Mount Maunganui, New Zealand

Jan 1, 2014
9 min read

Kia Ora from Aotearora, (Hello from The Land of the Long White Cloud)

As some people have politely reminded me an update on life in New Zealand is long overdue, I suppose they are right. Perhaps I am a little worried that this is going to be boring as life for me is currently similar to life back home, except in a different country, so it is quite a bit different, just psyching myself up. Here are some of my thoughts on life in New Zealand and some of the things I have been up to.

As I write this I am moored in Pilot Bay which is located in Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, about half way down the North Island on the East Coast. When I arrived I stayed at Tauranga Bridge Marina, a short ways up the harbour, but in an effort to save some money and seeing as the weather warmed up and an electric heater was no longer necessary I left for life on a mooring. Bridge Marina is a relatively new marina, well managed and maintained; a lovely place and I enjoyed my time there. Living at a marina definitely has a bit of a social aspect and I met some good friends there. There is also a convenience aspect, a café, laundry, restaurant/bar called Phil’s Place owned by none other than Phil Rudd. Anybody? Anybody? That’s right, the drummer from AC/DC. It was not uncommon to see Phil pull up in his Ferrari with a rented lady friend or hear a story about him filling up his fuel tank on his boat with 600 litres of water, oh to be a rock star. Staying at the marina would have been fine with me but it was just too expensive so I moved, didn’t take me long to pack. Now that it is summer friends from the marina bring their boats to Pilot Bay for the weekend and we have bbq’s and drinks. The thing about life on a mooring that concerns some people is the row to and from shore every day, well I got lucky, the mooring I rented off internet classifieds sight unseen turned out to be the furthest one from shore. Personally I enjoy the row and find it quiet amusing how others react, one rainy day after work my boss seemed genuinely sympathetic to my five minute row in the rain, I thanked him and assured him I would be OK, after all I had just worked for 10 hours in the rain.

It took me about a month to get settled in NZ before I started working, I tried to find work as soon as possible and put my name in some employment places but between the paperwork and finding a car it ended up being about a month. The first job I got was through a labour hire place and was a short term position as a maintenance guy at a retirement/assisted living complex. It was only 7 hours a day and the pay was shit but at least it was something. It was an enjoyable place to work, very laid back, friendly people and not to challenging, remember I had not worked for a year and needed time to adjust. The regular maintenance guy was getting behind and I helped him get caught up changing light bulbs, fixing leaky toilets, hanging pictures, painting mailboxes etc. While I was there I was helping a sub-contractor who gave me the number of his brother in-law who worked in construction which led me to my current job. I now work 10 hours a day, except Fridays which is only nine, although kind of a non-event because we also work pretty much every Saturday, at least the pay is still shit. It would be possible to write pages about the differences between building here than in Canada but I hate talking about work so I will point out a few of the more interesting things. A level is referred to as a “fish fart,” get it? Clever eh. And, well that’s about it.

When I am not working if there is a wave I continue to try and learn to surf. This is something I am unjustifiably enjoying very much. Probably the most challenging thing I have ever tried to learn, I suppose I could have gotten a long board and would have been fairly proficient at riding it by now but this was not my goal. I go out in most conditions even if I know the waves are too big for me, I need to get my fitness up, there has been times when I can’t paddle out past the shore break to the lineup and if I do make it out there I just get slammed, so much fun. It took many times falling, surfing mushy white water, nose diving, paddling like mad and missing waves before I got my first actual good ride and it only took that once to get hooked. For me the feeling of the wave picking you up, popping up on the board and to instantly be gliding through the water propelled by the wave is just amazing. Through my first year of cruising I decided that some form of recreation other than drinking beer and snorkelling would make cruising more enjoyable for me, I decided this should be surfing as it was something I have always wanted to learn and it would provide destinations to seek out and an opportunity to meet likeminded people other than cruisers. Hence my goals for my time in NZ, save money to continue sailing to remote places and learn to surf so I can ride waves in these remote places, unfortunately learning to surf does not earn money and earning money does not teach you to surf, such a predicament.

