This weekly update is going to be short and sweet. Not much has really happened yet in my adventure because I’ve been sick for the past 5 days. So this week was a lot of sitting in bed working and resting. I did have to move Airbnbs (because I don’t yet have an apartment) and I ended up in a cute little studio. I was really excited because there’s a washer and I had almost reached the end of my clean clothes stash. Something interesting about New Zealand is that a lot of places have washers, but no dryers. It’s pretty common to have your clothes on a drying rack or line. There was a drying rack provided so I washed my clothes and gave it a try. I then realized the only problem with this Airbnb: it is incredibly humid here. It’s right next to a little forested area and fairly close to the beach so some strange combination of the two has condensation dripping down the door and windows. I don’t know if anyone has tried to air dry clothes in an incredibly humid space, but it doesn’t go that well. Auckland is definitely more humid than I’m used to in general, but this little pocket is especially bad. I still have clothes hanging up behind me as I write this and I washed everything on Wednesday. I’ve taken to blow drying my clothes for the day every morning before putting them on (still slightly damp). It’s definitely been an experience that I hope never to repeat. And it’s the most exciting thing that happened this week.
Fingers are crossed and prayers said that I’ll be in my apartment by Wednesday this week and be able to start truly getting settled. Here’s a picture of right outside my Airbnb door right now. Despite my problems with the humidity, it’s still so pretty here.
Well. I did it. I finally did it. I finally lost my mind. That’s the only possible explanation for me moving halfway around the world “just because”. But you know what? Losing my mind feels pretty good.
Ok truth be told, it feels great now, but it didn’t feel so good at first. For those of you who haven’t spent over 24 hours traveling, let me tell you something: You sweat. A lot. When you pack over 100 bodies in a flying metal cylinder, make them sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes without a/c, and then have them in the air for 11 hours it doesn’t lead to the freshest of smells. Add being stressed on top of that and you have a great recipe for smelly traveller. It wouldn’t’ve been as big of a deal if I had a cute little travel deodorant in my carry-on, but I made the decision to try a spray on deodorant right before I left. Can you guess where that bad boy was while I became the human form of Niagara Falls? Yep. Nice and snug in my checked bag. I didn’t even think about how I would smell while travelling, probably because I’ve read too many romance books. In romance books the women always smell like sunshine and flowers and the men all smell like the woods and manly sweat, which “shouldn’t smell good but somehow does” (you can find almost that exactly quote describing a man’s smell in every romance book). The only way a man would’ve enjoyed the way I smelled when I landed in Auckland is if he really loved corn nuts. I lost track of the number of times I wiped down with a damp paper towel in the bathroom (which Hannah told me is called a “whore’s bath”). Suffice it to say, my entrance into New Zealand was not the grand beginning I had pictured. But my stuff and I made it, smell and all.
This was my face after the guy told me it would be about a 30 minute walk to get to my gate at LAX.
And this was how I felt sitting on the tarmac at midnight for what felt like an eternity.
After I landed, I took an Uber for the first time ever to get to my Airbnb and I wasn’t kidnapped or murdered, so that somewhat improved the start to my life 2.0. Auckland is absolutely HUGE and it took 50 minutes to get from the airport to my Airbnb, which wasn’t even the whole city from north to south. I went to bed pretty early my first night because, you know, death by travel the day before, which meant I woke up pretty early the next morning. I was too scared to try and figure out the bus system at 7am so I decided to walk to the store and get some food.
This was the amazing view I got to see while I walked.
This was the not so amazing view I got on the way back.
And that doesn’t even show all the stairs or the hill several blocks long right after them. It also doesn’t show the man who was in front of me carrying his bike. I was very glad I was behind him so he didn’t see me struggling with my one bag of groceries.
I’ve learned North Shore is quite hilly so I’ve got to be prepared when I go out on foot. I’m breaking my body in and have sore calfs and blisters right now, but I’ll get used to it soon enough. Until I’m brave enough to try driving on the other side of the road, I have to rely on my feet and the public transport system. It’s actually quite enjoyable to be on the bus because I don’t have to worry about all the other crazy drivers out there and can just sit back and enjoy the city around me. Of course, it was hard for me to enjoy the sights very much my first few days because I was so stressed about missing my stops and making sure I got to appointments on time. But today I hardly even looked at my phone to double check the bus location and schedule! By the end of next week I’ll be a cool city girl who breezes on and off buses without a care in the world. Here are a few shots I got of my bus journey so far.
My view for a lot of my travel time
Me waiting at a bus stop near down town (where a stranger told me I had a “nice outfit, nice face, and nice everything else”)
View of the CBD when traveling south from North Shore
An artsy shot of me waiting for the bus (Hannah inspired)
Honestly, not much else has happened yet. I’ve mostly been setting up boring stuff like my cell phone plan and making appointments to see apartments. I spent almost all day yesterday out and about. I had time to kill between my first and second apartment viewings so I hung out in the Auckland CBD. I went to the Woolworth’s to get some soup to help my sore throat and then sat on a bench in Albert Park and read a book to kill time before I had to jump on my next bus. Albert Park is right by AUT (Auckland University of Technology) so I got to walk by the campus, which was kind of cool. I heard the class bells go off and it took me back to my days at BYU. It’s comforting to know that universities all over the world use the “you’d better run” bells to get students to class.
