right, so christmas is celebrated a bit different than back home you could say. Lets take a look at the differences, shall we?
1. lack of snow. At home its not unusual to have a blistering cold, complete dark and snowy christmas. Where as here its sunny, blistering warm (yes, you can actually get blisters from the sun down here) and a very big lack of snow!
2. the barbecue feast. NZ style christmas food is a real good barbecue with the whole shabang. About 4 different types of meat and 40 different types of salad and everything that follows. Real good, i'd say.
3. Everyones invited. Unlike the norwegian christmas where its family-central, the NZ style christmas is open for everyone. Its very normal for friends to celebrate christmas together, where the slogan usually is: "the more the merrier".
So now that you know the differences, i'll tell you about my christmas.
the 24th here is a big party day, since christmas is celebrated the 25th. So after work we got dressed up to go to a C-party, which is a costume party where you could dress up as anything as long as it started with the letter C. I got dressed up in my Superman costume that I bought for Halloween, size 6-8 years old, going as a cartoon character. There were a lot of people dressed up as cowgirls and cowboys, a girl dressed up as a chicken with another girl dressed up as a chickencoop (you have to remember this is farm-ville), and most others dressed up as the odd caveman and to our surprise one guy dressed up commando (naked). It was a really fun party, we spent most of the night dancing our little booties off.
On the 25th i woke up in my little hut, put on some christmas music and opened my one present from grandma and grandpa sitting inside almost sweating because it was pretty hot outside. Not exactly a christmas feel you could say. After a while of laying out on the green grass playing with the mental dog molly, we drove in to town to go to a barbecue over at some friends house. It was incredibly hot and the sun was shining so strong (as it usually does here). We started the barbecue off with a nice ice cold glass of champagne with home grown strawberries in (everything here is homegrown, even the pig!). Yum yum. Then we had some cheese and crackers, before going on to the main meal: a roasted pig. (note martine: the pig was raised on a small farm and owned by the parents of who we were visiting, it had a very good life and was not aware of its plans to become our christmasdinner before it was killed, in a very human way i must add). We had about three different salads, three different potato and rice salads and so much good stuff to go with. It was very yummy to say the least!
After the meal we spent the rest of the day and night playing darts, hackysack and just sitting around in the sun talking listening to good music until the day turned to night. When night arrived we ate the desert which was a fruit-salad with homegrown strawberries and raspberries and pavlova. YUUUMMY! pavlova is a traditional kiwi desert, and is a cake made of sugar pretty much. Very good, but as you could guess, very sweet! There is usually cream and fruit as an icing, and its delicious, but i can only handle one piece before i feel like puking. Which is good, because then you dont have so many, so in other words the traditional kiwi desert is not only very good, but very cheap!
That was pretty much how we ended our night and christmas celebration. On the 26th it was back to work again at 7.30 am so that all the people that had barely had their christmas presents a whole day could get a coffee and a muffin before going to the city to exchange them again. Lovely!
Well guys thats my new zealand style christmas for you!
stay tuned!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Miners goes beserk!
Since I last wrote on the blog a lot has been happening. I've been getting an awesome paddle in, with Danielle the Doctor's boyfriend Jeff (the amazingly good paddler!). I know you're gaping right now, cause i still don't believe it myself! Anyway, we did the Matiri river, which is a good 2 hour run at the fastest. He taught me loads of stuff and helped me incredibly much, and it was so much fun! thanks jeff!
Otherwise, work has been really hectic, seeing as I'm the baker and in a week from now and until march we will be packed and there will be going 2 carrotcakes a day, and i have 6 in the freezer so far, i'll be good for about 3 days of those 10 weeks. see my problem?
