We spent about a week in Christchurch before deciding to work a ski season and ending up in Methven, the ski village for Mt Hutt. We arrived a bit too early so had to take some work carrot picking/harvesting. We lasted about a week doing that...early starts, all day spent on a machine attached to the back of a tractor sorting through the good and the bad carrots so they could be sent off to Watties which is the same company as Heinz in the UK. I actually asked the farmer if any of the carrots went to the UK and apparantly they go in the frozen veg so if anyone eats that reading this, think of me on $13 an hour working away! After about three days of 8/9 hour shifts on the back of the carrot harvester, I could not close my eyes at night without seeing a conveyor belt of carrots! It wasn't so bad but it wasn't the job I hoped to do in New Zealand.

After a couple of weeks we both managed to get jobs within the village/town. Steven got a great job as a ski technician in a local ski shop run by a former Olympian. I started as a housekeeper for a hotel but after weeks of cleaning toilets and making beds, I decided to move on again. I'd been offered a PR job for the local council in Christchurch when we first arrived and I was starting to regret my decision not to take it. That was until I was offered a job at The Brinkley Resort (www.brinkleyresort.co.nz) doing a mix of everything from reception to the restaurant. I've even been slipping into old habits and have been writing press releases and working on their website! I've attached a photo of me taking guests to the onsite heli pad that we have here...one day i'll get to actually have a go myself if money allows.

The best experience so far though has definitely been doing my first solo gig in New Zealand, actually my first solo gig ever! I've been singing back home for years and years with different groups and my family but i've never done a gig on my own. It was pretty nervewracking. Steven is a fantastic guitarist but we don't know enough songs together yet so I sang on my own. If it wasn't frightening enough, the Norwegian National Ski Team were in having dinner and stayed to watch my gig. And i've got another gig booked in next weekend for a large tour company that brings lots of ski business to Mt Hutt and our resort so hopefully i'll be a bit more relaxed for that one.

Work wise New Zealand is not the place to make money. The pay in comparison to the UK is quite low and we haven't saved enough money as we needed to so we will now have to stay longer in the North Island and pick up a bit more casual kiwi fruit picking work or something along those lines. From what we have seen though, New Zealand is beautiful. Even in the winter the sky is blue in the South Island and it hardly ever rains. The scenery is stunning and if you love the outdoors, New Zealand is definitely the place for you. On the down side, you feel like you are living in a bit of a time warp and you have to be a little suspect of somewhere that has more sheep than people! But something you do notice here is that it is much safer than in the UK. An electrician who emigrated here from Wales summed it up perfectly: "New Zealand still has communities. If my wife is off work sick, then someone in the town will bring a stew or something round for the family for tea". We are always forgetting to lock out car or house door but we know that nothing will happen and that it will be safe.

So far it's been an amazing experience in New Zealand - i've met national ski teams from Austria, Norway, Japan, New Zealand, Germany and there are still more to come. I've done my first solo gig and tried a few jobs I wouldn't want to try again. Steven has mastered the art of being a ski technician and is learning to speak Italian through a boy he works with. We have both met the most diverse bunch of people from all over the world and have made friends for life and can't wait for the next part of our travels when we are on the road again....