"Blenheim!" 'orrilble place, Blenheim is..."
And while I feared it was just her being overdramatic, I am finding it might not be....
My first 24 hours in Blenheim has consisted of:
- Checked into a hostel that was highly recommended by a traveler I meet in Nelson. The big draw of the place was its owners, who were supposedly sweet, nice, and very helpful. I arrive, and the owners are on holiday and have left the hostel in the care of a apathetic couple that are there a total of 3 waking hours. The hostel is messy and dirty, and feels like a mix between a frat house and the house in "Fight Club." Seriously... there are dirty dishes all over the place, the kitchen is a disaster, the furniture (including the beds) is old and beat up, etc... sigh. Barely 2 hours into my stay, and someone walked into the hostel and robbed things from two of the rooms. About 6 people lost a great deal of valuable things. Good thing I travel like I am in China; I carry with me anything I cannot afford to replace(which at this point is almost everything!).
- Test drove a couple more cars. Nearly bought one too, but my bank saved me. I could not withdraw the necessary amount in a single day. Turns out the owner was in a little too much of a rush to sell the thing, and in our communications following I decide that I can find a better car. Just have to be patient... Which is too bad. The bus ride from Nelson consisted of 2 hours of cold-sweats and clinched knuckles as I sat crammed into a seat so small that I could not physically sit straight because the seat in front of me was so close, just trying with every bit of me not to throw-up.
- Internet everywhere in Blenheim is about $1/10 min. Thankfully another person at the hostel turned me on to the free wireless at the library. :)
- And perhaps the biggest thing! I have yet to meet or hear anything promising about work in Blenheim. There is certainly work here in the vineyards...that is not the issue. I have talked to two different people who were taken advantage of by local employers (not paid enough, etc.), two people who have quit multiple jobs because they were so awful, a couple people who are currently working, but are not enjoying it. And after talking to ~20 different people, I have yet to meet anyone who actually enjoys living and working here. And no one has said that working here has taught them anything about running a vineyard.
It turns out the consensus is that Blenheim is indeed 'orrible.
I think there are a couple things working against this place being what I am looking for. They have a surplus of labor, so there are not compelling reasons for employers to try to keep people around. It seems few vineyards have their own crews, but rather hire contractors to do most of the work. This means that the work is not varied (there are separate specialized contractors for each job on the vineyard, and do that same job at different vineyards each day), and you have little to no contact with the viticulturists and winemakers, or even any staff of the actual winery.
Getting work in Blenheim is going to be a last resort for me. It already is a night and day difference between this place and the beautiful family owned and operated wineries of Nelson.
So, today, my to do list is:
- Find decent notecards, write "Thank you" notes to the two wineries I looked at earlier this week. I am hoping that when they do start to hire, they might think favorably of me and hire me on for a couple of months.
- Look at different hostels in the area. I am still conflicted about this one. It is a lot of work to move hostels, and it seems (according to the Backpackers Hostel Association) that all the hostels are about the same in this town. One boy actually told me that this hostel was much better than the last time he stayed there!
News about the rest of life:
Kristin and I celebrate our 1 year anniversary on the 25th! I am super excited about this... It has been a good year, and while I try not to get too bogged down with anniversaries and the like, it seems appropriate to celebrate this one. Mmhmm. She is a good one. :)
However, Kristin's friend from the States is currently visiting her, and got swine flu on her flight into the country! So, I might be celebrating the anniversary by taking care of a sick Kristin and maybe even her sick friend, if she is not well enough to fly back to the States on the 24th. Bummer...
My schedule is I am here till Sat, meet Kristin and her friend in Kaikoura (a wonderful little sea-side town), celebrate till the 29th, hang out in Christchurch till I find a car worth buying, and then head south to Dunedin (which I have heard nothing but good about).
I think that might be all...
On a side note, Macs are very rare and excessively expensive (I saw this very model in a store for over double what I paid for it!) in NZ. Where as in the States I never got a second look, and my laptop is an older model and not very impressive, I feel like here I have a big "Rich Spoiled American" sign on my head. Everyone looks... I have been taking great care to only take it out and use it in public places, and certainly do not want anyone at the hostel to know of its existence. But I do love it. It took me over 2 years of looking to buy a laptop, but I feel like I got the perfect one for me! Just wish it weighed a little less (~5 lbs is a bit much to carry around every second of every day).
~ matt
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