oceania

the toyota land cruiser that took me and kai from darwin to rockhampton

when i finally did make it to sydney, i had no where lined up to stay. my last hitchhiker friend dropped me off at a train station, and i took the metro into downtown syndey. i figured this would be my best bet to find a hostel. and i was right. immediatly after stepping off of the platform i saw multiple different youth hostel signs. the first one that i passed by, i ended up staying in for two weeks! i quickly befriended three irish girls who were staying in the same room as me. at the end of the two weeks, they were moving into an apartment, and invited me to tag along until my move to auckland! sydney was kind of a laze-about time for me, after my roadtrip with kai, and the truckers. i was relishing in being in one place for more than 24hrs. one of the highlights of my trip to sydney was taking the ferry to manly to meet up with a friend. who recommended i check out nannying. i had mentioned to her, that i was interested in staying roughly in one place for my time in NZ and not popping around too much over the holidays. so i was thinking of getting a job. so i then became addicted to checking ads, and sending out tons of emails, in hopes that i would find a family willing to take me over the holidays, and for my time in NZ. several days before my flight to auckland i got a call from a woman named jo. jo and her husband paddy were looking for a live in nanny for their four children; for over the holiday season. she sounded delightful on the phone, and after the initial call i had my hopes set on her family. the pattersons. after a few phone calls and emails later, i was offered the job! and im happy to say that for the past month ive been staying in stratford, new zealand to the patterson family. the children are zak(10), hannah(8), cooper(4) and keith(2). i feel like ive been here for months. when the time came for me to pack up and say by to orla, siobhan, and aisling (irish girls) it was tough. just when i meet someone and get to be good friends with them...i have to leave. jo and hannah picked me up in new plymouth, and i felt like we clicked right from the beggining. today is december 27th, and i have officially survived my first christmas away from home. not as blubbery as i thought i would be. i think it had something to do with the fact that it wasnt as christmasy here as it is at home, so there wasnt as many triggers to set me off. like arols on the radio, main street and each store front window decked out to the nines, snow suits, or stockings with clemetines at the bottom. so yeah, i guess it just didnt feel the same. plus this was the first christmas where i wasnt the youngest one in the house ahha! i cant believe the international part of my trip is almost over. in less than a month i will be flying back to calgary and attempting to make my way across another country. this one being my own though. i hope to be back in nova scotia sometime in february or march. wish me luck!