Sailing
One of the things to do in Paihia (and of course in other places in NZ) is to make a trip on a sailboat. And of course we did that. On our way we had mostly good weather (one small patch of rain clouds), we saw penguins and dolphins, beautiful island with beautiful beaches. We anchored at one of those islands, swam to shore, hikes a bit, went back and had an incredible lunch. Mike, our captain / cook / host did an amazing job. Apart from some bodyparts that were sunburnt after our trip, the photos will tell the story. It was amazing!
Next stage in our travel
After a day of hard labour (Judith worked until 01.30 am), with some breaks for groceries / ice creams / coffee, we continued our journey from Paihia to Cape Reinga, the northern most tip of the North Island of New Zealand. After a small hike to see some of the amazing views (including two ocean currents collide), we drove south again to Ahipara. Speaking of locations, I am planning on including some pictures with screengrabs from Googlemaps, to show you where we are and how we got there. Another item in my ToDo list. But travelling with beautiful weather to beautiful parts of this beautiful country is taking it’s time, especially if you take into consideration that I am applying to various teaching jobs in New Zealand.
About that applying that you’re talking about all the time, what’s up with that?
Well, as most of you guys know, or could now, if you read the “About” and “Aboot”of this website, our goal is to eventually stay in New Zealand for a year and for me (Bas) to get a teaching job. So far, a lot of processes are frustrated (NZQA is taking their sweet time assessing my qualifications, I don’t have a teaching license yet since the New Zealand Teacher Council wants the NZQA report, yada yada, and dare I say: yada) So at times this can be very unmotivational. However, writing a cover letter to apply for a job requires you to be on your happiest and most optimistic. So I haven’t sent out as many letters as I would have liked. But all of that motivation has changed. One of the letters I did send out, one that I felt really good about, was apparently very good as well. This Friday I have my first job interview: I am short listed for a post as General Science and Physics teacher! Awesome! Purely awesome! We’ll keep you in the loop on how things go, but at Thursday night in Europe, around 9-10pm, and in Yellowknife around the clock of 1-2pm, keep your fingers crossed!
But for now, just enjoy the photos!