Post Office Lane

We have been enjoying hanging out with our co-workers after work, eventhough it has been the cause of a few late nights recently. We spend a lot of time in Post Office Lane (where the Cow is) drinking at Woody's after work. These are some pictures of our co-workers, friends, and locals that we spend our time with.

A Fun Day Off

Chelsea and I have been working a lot lately, but we have still managed to fit in a lot of fun. I had the entire day off on Sunday and got to enjoy every second of it. It was the hottest day since we've been here so I spent all day outside enjoying the sunshine.



I went to Queenstown with some friends for work to experience my first ever Rugby match. We went to a Rugby Sevens tournament and got to see about 10 different Rugby matches that were 20 minutes long. It was fun learning a new sport....the Kiwis go crazy for Ruby.

After a long, hot day in Queenstown we met Chelsea after work at went to the outdoor cinema that is in Wanaka every Sunday night. The local movie theater puts a huge screen and massive speakers in the middle of Wanaka's biggest park and plays a movie for free every Sunday night in the summer. The atmosphere is incredible and there is nothing more satisfying than some free fun!

A Little Glimpse Into Our Life

Our lives haven't been very exciting lately. Our days consist mostly of working or hanging out by the pool or lake. We don't have anything to complain about, obviously :)

The Cow is the restaurant that I (Meg) work at. It is in a really fun part of town called Post Office Lane. The lane consists of the Cow, and two bars called Woody's and Barluga. All three bars are connected by the same courtyard with two huge fireplaces and a ton of outdoor seating. Chelsea and I spend a lot of time in Post Office Lane whether I am working or we are getting drinks and playing pool at Woody's after work.

Trout is the restaurant that Chelsea works at that is in the center of town, right across the street from the lake. We both have been so busy at work with all of the holidaymakers in town but we really enjoy our restaurants and the people we work with.

This is the view of the lake from Chelsea's restaurant

The weather has been so gorgeous and hot lately. Between the good weather and the holiday season, Wanaka has been absolutely packed with people. Everyone spends the day at the lake with the millions of activities they have available from kayaking and paragliding to just sunbathing on the sand.

Today is New Years Eve in New Zealand and unfortunately we both will be spending the night working. Post Office Lane is having a huge New Years Eve Party that we will both get in to for free so hopefully we get out of work by midnight!

An International Christmas

Chelsea and I had a very enjoyable Christmas despite the fact we were far away from family and Christmas traditions. We got invited by my co-workers to a barbeque and campout. Most of the people at the restaurant I work at are from different countries and therefore don't have family here in New Zealand to spend the holidays with. They have formed their own tight knit family here in Wanaka and were gracious enough to let Chelsea and I join in on their Christmas. It was quite the international Christmas with Chelsea and I being the only Americans along with 4 people from England, 2 from Ireland, 1 from the Czech Republic, and 4 from New Zealand.


Chelsea was sad that we didn't have a Christmas tree to put presents under so she made one out of construction paper and taped it to the wall. The tree is still up on the wall right next to my Christmas cards from my nephew Jack and my sister Katie.


Here we are racing the Brits to see who can put their tent up faster. Of course, Chelsea and I won.


We had our first Cricket experience and I can say with certainty that it is the most boring sport ever. It is essentially a very boring version of baseball. Although, everyone else at the party made sure to let Chelsea and I know that baseball was the dumbest sport they had ever seen. Everyone was making fun of Chelsea and I for not knowing how to play but we held our own once we figured out the rules.


Here is our friend Pete telling Chelsea that we could take a commercial break from the game to make her feel like we were in the United States again. Everyone loves to make fun of the Americans.

Queenstown and Shotover!!

We have been in Wanaka now for almost a month and we both finally landed jobs!! I (Chelsea) got a job at a restaurant/bar in town right on the lake called Trout Bar and start next week and Meg got a job at a super cute and cozy pizza/pasta place called the Cow and has already had a few shifts. It will be quite nice to finally have a bit of an income!

We decided to rent a car today and take a trip into Queenstown since we both had a few days until we started really getting into work. We got lunch in town, went to Starbucks and pretended we were home and it was winter with all the holiday cups and decorations!, and finally took a trip down the Shotover River in the Shotover Jet Boats! It was absolutely terrifying but a great rush! These boats only need 10 cm of water in order to move and I swear I could have stuck my hand outside the boat and touched the bottom of the river at times. We were travelling up to 80 km/hour through these twisty super-narrow canyons and our driver, Clay, would drive straight at the rocks and turn at the absolute last possible second!



Here is the view of Queenstown, way at the bottom on the lake, from the Crown Range pass that we drove through from Wanaka. Gorgeous.



One of the Shotover Jets cruising through the canyons.

The Shotover Jet is said to be "the World's most exciting Jet Boat ride" and one of their trademarks is the 360 spin. Clay would twirl his hand in the air to signal to all the passengers that he was about to do a 360 and to hold on tight, we got soaked. It is just incredible that these drivers have such control in such narrow canyons at such high speeds, especially when they throw in a 360!

Here we are after our Shotover ride totally soaked and freezing from the wind and the splashing water.

Here is the check in site and the gorgeous surroundings of the canyons.

Our Backyard

We discovered a new trail on our way to town the other day and along the way, some gorgeous views of the lake and surrounding mountains. Unfortunately we don't have these views from our apartment, but just over the hill behind our complex is the lake and all of this beauty!



Beautiful Lake Wanaka and the Southern Alps from the path to town.



The view of the hills in the opposite direction from the lake, still beautiful.



The lake and the town nestled right on the shore.



More of the lake...

and more!

Work in Wanaka

Our first money-making gig in Wanaka was at a Peony Farm where we helped harvest the flowers to be shipped around New Zealand and to be exported to the United States. The farm was located just outside Wanaka in the hills and had a gorgeous backdrop. It was quite a small farm owned by a couple and run by their son. We got two days of work in with them and on top of a paycheck they gave us a bouquet of gorgeous peonies. They started out a vibrant pink and as they bloomed more and more faded almost to white.