This is the pavilion in the middle of Albert Park (you can see a few buildings in the CBD behind the trees)
Hanging out in Hobsonville before one of my apartment viewings (the weather was amazing that day!)
I went to church today and met some really awesome people who I’m hoping will be featured in some of my upcoming blog posts. I know absolutely no one on this half of the hemisphere so it would be pretty nice to make some friends. One of the coolest things about church was just getting to listen to the New Zealand accent for 2 hours. Auckland is a huge melting pot of people so I really hadn’t heard much of that amazing Kiwi accent until today. So far I’ve heard a lot of Chinese, some Indian, and several European languages I couldn’t name. It could be because the locals are driving their own cars instead of busing like the rest of us.
That about wraps it up for this week. I’m really hoping to get an apartment (sorry, I mean flat) this next week so fingers crossed that I’ll have pictures of my sweet new crib in my next post!
It finally happened! I’ve wanted to see the Aurora Borealis for years and now I can finally say I have. My grandpa reached out to me, saying that we should be able to see them between midnight and 4pm. He even sent instructions on how to capture the lights on a smartphone camera. Hannah and I had been planning to go to bed early so that we could do a morning hike in Glacier, but our plans quickly changed. Glacier will be here all summer, but we only had a night or two to see the Aurora Borealis. They came out around 12:30 and we spent about an hour standing in the courtyard watching them. It was cool because for the 30 minutes leading up to the lights you could see the sky slowly lighten and turn green and pink. They were still pretty faint, but we were able to make out the bands of color. We mostly saw green lights, but there were faint traces of pink over the lake. They shift as you watch them so it looks like they’re dancing. I totally felt like I was in Brother Bear and the eagle spirit of my older brother was about to appear. The colors came out a lot more distinct on camera than to the naked eye, which both Hannah and I found interesting. I wonder what it is about the camera that enhances the contrast. They might’ve gotten more clear as the night went on, but we heard a loud noise in the forest and decided that the lights were cool, but not cool enough to be eaten for.
Even though I can check that off my bucket list now, I think it would be cool to see them somewhere they appear more vivid and vibrant. If I ever end up further north I’ll still be keeping my eyes pealed.
I mentioned changing jobs from the daycare to a nanny position earlier in my blog and said I would explain later. It’s later.
The idea of the nature school was really cool, but the reality was less than glamorous. There were about 18 kids shoved into the little shed and although it gave us more room being outside, spending 4 hours a day in the rain isn’t my idea of a good time. I was also obsolete and wasn’t trusted with much of anything. Instead of training me and letting my do my job, my boss and coworker occasionally explained how things went but then would do everything while I stood around. I tried to ask questions and jump in to help in anyway I could, but that just made it feel like I was training myself. It’s kind of funny because my boss didn’t want to give me access to the app they use or have me interact with the parents (they had 2 people quit from the position before they hired me) and yet the lack of trust was part of the reason I quit. I understand that they wanted to see if I would last before doing things like buying my uniform and having me make connections with the parents, but to not even give me access to the app? It was the same app I used when at Rooted and it just has each child and a place where you can log things like food, diapers, and incidents for the parents to see. I couldn’t’ve done much damage on the app even if I wanted to. I also learned that both my boss and coworker were using the nice indoor toilet at my boss’ house just down the driveway while I had to use the ghetto child port-a-potty. So it was fine for me to have to strategically plan out when to pee so no one would see me but not for them? I could go on longer, but I don’t want to just complain. To sum it all up, I felt like a high schooler with a summer job instead of a 25 year old woman who knows how to take care of kids. I’m sure that would’ve changed with time, but I only get one year in Montana and I didn’t want to spend months of it trying to win my boss’ trust so that I didn’t hate my job.
Thankfully, 3 days after I quit Rain or Shine I was hired as a nanny for a cute little one-year-old boy in Columbia Falls. It’s about a 45 minute drive to the house, but I enjoy driving and it’s a beautiful area so that doesn’t bother me. The family even offered to pay for half my drive time, which is really sweet of them. So far I’ve just done one week, but it’s been phenomenally better than my 2 weeks at Rain or Shine combined. Silas is such a cutie and I like the control nannying gives me. I follow what the parents want, but have a lot of freedom in what I can do. I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about Silas and our adventures together as I continue to blog. Hopefully I’ll get permission from Susan and Zach to post pictures of Silas so y’all can see how cute he is!
