A magical place called Franz Josef...

Let me tell you more about this incredible place, Fran Josef.

It’s true that living here can be boring for some. There is no cinema, no place for shopping (unless you buy things in the two souvenir shops it’s got), only one supermarket, one petrol station, a couple internet cafes and two pubs.

You have a lot of hotels (including a 5 stars one), motels, campervan parking and around 4/5 hostels. Some really nice restaurants offering good food, from venison casserole, lamb shanks to veggie burgers.

The main reason why people come here is because of the activities you can do at the glacier and around town.

Let me tell you a bit more about accommodation. The only place I can really recommend you is the motel where I worked. The motel has a total of 16 units, 5 different types of rooms that go from 2 people up to 6 in the nice two bedroom one. The garden is amazing, the view is spectacular and you have a laundry room and a nice sitting area where you can have a barbecue. You are going to have an amazing customer service and they would most definitely help you with any tours and activities you want to do and with your next destination too. This is just one of the reasons why 58 on Cron is one of the top places to stay in Fran Josef according to TripAdvisor's list.

Something that people forget or don’t know about this town is that it is located in a rainforest. Oh and guess what? As the name says, it rains A LOT, especially during summer. Not the little annoying rain but the “I’ll blow away a chair” kind. However, this is not a bad thing, everything is close together so you don’t get THAT wet. If you like how everything looks so green you should thank the water too and everyday you have a sunny day you will appreciate it a million times more.

Now, let’s go back to what you can do here, some I've done, some my friends done it.

The main activity is the Glacier, of course. I walked there and it was just beautiful (the walk and the glacier). Most people go by car to the parking lot and then walk around 20 minutes to it. The glacier is magnificent, you have waterfall around, more rainforest and that gigantic piece of ice with that blue/green colour.

You can do a few things here. You can book Valley walk (they just take you to the Glacier and tell you about the history and what you've got around); or you could go on a helicopter that will take you to the Glacier and then hike for 3 hours; a heli hike where you can enjoy the panoramic view of the mountains and then you can check some ice caves; and a air safari scenic flight on a small plane (I really don’t know how is it called, sorry).

I did the heli flight and it was amazing. I was working and my bosses asked me if I wanted to go and a said yes, no time to change, no time to charge my camera. Flying in a helicopter is cool; I want to do it again. They take you up and show you this beautiful landscape, the river, the waterfall, the mountains covered in snow and of course that glacier. Then we landed on a mountain, we walked around and took some pictures. Lucky for me Genalin, a Filipina girl that worked with me, came too and she had a camera, so now thanks to her I can share my experience with you guys.

You have more activities around town, is not just that. You can go kayaking on Lake Matheson, go bird watching or on a horse trek, as well as hunting or fishing, it all depends what you like. There are  walks/treks that start from the town and will take you up mountains and a long rivers just ask at the reception where you are staying. You can also go see the glow worms.

One more thing that makes this place interesting is that you can go to the West Coast Wild Life CentreWest Coast Wild Life Centre, where you can find some of the rarest kind of kiwi birds, the Rowi and Haast tokoeka (I went there when they opened, they are so cute and fluffy).

But there is more, you can go on a quad bike tour (the only one in New Zealand with Glacier views) around the rainforest and rivers; or you can drive a buggy on a circuit track in the rainforest where there is a big chance of you end up covered in mud and they need to hose you down at the end; or you can also go rafting. But for the more adventurous there is something for you too, you can skydive from up to 18000ft with a spectacular view of all the things I've told you before.

And after a crazy day of activities what better than relaxing on the Glacier Hot Pools. They've got three public pools with water around 36/40 degrees, where you can chill and relax with the rainforest around you. If you want more privacy you can go to one of the private pools, a little bit more romantic and you can also book a massage if you like. I went to both pools and I loved it, so relaxing and so good, especially when it’s raining outside and its cold, best thing to do.

Because of all of this and all the amazing people that I met that I already told you about, I will always recommend this town. A lot to offer, a lot to see and one of the best service you are going to get. So just added to your list, I promise you are not going to be disappointed.

From the big city to a small town

Welcome back, are you ready for the best place EVER?

Basically, I called Martín; do you remember him, the guy that I met in the airport?  Well he told me to move to this small town, because he already got some job for me. So I just went for it.

From Wellington I took a ferry to Picton, after that I took a bus to Nelson, I had to spend a night there (Where I found out that this place that I was going was fully booked, I couldn't even find a place in the 5 star hotel, so that freaked me up a bit). The next morning a jumped on a bus for a 11 hours drive to, wait for it…. Franz Josef.

