7 Months down...

Well I officially had my 7 month anniversary in New Zealand last week. Time has FLOWN by and its scaring me. I'm actually starting to stress out about getting my visa extended. I'm pretty sure if I can find a job in engineering I can get my visa renewed, but the job hunt is becoming exhausting. It turns out engineering jobs are somewhat thin and while I keep getting close, I haven't been able to land the job yet. I've still been meeting with yacht designers and it seems like that is just a matter of waiting out the industry for an opening.

In the meantime I am actually getting a bit more homework done (the deadline is creeping up now) and still working as a waitress. They have changed my schedule a bit so it is a bit more conducive to getting some studying done. The staff has almost completely changed, so I am a bit of a veteran now and I get the more important (and less exhausting) tasks which is nice.

Things with Sean are still going great! Last weekend we went to his aunt and uncle's property in Bethells Beach. I think they had the best view in town. I believe the property used to be an old junk yard of some sort so they have taken a lot of the junk and gotten creative with it. It reminded me a lot of my mom. On the back part of their property they converted an abandoned caravan into a room and fitted out a shed with a bathroom and fridge to accomodate.

The view from their living room window!

a bunch of old cooking pots stacked on top of each other

The caravan where we slept!

The inside of the caravan

When we got there we had a picnic on a hill on their property and watched the sunset. Then I went back to my days at the lake and we laid and watched the stars. A few minutes after complaining about not seeing any shooting stars one came across the sky that I think was the most amazing one I've ever seen. We saw a few more throughout the night (and some satellites of course) and it was a perfect end to what had been a 9 hour work day.

The next morning we walked down the hill and over the sand dunes to the lake. Despite the fact that it was raining when we woke up, it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. I was SUPER excited because I miss lakes terribly. I'm not really a huge ocean fan, which is unfortunate for living on a giant island, and I was really looking forward to getting to chill in a lake. It wasn't quite the same as Lake Texoma, but I was quite content. I even got to lay out and work on my tan (that's right, I actually have a tan now). We stopped at the beach for a bit to check it out and then unfortunately had to head home.

sand dunes

the lake!

A view of the lake from their property!

Beach!

I'm still volunteering for the yacht club's sailing races. One of the guys just bought a new trimaran and has offered to take me out on it and teach me how to sail, but work keeps getting in the way. I am determined though. The house is great and we just celebrated both of my flatmate's birthdays. In a few weeks we get to celebrate mine too! I would love to hear from all of you, so send me an e-mail and tell me about your life. Everyone seems to think their lives are boring in comparison, but I promise my life isn't that exciting and I really want to hear from you!