Winter in Nelson - A Tale of Four Jobs.

So I ended the last post having upped and left Christchurch and settled into a woofing job in Nelson while I was searching for a hospitality job. Well it is safe to say I found one! In fact, my time in Nelson has been a bit of a rollercoaster as I was forced to adopt the attitude of earning money at every opportunity I could; for fear that there might not be more tomorrow.

My first job offer was for a new burger restaurant in town called Burger Culture, similar to that of Handmade Burger Co. back in the UK or Boss Burgers. Once again the relaxed Kiwi attitude to life was evident here as even the chefs were laid back! I have worked in many restaurants over the years now and I have never experienced their like in what is naturally quite a stressful profession. This did not detract from their cooking though, as my God these burgers were good and some of the best named I have ever heard - eg. Hen Stefani, Dirty Fryana, Baby Got Black, Snoop Hog... the list goes on (if you didn't get any of the references then brush up on your 80s music). They also offered some of the best beer I have ever tried including a B.E.A.uuuuuutiful coffee stout by a local brewery.Well worth a try if you're ever in the area. Unfortunately, the problem with being a backpacker is that you are often going to be the first to leave, and therefore at the bottom of the pecking order when fortunes turn. After about two months of being open, the restaurants opening rush began to calm down and as a result my hours were cut in half, leaving me with little to no saving potential for my summer travels.

This put me in the market again for another job that was able to offer me more hours and/or a better rate of pay which led me to my next job as a Builders assistant/laborour. The owners of the hostel I woof at had recently invested in a second hostel in the centre of town, and they put me in touch with the builder that was renovating the building. Better still, I was only ever required to work during the day for this job, and he was willing to work around my woofing shifts. Conversely, the hostel owners were also willing to be flexible with my woofing shifts in order to give me as much time helping to renovate the hostel as possible so that they could open on time. In short, my hours were able to bounce back up significantly again between my three jobs and I was back on track to leave on a stash of cash come summer.

Building is probably some of the most satisfying work I have ever done as it is both physically demanding at times while it is immensely therapeutic at others. Perhaps the best bit about it though is that you can actually see your progress as the job progresses and you work from room to room. The general knowledge you gain about how a building is put together is fantastic as I was involved in stripping it back to its roots initially, digging in new pile lines and insulating and installing new floors and walls. After a while I was also taken to other sites to assist in painting a church roof in Founders Heritage Park and pulling down and putting up a new shelter in the beer garden of The Freehouse bar. Gradually I graduated from sledgehammers and screwdrivers to Renovators and Skill Saws - something that I particularly enjoyed playing with.

Once again though, fate turned on me again, as I had my hours cut at Burger Culture again to just two shifts a week from my already low four. As you can perhaps tell, I was enjoying my building work immensely and chatted about it at Burger Culture with the others most evenings. Unfortunately, this led to my manager thinking that I needed even less hours than before, as I was one of the few with another job and once again they had to prioritise those staff not leaving soon. While not a catastrophic blow, this cut in hours once again would damage my saving potential for my summer travels and so once again I began looking around. Luckily enough, one of the other woofers had asked whether anyone would be willing to take some hours at the restaurant they worked at on the harbour waterfront. This lead to job number four - Styx Bar and Restaurant.

Styx possibly produces some of the nicest looking food I have ever seen; Seafood pies with freshly caught fish and flaky golden pastry, pork belly rolled in crispy crackling and fresh calamari on a light salad. If anyone ever ventures to Nelson, I cannot recommend this place enough. The venue is stunning as it sits right on the waterfront with a view of some amazing sunsets and with live music occasionally on too, there would always be a good atmosphere. As a result I began eyeing up a straight swap - Burger Culture for Styx, however, once again fate had one more twist for me and they were unable to offer me as many hours as they originally thought and they suggested they shared me with Burger Culture.

So there we have it! With just over a month to go I began splitting my waking hours between my four jobs; woofing and building by day, Burger Culture midweek evenings and Styx on the weekend evenings. This left me with very few days off to report however there were a few! Occasionally, I would pop over to the stunning golden sands of cable bay where I was lucky enough to see some of the local wildlife including starfish, sea urchins, mussels and even a Sacred Kingfisher! I also visited Kaiteriteri on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park which is a beautiful little sea town that could easily be on a Greek Island had the sea not been icy cold. On a very rare occasion I also left the coast and cut inland to check out a few hikes such as The Grampians, the Centre of New Zealand and the Whispering Falls, all great little day hikes for those just looking to escape the world a bit.

Now I have finished though! After one of the most knackering months of my life I quit all of them last week and am now about to set out once again! The car is loaded, and the camera charged and ready to go and I too cannot wait.

Up first will be a 2 day hike along the Abel Tasman National Park coastline followed by an exploration of the Marlborough Sounds before my departure from the south island once and for all. My ferry crossing has been booked to Wellington for Thursday 26nd October and then my adventures in the north island will begin for my final month and a half in this beautiful country. Now that my life is due to get a tad more interesting again I will start to post more regularly but I hope you're all well back home!

To anyone from Nelson reading, thank you for everything this winter and hit me up if you're ever UK bound.

Cheers!

Tom

P.S - Burger Culture also got to provide the food for a Mitre 10 Cup game at Makos Rugby Club where I got to hold the Super Rugby Cup lifted just weeks before by All Black Captain Keiren Read and the Crusaders! Bit of a bonus!