The Life of a Dreamer: Work, Waitangi Day, and sandcastles

Upon checking out of the Mousetrap Backpacker Hostel, I walked across the street to Saltwater Lodge where I was to report for my first day of work. I put my stuff in the room and began soon after. Suzanna, a German girl, and I were to work together. We were in charge of cleaning the bathrooms. Each of the rooms have a bathroom and there is also a lounge bathroom so there were a total of twenty bathrooms to clean. The work wasn’t terrible but I will say, I’m glad I don’t clean hostels/hotels for a living and it gives me a greater appreciation for those who do. I think I have a good deal though, 2-3 hours of work a day in exchange for accommodation and free laundry. There are a few others who are doing the same thing as myself except for a longer period of time. These include Suzanna (Germany), Philip (Germany), Michael (Germany), Pip (England), Rachel (England), and Karen (Canada). It’s a different feeling working at a hostel as opposed to just being there. I like it. Suzanna and I finished cleaning shortly after 1. I was running low on clean clothes so I did a load of laundry and sat in the laundry room while it was in the washer. It was good journaling and quiet time because it was somewhat secluded. When my laundry was done, I biked to the grocery store (the one I had gone to the other day that was further away). I then made chicken and rice soup for dinner. It wasn’t the best but considering my limited ingredients, I think it turned out okay. After making and eating dinner, I sat on the porch area talking to Michael and Philip. We were then invited to watch a short film on the sail of a boat for a fundraiser. There were 7 of us that went. The film wasn’t that great but it was great to do things with people and who can complain about watching a film on a sail! I went to bed shortly after getting back.

I didn’t sleep well that night and woke up at 4am. This was partly because I didn’t sleep well but also because today is a national day in New Zealand, Waitangi day. There was a ceremony at 5am that many of us went to. How did we get there? I’m glad you asked. You may not want to know the answer though. Well most of them biked, but myself and another girl hitch hiked. There were enough bikes for us all but one of them had a flat tire. Obviously I couldn’t let the girl walk 2ish miles at 4am by herself so I left my bike at the hostel and started walking with her. Before too long, we decided to try hitch hiking because our time to get there was limited. There weren’t too many cars traveling that early in the morning and were passed by a few before a woman with two other passengers picked us up. They only went part way so we walked a bit more before being picked up by Maori people heading to the ceremony. We met up with the others there. There ceremony was in a special building with limited number of seats. The rest of us sat outside and listened through the speakers that were outside. The service was about an hour long. Some of it was in English and some was in Maori. When the service was complete, there was the sound of bagpipes. What a beautiful sound it was on a cool crisp morning over the bay. After watching the bagpipes, we walked on because we had heard there was another even after but we weren’t clear on where it was. Different people gave us different answers. Those I was with stayed around for a bit but soon they all went back to the hostel. I decided to wait it out a bit longer and I’m glad I did. I waited for over an hour before I saw Maori people coming down the river in their traditional boat chanting along the way. I watched for a bit before I started walking back to the hostel so I was back in time for work.

I cleaned the bathrooms with Suzanna again. Because it was our second day, we were a bit quicker than yesterday. When we were finished, we made lunch and Philip, Michael, Ricko, Alexandra, and I decided to go to the beach in spite of it being a bit cloudy. Soon after getting to the beach, we decided to make a sandcastle. It was quite fun. Part way through it rained for a bit which was not so fun. I wish I had a picture of our sandcastle but I didn’t take my camera. When our sandcastle was complete we decided to go for a swim. Okay, maybe I didn’t decide to go for a swim. I wasn’t given much of a choice. Either I had to go in on my own or I was going to have three guys carry me down and throw me in. I chose the first. It was a bit cold. And salty. We swam quite a ways out before heading back to the hostel and taking nice warm showers. I sat in the lounge for a bit before realizing that if I stayed there I was going to fall asleep because I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. I wanted to be able to sleep at night so I went on a walk to keep myself awake. I went to a lookout that was close. And now I sit here, back at the hostel, wanting to go to bed yet not feeling like I should.