On the rare occasion that I have a weekend off or there is a long weekend I try and see some of the country. After living in BC and exploring much of its beauty and then sailing through the south pacific it is pretty hard to impress me. If this had not been the case I would rave about how beautiful NZ is. While in Fiji I met Kelley who is from San Francisco, she was also going to NZ to work for a year, we exchanged e-mail addresses and said lets meet up for a beer. One weekend she came up to the Mount, we checked out some beaches had dinner, some beers with friends, an enjoyable weekend. On her turn to host “meeting up for a beer” she suggested we go for a hike. Sure, why not, I borrowed an overnight type backpack thing from a friend and set out to meet her to do the Tangiroro Northern Circuit, giddy up. It was recommended to do the circuit in 3-4 days; Kelley decided we’d do it in 2. Upon arriving at the base and speaking to the park people who were warning people not to go into the Alpine because the weather was calling for 85km/hr winds and snow Kelley said no problem, we are going to do the circuit backwards so we won’t be in the alpine until the next day. We had reserved a spot in an alpine hut that was booked to its capacity of about 30 people, nobody else showed up. Anyway, despite the weather, it was a super cool experience and when you could see through the rain and fog the volcanic landscape and sulphur pools are beautiful in their own way, and I may not have seen the movie but I have hiked Mt. Doom. I returned the back pack and gave my friend clear instructions never to let me borrow it again. Next time Kelley and I meet up for beers it will be at a surf beach.

The first people I met after arriving in NZ continue to be my closest friends, Kat and Siorse, (pr. Shawsha,) where my neighbours at the marina and I consider myself very fortunate to have them as friends. They are both Kiwis but had just recently returned to buy their yacht after having spent quite a few years living in Australia, working and travelling. Kyoko and Luca also live on their boat/restoration project at bridge marina, Kyoko is a Kiwi, her mother is from Japan and Luca is Iranian but has spent time in Italy and Malaysia before coming to NZ to study, I think he has stopped studying. We have had many enjoyable evenings sharing meals on each other’s boats and having drinks, listening to the very animated Luca telling childhood stories about making bombs in Iran or smoking opium. Kat and Siorse are planning to travel on their yacht and hope to be ready to leave before next winter, it would be super fun if we could leave together, they are keen to go the Solomon Islands as Kat has spent some time there making films, definitely somewhere I would like to check out and we are all keen to find surf spots. It’s a wonderful idea but when you live this sort of life I have found plans are very fluid and you really never know what will happen.

I am the proud owner of a 1996 Nissan Prairie Joy, same colour scheme as my GMC Safari, not quite as practical but when gas costs $2.19/litre you really don’t want a V6. If you don’t mind not being cool it is a lot easier to find cheap, practical vehicle, lucky for me I stopped trying to be cool a long time ago, I am still pretty cool considering I don’t try though. When you live on a boat your vehicle is also part garage. It was pretty strange buying a car here, you don’t have to have insurance, for the first time in years my boat is insured but my car is not. I bought the car off a Korean traveller and didn’t even sign anything, just drove away on the wrong side of the road. Driving on the opposite side of the road isn’t that hard to get used too, it’s all the other things; I still turn my windshield wipers on instead of signalling fairly frequently. In Canadian terms, opposite here, you can’t turn right on a red light or advance in an intersection to turn left without a green arrow, annoying. There are almost no stop signs, instead, give way signs, good. Roundabouts are everywhere, good. Some roundabouts also have lights making them confusing and a huge waste of real estate, kind of dumb. U-turns are legal, good. Some intersections all lights are red for pedestrian crossing and you can cross diagonally, fun. Station wagons don’t have the 1950’s oppressed house wife stigma attached to them and their practicality and economy are embraced, there are lots of them. There are hardly any SUV’s because they use too much gas and the roads are paved anyway, plus they don’t get that 2 days of snow the make them essential in Vancouver. I have yet to encounter traffic. You do have to register your vehicle with the gov’t which costs and you are required to get a Warrant of Fitness inspection every 6 months. I leave my car parked at the beach with my surfboard, wetsuit, tools, etc. and I don’t think I have to worry about anything getting stolen.

Recently a dear friend of mine from Canada came to NZ for part of her holidays. Nikol spent about week here, then Oz for a week, then another week here. I managed to get a few days off and we did a couple road trips checking out some more of the country. We spent a day in Auckland, the biggest city I have been in since I left, and that was more than enough time for me. On our way back to the Bay of Plenty we drove through the Coromandel Peninsula and checked out some beautiful places. We also managed a drive down the East Cape to Gisborne south of where I am, lots more beautiful places. And my favourite, before I dropped her off at the airport we spend a few days in Northland, north of Auckland. It was super fun to have a travelling companion for a while, share expenses, actually, once again, I got spoiled and to be able blame someone else for getting lost. Nikol also hosted a little birthday party for me which was super fun and very appreciated.

There is probably a lot more I could tell you about life in New Zealand but I meant to have this off before the New Year which didn’t happen, so I’ll settle for before the North American New Year. I live in the future, always a day ahead of you. There is swell in the forecast so hoping to get as much water time in before I go back to work, going to be busy so this is it for now. Attached are some pictures, tried to include some of me, thanks to Nikol there are a couple anyway. As always I look forward to your replies and any news or pictures from home.

Happy New Year,

All the Best to You and Yours,

Chur,

Jonathan