New Zealand Weekly Update #12

9th of January until 15th of January 2023

Approximate reading time: 5 minutes

Business as usual

This was the first week, I did not really do a lot after work, as I was working every day. Intermediate trips. Beginner trips. Haast area. Matukituki valley. Alone or with a second guide. Especially the days in the Haast area are quite exhausting. Not because of the canyons or the customers (not all the time hehe), but because of the long drive to and from the area. It takes us more than one hour one way and you are not back before 4pm or 5pm. Of course we want to do something more outdoorsy than just canyoning, but to be honest, at the moment it is just way to hot in Wanaka – summer is ahead, summer is hot, summer is exhausting. And we still see people running, biking and hiking. Crazy people 🙂
And things ar work also have changed, as Daniel had his last trip with Deep Canyon on the 14th of January and Robin is off for one month. So at the moment, we are just two guides, Jerome and me :). So it will be an interesting time with a lot of work, but we also need to be off from time to time. To rest, to explore, to do more than just canyoning. Working as a fulltime guide is reaaally nice, it is a great job, A passion. It is amazing. But if you do it everyday, you want to do something else. From time to time. I think being a freelancer is much better to keep your passion, your motivation and your energy 🙂

Our home a native land

Spring 2020. Two weeks until I will fly to Canada, to the area of Yukon. To Carcross. To work at a husky kennel. For 6 months. My first real adventure abroad for a long, long time. Leaving family, friends, job, live and girlfriend behind. I was sooo excited. And I was wondering if there could be anything that could stop my adventure. And yes, you all know what stopped all of us. Covid. Everything was cancelled. Everything changed. And my working holiday visa expired without being activated. If you don’t activate your WHV in Canada, it expires and you are not able to aplly for it anymore. No more chance, no more WHV, Until the 31st of December 2022. And then Canada changed the rules! It is now possible, to apply for a WHV visa again, if you did not activate it and it expired. And here we go again guys!
I just applied for a WHV again and now I just wait for an answer and for an invitation. And then run the whole process again. Fingerprints. certificate of good conduct, resume and so on. I don’t mind. I got a new chance. A new option. And I have the chance to go to Canada, to work amlost everywhere, to travel, to explore. To live. Two years ago, the reasons have been different, as Canada was not my own idea, not in my mind, not my plan. But this time, it is different. So we will see what happens next. 🙂

What else to say?

Well, this update might be a little „boring“ as there are no real news for you guys. No big adventures this week, „just“ working all day long. But it is still adventurous. It is an amazing place to be. To live. To work at. And I love to spend time after work with my housemates, my friends and just having a good conversation.
And things also changed in our house, as Thomas and Julia left and we will get some new housemates next week. Thomas quit his job at Deep Canyon since there has been some trouble, but he is quite happy now with his decision and he did a really nice job. It was always fun and nice to work with him 🙂

Will keep you updated and hope you have a great week, greetings from beautiful Wanaka.
Your dingyinternational
Felix