On the library front: i am not aloud to talk on skype in the public library anymore because it apparently is very disturbing for the one or two people in here that are also sitting on the library's computers and by the way, are also using skype! woopdido!
miners go beserk
Leone invited me to join her and Annabelle on saturday at the miners work do. She is living with the owner of the mine and his wife is the owner of the local pub, and so the party was at their house. that being said, they had put on some party, a TON of food which was absolutely delicious, good music and a ton of alcohol. I had been working all night and joined them around 9 pm, when pretty much everyone except for me annabelle and Leone were smashed. Leone was the sober driver, and after eating an absolutely delicious desert consisting of pavlova and fruit salad, we weren't really in the mood for drinking, and quickly found out this really wasn't our crowd. These guys were heavy drinkers and very drunk. We went inside to eat leftovers and hang out, talking with Anna the owner of the pub, when all of a sudden we hear the sound of lots of glasses crushing and people yelling. We ran outside to find two grown guys in a full on fight punching each other and ruining lots of glasses and tables. Anna had to separate them, and apparently everyone was just waiting for this fight to happen. The miners don't get along very well we were told afterwards.. that explains a lot. After that a lot of people went home and we, Still sober, went to the dancing room and had a good dance most of the night, until Leone drove us home at 2 am. It was a crazy night, but obviously very normal in that circle of people. Wont be hanging out much with them, needless to say, in fright for being punched in the face. Don't want a black eye for x-mas! good food though!
On sunday Leone and I were going to do a 5 hour walk on a mountain about 30 km up the valley in a place called Muruia Saddle. I was watching Donnas dog Molly while she was away for a Fleetwood Mac concert and so it was a perfect opportunity to go for a walk. We drove for two hours looking for the trail and stopped at three farms asking for the way, but to no luck! it it very typical NZ not to have any signs were things are and so you just have to look, and we couldn't find it at all. Very annoying. So we ended up walking up the skyline instead which takes about 20 min, and having lunch up there. Ah well..
At 6.30 pm we went to Murchisons christmas caroling at the cafe. It was a bit slow, and the around 20 people that had arrived, most of them were in their 60s. But it was fun, singing some christmas tunes and listening to some readings about new zealands origin strangely enough. Would have been nicer if it had been dark, since it was broad daylight still and you could see the palm trees, I didn't really get in to the christmas spirit you could say.. but ah well.
another couple of exciting days in the grand town of Murchison!
Otherwise, work has been really hectic, seeing as I'm the baker and in a week from now and until march we will be packed and there will be going 2 carrotcakes a day, and i have 6 in the freezer so far, i'll be good for about 3 days of those 10 weeks. see my problem?
On the library front: i am not aloud to talk on skype in the public library anymore because it apparently is very disturbing for the one or two people in here that are also sitting on the library's computers and by the way, are also using skype! woopdido!
miners go beserk
Leone invited me to join her and Annabelle on saturday at the miners work do. She is living with the owner of the mine and his wife is the owner of the local pub, and so the party was at their house. that being said, they had put on some party, a TON of food which was absolutely delicious, good music and a ton of alcohol. I had been working all night and joined them around 9 pm, when pretty much everyone except for me annabelle and Leone were smashed. Leone was the sober driver, and after eating an absolutely delicious desert consisting of pavlova and fruit salad, we weren't really in the mood for drinking, and quickly found out this really wasn't our crowd. These guys were heavy drinkers and very drunk. We went inside to eat leftovers and hang out, talking with Anna the owner of the pub, when all of a sudden we hear the sound of lots of glasses crushing and people yelling. We ran outside to find two grown guys in a full on fight punching each other and ruining lots of glasses and tables. Anna had to separate them, and apparently everyone was just waiting for this fight to happen. The miners don't get along very well we were told afterwards.. that explains a lot. After that a lot of people went home and we, Still sober, went to the dancing room and had a good dance most of the night, until Leone drove us home at 2 am. It was a crazy night, but obviously very normal in that circle of people. Wont be hanging out much with them, needless to say, in fright for being punched in the face. Don't want a black eye for x-mas! good food though!
