Feeling happy.

As this weekend comes to an end, I can’t help but continually think how happy I am that I’m in New Zealand. I could have prolonged college and finished my degree this spring as normal with my friends at UF, I could have looked for a “real” job in America, but instead I chose to come to New Zealand, and I can’t really imagine myself anywhere else at this moment. There’s something about going to a new place, away from anyone you know, that seems to be like a cleanse (not sure if that’s the right word). Not saying that I don’t miss both my family and friends, but sometimes having to do things on my own makes me learn even more about myself.

Being in a new country, and especially living so closely to a family and spending so much time with them, it’s interesting to learn how people of a different country, and even class, live their lives. People are so unique and it’s so neat that I am able to learn about others here. I’ve found that New Zealanders are so nice, just like every review on New Zealand I read before I came here hinted at. The other night when I was trying to pay for a parking spot and the machine wasn’t taking my coins and the credit card part wasn’t working a guy riding by on his skateboard stopped to help without me saying or asking anything. Even though it just needed a few more tries, it was so nice of him to help and offer his larger coins to see if that would work. I was wondering if someone in America would do that, I think that there are some that would, but not to the same extent as a lot of New Zealanders.

I am so lucky to have access to a car when I’m not working for the family, and I’ve been able to explore these past couple of weekends. Auckland is made of several suburbs, I probably won’t even know the names of all of them by the end of the year, that’s how many there seem to be! It’s exciting for me to be in such a new place because every time I go somewhere I haven’t, it’s enjoyable! I’ve been able to check out the “uber-cool” suburb of Ponsonby where  I got a yummy hot chocolate (rated one of the best in Auckland), a set of NZ coasters, a NZ magnet, and browsed in a few shops on the main road. I also have gone to the Parnell French Market on two Saturday mornings, getting a freshly made juice and chocolate croissant each time! They have a large selection of fruits, vegetables, breads, hummus, spreads, bakery items, flowers and some meats. I love things like that and there’s always so many people there, it’s like the place to be on weekend mornings.

This weekend I spent Saturday shopping at a mall I hadn’t been to (after the French Market) because the weather was pretty awful - hot, humid, and random drizzles of rain. I got two nice tops and a pair of “sunnies” (sunglasses). Today I spent the day west of Auckland. I headed toward Piha, a popular destination, which is a black sand beach on the Tasman Sea. On my way there I stopped at the Nihotupu Waterfalls. It was about a 20 minute walk to the falls. I probably spent about 20 more minutes at the larger fall, taking photos and enjoying the scenery. It’s awesome to listen to the rushing of the water too. I then finished the drive to Piha and got a cheeseburger from a local place right on the beach. I ate that on the beach (along with probably a half mouthful of sand because the wind was so bad). Then I layed out and tried my best to ignore the sand that was blowing at me from every direction. You should have seen me at the end of my time on the beach…my face has sand all over it, my ears had sand in them, and it was even all under my hair. Oh well – nothing a shower when I got home couldn’t fix. Like I said, it was very windy, and partly cloudy, but I still got some sun for sure! There is a large rock/mountain thing on the beach there that looks like a lion that people walk up, but the wind on the beach was so strong, I didn’t trust myself to walk up that with that strong of wind – I will have to do that on another trip back. I made it back to Auckland on a different route given to me by the GPS! Nothing too exciting happened the rest of today (Sunday) but I’m happy with how I spent my weekend, and looking forward to all of my other adventures that I’ll have this year exploring New Zealand!

 

At the larger waterfall!

Piha Beach

A view of Piha from an overlook on the side of the road

Sorry for not doing a post on the first week (I will get to that this week) but I felt like I should write about this while it was all fresh in my mind! I think that everyone should travel to New Zealand at some point in their life, it’s so beautiful and will take your breath away so many times!

Where has the time gone? Day 1 in New Zealand

First stamp in my passport! Working Holiday Visa in New Zealand

Sorry this has taken me so long to get published, I can't believe that I have already spent my first month in New Zealand. Lots has happened and I've been keeping a diary so I remember everything that has gone on, so I can finally blog!