Franz Josef is a small town on the West Coast, with not more than 400 inhabitants. This number rises during the summer season when it reaches around 1000 people, that's because seasonal workers that come to work when it’s busy, I was one of them.

The reason why this place has constant tourism and is so famous for is the glacier, with the same name, that is just 5 km away. It’s spectacular, you have a lot of activities that you can do, hiking, helicopter flight and much more.

I arrived around 5 PM, got off the bus with a massive backpack and a massive suitcase after 2 days of travelling. I went into the restaurant where I was supposed to meet a man that was going to help me get a job.

So I met him, we started talking, he asked me if I had any experience as a waitress, I said no (I wasn't going to lie they will realise straight away). He said that I've got the job, I was super excited. But then we had a problem, he asked if I had a place to stay and I didn't have one. This made me so nervous, where was I going to sleep???

In this town because most of the people work during the season and then leave,so the businesses provide accommodation, that could be for free or you have to pay a cheap rent. The  staff accommodation for the restaurant was full.

Then he started making some phone calls. He told me to leave my stuff and to walk just around the corner, about 200 meters (2 blocks but it’s just a very long one). I reached the motel, 58 on Cron, it looked really nice, I definitely couldn't afford it, so I had no idea what I was doing there.

I walked into the reception and this lovely couple welcome me. Once again, they started asking questions, so we chatted for a while and then the scary question was asked; do you have a place to stay? I said no, again, and the phone calls started, again. They called everywhere, everybody keep saying Fully booked, No Vacancy. First they asked for a place for 3 weeks and then just for the weekend.

When they run out of options they told me, we have a small room, a storage room in our house would you mind staying there? By then I didn't care if I had to sleep with the dog, so I said yes.

They opened the door at the back of the reception and it was connected to their house, a beautiful house with a big living room. They took me to this “storage room”, OMG I couldn't believe it. It was a perfectly fine room, with a double bed (remember that I lived in hostels for 3 months by then), with just a couple of boxes. I was extremely happy.

They then asked me if I could start working the next morning and I said yes, of course. In less than 2 hours I had 2 jobs and a great house, this couldn't go any better. I was going to live with them for 3 weeks until the staff house was available again.

Then Richard, my new boss, took me back to the restaurant to pick up my luggage. While I was picking my things the restaurant manager asked me if I could do a shift that same night and I accepted. So went back home, love the sound of that, took a shower and went to work. Finally things were going great.

I lived with Anne and Richard for 3 weeks, they are the kindest people I've met, they treated me like if I was one their children, they spoil me with ice cream and took care of me even when I wasn't working for them anymore. I would always be grateful for that; I could never thank them enough.

I spent 9 months in this town, after my fail attempted of finding work in Christchurch I came back. After my return I worked in the supermarket, where another couple took me under their wing, Cushla and Chris, there are not words for this people. Working extra hours checking all the prices around the shop after the VAT went up, my last shift when they took me out for lunch and the goodbye that almost made me cry.

Both of these couples are amazing and even though I haven’t been back since November 2010, I remember them all the time. And I know I have to go pick up my suitcase Anne, I promise I will. I was suppose to go back and work for them, they were going to be my sponsors but the earthquake happened and that changed everything. But I'm going to go see them soon hopefully; there is still a lot of New Zealand that I want to see and a lot of people that I miss.

I spent time with so many people, this was my home, and I knew almost everybody. But there are 2 girls that need to be named. Chon, my roomie, this little Thai girl that I share so much time with, still waiting for her to come to Europe; and Kama this kickass Maori girl that taught me so much, my twin as they used to call use (just because we wear glasses, are about the same height and the same kind of hair), I'm also waiting for her.

There is a lot more to say about this place, and I'm going to tell you about that next time. So don’t miss it I swear you are going to love it as much as I did.

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The land of the Hobbit

Hey everybody I'm sorry I've been gone for so long. I had a month and a half of night shifts so it’s been really hard to do ANYTHING. But I'm back, I'm here so I wanted to wish you all Happy Holidays. Did you guys have a good time? I sure had a lot to eat, but even though I was away from my family I had a great time with friends.

Let’s go back travelling now. As I was telling you Wellington was my stop before finding the place I was going to spend almost my whole time in the country. But I'm going to skip that for now and tell you about a little road trip I did.

After 4 months of work in this amazing town that I'm going to talk about it later, I took some time off. My first destination was Queenstown where I was meeting a friend, Inge. We used to work together, she left before me but she was travelling around and by the time I had to leave my job she was looking for a new job too.

