Onetangi Beach

Onetangi Beach is a wonderful neighborhood on the isolated end of Waiheke Island.  I have been living here for several weeks now.  I stay incredibly busy with to jobs.  One is at the Shell station about 300 meters from the beach.  My other job is painting a $3 million house 25 minutes walk from the gas station.  The owner is very nice and he is always adding jobs to be done.  So far I have oiled the ceder walls and stained the deck.  I have also helped with the construction of a trail leading down to the beach.  The house is on a very steep incline and a rocky beach is about 100m down from the house. 

The Shell station has offered to extend my visa for 2 more years if I choose.  I have yet to decide if I want to do this, but I really want to stay for the entire Kiwi summer.  My original plan was to travel to Tonga for a holiday before I look for work in Australia, where I have a work visa approved.  I feel very comfortable here, but I will need to decide very quickly. 

Merry Christmas

I'm still alive, living in Onetangi beach, Waiheke Island.  I will have a few updates very soon.

One Year In NZ

I have been in New Zealand for exactly one year now.  To mark the event, I have decided to leave my flat in Auckland and move to Waiheke Island for a few months.  I will update what my employment and accommodation will be in the coming days, but I have decided that after 8 months if city life its time for a change! 

Rugby Madness

For the past week all of New Zealand has been in party mode for the Rugby World Cup.  This event is by far the largest sporting event ever held in the country.  Trust me, its a big event, even though no one in America has heard of this or knows what rugby union is.  Auckland was not prepared for the opening ceremony the friday before last.  I had the chance to jump on a friend's boat to view the fireworks, but it was a major mission just to get to the marina because of infrastructure gridlock.  The city's main rail and bus lines completely collapsed. The Vodafone cell network also crashed for a few hours.  The opening ceremony downtown was expected to attract around 100,000 people.  Quay street was blocked off, but it was not enough room as an estimated 200,000 patrons descended the festivities.  I arrived around 3 pm, taking in the scene, before ducking into the Countdown grocery store for an hour just to relax.  It's ominous sign when all of the shelves of beer were empty at 3pm.  We fought our way through crowds to the ferry building to catch the boat across the harbor to my friend's boat.  We waited at least an hour for the arrival.  We were lucky not to get crushed by the mass of people waiting to get out of the city.  The ferry's had become incredibly overloaded and only so many of us could get off the wharf.  Once we made it to my friend's boat we had to wait for others stuck in traffic.  By the time we made it out to a good viewing point at least 5,000 other boats full of idiots were in our way.  Many vessels did not have lights and I now know why the supermarket shelves were bare. The fireworks were quite a intense surprise.  The most impressive show I have ever seen.  Many buildings including the Sky Tower had jets of flames erupting vertically to the heavens.  Four additional coastal stations shot satanic skeet skyward, creating the illusion of volcanic vertigo. The best view was from the port side of High Times, our yacht, and not the crowded streets of the city.


This past weekend featured a game pitting Ireland verses the Australians in Auckland's Eden Park. The Wallabies were heavy favorites, but fell to the Irish 15-6 in what I have been told an epic upset.  I slept through this game after fighting a cold all week long, but got the chance to meet some of the supporters first thing the next morning.  I was working for Riveria yachts all week preparing the vessels for the annual boat show.  I was starting at 6 am Sunday but I did have the chance to meet several Ireland fans on my way to work,  One gentleman was attempting to hoist a young lady onto his shoulders.  What I term a mini skirt was one of the apparent obstructions this scholar decided was in his way.  I should have called the police as I witnessed the mini skirt become a loin cloth.  I could have reported that a hooligan in a green rugby shirt was attempting a scrum with a local girl, except that there were about 500 other blokes with green rugby shirts that fit the same description.  All this is happening at 5:30 am, the game ended 7 hours earlier!  I worked until about 10 am, but the party was still going on all around us.  Just as soon as my work cleaning the super-yachts was finished a downpour arrived washing away my polish, and many of the rugby supporters as well.  The rain cleaned the streets of Irish beer mud and the tears of the the Australians, hoping for another easy conquest of New Zealand.

What I Wear

Auckland had its first snow since 1939 Monday.  My breath is visible in my room.  When asleep, I am cloaked by my work t-shirt, pants, sweater, jumper and a hat. All of this inside my sleeping bag, fleece throw, and a duvet to top it off. Very few homes in NZ have insulation. But in related news, New Zealand is now number 3 in the world in the Human Development Index. Homes bereft of insulation must equate to longevity!

