Life in Queen Charlotte Sound

It's been just over two weeks since I made the move north to Queen Charlotte Sound to take a new job at Bay of Many Coves Resort. Life has been extremely different from Christchurch. First off, not only is the resort almost completely isolated (the nearest town, Picton, pop. 3600, a 30 min. ride by water taxi assuming the resort is the last stop which it usually isn't making the ride into town anywhere from 30min-1.5hrs) but the house I live in with four other staff (also mid 20's travelers) requires hiking through the bush up a butt firming steep hill. It's actually not even a house. It's a bach (rhymes with hatch) which in American terms is a vacation home, sort of like a timeshare, but one with only the bare essentials. Yes, we have a TV with two whole channels! Luckily, one channel has "Alias" (but a season behind the US!) and "Friends" (current season material!). I share a room with Lucy from Wales and Jessica from Canada while the English couple, Chris and Sophie, have a room to themselves.

The hike up to the house is definitely worth it, although very scary at night! Don't worry Mom, only possums, ground dwelling birds, large insects, and apparently feral pigs to worry about. The views are amazing, especially at dawn to see the sun come up over the hills across the bay. There are also glow worms in the trees at night, but I tend to ignore them while walking briskly home if I close the cafe at night. My imagination runs wild with my flashlight playing with shadows in the dark.

I've gone sea kayaking once and swimming once. The weather hasn't been too cooperative on my days off. Admittedly, that part is quite similar to Christchurch. I now expect rain on days I'm not working. There's plenty of nature and animal life to keep my happy. We have a few wekas (picture a cross between a kiwi bird and a chicken) that hang out around the house, wood pigeons (pigeons of an unimaginable size that make me wonder how they even fly and are so agile in the air!) moths and beetles the size of small dogs (ok, not really, but damn near close!) jellyfish that don't sting, walking sticks (insects, not hiking poles), swarms of fish which we feed at the end of the dock with the day's leftover bread (makes me think the kitchen is fattening them up!?) sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and an array of sea stars. Among the creatures I have yet to see that have been seen by others are sting rays, Hector's and bottlenose dolphins, and orcas.

The job itself is going well. I work on average 45-50 hours per week with my longest day so far being 13.5 hours. It's ususally not too busy in the cafe. The resort only has room for 48 guests which is only ever full on the weekends. Besides the occasional boaters coming in for a bite to eat, I'm most often looking for things to keep myself busy to pass the time. I won't lie, it is often boring. But I can't think of a better place to stare out of cafe windows to the surrounding beauty and let my mind wander.

(A view of The Bay of Many Coves Resort from the bach)