02/08/2019 first week. Job, car, camping

Wow.. it's only been a week and we've already opened a bank account, applied for our tax number, bought a car, and found our first job. Where else does all of this happen so quickly?

After the 'setback' came that working on a dairy farm does not extend our visa, it quickly became clear to us that we still want to work on a livestock farm. We have experience and therefore it is the probably the quickest way to find a job. We posted an 'ad' on a group for backpacker jobs on Facebook. In less than 8 hours, we had a job. Next Monday, we will start working on a dairy farm 1.5 hours from Christchurch.

The hourly wage varies from $18.50 to $20, depending on our experience. The farmer will probably test us first. Minimum wage here is $17.70 gross.

We are expected to work 45 hours a week, but we hope to work a bit more to earn more. Until September, we will work 6 days a week and have one day off. From September, this schedule will change to working 8 days and having 2 or 3 days off, depending on how much the cows are still calving.

If we like it there, we plan to work there until the beginning or middle of November and then start traveling with the summer. Also, most hiking trails here only open in early or late October, and that is one of the main reasons why we are here :) Well, let's see how the work goes, if we don't like it, we will continue looking.

We have also found a car, a Mitsubishi L300, a nice cozy van. It is so easy to transfer ownership of a car here. You simply go to the post office, fill out a transfer application, show your driver's license, and the car is yours.

For now, we have cleaned our van and it is currently built so that you can sleep in it, but we would like to convert it into a seat that can be folded into a bed before we start traveling in the summer.

The previous owners built it a bit complicated, which is why Jenny has to slide into the car to access all the equipment :-D

Our van is also self-contained, with this certificate we are allowed to camp at any campground, especially many free ones, which is just great. Self-contained means here that according to the current regulations, you must have a sink, a fresh water tank of 12 liters, and a waste water tank of 12 liters installed in the van. There must also be a toilet that is always accessible, it can be a 'portable toilet' as well.

In addition, in New Zealand, every car has a registration, called 'Rego' for short, which must be renewed every half or full year (online) depending on the year of manufacture. Then there is something here that is similar to a vehicle inspection, called WOF, which is also renewed every half or full year depending on the year of manufacture. The self-contained certificate is valid for 4 years.

We will try camping in the car from today until Sunday, although we only have 1 degree Celsius at night. On Sunday, we will drive to the farm.

See you soon :)