Orchard work ... Again

It was sad to see Bob leave and once he was gone Michelle and I looked at each other as if we didn’t know what to do. It was as if our vacation ended and we needed to get back to work too; but where? We spent a couple days in Christchurch deciding our next destination and possible home for the next two months. We chose to head back to Wanaka, since it was such a beautiful area and there’s so much to see there.

When we arrived in Wanaka it was rainy, again; it seems as if it’s always been rainy in Wanaka L It’s boring and quite depressing when your living out of a van down by the river. These occasions really make us home sick. All Jeremy wants to do is lie on the couch with his snuggy, have a glass of wine, and watch a movie, but we don’t have a couch, so Jeremy cuddled up in his snuggy and read on the bed. I know what your thinking, and yes, he brought his snuggy.

When the weather did clear up, we hiked up Mt. Isthmus. This was a beautiful hike with views of lakes Hawea and Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. The color of the lakes here were such an attractive turquoise color it almost seemed fake. This was our first time really getting a good look at the area and it made us even more eager to find jobs so we could stay here.

Our job search so far has been frustrating. As you can imagine it’s difficult to find temporary work. It’s not that we are unemployable; it’s the fact that we are only going to be in the area for such a short period.

We initially started looking for jobs that we would like to do. After a few emails and stopping by a couple shops we realized its not probable, so we “lowered our standards” so to speak and broadened our search, but were still coming up jobless. We are at the point now where we will really take anything. We’ve sent out dozens of emails and texts inquiring about jobs and only a few responses have come back, and that is what’s most frustrating about the whole situation. Every email or text that we send out gives us a little hope, and we just sit and wait hoping to get a response so we can move on. So the job search in Wanaka isn’t going well, but there are other jobs out there. We’ll just have to move on and come visit Wanaka when we have the time.

Besides the job search, our time spent here in Wanaka has been amazing. The weather has been great; sunny and hot (around mid 80’s). We’ve done some hikes in Mt. Aspiring National Park that have been awesome. The Rob Roy Glacier hike was one of our favorite hikes, we did it twice.

We left beautiful sunny Wanaka and drove 1 hour to start the Brewster hut hike, and when we arrived at the trail head it was raining. This is where we feel really fortunate, because we just turned around and drove back to sunny Wanaka and relaxed down by the river. The next day the forecast for the hike was great so off we went. We were excited as this was going to be our first overnight stay in the backcountry huts. We really didn’t know what was in store for us. For starters, neither of us actually read the trail description. We just knew it was about 3hrs to the hut. Like the wino’s we are, we had to pack a bottle of wine, and why not?Since we weren't taking the tent and other heavy camping supplies, we might as well fill up our packs with other crap. The hike was brutal. The first 20 minutes where spent climbing a steep hill. This is when we realized the entire hike was probably this way, and it was. 

About an hour into the hike, I started feeling tired, light-headed and a little dizzy and my stomach wasn't great either. I oppressed the feeling and pushed onward, but it just got worse and worse. We only had about an hour to go when I finally confessed how bad it had gotten. We should have turned around earlier, but now we were so close to the hut it would be better off to go there instead of turning around. All I was doing was cursing the stupid wine in my pack. After hiking straight up 1000 meters or 3,300 feet, we did finally make it to the hut and the views were magnificent. 

Great views, beautiful hut, and friendly people to chat with. It was a very pleasant evening until bed time. Although it was cold on the mountain, the hut got really hot with all the others we shared it with. Neither of us got any sleep. When we did “Wake up” the next morning we still decided to continue the tramp to the top of Mt. Armstrong; another 700 meters, 2300 ft. I was feeling much better, but we were both exhausted. It was worth it! We were rewarded with absolutely breathtaking views. From this peak we could see almost all of Mt. Aspiring park, and the Tasman sea on the other side. Another sight that quickly became one of our most favorite views. (Video on Picassa)

We found some snowy hills and had a few fun slides, along with a couple of scary slides too, but we came out alright. The descent of Mt. Armstrong was hell, 1700 meters is approximately 5,600 feet down the mountain. Although it only took about 3 hrs to get down, we were still feeling the affects from it 3 days later. Neither Michelle or I have ever been this sore after a hike; different from the 3 day hike since that was sore bones, this was purely muscle aching. We took a few days off from hiking to recover, and we needed it. We spent the time lying on the beach, swimming in the rivers, and looking for jobs. 

It was extremely frustrating not getting work and it was putting us in bad moods, so we continued to leave the city area and go hiking, often. We spent another 8 hrs hiking through a valley to Kitchner valley, which was incredible too. We were completely surrounded by huge mountainous rock walls that were covered in glaciers and waterfalls. The rivers flowing all around us on a HOT sunny day. We took a couple baths and they all felt incredible. Nothing like swimming in glacial runoff. 

So I finally got a job working as part-time dishwasher, but Michelle was having trouble. Every place wanted someone more permanent than 2 months. So we spent a few days looking for her and then we hit the jackpot. A place in Cromwell, 30 minutes from Wanaka, is looking for a couple to work on their family orchard and take care of there 3 children. Well Michelle called, we met up with them, and we got the job! We start tomorrow. Although I'm a little bummed I can't wash dishes all day. We'll be picking and packaging peaches, nectarines, and apricots for a couple weeks until some nannying is needed, then Michelle will break off from the orchard work and become Super Nanny :-| 
We'll be very busy for the next 6 weeks. We'll be working from early morning till late in the afternoon 6 days a week. This is what we've been hoping to get. Heaps of work in a short period of time, so we can move on and enjoy our adventure. We are not sure if we'll have internet connection while we are there, so this could be our last post for while. We miss ya'll at home, and Michelle wishes many of you were here to help her with the child care ;-) 

If you would like to see more of our pictures click on the following picassa link. Picassa: Wanaka & Mt. Aspiring National Park