Colourful Interim Report

Aug 6, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Thoughts, Trips, Updates

Blog post number 70!

I can relax a little, as the kids are taken to their activities by the host mum. The scores for my meatpie with noodles stretched from 98/100 to 1000000/1000000 and there was enough for everybody… 🙂

Directly after the Winterreise I faced the most demanding weeks to that day: The school holidays.
On the one hand the new kind of routine (making breakfast for the kids, no returns from school, etc.) and on the other hand the fact that the kids are at home for the whole day made for an exciting 2 weeks.

For the girls have more classes per school day at their school than the boy’s, they get an extra week off. Due to that I dropped off and picked up the boy together with the girls in the last week… I also tried to make good use of the holidays, taking the kids to the museum, the park for a picnic or an indoor playhouse…
A few days they spent at their grandparents’, which made for some welcome breaks for me. 🙂

We crumb the chicken nuggets ourselves…

Now that the school holidays have long passed, I am more than happy about the old routine: Being with the boy in the morning and drop him off at school then. And only at 3pm I tend to the kids again.
To whom thinking about becoming an au pair: There is a groundbreaking difference between the kids staying home or having kids who are in school/ kindergarten already…

Meanwhile I have found an amazing group of friends, and we all regularly come together to enjoy the life beyond being an au pair. 🙂 Next to that, it is always the sweetest thing to meet travel companions of the past…

Last Sunday we celebrated Celine’s birthday with a walk along the Skyline Walkway in Wellington.
It was a rather cloudy day, but luckily the sky held back the gift of rain. 🙂 Instead it was insanely windy! Partially you couldn’t walk straight up and the hood of my jacket rattled like mad. 😀

View of Wellington from Mount Kaukau.

View on a wind farm west of Wellington.

I had to reissue the WOF (Warrant of Fitness) for my car the other day and my darling actually needed some reconditioning… At least for another 6 months I don’t need to worry about that now. 🙂 With cars made before 2000 you get the WOF for 6 months, newer cars get 12 months and brand-new ones 3 whole years from the day you buy them…

In our town new houses get built and even though I didn’t see the building sites at home up close as often, I think there are some differences to spot:

Parcel

Jun 30, 2015 | The Great Journey, Updates

My first parcel has arrived! 😀

Even the postman must have noticed the levels of happiness, due to my cheering. 🙂

A little smushed, but all in all undamaged I took on this package of home and expertly opened it using my favourite pocket knife. Just the way my dad always did…

And what do great parents send their child? 🙂

  • Sweets. 🙂 Some if it is meant for the host family, which will make them happy! 🙂
  • Clothes. Some pieces were a little tight back then, but fit quite nicely nowadays. Besides that, they smell of home and are perfect for cushioning! 🙂
  • Personal things like my beloved dictionary, greeting cards (Thank you my dear ones, you made me happy! 🙂 ), birthday presents of technical matter and even a present to the household of the host family.

 

 

 

 

The next week I will spend with another au pair in the North Island, as the grandma comes for a visit for a whole week, so I get that time off! 😀 I bet it will be a most special time!

Milestones

Jun 20, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

At this point many thanks for all congratulations, my birthday far from home was a blast!

 

 

In other department I was blessed with success as well!
The Friday before last Friday I spent visiting the authorities focusing on applying for my visa extension, requesting the 18+ card and issuing my New Zealand driver’s licence.

A few words about the visa extension for anyone thinking about that option:
Main requirement is that you spend 3 months (12 weeks, one day per week will count) working in agriculture or horticulture (firm details on the official government website). So anything greenish up to processing food, monitoring canned goods won’t count anymore…
Your income has to be taxed and you have to collect your paychecks, as they are to be handed in alongside your application. I just got a scrap of paper from my employer with proof of all payment…

The ‘standard’ working holiday visa you apply for online and you have to carry a printed piece of paper next to your passport. The extension, however, is applied for on location only, so it is an offline process. Meaning, you go in there with all the paperwork, hand it over in person and in my case don’t wait longer than a week to get the confirmation email back. And you have to hand in your very passport. Thus, you are without one for a short time, which came out well in the end. In contrast to your printed out ‘E-Visa’ you receive an elegant sticker inside your passport and don’t have to carry a folded piece of paper anymore.