On sunday Leone and I were going to do a 5 hour walk on a mountain about 30 km up the valley in a place called Muruia Saddle. I was watching Donnas dog Molly while she was away for a Fleetwood Mac concert and so it was a perfect opportunity to go for a walk. We drove for two hours looking for the trail and stopped at three farms asking for the way, but to no luck! it it very typical NZ not to have any signs were things are and so you just have to look, and we couldn't find it at all. Very annoying. So we ended up walking up the skyline instead which takes about 20 min, and having lunch up there. Ah well..
At 6.30 pm we went to Murchisons christmas caroling at the cafe. It was a bit slow, and the around 20 people that had arrived, most of them were in their 60s. But it was fun, singing some christmas tunes and listening to some readings about new zealands origin strangely enough. Would have been nicer if it had been dark, since it was broad daylight still and you could see the palm trees, I didn't really get in to the christmas spirit you could say.. but ah well.
another couple of exciting days in the grand town of Murchison!
Friday, December 18, 2009
the week before christmas
SO its the week before christmas, and its around 20 degrees and pissing down rain outside today. I'm used to - 6 degrees, a meter of snow and complete darkness around now, so the 20 degrees, warmth and light until 9.30 pm doesn't really fit in my christmas. It is exciting anyway to try something new, a barbecue and fruit salad on christmas day will be nice! I don't have anything against that!
This week has been pretty busy, paddling almost every day and working. Its been real good in other words.
On Thursday i got pulled over by the cops on my bicycle!
I was biking along, happy, eating an apple and completely content with my situation, when the cop-car stopped (there's only one in old Murchison, but two cops, a bald one and a not so bald one) and the bald cop put his head out the window and said: "helmet". I said: "alright" and kept on biking, thinking he was just trying to keep me safe, but OH, NO! He did a U-turn in the middle of the street and came driving after me, which didn't take long, cause honestly i was biking about 10 km an hour. Anyway, he pulled up next to me, at which point i stopped, realizing I wasn't going to get very far on the bike and a bike-car chase would be very hard work on my account. He then rolled down the window, and if he'd only had pilot sun glasses he would have looked like a cop right out of a movie, he didn't have them though and instead he said:
where's your helmet?
me: I don't have one
Copper: Where are you going?
Me: up the valley.
Copper: Where are you from?
Me; Norway.
Copper: (said in a stern and authoritative, but not very deep voice) Alright Norway-girl, if I ever catch you biking again without a helmet i will fine you 55 $, because its illegal to bike without a helmet!
Me: really????!!
Copper: (said in same voice) yes, its a 55$ fine, get a helmet, you're a bad influence on the locals!
and then he sped off in his not so cool car, without what would be cool sunglasses!
Emma, a woman from the cafe, saw the whole thing, and she said she had also been pulled over and apparently mr. copper had told her it was an 80$ fine.. someone is a bit confused i think, either way its a fine for not biking with a helmet, and not wanting a fine, no matter how big it is, I've said goodbye to freedom and wind in my hair and decided to use my kayaking helmet, which looks way cooler than a bike helmet anyway!
This week has been pretty busy, paddling almost every day and working. Its been real good in other words.
On Thursday i got pulled over by the cops on my bicycle!
I was biking along, happy, eating an apple and completely content with my situation, when the cop-car stopped (there's only one in old Murchison, but two cops, a bald one and a not so bald one) and the bald cop put his head out the window and said: "helmet". I said: "alright" and kept on biking, thinking he was just trying to keep me safe, but OH, NO! He did a U-turn in the middle of the street and came driving after me, which didn't take long, cause honestly i was biking about 10 km an hour. Anyway, he pulled up next to me, at which point i stopped, realizing I wasn't going to get very far on the bike and a bike-car chase would be very hard work on my account. He then rolled down the window, and if he'd only had pilot sun glasses he would have looked like a cop right out of a movie, he didn't have them though and instead he said:
where's your helmet?
me: I don't have one
Copper: Where are you going?
Me: up the valley.
Copper: Where are you from?
Me; Norway.
Copper: (said in a stern and authoritative, but not very deep voice) Alright Norway-girl, if I ever catch you biking again without a helmet i will fine you 55 $, because its illegal to bike without a helmet!