Curtesy of a new friend Shauna, Hannah had a fun walking trail she wanted to show us. My parents already knew about it and wasted no time in taking the wind out of her sails, but it was new to me so she still got an excited response. Because of where the house is, there isn’t anywhere to walk nearby so your options are 1) walk the driveway and get a thigh-burning workout on the way up or 2) do continuous laps around the house and see the same trees 500 times. If you want a more pleasant stroll, neither of those options are great so I’m happy to have an actual flat trail. It’s in Bigfork so there’s about a 15 minute drive to get there, but such is the way of life when you live rural. We only walked a little ways along the 2-mile trail when Hannah first showed us, but just me and Hannah went back a few days later and did all 4 miles (there and back) to get the full experience.
My mom, Hannah, and I had some free time after my nanny job interview in Columbia Falls (more on that soon) so we decided to head up to Glacier. It’s only open to Lake McDonald lodge right now, but there are still a few hikes in that area and it’s always fun to look at the lake so it was worth the trip. We went and grabbed sandwiches from a highly rated local sandwich place (that lived up to the hype) and then headed into Glacier. Hannah was the only one who really dressed to go on a legit hike so we started up a trail with the intent to just go a little ways. We ended up going onto a little side trail that led to a pretty river. The water’s still pretty low, but we sat for a minute and got some fun pictures.
I was trying out the camera on my new phone (Stevie) and got this very flattering picture of Hannah.
We continued up the trail a little bit and as it started to go more uphill I decided to sit and enjoy being out in nature. My mom and Hannah wanted to continue up a little higher so we briefly parted way. About 10 minutes into my solitude I heard a rustle in the woods across the trail. I had a brief fear that I was about to get eaten by a grizzly, but it turned out to just be two deer. Hannah and my mom appeared just then and we ended up walking most of the way back down the trail with the deer. I named one Bambi and Hannah named the other Licorice. It was really cool that they stuck with us for about 10 minutes and didn’t seem bothered by our presence. They were definitely still skittish, but we were able to get pretty close to get some pictures.
I even got a selfie showing my joy and their complete indifference.
After our partial hike we went down by the water and just looked out over the lake. It’s so beautiful, even when it isn’t summer.
I ended up down below Hannah and my mom and got a good shot of Hannah trying to break into the little building by the pier.
She retaliated by ruining this gorgeous picture of me.
Then my mom spent the next 10 minutes throwing rocks into the water because they made cool splashing sounds. When the three of us get together I question if we’re really adults or just children in adult bodies.
I started my job at the outdoorsy daycare I was hired at about a month ago called Rain or Shine. It’s been…interesting. And unexpected. I’m working out of a shed with no running water, a/c, or adult sized toilet. There is a wood stove though so we’re able to stay warm on the chilly days. It’s pretty cool because we spend about 4 hours a day outside, which the kids (and I) love. Even on colder days it’s nice to be outside instead of stuffed up in a building. I believe that kids are better behaved when they get the opportunity to be in fresh air and be creative and imaginative so I love being somewhere that teaches and values those same things. There are also animals my boss owns that the kids get to interact with. There are mini goats, chickens, a puppy, and a mini cow that will be here next week. It’s a really fun little place to be, even though I’m working out of a shed and have to pee on a child-sized port-a-potty.
There’s a joke that when Millennials are choosing their new hobbies they choose “old people” hobbies. Things like baking, knitting, gardening, etc. Although I’m still unsure of what hobbies I want to try, Hannah has fully embraced this millennial stereotype. This was her and my mom the other day in the beginning stages of her bird watching hobby. They even broke out the bird feeder and spread bird seed all over the grass, hoping to attract more little birds to watch. So far it’s been mostly robins, turkeys, and woodpeckers but she’s hoping to see a lot more variety over the summer.
It’s been super gorgeous outside every day since I’ve gotten here and I am loving it! Unfortunately that’s supposed to change later this week so my mom and I decided to go on a hike through the woods behind the house. We found a service trail and followed that, since it’s so much easier than trying to walk through all the underbrush. Since the house is on a hill, going back behind the house means going up so my mom and I got some pretty views of the lake through the trees.
Everyone who has grown up in Montana or anywhere similar knows that spring season is also tick season so my mom and I made sure to appropriately protect ourselves. And you never want to forget your bear spray!
Much to our dismay, the geeky socks tucked over our pants didn’t stop us from picking up some very unwelcome hitchhikers. We stripped down on the porch for a tick check and found 8 in total. I have never seen a tick in real life until yesterday and I can say with 100% confidence that I never want to see one again. They’re really ugly and really hard to get off clothes. I don’t know what’s on their legs, but if we could sell it super glue would be out of business. Even after we got all the ticks off we were nervous there were some hiding on us still so we both took showers and washed our hair. We didn’t find any more after that so I think we got them all. Their sad little carcases are still on the front porch table where we squished them as a warning to all other ticks. I feel like I’ve passed some Montana initiation now that I’ve survived a tick infestation!
