Welcome back, are you ready for the best place EVER?
Basically, I called Martín; do you remember him, the guy that I met in the airport? Well he told me to move to this small town, because he already got some job for me. So I just went for it.
From Wellington I took a ferry to Picton, after that I took a bus to Nelson, I had to spend a night there (Where I found out that this place that I was going was fully booked, I couldn’t even find a place in the 5 star hotel, so that freaked me up a bit). The next morning a jumped on a bus for a 11 hours drive to, wait for it…. Franz Josef.
Franz Josef is a small town on the West Coast, with not more than 400 inhabitants. This number rises during the summer season when it reaches around 1000 people, that’s because seasonal workers that come to work when it’s busy, I was one of them.
The reason why this place has constant tourism and is so famous for is the glacier, with the same name, that is just 5 km away. It’s spectacular, you have a lot of activities that you can do, hiking, helicopter flight and much more.
I arrived around 5 PM, got off the bus with a massive backpack and a massive suitcase after 2 days of travelling. I went into the restaurant where I was supposed to meet a man that was going to help me get a job.
So I met him, we started talking, he asked me if I had any experience as a waitress, I said no (I wasn’t going to lie they will realise straight away). He said that I’ve got the job, I was super excited. But then we had a problem, he asked if I had a place to stay and I didn’t have one. This made me so nervous, where was I going to sleep???
In this town because most of the people work during the season and then leave,so the businesses provide accommodation, that could be for free or you have to pay a cheap rent. The staff accommodation for the restaurant was full.
Then he started making some phone calls. He told me to leave my stuff and to walk just around the corner, about 200 meters (2 blocks but it’s just a very long one). I reached the motel, 58 on Cron, it looked really nice, I definitely couldn’t afford it, so I had no idea what I was doing there.
I walked into the reception and this lovely couple welcome me. Once again, they started asking questions, so we chatted for a while and then the scary question was asked; do you have a place to stay? I said no, again, and the phone calls started, again. They called everywhere, everybody keep saying Fully booked, No Vacancy. First they asked for a place for 3 weeks and then just for the weekend.
When they run out of options they told me, we have a small room, a storage room in our house would you mind staying there? By then I didn’t care if I had to sleep with the dog, so I said yes.
They opened the door at the back of the reception and it was connected to their house, a beautiful house with a big living room. They took me to this “storage room”, OMG I couldn’t believe it. It was a perfectly fine room, with a double bed (remember that I lived in hostels for 3 months by then), with just a couple of boxes. I was extremely happy.
They then asked me if I could start working the next morning and I said yes, of course. In less than 2 hours I had 2 jobs and a great house, this couldn’t go any better. I was going to live with them for 3 weeks until the staff house was available again.
Then Richard, my new boss, took me back to the restaurant to pick up my luggage. While I was picking my things the restaurant manager asked me if I could do a shift that same night and I accepted. So went back home, love the sound of that, took a shower and went to work. Finally things were going great.
I lived with Anne and Richard for 3 weeks, they are the kindest people I’ve met, they treated me like if I was one their children, they spoil me with ice cream and took care of me even when I wasn’t working for them anymore. I would always be grateful for that; I could never thank them enough.
I spent 9 months in this town, after my fail attempted of finding work in Christchurch I came back. After my return I worked in the supermarket, where another couple took me under their wing, Cushla and Chris, there are not words for this people. Working extra hours checking all the prices around the shop after the VAT went up, my last shift when they took me out for lunch and the goodbye that almost made me cry.
Both of these couples are amazing and even though I haven’t been back since November 2010, I remember them all the time. And I know I have to go pick up my suitcase Anne, I promise I will. I was suppose to go back and work for them, they were going to be my sponsors but the earthquake happened and that changed everything. But I’m going to go see them soon hopefully; there is still a lot of New Zealand that I want to see and a lot of people that I miss.
I spent time with so many people, this was my home, and I knew almost everybody. But there are 2 girls that need to be named. Chon, my roomie, this little Thai girl that I share so much time with, still waiting for her to come to Europe; and Kama this kickass Maori girl that taught me so much, my twin as they used to call use (just because we wear glasses, are about the same height and the same kind of hair), I’m also waiting for her.
There is a lot more to say about this place, and I’m going to tell you about that next time. So don’t miss it I swear you are going to love it as much as I did.