Me: really????!!
Copper: (said in same voice) yes, its a 55$ fine, get a helmet, you're a bad influence on the locals!
and then he sped off in his not so cool car, without what would be cool sunglasses!
Emma, a woman from the cafe, saw the whole thing, and she said she had also been pulled over and apparently mr. copper had told her it was an 80$ fine.. someone is a bit confused i think, either way its a fine for not biking with a helmet, and not wanting a fine, no matter how big it is, I've said goodbye to freedom and wind in my hair and decided to use my kayaking helmet, which looks way cooler than a bike helmet anyway!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
an introduction
Alright, so I am situated in the fantastic town of Murchison, with their 800 inhabitants of which 300 live in town. Its a really nice place in the bottom of a valley, with mountains and rivers all around. Its the perfect place to be a kayaker because just in half an hours drive there are over 16 different runs. AMAZING. So far I have met some awesome people in this town and because i probably will mention them more or less, ill give the main characters a short introduction:
Danny the traveller: Danny is from Lee on Solent, close to Portsmouth, an hour away from London, UK. We met in Norway at an activity center, where we both worked and decided to travel together to the grand NZ. We both got trainee "jobs" at Ultimate Descents, which is the rafting company next door to the cafe where we both got jobs as well, to pay for the trainee "job". Anyway, Danny is working to become a grade three new zealand standard raft guide, which is a lot of work. She has travelled, more or less for the last three years, spent a lot of time in Canada, a lot of time in Australia, some time in Mexico and Norway, and spent the rest of the time traveling to little places like Fiji and such. We live together in a hut now.
Mary the car: Mary is our Mazda Lantis, which i hate and love with a passion. She has been baptized in a proper fashion, putting angels on its body. But still, only after two weeks she broke down on us, and has surprisingly not fixed itself and therefor keeps braking down on us. Poor thing, she is waiting for an alternator change.. ANyway, she has been good to us, when she's not breaking down, and got us from auckland all the way through the north island, through the east coast on the south island and up to murchison. We slept in the back, and for those who knows how small this car is, you can understand why we often woke up with people laughing at us and commenting our sleeping situation. We met some cool people this way, an example, when we woke up to find ourselves in the middle of a gypsy market with a broken down car, NICE!
Jude the stressed out boss: Jude is our boss at the cafe, and she is awesome. She has kind of taken the role of our mom, and because we had been sleeping in the car for the past two weeks before meeting her, (im guessing we didnt look to good) she has given us her spare clothes to use for work, pushing pretty much everyone she knows to give us a place to stay and fixed us rented bikes. She is a wonderwoman in short, but because all wonderwoman work very hard she gets easily stressed and therefore runs to Australia on holiday and threatens to leave every time she gets too stressed. You have to love her.
Fiona the hard worker: Fiona was the first woman jude pushed to rent us a room, we stayed with her for two weeks and got to know Fiona quite well. She has two awesome dogs, a mother and son, called Teva and Ted, which i had the joy of taking out for walks as often as i wanted. They are crazy but very fun and very well trained! Fiona works two shifts pretty much every day and her night job is the chef at the local pub for the locals, the Hampten. She has a boyfriend whose name is Grant and he is pretty cool, even though i dont know him that well yet. She has been nothing but good to us.
Danielle the doctor: Danielle is the woman that took us in after Fiona. After a cup of tea she decided to let us take care of her house and cat for the weekend while she was away for free! Yes, this is danielle.. She trusts us with everything and has been so kind to us. She is absolutely crazy and has no limits and no fear. After years of caving she decided to switch to another field and become a kayaker. She is very good friends with Mick, who is a legend in the kayaking world, and got him to make her into a grade 4 paddler in one year, which she pulled off!! This is where she met Jeff, her current boyfriend of 5 years, who is a good grade 5 paddler and very good friends of Mick. She not only let us stay for free at her house and use everything she had, for a good week and a half, she has also taken me into her life and takes me out paddling trying to teach me as much as she possibly can and introduces me to as many people as she can. Yesterday, she let us pick as much silverbeed, spinach, rhubarb and raspberrys as we could handle. And in january there will be tomatoes waiting!
