Remember how in my last visa post I talked about wondering if a week would be enough time? Well, I had to make a decision yesterday and I didn’t think it would be sufficient.

In spite of the research I had done asking many other people how long it took to get their working holiday visa for Oz, I had a feeling mine would take longer. See, for them, it took like 2 days to get back, so if you figure that I put my application in last Wednesday evening, one would think I would have gotten my visa yesterday. However, DIAC’s inability to take a full look at my situation the first time they updated my status has led it to still not be completed.

Like I said before, they wanted me to get another chest x-ray even though I already had one in January that should be valid. I even had Patrick call DIAC for me on Friday to make sure this fact was known, however, they still didn’t update the status until yesterday that I no longer need the x-ray. Since processing probably officially started after that moment, I had to figure it would be 48 hrs at least from that time until the visa is approved (or not), and that meant that I had to change my flight.

I know I should be happy about the extended stay, right? But, to be honest, I just haven’t felt New Zealand. For starters, NZ feels like an outdoorsy type of place, and its just bloody cold! Besides this, a lot of the beautiful scenery is better accessible by driving around, another activity that would be better done if I were with other people and renting a vehicle. And, its just more of the money I had finally started to save in Oz, in hopes of exploring Oz, that I’m spending.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to do New Zealand, but I would have to do it under different circumstances so I can really experience it. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by too much adventure in the past. There’s nothing like the thrill of getting from point A to B when you don’t know the language in a strange foreign country, but here, its just too easy

I’m off people! I need to make some travel plans now!

I hopped onto the computer to check out the ferry details from Auckland only to find myself surprised. No services were running to Rangitoto this week (only) because of pest eradication. What a bummer, yeah? I thought so, too.

So, I went with the second best option and hopped a quick ferry to Devonport, which, from the information I had gathered, had a “volcanic cone” you can walk up. Now, I know what a volcano should look like, but the “cone” part got me. What did that mean?

I immediately saw what that meant when I arrived and saw this mound in my view. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said to myself. Seriously, I’ve seen ant hills bigger than this “volcanic cone”! On the plus side, I well welcomed the challenge of conquering this peak, which would be nothing like the torturous climb of Mount Pacaya back in Guatemala that left me weak and fearing for my life at every step.

Ant hill or not, I still managed to work up a bit of a sweat. Uphill climbs and I are just not friends - heck, we’re not even acquaintances! Luckily the climb was full of peaks hinting of the final view from the top to keep me going… (that and a 75 year old man kicking my ass on the walk). How am I so unfit if I spend loads of time everyday walking everywhere?!

Finally, I reached the top of my ant hill, only to be amazed at how great the view actually was from a seemingly tiny hill.

Auckland, in all of its industrial looking-ness, sat in clear view and whitewashed in a bright sunshine. Some random youngsters took advantage of the great photo moments a strange mushroom field provided. I looked on in envy as they shared their travels together, a feeling I tried to recreate in this weird self-portrait… unsuccessfully (ha). Everyone on top - except for the poor man that lost his dog - appeared to be fully enjoying the feeling of being on top… and conquering an ant hill.

After spending four months in Australia, my weird little visa expired, so I came to New Zealand to apply for my working holiday visa. I arrived in Auckland yesterday, but not without the proper set of hoop jumping necessary to make it that much more of an endeavor. To start off the day, when I made it to the airport (thanks for the ride, Pat!) I had to wait in a massively long line. And, not only was it long, it was also SLOW-MOVING, which angers me more than traffic jams. I had to stand there for freaking ever. I’m not sure why it was so crazy slow, but I will say that even a large group of people that was well ahead of me in line was STILL there after I left, and that was no short adventure for me.

Well I did something stupid. Apparently you need to have proof of onward travel from New Zealand BEFORE you can get your boarding pass to go there. I thought I looked this up because it seemed like something I had heard about before, but I must have been misinformed. I only purchased the one way ticket because I wasn’t sure about how long it would take to get my visa.

I had to immediately buy a ticket back for Wednesday hoping that would be enough time. Will it?! I don’t know. The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship informed me that it normally takes 48 hours to process an online application. However, something in the back of mind told me that I would have complications because of my travel resume.

And of course, there is a little bit of controversy. Not too long ago, I phoned DIAC asking if I would need to get a medical exam. They said I may need to get a chest Xray, but since I had already had one in January of this year, it should still be on file and valid.

But, I received an email today stating that I need to have a chest Xray. Poo. I emailed the office back because they don’t have a phone number I can call from outside of Australia, so that makes it more frustrating. I can always change my plane ticket back, but who wants to do that?

Hopefully I’ll get it sorted without needing another Xray because who knows how long that will take? Oh visas. Fun stuff!