The Life and Times of Ponsonby Terrace

 Its been almost 10 months since I first arrived in NZ.  I have had the absolute time of my life here. I have not posted for awhile because I have not thought of anything that could be considered witty or clever, so I will write about current activities.

I have been working for the past three weeks after traveling again, this time with my mom.  We flew to Wellington and took our time driving up the North Island.  Mom got very sick the 4th day of the trip and we spent 5 days in a hotel in Rotorua recovering.  She e-mailed me since she got home and said that she has a clean bill of health now.  Not exactly what she was planning for her first international vacation, but she had a great time anyway. 

I had 2 jobs once I came back to Auckland.  I only lasted 2 weeks at one job.  I missed my weekends off.  I am in a country for only so long, so I need to enjoy any free time I can get.  Boat Boys has given me more responsibility, including driving the company car during the week.  More responsibility also means more hours. I have learned an incredible amount about boat building in the past 6 months.  Its great to have this knowledge to go along with my diesel and diving experience.  Jobs I have had since I have been here include, petting zoo wrangler, beef cattle wrangler, party prep person, furniture mover, car cleaner, boat fairer, and construction dude.   I do enjoy the boat work the best.

Living in the same place for the past 6 months has been great.  I live in Ponsonby, a great neighborhood with many bars and restaurants within minutes walk. I have finally been able to have a stable home life after months of traveling in NZ, and 16 months of living at a boy scout camp.  Sea Base was a really cool place that I miss dearly, but it is still a scout camp with severe social limitations.

I have just moved into a new room in the same house that I have been since March. I now have a studio flat behind the house, a lot more privacy.  I have never lived in a large city before. Auckland is not super big, but a stark contrast to small town Nebraska and the Florida Keys.  I lived in small towns in Nebraska for 7 years and this is a whole different world.  I always seem to keep my self busy every night of the week. Salsa classes Monday, rugby training on Tuesday and Thursday, Couchsurfing meetup Wednesday, a concert or hanging out late Friday and Saturday, and a bush walk on Sundays if I'm not working. I will start sailing on the weeknights now that rugby season is over. 

On a related matter I am inching closer to the 100 kg(220lb) mark.  I have lost about 10kg(22lbs) since the beginning of the year.  I have joined a gym, but always seem too busy to use it.  I walk everywhere, and always try to have my mind engaged in something constructive.  I have also been rockin' the full beard for the past 2 months.  Its winter here, helps me stay warm. 

New Zealand is such a great place I would have no problem living here long term.  Auckland is very multi-cultural, many people here have traveled abroad, and can relate to what I am doing now.  People here are incredibly nice and the whole population seems to be on eternal holiday.  I sometimes forget when I am when I wake up, but its feeling like home more and more.

There is little racism here.  Mixed race marriages are very common.  The faces I see in the street are a collage that would make America's "melting pot" look like a tin can.  I would like to travel more, most likely to Australia next year, before I forget what other places are like.  NZ is a very isolated country by distance, but vary plugged in in this digital age.

Double Down, New Zealand

The KFC Double Down monstrosity has made its way to NZ.  I enjoyed my first one ever 2 days ago.  The double down is 2 pieces of breaded and fried chicken with cheese and bacon in the middle.   Before the so called sandwich came here, there was a facebook group dedicated to bringing it here.  In Austurlia, the reaction was mostly negitive.  As I was aimlessly walking down the street one evening, I came across a KFC restaurant.  I have not been to this American chain since I entered the country.  The sandwich is NZ$7.90 by itself.  This exchanges to about US$6.50.  I'm sure it is much less back home.  After I ordered the sandwich, I waited in the restaurant and watched a music video from This is Why We Fight by The Decemberists on an LCD screen.   This sandwich has to be the reason that we fight.  The video, which I had never seen before depicts a bunch of homeless looking people who look like actors in a post-apocalyptic setting.  I don't think the actors in the video have had a double down, they are all skinny hipsters trying to fit into the backdrop of old Kevin Costner movies like The Postman or Waterworld.

The actual meal is 2 pieces of delicious white meat patty with a strange sauce with ham in the middle.  There is no bacon, it was ham! The cheese congealed into a very runny mixture that got all over my fingers.  The chicken pieces were great.  I consumed the thing in about 3 minutes.  I will not likely get another, epically considering the price. I get much more utility from $8 of fish and chips. On my way away from the restaurant, someone wrote on the sign next to the drive through window, "double down sux." I am glad I am not the only one who shares this sentiment.