Donna the amazing chef: Donna is the day chef at the cafe and is very good but works way to much for her own good. She is a lovely woman, and like pretty much everyone else I've gotten to know, she is extremely kind. She has rented out a sleepout in the back of her house to us for 20 dollars a week! Its an absolutely lovely sleep out, with two massive double beds, no need to say any more is there? She has a really cool house, a lovely daughter named Holly, a crazy (and im sure mental) dog who i love and a very cute lamb that we call Shaun. The dog is crazy and extremely friendly which it shows by laying infront of your feet while your trying to walk to get you to rub its tummy.
Donna has an awesome taste in music, loving drums and bass, and she is currently going to Fleetwood Mac tomorrow. Which means i get to watch the dog for a warm shower/ bath. Think im going for the bath.
Regen the raft guide and former trainee: Regen is the most awseome raft guide at Ultimate Descents. He has taken the roll of the good friend and "mentor" while i was there, and worked hard to teach us everything he possibly could. He is very kind and fun to be with. He is currently the ball in my band "cock and balls", but sadly we havent had a chance to perform yet because of the lack of another ball. We do however have a good dance routine, which Regen is a master at.
Annabelle the outspoken: Annabelle is one of the coolest girls i have gotten to know so far, she is not afraid to say her speak and will, no matter what other people say in return. I am so glad I've gotten to know her, she is awesome to hang out with and so much fun. She is Regens girlfriend and works at the cafe as Donnas right hand. She is very good at forgetting things in the oven, but has extreme luck remembering in the last second and ususaly when they're just perfect!
Leone, the returned sheep from Aussie: Leone is Annnabelles sister, and has returned to NZ from Aussie for the summer to hang out with Annabelle, and now me. She is working as the barista at the cafe and is as close as you can get to a southerner in the states. She, like Annabelle, says her mind when its in her place, and she comes out with the funniest comments which will crack the most serious person up. She rents a room from the couple that owns the Hampten, and they love her being there. She also has a boyfriend back in Aussie land, who, judging by the massive card he's made for her, is the best boyfriend in the world!
Sandra, the frontline: Sandra is frontline at UD, and is pretty much the instructor for every active class they have in this town and if you ever read a copy of the murchison newsweek (can be bought at every store for 50 cents) her name will appear more than once under activities. She loves helping the locals out. She is originally from the UK, but now after getting her NZ residency she spends half her year here and the other half in France. She has pretty much done everything in the active tourism industry and is one of the fittest woman i know. She does some kayaking, but is more into waka paddling, which she took me out to try last week.
Philippa the girl with the "gods gift to woman" boyfriend: Philippa also works as frontline at UD on Sandras days off. She also works at the swing bridge, where you actually have to pay 5 $ to cross! She is incredibly nice and has invited us poor souls over for christmas! She is the kinder of the kindest. Her boyfriend is gods gift to woman. He comes down with awesome lunches for Philippa to our great jealousy, has offered to fix Mary by changing the Alternator for us for just a bottle of brandy and has offered his house to us on christmas. You gotta love the guy!
Trainees, the working class that doesn't get payed: The trainees at UD are all wonderful people and have chosen to live in a very poor state in order to get treated like slaves and not get payed for anything (except shuttle drives, which is a whooping 60 $). I was one of them, but have decided i'd rather spend my days paddling than rafting. The trainees include: Danny (who I've already introduced). Jilian, the girl which nobody ever manages to spell her name right, she works at the commercial pub some nights and has just bought her first kayak and is awesome, she is currently moving in to Danielle's place and out of her van.
Jenny, the hardcore girl straight from Polytech. She always manages to get hurt in some way, just like myself, and has chosen to live in poverty because there aren't a lot of jobs here and she loves to spend her money at the pub or at her friends house drinking. She is always in a good mood and very hardcore.