I made it to Auckland after a long 24 hours of traveling, but it went well in my opinion. After a little bit of re-organizing of my 3 suitcases, I got them all down to 50 pounds, only having to leave a few things in Florida for Bryan to hopefully bring when he comes to New Zealand in March. My flights had no big delays or problems thankfully! I flew from Jacksonville to Charlotte to Los Angeles to Auckland. On the 12 hour flight from LAX to AKL, I probably got about 5 or 6 hours of sleep luckily, so was able to get my body in the right time zone right from the start. I didn't have any jet lag!!

All of my bags ready to go!

On the plane to my new adventure!

Landing in Los Angeles at night

Almost in New Zealand!

First sight of New Zealand! 

All my bags are here! (Had to get them all through customs on my own!)

After going through customs and having my passport stamped, I put my 3 bags on a cart and headed towards the next customs line. Here you had to declare what you were bringing in, such as food. I declared some candy and then put my bags through the x-ray scanners and was officially allowed entry into New Zealand! Andrea and Lucy (age 10) were there to pick me up. I got a water and we packed my bags into their big Toyota Land Cruiser and off we went!

The first stop was One Tree Hill, which is a big hill that people go up and has amazing views of the city. There are also sheep all over the hills of the park going up the hill. There seemed to be some tourists there as well as locals walking up it for their work outs.  It was so cool to see Auckland from up there. 

Auckland (you can see the Skytower)

Lucy & I

Awesome views of Auckland

We were then headed home, but passed by the girls' school, so Andrea pulled in to show me the parking garage. Well....little did she remember she had a storage pod on top of her car. All we heard was cracking as we were going under the gate into the garage. She started to reverse and scraped the drivers' side of the car on the entry poles. The gate into the garage was broken as well...oh no! Insurance will cover it, and the car should probably get fixed next week (hopefully). We stopped at a bakery for a yummy breakfast croissant and made it home. Andrea found their bunny dead right as we got out of the car. It was so sad, and it just felt like too many bad things were happening! I got my bags into the pool house, had a shower, and got my things together for Omaha, where the rest of the family was up at the beach during the summer holiday. On the way out of town we stopped at a store to get a new duvet for the pool house, and some other things that they needed. We also went over to the mall where I got my iPhone switched to a NZ number and put on a pre-pay plan and had a quick lunch. Then we headed to Omaha to be with the rest of the family! 

I got a warm welcome from everyone and we headed down to the beach for a swim. OK - the water here is freezing compared to Cuba...it was quite a shock. It was fun though, but didn't last long! Back at the house the Wilson family came over for dinner, and ended up staying with us at the house for 2 nights on their way back home from their holiday. It was quite cramped, but it was fun having their family there, they have a baby, ~9 year old boy, and ~12 year old girl. Poppy, Hannah's friend was also staying in Omaha with us. We had dinner, champagne, and some chocolate cake that Lucy had made for my arrival! 

So that was day ONE in New Zealand....what a day! Lots happened, I was so happy to arrive, and am looking forward to the rest of the year with the Haddens! 

I'll do posts soon of week by week wrap-ups! Omaha didn't have internet access, so that is why I wasn't able to blog, and since being in Auckland we've been quite busy with the kids going back to school! 

xoxo

The Waiting Game

A lot has happened since my first post! I have now booked my flight and have begun my countdown! Only 54 days until I fly to New Zealand! I even have an app on my phone to keep track! The day will be here before you know it! 

I will be departing Florida on January 10th and arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on January 12th! The total travel time is about 25 hours including layovers, but because of the time difference it will be as if I am traveling for two days! I have already looked into ways to adjust to the time difference quicker, so hopefully something will work!

Last month I received the nicest package from the Hadden family. It included a note from Lucy, a handmade notebook by Hannah, some chocolate, a candle, magnets, a pocket guide and a map. It was so nice to get this in the mail & I sent a thank you note back...hopefully it made it across the globe! 

