Blogger's Lament

I feel the need to update

But I don't have time to write;

Time flies living in one place

Restricting a travelers life.

Building friendships and making money

Replace my traveling mission;

Becoming part of a community

And working in my profession.

Daily habits and responsibilities

Take place of aimless games;

Soon I'll be on the road again

Following my dreams.

Climbing All Around

Part of why I came to Wanaka was because of the proximity of the town to the local climbing crag. I knew it was a popular ski town, and thought I would try to get a job at a ski field, but aimed to arrive in time for some climbing before the winter rolled in. I got here in March, in time to catch the tail end of summer and enjoy autumn in its entirety!

If You Had A Super Power, What Would It Be?

I know plenty of people who would say they’d want to fly. But what’s so thrilling about that? The wind in your face? The view of the ground as it moves past your line of site? The ability to perform beyond-human acts? I mean, some creatures get to fly all the time and I can’t imagine and eagle preferring to walk. So why is it so special to us?

It just is. (I know, so profound!)

[Mom, you might want to skip the next two paragraphs… or this whole post.]

For those adrenaline junkies out there (ahem, I may fit that category), there is an ever-evolving list of sports and activities to achieve that unique buzz. You can climb up cliffs, jump off of bridges, throw yourself into rushing rivers, run off of hills, slide down mountains, or even dive from perfectly good airplanes. For as long as I can remember, I have loved the thrill of these adrenaline activities. I always wish roller coasters lasted 10 times longer than they do. I love the feeling of conquering a high ropes challenge. When pulling me behind the boat, my dad knows I love when he takes a nice sharp turn to whip me around; I can’t get enough of the intensified exhilaration of carving the glassy water with my ski. When I take a good fall while leading a rock climbing route, it’s not uncommon for me to squeal with delight on the way down. It’s in my nature. I can’t experience that stomach-dropping-feeling enough! And I’m not sure I can explain why it feels so good. 

Belay On

One of the biggest responsibilities in climbing lies in the hands of the belayer. The belayer checks that the climber is tied in safely and ready to climb, operates the other end of the rope to help protect the climber, tells the climber if something appears unsafe, and of course catches the climber when they fall. The importance of belaying safely was drilled into me when I took a university level rock climbing course and I have found myself on the other end of the rope in numerous situations since. I am well aware of the level of concentration, safety-consciousness, and vigilance required in a belayer, and quite like the responsibility that comes along with it. It was no surprise to me, then, that I wound up belaying for the New Zealand National Climbing Competition when it came to Wanaka!

Photo credit: Nadine Cagney Photography

I had been yelled at for catching climbers too softly in the gym (letting them fall a bit further in order to absorb more of the shock and give them a more gentle landing when they reach the end of the rope) and because of that Loz, one of the guys who runs the local climbing gym, decided I would be a good competition belayer. Belaying for a competition can be a stressful job. Not only do you have to think about all the normal belayer’s responsibilities, but you have to be very cautious not to “short rope” a climber (which might interfere with their ability to climb), and you have to give them a more generous catch than normal when they fall (in order to make it clearly visible that they fell off and prevent them from getting back on to continue the climb). While doing all of this, the competition belayer also has to ignore the potentially large crowds watching the climber’s – and their own – performance.

Job Searching on a Budget

Once I moved into my first NZ flat, I spent the next three weeks in a routine of getting to know Wanaka, searching for a job, finding climbing partners, and contributing to Blog4NZ.  On Wednesdays, I went out in the morning to get my copy of The Messenger and sit by the lake to read through the ads looking for work. Thursdays I headed up to Basecamp, the indoor/outdoor rock climbing gym, to volunteer with their youth climbing club after school. The other days of the week I spent writing cover letters, dropping off CV’s, going to interviews, wandering around town, updating my blog, and finally catching up with some friends from back home.

View from my room

I applied to numerous restaurants, ski fields, the local swimming pool, Wanaka Paragliding, and inquired at nearly every establishment I could think of that might need staff. Unfortunately the resounding message from most places was still that I had arrived at the wrong time. I was able to remain hopeful with the occasional interview, and finally saw a glimmer of hope with the paragliding job!

Hot Dogs, Marquees, and Keeping House

I set out again with a handful of CV’s and a positive attitude. I stopped at restaurants, retail shops, bars, and even walked out to the local vineyard trying to encourage someone to hire me. The general consensus was that nobody was hiring yet, but come back in a couple months and I should be sweet. Sometimes employers wouldn’t even take my CV to give me a false sense of hope.

Through the job agency, I arranged to do a shift at the hotdog stand during the A&P (Agricultural & Pastoral) Show that weekend. To translate, that means working the food cart at the county fair! While I was in the job agency office arranging it, I also heard the lady on the phone struggling to find “guys” for a shift on Sunday. I asked what the shift was doing – emphasizing my past experience doing stage/technical crew work, and explaining that I can hold my own around “strong guys.” After some hesitation, she gave in and signed me up to help take down the marquees at the conclusion of the A&P Show. Sweet as. I was only in town for a few days before I already had two random jobs arranged to earn some income!

I left my couchsurfer host (Tony)’s place early enough to walk all the way downtown and found the main gate at the show grounds. I was stopped at the gate and asked to show my staff pass, which of course I didn’t have. They insisted I would instead have to pay to enter the show grounds, but I wasn’t about to pay in order to earn money. I called the contact number I was given, and waited for one of the hotdog stand chefs to come retrieve me. 

Welcome to Wanaka

When I first determined that I was definitely headed to New Zealand, it was right around the time that my brother, Keith, and sister-in-law, Cristin, were on their honeymoon. They spent three weeks traveling around New Zealand, and upon their return had quite a slideshow to present! They were able to explain their impressions of different areas of the country, and seemed eager to tell me where to live. Of all the places they visited, they recommended a town called Wanaka.

Wa-Na-Ka. It sounded so foreign at the time! The only way for me to remember it was by noting how it rhymed with Hanukkah. Keith described how it was similar to Queenstown (the adrenaline capital of the world) but less touristy. They assured me there were just as many outdoor adventure activities, but not quite as many shops or tourists. Cristin talked about the spectacular views and both showed off pictures from their visit. The town sits right on Lake Wanaka, nestled in some beautiful mountains, and, upon a bit more research, I discovered it has heaps of climbing crags quite close to town!

I was sold. Though, I continued to consider alternate places to spend a good portion of my time. I found that Nelson was also in close proximity to some outdoor climbing, and was also attracted by its location in wine country. Nelson is at the top of the South Island and competes with another nearby town for the most sunshine days in the country. I determined that both Nelson and Wanaka were going to be places to spend some time, and decided that Nelson’s weather sounded ideal in the summer, and Wanaka looked like the perfect ski town to spend my winter!