Bottom line: Who completes their 12 weeks by every trick in the book, can easily apply for the extension. 3 extra months are a hundred percent worth it! 😉 Oh, and the fee for the extension is a whopping 165 dollars, though it should feel fair for what you get…

 

 

 

 

As I stay for more than one year in New Zealand, I have to carry a New Zealand driver’s licence. That one you can apply for in one of the AA centre (New Zealand Automobile Association).
You fill out a charming questionaire, state some details from both your driver’s licences and the passport and pay a small fee. The passport photograph and some copies of your documents they take on site. I was issued a temporary driver’s licence and very soon I saved an envelope that was not entirely soft from the rain from the leaky postbox:

 

 

The integral parts are still legible. 😀

 

 

As on said Friday I had taken on both obstacles, I went for requesting the 18+ card as well.
This card is a simple proof of age, when you go buy some wine for your cooking. 😛 They are as strict as rigid in the shops here… So when you do not want to carry you bulky passport everywhere, this card is quite the replacement.
But I was taken aback, as I just left my passport, which is necessary to show in order to get your card done, at the immigration office only a few minutes ago and went out of the post office empty-handed.

But when I held the driver’s licence in my hands, I also held a very absolutely legitimate photo ID and that was all I needed. Besides, this is the more badass 18+ card, as you are able to drive on it in Germany too. Getting pulled over might even be fun then. 😀
Ultimately, the 18+ card would’ve cost me ana additional 35 dollars. Now I am not mad at all… 🙂

Yesterday I went for some entertainment which was brought to me by a young choir (regarding the average age and ensemble existence) from Wellington. Next to wonderful music the did something special in the end: They broke the classic formation for the last 3 songs and surrounded the listeners. The concert was about captivity,detemination and resistance and music predominantly coming from concentration camps. It was impressive!

My first singing lessons I also have completed and there shall be many to follow. I have learned many things about myself and among them that singing is one of my greatest passions…

June 15, 2015

Jun 15, 2015 | The Great Journey, Thoughts, Updates

Thus, the sun rises upon this day, the day my birthday is being celebrated.

Admittedly, out the kitchen window it looks different from at the sea, but the sun is the sun…
Nevertheless I received congratulations, more presents I have ever wished for and also a posh birthday hat. Not to forget mentioning the birthday serenade on the saxophone! 😀
The day is one without the load of laundry and dinner will be simple. At night the final episode of the current Game of Thrones season is going to be out and my all-new merino sweater keeps me snug and warm, combined with the new wool socks. That is important in winter. Rumors of a birthday cake began to rise in the whispers, as kids a no suitable secret keepers… 🙂

In the background I let my new CD play, the soundtrack of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, which I bought at a laughable price in the city. That was after we had some incredibly delicious coffee at the ‘Flight Coffee Hangar’. All in all, a day lacking clouds and also wind is something hard to come by in Wellington at this time of the year. Good times!

In the past 24h I had 6 Skype dates, which calls for a new record. And I am not even sure that’s all… I am always happy to see the lovely, loving faces! 😉

Medium Sized Interim Report

Apr 12, 2015 | Photos, The Great Journey, Updates

Finally, the Granny Smith Apples are done being picked. After a rainy day off, we continued with the variety called Fuji.

Those are quite different from Granny Smiths. They are red, so you find them at first glance without having to search first. Their trees are much smaller than the Grannys’ trees, which translates to the count of fruit (so, 30 ripe apples and not 3000). But most importantly: Fujis are HUGE!!

On the first day I filled double as many bins as usual! 😀 That actually was the first day picking was actually fun…

Even otherwise the last days held some (little) successes. 😊

My first haircut on New Zealand soil was carried out, which was somewhat exciting for me. Mind you, this was only the 3rd Hairdresser I entrusted my graceful scalp to. 😀 I am quite pleased with the result…

Kiwis don’t know the wonderful and delicious concept of cheese soup!! So, I stepped forward and took my chance (for the first time as so often) on the recipe. When shopping, I had to realise that there was nothing like the German ‘melting cheese’. Cream cheese did the trick perfectly in the end.

I couldn’t believe it when I was back home as I finally tried it. My roommates loved it as well, which multiplied the achievement. 😊

It is only two days, until I will swap the rather dull (you notice in the count of posts) everyday life here in Hastings for the first week in the host family. As said, I will come back for a week after (cause visa extension) and then turning my back on Hastings for good in May. I grow more and more excited and am aware, how much my life will change.

I have spent the last three months only in Hastings and didn’t do much apart from work… Right now, I am looking forward to nine months in my beloved Wellington. And it is going to be unbelievable! All new tasks, many new people, not having to pay for everything you eat, having full weekends off…

Well, more on that in a few days. 😉

Olivia, one of our four chickens.

Praying Mantis with a broken wing.

Cheese soup like at home. (or at Auntie Anna E.’s 😊)