 (17/02/11) First day in the law office
A training day was what I was told to expect today, although it turned out to be a day where I was meant to work. I had to go home because I was wrongly dressed and I was not sure what was going on. The job is alright, nothing very exciting or hard, a little disorganised, but that can be forgiven as I don’t plan to be here forever. I almost set the building on fire because as I was clearing away the buffet a paper caught light.
In the evening Fred was very nice and made us crepes for dinner.
Day 170 (18/02/11) The Lantern Festival
I started the day by doing some paper work in the morning before rushing to the work my last shift as a salad girl at Ensalda. After that I went to work at the law firm for 3 hours to learn the ropes, because as of Monday I will be in charge.
In the evening we went to see the Lantern Festival, which was a very nice, there were a lot of different lanterns set up in Albert Park in Auckland. We also got to try some Asian food.
Day 171 (19/02/11) Relaxing Saturday
It is nice to spend the day at home sometimes; it was a busy paper work day. I am applying for the police clearances from all the countries I have lived in and this takes a lot of time and dedication, especially when you live have filled in many countries like have and you have to collect papers from all of those countries. Each country has different requirements so it takes a while to have everything needed.
After a morning doing paper work we went out to take pictures of Auckland by night before picking up a pizza and coming home to watch TV.
Day 172 (20/02/11) Climbing Sunday
After our relaxing day yesterday we thought that we should do a sportive activity today. We went climbing in a place called Clip & Climb. We grabbed a special offer from this site called Grabone that sends you an email with things to do that are on special offer in Auckland. Clip & Climb is a cool place, they have many different walls that you can climb, and it is very colourful. I always enjoy climbing as I get to push my limits and climb higher than I did the last time.
In the afternoon we enjoyed an ice cream down at the harbour.
Now I am waiting for our flat mate to cook us a lovely Malaysian dinner.
Day 173 (21/02/11) Long day at work
Today was my first full day at the law office; we had a girl there to train us so things went smoothly. I learned the way things worked, and started to practice my latte art, as I should be serving pretty looking coffees. This is quite hard for me as I have not made a professional coffee in over 8 years so it’s back to the basics. The day was very long I worked from 7am until 6pm.
When I got home in the evening I was so tired that I just watched TV and fell asleep early.
Day 174 (22/02/11) Sunset and wine
Today I worked all day long; the job is not that hard and just takes some getting use to. It is hard on the feet because I don’t sit down at all while I am working and that makes the days seem even longer.
After work we went to the apartment Briar’s is house sitting and got greeted by 2 lovely dogs that were happy to see us. We sat on the balcony and had wine and cheese watching the sunset over the Auckland harbour. Not a bad end to the day.
Week 26
Day 175 (23/02/11) Working
Just another day at work for me, nothing special happened. I have been eating really good food while working, that is one of the plus sides of this job.
Fred went for his first job interview today, it went well and we both hope he gets the job as it is something he wants to do.
Day 176 (24/02/11) Interview
Work again, we started to prepare for tomorrow which is going to be a very long day. As the university graduates have been invited in for a day, in the hopes that they will work with the firm and make the firm a lot of money, while they work very hard.
After work I went for an interview for another position, that so far sounds a bit weird, but I am waiting to see what happens.
Day 177 (25/02/11) Friday 5’s
Today I overworked, as the graduates were in today, I started work at 7am and finished at 8pm, a whole 13 hours of running around. As there were 100 more people to cater to then usual it was very busy.
At 5 pm they had drinks in the firms bar which over looks the harbour, I forgot home much students can drink.
After serving drinks for the last 3 hours I had to go out and drink myself, so I went down to the Viduct with a 2 girls I work with and Fred. It feels so good to have a glass of New Zealand finest after work.
Day 178 (26/02/11) Saturday at home
The week was very long and yesterday was even longer so today I was too tired to do anything. I spent most of the day in bed watching TV. We did go out for a bit to see what they call a French festival; it was strange and not very French.
In the evening we cooked a nice stir fry dinner and watched a movie, I went to sleep early.
Day 179 (27/02/11) Tramping at Goldie Bush
Today we woke up early, tried to find the right bus to take to get us to New Market, where we met up with a French lady that drove us to a train station where we met a whole group of French people that got together today to do the same thing tramp.
This was our first time tramping and I am in love with the sport, it is like hiking, but you climb up paths, and go through rivers and waterfalls. The walk lasted 5 hours and was really amazing; we tramped in the NZ bush and walked in the rivers and under some amazing waterfalls.
I have decided that I want to go tramping every week!
In the evening we met another French girl that sold us her tent, so we are all set for the end of the week when my dad arrives.
Day 180 (28/02/11) Meeting up with an old Friend
I spent the day at work, it went off fine, it was a bit busy near the end of the day and I played dish washer for a few hours.
Right after work we went to meet up with a friend of my, Matt, a Kiwi, which I met almost 2 years ago now in Bruges. It was great to catch up and chat. We had a few beers down in a bar on the Viaduct that has become my favourite bar.
Day 181 (01/03/11) 1st of March
Work was the same as everyday, apart from the fact that the manager we have likes to micro manage and that really annoys me. I have made friends at work though; they are a fun group that want to go out rafting and tramping with us.
After work I helped a few French people with their CV’s. I know how hard it is when you look for a job in another language, so I like helping people as much as I can.