Doing the happy dance

 

Woohoo!

Andrea on 5.2.2014

In January I finished my visa application for a working holiday in New Zealand by sending in a Chest X-ray (to prove I do not have TB). Now, 1,5 weeks later, I already received the verdict: Granted! Time for a little happy dance!

In the past week I’ve kept myself entertained by looking up things about New Zealand and finding information on work in the ski fields. I love researching destinations. The whole process of preparing for a trip is almost as exciting as the trip itself. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Great walks: I hope I will meet people who are eager to get out there and do the great walks. The vary in length but are mostly around 3 to 4 days. It seems like the facilities are good and the tracks well described and sign-posted. I only have to look at a picture to see I need to do this. Breathtaking! My favorites thus far are The Milford Track, Tongariro Northern Circuit, Abel Tasman Coast Track and Rakiura Track.

I also read about experiences of other travellers. Relating to the great walks I read Yeu Jin and Levy’s story about their walk on the Routeburn Track. Reading from a walker’s point of view made me even more enthusiastic about this. The awesome photos are very convincing as well. In Flipflops and flight socks I read about the Ferg Burger in Queenstown, which I really have to taste now, besides the fush & chups of course. I saw some awesome photos of the Wanaka region on Chasing the vine.

The Fiordland is high on my list. I’d love to go here before going to Wanaka. From what I’ve read it’s not the cheapest place to go, especially since the more I read, the more I want to do there. Squeaky whale wrote about Milford sound. I read about an underwater observatory where you can see the life of the fiords, but then I found out you can also go scuba diving. My last dive was in November so by April I am ready to get back into it. Black Coral, sea dragon and crayfish are just a few of the amazing things to see. Besides diving there are kayak tours, overnight cruises and day cruises. Too much choice!

The plan is to fly to Christchurch, travel south and get to see some awesomeness along the way before going to Wanaka to find a job (preferably at Treble Cone or Cardrona and otherwise anything I can get in the area). My ski’s are calling me. Does anyone have tips about what to see and do? And, should I invest in a car or campervan straight away? That is, if the budget allows it.

Enough thinking for now, back to the happy dance!