Now, I had very little money left, after having some of it stolen in Thailand (word of warning ... do not fall to sleep on the overnight coach from Bangkok! Claire and I both had our bags at our feet and were robbed. fortunately for me, it was just money. Unfortunately for Claire, it was money and some things of a sentimental value rather than a money one. I would like to point out that whilst inconvenient and obviously unkind, this is not the thing I focus on when I think about Thailand ... definitely not!)
It was Easter Bank holiday when I arrived back in Auckland, and my flight to Queenstown wasn't for a couple of days...
BUT WHAT A COUPLE OF DAYS I HAD!!!
Like I said, I had very little money and it was Easter bank holiday. This meant that the money I had transferred from my English account wouldn't clear, and I didn't have my credit card (which I brought for scenarios like this!) because it had expired and though my mum had sent me a new one, it hadn't arrived in the post!
I had just enough to get by (mostly!) and checked into Base. There I met some really very wonderful girls ... Mathilde, Synne and Anna. We quickly became good friend, got 'suited and booted' and dressed up fancy to enjoy a very fancy pants dinner ... of instant noodles in the Base hostel. I learnt a fantastic new card game with them called 'games' and laughed A LOT. Goes to show ... money can't buy you happiness! :)
The next day we had a really exciting day ... bungee jumping (I watched, due to my lack of funds!) hair cuts, piercings ... the next day Synne and Mathilde had to leave so we went out that night to play pool and met some really good pool players. We had a few beers and made a few other friends.
After our goodbyes to Synne and Mathilda, Anna and I hung out in the city. Anna had previously couch surfed, and was meeting another possible host. We went to meet him and went for a burger (he paid ... winner! Having no money is surprisingly easy when you have a loud and charming Italian girl with you!). Anna persuaded me to get a tattoo with her that night! She said she owuld pay and I could just wire her the money at some other point (how very trusting! I did so a couple of weeks later). So we went to a tattoo shop in Auckland, and whilst Anna was getting hers done (A silver fern) I was doodling away and copying some of the other designs.
The tattoo-ist looked at what I was doing ... and long story short offered to hire me and teach me how to tattoo!!!!! WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY!
I would say I am sad to say, but I'm not because everything worked out great, that I didn't take him up on this. Auckland was my least favourite place in New Zealand, I had a ticket to Queenstown and my very good friend Lizz was already there. So after much deliberation and pro's and con's lists, I turned it down, whilst thanking him profusely! He let me do half of my own tattoo, which was on my foot and hurt like a beeatch.
After Anna left, I got talking to one of the guys we met playing pool, Matthew. We talked about heaps of stuff, including our travel plans, our views on life, Adam (mostly me on that one haha) but most importantly we talked about my favourite book...
My Swedish friend Eve told me about a book called 'The book theif'. She described it to me as the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing she has ever read, and so I was eager to read it. As chance would have it, I found a battered up old copy of it in the first hotel we stayed at in Bangkok! I read it within 3 days and I totally fell in love with it. I left the book at another hotel, becuase I truly believe that everyone should read it! I described this book with so much passion to Matt, that he went out and bought it!
Now, Matt was aware of my no money situation, and insisted on taking me out for a 'good dinner'. I finally agreed (I didn't want his pity!) and expected to go to Wendys or McDonalds ... but nope - he had a table booked at the revolving restaurant in Auckland, AND He had brought me a present!
The present was a copy of the book theif. He told me that everyone should have a copy of the book they love that much. We talked endlessly about human nature and morals ... and his gift to me put a little more faith in humanity. Thank you Matt, it's great that there are people like you around :)
I had expected a bit of a lonely quiet stay in Auckland, but instead, because of the truly friendly and wonderful people I met, it was anything but.
The flight into Queenstown was beeeeeeeeeeeeeutiful! Canadian Lizz had her housemate drive her to the airport to meet me ... and MAN DID WE HUG!!!!
Within a week I had a room in a house sorted and despite it being 'quiet' season, I got a job in a bar/cafe.
Queenstown is so beautiful it's unreal. I was there during Autumn, and one of the most vivid memories I have is walking by the lake with Lizz, wrapped up in scarves and gloves, drinking from our Ramones thermos flasks. A breeze came along and blew a million yellow, red and bronze leaves up into the air. It remains to this day one of my favourite moments :)
Lizz and I became such good friends. She is a girl after my own heart, and I love her dearly. we have many shared interests and hobbies, and she is just a beautiful person :)
A couple of weeks after I arrived, Adam was due to get to Queenstown. Unfortunately, I was working when he got there! I hadn't told him where my work was, so whilst wiping the bar down, I glanced up at the window ... and there he was!
He came and lived with me, for just $30 more a week to my landlord.
Our friend Oli from Paihia was also in Queenstown. He is an absolute sweetheart with the brightest of outlooks, and a fantastic cook!
I met Faye (the BUNACer I originally wanted to be BFFs with ... she is an absolute sweetheart and is really funny!) and made some other new friends - my housemates. I cheated a bit and baked cookies on my first night - so they HAD to like me ... who doesn't love a cookie maker?!
I could write endlessly about Queenstown, but in all honesty, I didn't have that many shifts, and we really didn't 'do' much. We watched a lot of movies, walked alot, and spent a lot of time just enjoying the town :) The time I spent here was really good, in a hundred different ways.
I had mulled wine (in MAY!), ice skated, enjoyed many delicious dinners with good friends, went bowling, drank from teapots, learnt I am TERRIBLE at Frisbee golf, did daily rounds of the swwet shops and cookie shop to sample all of their freebies and fell somehow even more in love with New Zealand.
Although a hard decision to make, I decided that I would go and stay with the Pattersons for one more month. They were such a huge part of my experience that I knew I would regret it forever if I didn't. They were more than happy to accomodate this request :)
Adam left Queenstown, to make his way back home to England, with brief stop offs in LA and Hawaii. Whilst I had my doubts about what it would be like for us as a couple back in England, I knew that if it was meant to be, it would be.
I said a very hard goodbye to the sister of my soul, and told her that I had packed her 2 favourite books in my suitcase, and that she could have them when she came to get them. In England.
I flew back up to Auckland, and again had no money (as I said, it was quiet season! My rent was $165/week. One week my pay check was $167...) I got off the bus and Faye was stood right in front of me! She was headed home soon, but was spending some time in Auckland with a friend. I visited the tattoo man to say hi, and he touched up the part of my tattoo that had not healed properly.
I was $1.50 short of enough money to stay in the Base hostel! As luck would have it, I bumped into someone that lives in Stratford and was a regular at the pub I worked at. He kindly helped me out with the $1.50, and I embarassingly let him! I had a tin of spaghetti and a bread roll in the space of 48 hours and I didn't die of hunger!
Queenstown was the period of my travels where I had the least amount of money. Equally, it may be where I had the most amount of happiness.
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