Sooooo, the crazy thing that happened this week was that one of the America questions actually had the answer of “DANICA PATRICK” and I KNEW IT! WTF?! Trivia guy must have read my blog and put that question in there

Hmm… yes and I don’t have much time to write anything else because I have to get work done before going to HUNTER VALLEY today for my birthday celebration. I’m hoping to see kangaroos and get lots of good shiraz. And, I must apologize for not writing more lately, but that is a good thing because my life has been so busy and full of goodness that taking the time to be on the computer hasn’t been as important to me. Lots of stories to tell for sure when I do get back into it.

heart signs,
Brooke

I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve been moving from place to place so often. There’s also all those ridiculous American stereotypes that I never think I could fit into. What is it even like back home?!

Well thanks to the latest email from my dad, I remember. That’s right - I’m from the M-Dub, or the Mid-West for those who aren’t familiar. The place where corn grows in your backyard because your backyard happens to be a corn field. The place where your little sister races go-karts!

Now that’s America! I laughed when I saw these, but not in a bad way. Maybe she’ll be the next Danica Patrick!

The Entrance: There’s a fishing town up north actually called The Entrance that a bunch of my friends here go to. Someone has a shack up there (basically a run-down tiny house) with loads of beds that everyone can sleep in, so it ends up being tons of fun. Unfortunately, when I arrived on Saturday the weather turned to crap and decided to be super windy with rain. Boo!

The fish weren’t particularly in a biting mood either. This is all Honky caught:

I did finally learn what a refuge island was. Do we have these in the States?

Third Job: Third job finally came through! I am now working with The Furnished Property Group in Sydney and excited about it. Part of the job will include building and writing a company blog for them - Life in Furnished Property. If anyone is thinking about coming to the Sydney area and needing a place (minimum 1 month stay) let me know and I’ll hook you up!

I’m very excited, especially because I have left the tutoring job and my evenings have now opened up. Life is good here!

Moving Places: I have also moved out of my shoebox International House room to a much larger and nicer one on the corner of Redfern and Surry Hills. I love my new place. It is of course with The Furnished Property Group, but I was looking to rent with them with or without getting my new job. I WISH I had known better before I started looking for places on my own because this was an easier route to take that would have saved me many headaches when leaving.

MacGyver Skills: Even though the circumstances surrounding the discovery of my MacGyver skills were unforeseen and stressful, I’m somewhat proud to announce that I am officially awesome. I went back to my room last weekend to clean up and prepare for inspection. I hung my keys on the hook inside and ran downstairs to throw away my coffee cup. Low and behold, the wind, for the first time in nearly two months, actually blew the door to my room shut, which automatically locks it. All my important things were inside - my laptop, purse, money, keys to new place, etc.

The landlord -surprise, surprise- was not answering his phone, so I was stuck. Of all days! My house mates got their laptops and found me the numbers of various locksmiths, but I was determined to figure it all out in some other way. I know the crack at the bottom of the door is very large, but it was still too difficult to get to the key hook way high. So I went through the tiny crack at the top.

I grabbed a metal hanger and straightened it out. After sliding it through the top crack, I bent it and started swinging. It wasn’t doing much at first and Emi was standing behind me dictating the locksmith’s number because she didn’t see this going anywhere. “Ten minutes!” I shouted.

Finally, I did it. I hit the keys and knocked them off the hook to the floor. I pulled my hanger out from the top and twisted the end into a hook. I got down on my stomach and hooked the keychain from under the door. I. was. successful. I. rock.

To make the day even more unbelievable, I was able to use my amazing MacGyver skills to hook the keys stuck in the back door. We have two back doors - one door and one gate like 7-8 feet apart. The gate is locked with a bike lock and the backdoor with a key, but both are one the same keychain. Someone left the keys in the backdoor and proceeded to lock the bikelocked gate door. I attached two hangers together and latched the keys from the lock in the backdoor to save the day yet again!

Thus concludes this three part series on getting caught up. I’m sure I’ve left out loads, but at least now I can start talking about the rest in their own posts. Happy reading!

Housewarming: In the meantime, the house that we shared a backyard with was broken into. The French and Italian housemates all decided that they didn’t feel so safe there anymore and went about renting a house of their own. They had a housewarming party and everyone invited was green with envy at how nice their place was compared to ours!

After they all left, the International House became much less fun, and the cockroaches began to take over…

Easter: This year’s Easter events were much different from the year’s before, but it was still a great time. Sydney does this fair called the Easter Show that a bunch of people gathered up for. My favorite part of the Easter Show was the woodchopping events where I was left amazed, yet inspired. It made me yearn for the pick axe I so loved during the archaeological dig I attended in Spain.

All the Aussies I know ranted and raved about something called “show bags” before we headed to the Easter Show. Apparently, these are bags of goodies you can get for fairly cheap from different companies. Of course, the tallest dude in the bunch decided that sporting a purple Willy Wonka hat he got from his show bag was the way to go. Hmm…

I also encountered one of the longest ATM lines ever there:

Third Job: Finally, a company I was talking with from the first week I arrived in Sydney decided to meet with me to talk seriously about a project I could do for them. If the job were to happen, this would solve my money problems and working hours dilemma. Could it possibly work out?!…

Hungry for more? Check back for Part 3 of this 3 part series!