Now let me tell you a bit more about Queenstown. It’s one of the most popular winter destinations in New Zealand. During this period it gets really crowded with people that want to enjoy winter sports and people looking for a seasonal job.

The place is amazing you can go skiing, snowboarding, bungee jumping, paragliding, skydiving, jet boating, skateboarding, fishing, hiking, and lots more. If you love being outdoors and you love adventure sports, New Zealand is definitely your place. And a city like this one has a lot to offer.

We stayed here for less than a week, trying to find a new job. While we were job hunting we tried to enjoy ourselves too. Once we tried to get to the top of some hill, didn't follow directions properly but at the end we've got to the top of something. The view was unbelievable. The landscape of this place is just beautiful.

I had walks through the parks, admiring the autumn colours, yellow, orange, red; I love that time of the year.  I took walks down the lake and there’s always something new to see. It so quiet, you really can appreciate what you've got around and it lets you relax.

I found an Argentinian ice cream place called Patagonia, they also had chocolates and different types of sweets. It was my first time away from home for so long, so even though it was cold outside I was crabbing some ice cream to make me feel like I was back, lucky for me they fulfil my expectations.

After here, our next destination was Christchurch. But on our way we had to stop in Lake Tekapo. This 83 square kilometres lake, is fed by the Godley River, which has its source from the Southern Alps. That’s why it has that greenish/light blue colour, kind of like the glaciers. The main reason why it’s a tourist spot is to enjoy the clear sky during the night. The town is located away from the big city lights and at night you can see millions and millions of stars. Inge wanted to do this but we didn't last long outside in that cold night.

Another interesting thing to do is going on a hike up Mount John, appreciating the peace and quiet of the place, the nature that’s around you and the amazing view of the lake and the mountains.

The next day we took the road again and arrived to Christchurch. In here I just tried to get a job, unfortunately that didn't happen. So I just used to go to the city centre and walked around. You have a small shopping area where I went window shopping (remember I didn't have a job so I couldn't afford much). And of course you have the beautiful Cathedral, which partially collapse during 2011 earthquake.

You could also walk along the Avon River or take a ride on the tram. But of course there are much more things to enjoy in this city, you just need to go to one of the amazing parks that they have and take a deep breath of pure, clean air and just observe nature. Or you can go visit a museum or an art gallery.

There are not enough words to describe this awesome country, it’s just incredible. But next time I'm going to tell you about the place I love, the place I call my second home, and the place where I met some of the kindest, friendliest people in the world. So please hold on, I’ll promise I’ll be back soon this time ;).


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Welcome to Aotearoa

After we landed Lucia went with her boyfriend and I made a new friend, Martín, a guy from Buenos Aires, that was also by himself.

We stuck together for the first 4 days, it was nice having someone in the same situation. I was not alone. We opened bank accounts, applied for the National Insurance number and bought cellphones. Like that we were ready, we only needed to get a job.

I ended up staying in New Zealand, or Aotearoa in Maori, for a year and it was an amazing time, I loved it. For the first 3 months I lived in Auckland, which is not the capital but it is the biggest city.

One of the things you can do while you are here is visit Mount Eden, less than an hour walk from Auckland Business Centre. This is an inactive volcano with a summit at 196 meters. From here you get an amazing view of the city, I definitely recommend it. Around this mountain you have the Mount Eden Domain, they call Domain to the parks, a massive park where you can go an enjoy a sunny day. I went there with my friends Carlos, a translator from Catamarca, Argentina; and Guillaume, a French guy that lived in Chile for a bit and was living in the same hostel as me.

Far away from home

If you want to go to the beach you have to go visit Mission Bay, only 7 kilometres away from the city. You can take a bus or you can go walking. We use to do that and just enjoy the view off the coast.

On the way to Mission Bay

In New Zealand you can find walks to do almost everywhere, it's an outdoor country with a lot to see. So with my friend Sol, an accountant from Mar del plata, Argentina, we did the Coast to Coast Walk.It's a 16km hike across Auckland from one coast to the other, from the Waitemata to the Manukau. We walked pass a lot of amazing landscapes.

We took a bus and we started from Onehunga, the other coast.

After that we arrived to One Tree Hill Domain, the landscape here is unbelievable. It has a 183 meters volcano with 3 craters. Going up there was long but it was definitely worth it.

We then reached Mount Eden, but we didn't go up the summit because we've been there already. Soon after we had the Auckland Domain, but I'll talk about it a later. We finished in Albert's Park, located really close to the hostel where we were staying, a great park to chill in the middle of the city.

As you have probably realised by now, New Zealand has a lot of volcanoes. On my first weekend I went with Martín and 2 other guys to Rangitoto Island. We took a ferry and we, once again, started the walk up to the summit. But this one is 260 meters, on a hot day, it wasn't easy but we made it.

