Change of Plans
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2010
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86
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Trip End
Feb 04, 2012
Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Monday, October 10, 2011
Decisions, decisions. Rational thought, gut feelings, financial computations, future plans, current "plans," all swirling around in my head with not much time to decide. Another year here? Easily work at Cardrona again? Go home for a bit and then come back for another year? Come back in three years for another year? Just use three months of the year so I can work through summer here?
I don't really have to make the decision until I get my visa and medical forms in Auckland, but I'll probably opt to just do the three more months visitor visa, not working. Another full year is a long time to keep playing around. I could start real-life things here, but then they'd be cut off in a year. Unless I think about NZ residency, but that thought is scary, too permanent. The thing is, this loophole law is in review, so it might be now or never if I want another year here. I wonder if I could stay three months as a visitor, then start the next year. That would at least buy me some time to think.
Aaanyway, second change of "plans" is that I didn't find a job, but I was able to set up a wwoofing in Opotiki, Bay of Plenty. So tomorrow I will take the bus to Taupo, spend two nights there, then head to Opotiki. I'll wwoof there for a week, then go to Auckland and stay with my friend Mark's mom. The World Cup final will be played on the 23rd, Mark comes on the 27th, and after that my "plans" are open again, assuming I'm allowed to stay in the country.
I didn't do a whole lot in Wellington while I was here, mostly because it was cold and rainy the entire time. I went to the Te Papa museum, which was really cool. I'm not normally excited about museums, but I really enjoyed this one. I went there two days because there was too much to see in one day. It was about the history of New Zealand, in both geological and cultural terms. One thing that was funny was the "artifacts" from 1930. I guess when your country is only 200 years old, 40 years ago is ancient times. There was actually a display of "last century" with Ninja Turtles and other things from the '80s. Apart from that, there was extensive info on Maori heritage, WWII in New Zealand, volcanoes, earthquakes, sea life, and plenty of interactive things to keep me busy. It was interesting to see New Zealand's perspective of world events.
I also did a tour of the Parliament Building, the "Beehive" (since it looks like a beehive). I didn't mean to do the tour. I just wandered into the building, then it turned out you were only allowed in if you did a tour, and what luck - one was just starting. I didn't really want to do the tour, but I'm glad I did. The building, like everything in New Zealand, had a distinctive Kiwi style, different from your run-of-the mill government buildings, with interesting displays, architecture, and history.
My other touristy thing I did was walk through the Botanical Gardens, which was nice. They had a few plots where they had planted flowers in patterns to look like flags from different countries participating in the World Cup. Each was marked with a small sign saying "Welcome (country)."
Sunday, the day of my second RWC game, was beautiful! The sun finally came out, so I spent the day meandering back and forth between the South African Culture Festival and Fanfest by the water. Both had good music and lots of people around. A group called Strike played at Fanfest. They were percussionists that used all kinds of equipment for their music - drums, xylophones, pipes in water, buckets, metal sheets. It was really cool.
The South Africa vs. Australia game was a good one, except that South Africa lost. On the way there, amongst thousands of fans walking toward the stadium, I ran into a parade. Actually it was just one group of dancers/drummers, but a big group, working its way through the fans. I was really excited to watch the game. I think it is a lot more fun when you actually know some of the players playing against each other. Instead of one player tackling another, it's "Ooooh! Bryan Habana just took on Quade Cooper! And smashed him!" It was also cool watching the whole field, rather than just zooming in on the action when you watch it on TV.
After the match, it was back to Fanfest to the giant outdoor screen to watch NZ vs. Argentina to see who moves on to the semifinals. Another good game with players I knew. Then after, as I was just leaving, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra started up on the stage, so I stayed for their performances. Pretty cool.
Now I've got another sunny day to kill in Wellington, so I should get out and enjoy it! I'll try to add some pictures later tonight.
