WOW! It has been too long since my last entry.
It has been a busy week full of job hunting, resume writing, web surfing, paper reading, etc., etc.
Had my SCUBA class on Thursday night for my Advanced Certification. Was supposed to be going on a weekend of diving to the Poor Knights Islands but the passing of Cyclone Ivy killed that trip. So Dean, the instructor, has agreed to take me to a nearby lake tonight for two of the required dive sign-offs: the navigation dive and another to be determined enroute. Them I will go out on several other dives with them over the next few weeks to get the other 3 required sign-offs. When I have the Advanced certificate I can start working towards an instructor's qualifications. Dive HQ is actually a commercial diving outfit and training facility for commercial divers so I picked the right place to get training. You never know I may even get the commercial diving bug. I've done stranger things in my life.
I have signed on with Camper & Nicholsons in Fort Lauderdale. They are a crew placement agency and as it turns out are currently representing the Captain and Chef of a yacht that I worked on last year. They have the same dream job in mind as I have... crew on a large sailing yacht. The big difference is that they have several years of yacht work experience whereas I am just getting started. So while they can now be choosie I must take whatever I can get. The agent that I had my interview with last Friday spoke with the chef and she says I got a great reference from her. YEAH!! With my great letter of recommendation from a captain plus this verbal reference I am feeling pretty good about my chances.
Of course it is my preference to get ona yacht here in New Zealand but if I must go elsewhere to get the job that will kick-start this new career, well... a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Right!?!
I mentioned that I had asurprise visit with a friend and her husband from Ottawa. Well, they returned from their tour of the North Island on Monday. We met up for another visit and supper on Monday evening. Val had her camera with her this time so I was able to see all their pics from their travels around Sydney and Melbourne, Australia as well as the pics from New Zealand. This has made my desire to travel this country very powerful. It was so nice to have visitors from home and company for a couple of meals. For some strange reason I am feeling more alone on this trip than any before this. Maybe I need a travelling companion now. Being on my own may be starting to wear a little thin. Hmmm!
They called me this Monday afternoon about 4pm just as I was having lunch (I have taken to having slunches [supper-lunch] lately) to invite me out to join them for Thai supper. So, I met them at the visitors' info centre at 6:00 and we took a walk around the harbour so that Val could get some pics then off to the WangThai restaurant for supper. It is an excellent restaurant and we all enjoyed it emmensely. We had a great time. And I got to see the photos... about 450 of them.
After supper I walked them back to their hotel (my bus stops right across the street from it) where we sat for awhile to watch some 'youth' ride a bungy thing that is set up across the street. It is called the Sky Screamer and is a cage with three seats inside. On the sides are attached giant bungy cords that are hanging from two steel towers, one each side. The cage is on a tie-down hook with a lever. The bungies are pulled up to the towers' tops and the lever is pulled to release the cage which shoots straight up then down then up... well you get the idea. The cage careens about out of control for about 5-10 seconds then just bounces around for about 2 minutes before it is lowered to the ground. $30/person, $15 to go a second time. I wouldn't pay more than $15 for the first ride and a second go should be less than half price. The really thrilling part lasts about 2-5 seconds.
Not much else to report. Hope to have more to write about soon as hanging about this city is getting to be a bore and I want to get out to see the countryside. This week I plan to sign up for training to get my basic STCW95 certification. Very pricey but can make all the difference in the world to getting the yacht job of my dreams. The courses are offered both here in Auckland and at a Technical Institute in Warkworth. It may be an opportunity tio get out of the big city. Warkworth is north of Auckland on the Kowhai Coast about halfway to the Bay of Island and Poor Knights' Islands.
Getting out of the city will probably also help this feeling of bored aloneness go away too. As long as I am travelling and seeing new stuff and doing something interesting I don't get that alone feeling.
Gotta go do more job search stuff. Have several calls to make this afternoon to get the forms I need for the courses, etc. Think I'll try having lunch before 4pm today too. Like maybe now at 1:00ish.
Posted by gailene at March 3, 2004 11:55 AM