View from the summit

A place that should be in your list is the Auckland Domain, a 75 hectares park, where you can find the Auckland War Memorial Museum. I used t love going to this park, doing the different walks to reach the museum, it's very nice.

The museum is definitely worth visiting, I've been there at least twice. It has a lot of Maori history, from New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. It also has exhibitions of how the old classrooms looked like, how some towns looked like, you can see a lot of animals and they have, of course, a big war section.

Lovely kiwi

There was one thing that called my attention. On one of the section, on the walls they had panels full with names of people that died during the war, to commemorate them. But then I found a blank panel, at the bottom it read "Let these panel never be filled". Something so simple but so true, such a strong phrase.

As I said before, I lived in Auckland for 3 months. So I had a little family here, some people I keep in contact with, some I don't anymore but for that time, at the beginning of this trip, they helped me stay strong and not get home sick, I'm always going to be thankful for that.

Carlos, Clarisa, Me, Sol and Nacho

Aotearoa, is a country with a lot to offer. Everything is so green, bright green, it's amazing. But even though Auckland is the biggest city you can't feel the stress, it's not noisy, is chilled. You can find amazing parks all around the city, just to relax and forget about the world. I was definitely right, my dream came true and it wasn't what I expected, it was much more.

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Dreams do come true...

The people that know me or the people that met me while travelling know what happened next. But for you guys that don’t, let’s continue the story.

The day after I paid my spot for the visa I had to go to the embassy and hand over my xray. But when I got there what I saw wasn't what I was expecting.

Hundreds of people where outside the building, it seems that I wasn't the only one that had some trouble. A lot of the people were saying that they couldn't paid but they wanted to pay there. Some where demanding their place because they already had the ticket. As I said last time, if you didn't pay you didn't have a spot confirm and the 1000 visas were gone in 14 hours (remember I told you I got mine after 10 hours).

So after 3 hours of waiting I gave them my xray and now it was time to wait AGAIN. By Monday some of the people I met were getting replies already, but nothing for me. Once again I was freaking out, checking and refreshing the page ALL THE TIME.

It was Wednesday, I logged in like I've doing for the past couple of days and I saw it, finally, my confirmation. I was going to New Zealand =).

So the count down began, just 20 days left. I had to make sure I had everything, plane ticket CHECKED; medical insurance CHECKED; visa CHECKED; money CHECKED. I packed EVERYTHING that I owned, I was leaving for a year but I had a feeling I wasn't coming back (but shhh don’t tell my mum that). I had one massive suitcase and my 60L backpack, plus my smaller backpack with my laptop, super important to keep in touch.

My mum planned an amazing surprise party for me, she invited all of my friends and, OH MY GOD, I even had a bouncing castle (I love bouncing castle but lets be honest, who doesn't?).

The time went by and the date arrived. I was so nervous and excited. My first solo trip to a place that I've been wanting to go for almost a decade. I knew this was going to change everything.

I said goodbye to my parents and my sisters, they were already arguing who was going to get my room. It was a direct flight, Buenos Aires – Auckland,  just 11 hours away from starting my new life =).

I've got on the plane and on the sit next to me there was a girl, Lucia, a solo traveller that during her trip through South America met a kiwi guy that became her boyfriend and now she was going to New Zealand to be with him.

We took off and soon after that my dream flight would become a nightmare. It was raining outside and that gave me a weird feeling in my belly. We were up in the sky for a little bit when the turbulence started. I never being scared when it happens, I usually scared my sister when it does. But this time it was difference.

The plane was shacking badly, me and Lucia starting to get scared so we started talking and talking non stop. I remember graving the side of my seat with all my strength. And suddenly we saw something that freaked us out, it looked like a lighting hit the wing.

I kept checking the interactive map that shows you where you are. I remember thinking” I can’t believe I'm so close to my dream, this place I've been waiting since I'm 12 and I'm going to die on Argentinian ground”. So close yet so far away.

Luckily after the longest 2 first hours of trip, the turbulence stopped and I stopped  being dramatic and enjoyed the rest of the flight.

With this plane, we took the Polar Route, basically the plane goes down to Antarctica and then back up again to Auckland. What was cool about that is that when we reached the southest point on one side I could see pitch black and on the other one I could see a beautiful sunrise.

The rest of the flight went smoothly  and after 11 hours of sitting down we finally arrived to our destination.

That’s when it hit me, I was alone, on the other side of the world and whatever happened next, it was on me.

The beginning of a new chapter was about to start. So wish me luck.