Getting out of Auckland
I’ve finally had enough of Auckland. I’m not sure what the final tipping point was but I think it might have been when I went in for a trial shift at a nearby bar. First a quick explanation about “trial shifts.” In the New Zealand hospitality industry (and I presume other industries as well), getting hired isn’t as simple as having a sweet interview or a manager who likes you. Your first few shifts are termed “trial shifts,” and involve training and evaluation. One is generally paid for these shifts, but it’s often in cash and at a lower wage than the job will ultimately pay. The trial shifts usually result in actually being “hired” as a real employee (I only know one person who wasn’t hired after a trial shift), but you’re still “on display” and want to be on your game during the shifts so that you get the job.
Back to this specific trial shift… I had spoken with a manager several days earlier about doing some bar work for them and as most managers do, she told me to come in for a trial shift. One thing that was a little odd about this trial shift was that they wanted me to come in on Friday night. Most places start you out on a slow night to see how you do, but at this bar they just throw you to the lions and if you make it out alive, you’re pretty much hired. So when Empire Tavern called earlier in the week and offered me a shift on Friday, I turned them down. And when I did my day shift at La Zeppa on Friday and the executive chef asked me to work a double shift through the evening, I told him that I wasn’t available. The trial shift was to run from 10:00 PM – 6:00 AM so I came home early and had a nap, ate a late dinner, showered, did all the stuff that anybody else would do to prepare for their first day on a job. So when I walked in for my shift, I was ready.
But they weren’t. Apparently, somewhere in the days between when I spoke to the manager and that Friday, she had forgotten to inform the staff that I would be coming. And this meant that there wasn’t anybody who could show me around. Nevermind the fact that the place was deserted at that hour and four bartenders were standing behind the bar, not doing anything. Clearly nobody was qualified to show me how to work the till (not complicated) or their technique of pouring layered shots (the same as everywhere else) or how they renamed standard drinks (they call a jager bomb a “trainwreck,” for reasons I still don’t understand). The manager on duty at the time asked me to come in the following night and was unmoved when I told him that I had given up two other shifts to come in for them. The real kicker came the next morning when my roommate Brady, who also works that bar, staggered out of bed and told me that they could have really used an extra pair of hands the night before.
So I gave notice at all my jobs and officially returned to “unemployed” status. And what’s an unemployed 22 year old to do? The answer is simple; go spend money and visit…
The Northlands
I booked a pass a few weeks ago with a bus company, Stray travel. They have a route that goes all over New Zealand, and I can get on and off the route as I please. So I decided that it was finally time to put the pass to good use and traveled north from Auckland to a region known as The Bay of Islands. As you college graduates might be able to deduce, there’s a bay. And there’s islands. Lots of islands.
The trip up to the Bay was an entertaining one, but in typical Eagle Scout “be prepared” style, I had packed my camera away in my pack and wasn’t able to get to it during the trip so have no fascinating pictures to tell the story of the trip. First stop on the bus tour was to visit an 8000-year old Kauri tree. Kauri wood used to be one of the main exports of New Zealand because its wood is very hard and mostly free of knots, making its trunks a prime choice for use as a ship’s mast. The trees are of spiritual importance to the Maori people (the indigenous people of New Zealand) and nowadays there remain less than 1% of the original Kauri trees, so they are protected as strongly as any endangered species might hope (can trees hope?). The visit to the tree was followed by a short walk through the forest where we learned about more of the native flora. I think my favorite tree was the one that looked kind of like a palm tree but had a Maori name that roughly translated to “no coconut tree.” I guess some Maori guy climbed the tree and when he didn’t find any coconuts, he named it accordingly.
Next stop was Goat Island, the first marine reserve established in New Zealand. It’s a small tidal area and has little macroscopic life, save some fish swimming in the channels between the rocks. There’s no feeding allowed but we sprinkled a few crumbs in the water and watched the fish come around to check us out (shhh don’t tell the DoC). The two main species there were snapper and a completely blue fish, called a maomao. I’d never seen blue fish before except in Dr. Seuss books, so that was a really wierd experience. During the summer some people go snorkeling at Goat Island but it was windy and cold that day so it was a short stop. BUT, leaving Goat Island, I saw my first sheep in the country of New Zealand! They were merrily munching on somebody’s garden so the bus driver got out and scared them away; I’m sure they came back as soon as we left.
Onwards and northwards towards the Bay of Islands. We stopped in a few tiny towns to grab food and make use of the facilities, but it was in the town of Kawakawa that I truly came to the realization that I had chosen the right bus company. I had never heard of Frederick Hundertwasser, but apparently he was a very highly regarded Austrian painter and sculptor who happened to also love New Zealand. He had a second home in the town of Kawakawa, where he could live in relative anonymity out of the public eye. So in 1998 when the Kawakawa city board was looking to upgrade their public toilets, Hundertwasser offered his design services. If you’ve ever been to Parc Güell in Barcelona, or seen any of Gaudí’s architectural work, imagine that, but as a public bathroom. That’s a pretty close representation of what we saw there in Kawakawa. Now I’m no “toilet aficionado,” but I’m fairly confident in saying that I think it will be a while before I see a more unique and original public toilet. If this intrigues you, go look him up on the intarweb.
Paihia
The ultimate destination of this travel day was a small seaside town by the name of Paihia with a population of about 1800 people. Although the town is tiny, it swells with people during the summer. People with boats flock there to visit the islands and enjoy the weather. There are activities for everybody, mostly involving boats of some sort. Some people sail, some people go looking for marine mammals, some people power around the islands being jealous of other people who have houses on the islands, and some go out to “the hole in the rock,” which is just an island where water has done its erosion thing for thousands of years, resulting in a hole…in the island. There they go again with the creative naming.
Another popular activity is to take a tour up to Cape Reinga and visit the northern tip of the island. Several bus companies go up there, putting the skills of their drivers to the test as they maneuver their huge buses through windy gravel roads (the last 20 km on the road up to the tip is unmaintained gravel). There’s lots of gorgeous scenery, and it’s pretty cool to see where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tazman Sea, but the best part of the day is sandboarding. In among all this lush greenery, there are some sand dunes. I haven’t a clue as to how or why they developed, but they’re BIG, probably up to 100 or 150 feet tall. Now in any other country, people would leave well enough alone and let the dunes be. But this is New Zealand! And so somebody figured out a way to fly down these dunes at high speed; I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Kiwis. So we hiked up the dunes, lay down on boogie boards, and let fly. It was awesome, except the hiking part. I only went 4 times before my legs decided they’d had enough. But I did manage to get some fun pictures, like this one.
While I was in Paihia, I did pretty much everything I could. Went out to the hole in the rock, found some dolphins, went up to cape Reinga, kayaked up a river surrounded by mangroves, and even found a potential job. The deckhand on one of the boats that I was on is leaving his job in a week or so. So I’m going to go scope out Queenstown next week and if it isn’t awesome, I’m moving to Paihia. The town and the weather were just so beautiful…it was the first time I’d worn shorts since coming to New Zealand. And we all know what a pansy I am when it comes to weather. I’ve been spoiled by California.
Next week: Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of the world. If I gather the courage, I’ll be throwing myself off perfectly stable platforms and out of perfectly functional airplanes. Or maybe I’ll just enjoy the gallons and gallons of wine grown in that region.
I’ve started to put pictures online as you’ve likely figured out by now: click here.
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