Sarah WallockThursday, 3:00 pm
We arrived in Queenstown absolutely exhausted and nursing “travel hangovers,” as a girl from our hostel called them. Our heads were booming and we felt so demoralized after leaving Auckland. It felt somewhat hard to remain hopeful after our strange homestay experience, which happened exactly one week ago. So much can happen in one week. We did, however, walk all around Queenstown and eat arepas and Malaysian street food. We wandered around the main streets and the Queenstown Gardens and were completely stunned by the scenery of the snow-capped purple mountains and the blue lake.
Queenstown was nothing like I pictured it. From the photos, it seemed self-contained and small, but being here feels so different and expansive. The surrounding mountains and natural topography are so intense that in contrast, the buildings and homes are just miniature-sized necessities. Their purpose is straightforward and they just look so insignificant compared to the incredible scenery that encompasses them. As we drove in through the meandering canyons from the northside, there was a factor of surprise as we got closer to Queenstown. The roads weave around the mountains and it is clear that nature comes first and development comes second. I am still trying to wrap my head around this city-development style and aesthetic; I much prefer it to other cities built like concrete jungles with no nature to be found or natural principles of design in mind. All of the homes and businesses line Lake Wakatipu or are nestled in the mountains and almost all have large glass windows for maximum observation opportunities. It is just incredible.
Thursday, 10:00 pm
Our heads were still booming and our minds were racing about the past week of events: being settled in New Plymouth, uprooting ourselves to start anew, then heading to Auckland and uprooting ourselves unexpectedly. And now Queenstown. I could barely sleep that night because my mind was so wired with processing and planning.
Friday, 1:00 pm
The day after we arrived in Queenstown, we got our first job interviews out of the way. Right after his interview, Nick was offered a trial shift! Woohoo! Nick took the initiative of applying to jobs before we arrived in Queenstown. My mind was so fuzzy and I was ready for a break after our stint in Auckland that I just showed up here without a strong idea or plan of what I wanted to do. I did apply to some proper Digital Marketing jobs, but it is incredibly competitive to get a non-customer service job in such a small town like Queenstown. So off I went with a stack of CVs talking to employers and managers door-to-door. This was demoralizing at times and encouraging at others. I stopped by a restaurant right on the lake and instantly got a good feeling about it: the atmosphere, the staff, and the location. One hour later, I was invited for a trial and additionally, I stopped by an upscale outdoors wear retail store, and also received a call within the hour. Within 24 hours of arriving, Nick and I both had prospective employment opportunities, and we had secured a short-term apartment just a few days before. Life has been moving very fast but this has been the most promising part of being in New Zealand so far.
Friday, 6:00 pm
On Friday evening we went to view the first apartment we’d be staying in. An American girl and British boy who met on Working Holiday in Queenstown, and now live here, leased us their place for the month. The commonalities between our relationships were endless. This is where we learned how straightforward it is to get sponsored to stay another year in NZ. After countless hours of searching how I could get a UK visa or Nick could get a US visa, this blew my mind. I was in so much shock. They met working at Fergburger, a famous burger spot, and have been working there since! They’re now applying for a UK Partner visa and the process is proving expensive and difficult, just as we had suspected. And every day since this initial conversation about sponsorship, it has just come up naturally in conversations around Queenstown, because it is such a popular option.
On Friday, I was just beginning to understand just how international Queenstown is. Everyone says it is run by Brits because there are so many of them. I find the international culture of Queenstown fascinating because expat communities have a consciousness to them. For instance, people are making a conscious choice to leave their home country and come to live in a different one. As I interact with more and more people here, I find that not being a Kiwi, someone from NZ, is the norm. Kiwis actually don’t make up most of the population in Queenstown. In many ways, this doesn’t feel like the rest of New Zealand. The employment growth rate is the fastest in the country at 11.7% and there is so much good energy here.
Saturday, 7:00 pm
By the time Saturday night rolled around, I had two full-time job offers, we moved into our lovely apartment, we made our first trip to the grocery store and stocked the fridge, and began to settle. Everything moves so fast in Queenstown compared to New Plymouth. New Plymouth was a good place to begin our year but, I’m so happy Auckland didn’t work out because I am loving it in Queenstown! It is absolutely beautiful, the people are so friendly and possess a global outlook, and the outdoor activities are endless!
Although we’ve had a lot of fun traveling, we’re definitely more attracted to the idea of staying in one place for a few months. I crave having a routine again and a place to call my own. It’s hard to know how many months we’ll stay here, but with the lake, mountains, and city being so nestled together, I could see us here for years to come.