Ryan, the traveling trainee, Ryan comes down to train in the weekends, and is never sure about a whole lot, he just does as he pleases whenever and instead of getting a job he sells his stuff (he has a gazillion things) and comes down for the weekends and travels around the rest of the week. If you ask him of something his answer 9 out of 10 times will be: i don't know or maybe. He is a good kayaker, and we go paddling together whenever he decides to turn up. He doesn't really have a plan for his rafting, he just does it cause he likes it, so far. cool.
Danny the traveller: Danny is from Lee on Solent, close to Portsmouth, an hour away from London, UK. We met in Norway at an activity center, where we both worked and decided to travel together to the grand NZ. We both got trainee "jobs" at Ultimate Descents, which is the rafting company next door to the cafe where we both got jobs as well, to pay for the trainee "job". Anyway, Danny is working to become a grade three new zealand standard raft guide, which is a lot of work. She has travelled, more or less for the last three years, spent a lot of time in Canada, a lot of time in Australia, some time in Mexico and Norway, and spent the rest of the time traveling to little places like Fiji and such. We live together in a hut now.
Mary the car: Mary is our Mazda Lantis, which i hate and love with a passion. She has been baptized in a proper fashion, putting angels on its body. But still, only after two weeks she broke down on us, and has surprisingly not fixed itself and therefor keeps braking down on us. Poor thing, she is waiting for an alternator change.. ANyway, she has been good to us, when she's not breaking down, and got us from auckland all the way through the north island, through the east coast on the south island and up to murchison. We slept in the back, and for those who knows how small this car is, you can understand why we often woke up with people laughing at us and commenting our sleeping situation. We met some cool people this way, an example, when we woke up to find ourselves in the middle of a gypsy market with a broken down car, NICE!
Jude the stressed out boss: Jude is our boss at the cafe, and she is awesome. She has kind of taken the role of our mom, and because we had been sleeping in the car for the past two weeks before meeting her, (im guessing we didnt look to good) she has given us her spare clothes to use for work, pushing pretty much everyone she knows to give us a place to stay and fixed us rented bikes. She is a wonderwoman in short, but because all wonderwoman work very hard she gets easily stressed and therefore runs to Australia on holiday and threatens to leave every time she gets too stressed. You have to love her.
Fiona the hard worker: Fiona was the first woman jude pushed to rent us a room, we stayed with her for two weeks and got to know Fiona quite well. She has two awesome dogs, a mother and son, called Teva and Ted, which i had the joy of taking out for walks as often as i wanted. They are crazy but very fun and very well trained! Fiona works two shifts pretty much every day and her night job is the chef at the local pub for the locals, the Hampten. She has a boyfriend whose name is Grant and he is pretty cool, even though i dont know him that well yet. She has been nothing but good to us.
Danielle the doctor: Danielle is the woman that took us in after Fiona. After a cup of tea she decided to let us take care of her house and cat for the weekend while she was away for free! Yes, this is danielle.. She trusts us with everything and has been so kind to us. She is absolutely crazy and has no limits and no fear. After years of caving she decided to switch to another field and become a kayaker. She is very good friends with Mick, who is a legend in the kayaking world, and got him to make her into a grade 4 paddler in one year, which she pulled off!! This is where she met Jeff, her current boyfriend of 5 years, who is a good grade 5 paddler and very good friends of Mick. She not only let us stay for free at her house and use everything she had, for a good week and a half, she has also taken me into her life and takes me out paddling trying to teach me as much as she possibly can and introduces me to as many people as she can. Yesterday, she let us pick as much silverbeed, spinach, rhubarb and raspberrys as we could handle. And in january there will be tomatoes waiting!
Donna the amazing chef: Donna is the day chef at the cafe and is very good but works way to much for her own good. She is a lovely woman, and like pretty much everyone else I've gotten to know, she is extremely kind. She has rented out a sleepout in the back of her house to us for 20 dollars a week! Its an absolutely lovely sleep out, with two massive double beds, no need to say any more is there? She has a really cool house, a lovely daughter named Holly, a crazy (and im sure mental) dog who i love and a very cute lamb that we call Shaun. The dog is crazy and extremely friendly which it shows by laying infront of your feet while your trying to walk to get you to rub its tummy.
