Diterbitake: 28.02.2018
Right at the beginning, I would like to apologize for not having heard from me for a long time. During work, not much special happens. Although you can't say that about the past few weeks.
But to start with the basics: the two Czech girls actually quit working on Fridays in the same week, and we, as social as we are, went out to celebrate in the evening with the rest of the team (there were only four of us left). Work became more stressful as a result, but we started to enjoy it more and more and enjoyed the time until the last working day. With a great workplace, a fun job, nice bosses, and an awesome team in Queenstown, we probably couldn't have found a better job than this one at Snap Rentals. The job became more and more stressful, as the number of customers increased from day to day. There were days when we were completely overwhelmed because we realized that we didn't have enough employees. But that also meant more money in our pockets. After many conversations with the bosses, they eventually felt responsible to hire new employees. So we first got two German backpackers just to clean cars, which had the advantage for us that we could concentrate much better on office work and running the office. But since we knew that we wouldn't work longer than mid-February, our bosses had to act again to find replacements. This happened late, but fortunately not too late. In early February, we got to know two more French people who were supposed to take over our work. So we felt much better leaving our colleagues alone in mid-February. In the week after we left, Snap also hired a proper branch manager who was supposed to take over our job. But that was no longer our problem.
But not to bore you too much, I would like to tell you what happened besides the normal work: Apart from some parties in Queenstown, we also met a few more good friends. Three German Snap employees from Auckland came to visit us in Queenstown, with the task of shooting promotional videos. We spent many fun days and evenings with the three of them. In addition, we had the honor of being part of the promotional videos for Snap. We haven't received the complete videos yet, but I hope it will happen soon. At least we had a great time, including a road trip to Wanaka for filming. I hope I can give you more information when the videos are released.
We also spent some nice evenings with our bosses. Everyone is happy to have a few beers in Queenstown. But what we finally managed to do after work was to watch our first rugby game of the Highlanders (rugby team from Otago, the region around Queenstown/Dunedin, playing in the highest league in New Zealand and one of the best in the world). We had already seen some games three years ago in Dunedin. Unfortunately, we hadn't managed to do it on this trip through New Zealand so far, as the Rugby season hadn't started yet. The Highlanders won against the Warathas from Australia, but it was only a pre-season test match. The next noteworthy event was already our last working day. This was celebrated with a big farewell party. After work, we started with cooking delicious tacos and then went on to an alcohol-filled party in the evening. All Snap employees working in Queenstown at that time were there, which we thought was pretty awesome. It's a good thing we didn't have to work the next day. Instead, we had agreed to make a big breakfast for all the other party people the next day.
In the end, we left Snap with mixed feelings. As a conclusion of the work, I can say that, as I mentioned above, we had a lot of fun and would have gladly continued working for weeks if we didn't want to see more of the country. But now we are really looking forward to the next few weeks to see more of the country. Since there is still a lot ahead of us, which we already know, this time will certainly not be boring, and Nik and I are both looking forward to it very much.
I think that's a good place to end. So look forward to the next posts (which hopefully will come more often now). I can't say exactly what will happen. As I said, we don't prefer to plan too far ahead. Well, even the next week is already far ahead for us. But one thing is certain: we will take a closer look at the South next. But a lot can change in a few days. So be surprised, just like me.
Until then, with some beautiful pictures
Your Luca