I only have 4 days left of going to class before I graduate. 3 exams, 1 paper, and 1 exit exam are what stand in the way of now and graduation on December 14th. It will be such a great weekend, with G'mom, G'dad, G'ma, and G'pa all planning to be here with our family. 

That's all for now! 

Next up...planning what to pack and everyone else booking their vacations to come see me ;) 

PS: Big news about John and Karen....they are planning to move to Seattle in 2014 for a job with Boeing. And...Julia, my oldest cousin is pregnant!

The Beginning of an Adventure.

Here we go again....an attempt for me to blog! I am determined this time to keep up with it, and share my journey, so one day I can look back on this and remember all of the fun that I had.  I know this is something that I want to do...and as it may not be regular (like an every Sunday I'll post, kind of blog) I will do my best to keep on top of it. It might not be exciting and have many posts until January. That is because.............

IN JANUARY I WILL BE MOVING TO NEW ZEALAND TO BE AN AU PAIR FOR A YEAR!

So January is when it will get more exciting! I can hardly believe it.....I still don't think that it feels real yet. I don't even think that it feels real to others, like my family, yet either. Most people know that I will be doing this, and everyone seems to be very supportive! I will be graduating from UF in December with my Bachelor's degree and come January, I will be moving to the other side of the world to be living with a wonderful family in Auckland, New Zealand. They have 5 children, and the mom stays at home, but used to be a physiotherapist, and the dad is an eye surgeon.  The kids range in age from 4 to 12, and the oldest boy will be going to boarding school next year, so I will mostly only be around 4 of the children. They live in Parnell, which is part of Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand. They also have homes they visit in Omaha Beach, which is north of Auckland, and also Queenstown which is on the South Island of New Zealand. I will be arriving in January which is summer there, and will begin my year in Omaha Beach with them.

Here is the family, with their grandparents on the right, and their current au pair Faith on the top left. 

I came across the term au pair one day...and not really familiar with this word, I did some research.

An au pair is, "a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use." 

Wow....was that a good idea. I would have never known this opportunity existed if it were not for that one run-in for me. I can travel, live safely with a family, watch their children and experience a new place?! Count me in! I then joined AuPairWorld where I was able to set up an Au Pair profile and view families profiles that were looking for an au pair. It was nice because it would only show you families in countries you were interested in, and with start dates that matched yours. I was interested in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, for the most part, and was almost set on Australia before I found this great family in New Zealand.  My Uncle Keith visited New Zealand last year and I remember seeing some of his photos - they were breathtaking! For me, it was about finding the right fit for a family, and then factoring in the location...making sure it was in a place I could see myself for a year, with a family that I will feel like a member of.  I also was excited about finding a family that I liked that had kids that were a bit older and in school.  While I love caring for babies and toddlers, that is what I have always done for the most part (at church and babysitting for families), and I've always wanted more experience with kids that are school-age. I skyped a few times with Andrea (the mom) and Faith (the current au pair) and just had the best feeling about this family! I was so hoping that they chose me, as I really felt like I would fit in well with them. After a few Skype sessions, tons of questions back and forth, Andrea talking to a couple of references, as well as my mom, she informed me that she would like me to join their family as their au pair in 2014! I was so thrilled and I am so excited to join the Hadden's family!

While I am very excited for this new experience, I would be lying if I said I didn't have any concerns.  I will have to learn to drive on the left side of the road....in a manual car at that! That is honestly probably my biggest concern of them all! Everyone start praying for my safety now ;) I am sure after much practice I will be just fine though. I will have to figure out a whole new area,  I will also be the furthest from all of my family than I ever have been.  Thankfully with the modern technology we have, it won't be hard to stay in touch via FaceTime/Skype and iMessage and while I will miss them, I hope that they will come visit me ;)

Current Checklist...

Find an amazing family to au pair for......CHECK

Apply for and receive my passport......CHECK

Apply for and receive a Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand.....CHECK

What's next?

Look at my calendar, watch air fares, and BOOK MY FLIGHT!

I can't wait to share with you this journey of mine from Florida to New Zealand between now and all of 2014!