Nelson- my new home!

Hello from the South Island of New Zealand.

I have not blogged in about 3 weeks so I do have a lot of catching up to do. Below is a summary of what I have been doing over the last couple days. More blogs will follow with entries from Bay of Islands- Nelson. There is a lot to tell, so stay tuned!

My current location right now is in a small town of the name of Nelson. It is known as the sunniest place in the country. This will be my home for the next couple of months. Yesterday I went out job searching to earn some cash for the rest of my travels. Money does fly here... I ended up finding a job at a cafe/ restaurant called Lambrettas. I will be serving/waitressing. Not my ideal type of job but I have experience in that field and it looks like a fun place to work. Nelson also has a beautiful beach within a 20 minute bike ride away. There are also neat Saturday markets where all the locals bring out there best fruits and veggies to sell amongst the crowd. This weekend I watched a busking performance with jugglers and comedians trying to entertain the masses. It has a really nice community feel here. Nelson is a town about the size of Nanaimo (population wise)...with a little more sunshine. So I am quite content living here...I hope that I find some nice locals to hang out with and a flat or apartment that I can rent out. It would be much cheaper then staying in hostels. My hostel right now is very nice...it feels just like a home. It is called "The Bug" with beetle cars decorated all over the hostel. I like it here, they provide free bikes and free internet. Tonight Tim and I will participate in another Kiwi barbecue. Usually this entails Sausages, Steak, Potatoes, and a green salad. Classic meal in New Zealand. They cannot get enough of their bbqs here. Oh well can't complain. I will do anything to get a balanced meal cooked for me. Tomorrow I will figure out some logistics such as a New Zealand Social Insurance Number and open up a bank account here in Nelson. My first day of work is on Friday...until then I will explore Nelson a little bit more. Cheers for now!