Donna has an awesome taste in music, loving drums and bass, and she is currently going to Fleetwood Mac tomorrow. Which means i get to watch the dog for a warm shower/ bath. Think im going for the bath.
Regen the raft guide and former trainee: Regen is the most awseome raft guide at Ultimate Descents. He has taken the roll of the good friend and "mentor" while i was there, and worked hard to teach us everything he possibly could. He is very kind and fun to be with. He is currently the ball in my band "cock and balls", but sadly we havent had a chance to perform yet because of the lack of another ball. We do however have a good dance routine, which Regen is a master at.
Annabelle the outspoken: Annabelle is one of the coolest girls i have gotten to know so far, she is not afraid to say her speak and will, no matter what other people say in return. I am so glad I've gotten to know her, she is awesome to hang out with and so much fun. She is Regens girlfriend and works at the cafe as Donnas right hand. She is very good at forgetting things in the oven, but has extreme luck remembering in the last second and ususaly when they're just perfect!
Leone, the returned sheep from Aussie: Leone is Annnabelles sister, and has returned to NZ from Aussie for the summer to hang out with Annabelle, and now me. She is working as the barista at the cafe and is as close as you can get to a southerner in the states. She, like Annabelle, says her mind when its in her place, and she comes out with the funniest comments which will crack the most serious person up. She rents a room from the couple that owns the Hampten, and they love her being there. She also has a boyfriend back in Aussie land, who, judging by the massive card he's made for her, is the best boyfriend in the world!
Sandra, the frontline: Sandra is frontline at UD, and is pretty much the instructor for every active class they have in this town and if you ever read a copy of the murchison newsweek (can be bought at every store for 50 cents) her name will appear more than once under activities. She loves helping the locals out. She is originally from the UK, but now after getting her NZ residency she spends half her year here and the other half in France. She has pretty much done everything in the active tourism industry and is one of the fittest woman i know. She does some kayaking, but is more into waka paddling, which she took me out to try last week.
Philippa the girl with the "gods gift to woman" boyfriend: Philippa also works as frontline at UD on Sandras days off. She also works at the swing bridge, where you actually have to pay 5 $ to cross! She is incredibly nice and has invited us poor souls over for christmas! She is the kinder of the kindest. Her boyfriend is gods gift to woman. He comes down with awesome lunches for Philippa to our great jealousy, has offered to fix Mary by changing the Alternator for us for just a bottle of brandy and has offered his house to us on christmas. You gotta love the guy!
Trainees, the working class that doesn't get payed: The trainees at UD are all wonderful people and have chosen to live in a very poor state in order to get treated like slaves and not get payed for anything (except shuttle drives, which is a whooping 60 $). I was one of them, but have decided i'd rather spend my days paddling than rafting. The trainees include: Danny (who I've already introduced). Jilian, the girl which nobody ever manages to spell her name right, she works at the commercial pub some nights and has just bought her first kayak and is awesome, she is currently moving in to Danielle's place and out of her van.
Jenny, the hardcore girl straight from Polytech. She always manages to get hurt in some way, just like myself, and has chosen to live in poverty because there aren't a lot of jobs here and she loves to spend her money at the pub or at her friends house drinking. She is always in a good mood and very hardcore.
Ryan, the traveling trainee, Ryan comes down to train in the weekends, and is never sure about a whole lot, he just does as he pleases whenever and instead of getting a job he sells his stuff (he has a gazillion things) and comes down for the weekends and travels around the rest of the week. If you ask him of something his answer 9 out of 10 times will be: i don't know or maybe. He is a good kayaker, and we go paddling together whenever he decides to turn up. He doesn't really have a plan for his rafting, he just does it cause he likes it, so far. cool.
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