Things Nobody Tells You About New Zealand
Life in New Zealand is not what you think! Adam divulges some hard truths about what living and travelling in New Zealand is really like. Whether you're a backpacker looking to work in New Zealand on a Working Holiday Visa or a holidaymaker planning a road trip, don't miss this episode. We break through the shiny exterior of a country we only hear good things about...
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
02:57 - Things Nobody Tells You About New Zealand
06:14 - A Fair Warning...
09:02 - Mobile Phones
10:48 - Restaurants & Bars
12:47 - Roads & Infrastructure
15:28 - Hair cuts 17:22 - New Zealand's Weather
20:41 - Earnings & Savings
25:17 - As relaxed as a Kiwi
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Welcome to Tripology
Alun:
[0:02] Hello and welcome to this episode of Tripology. It's a backpacking show where two best friends talk about backpacking, specifically that. I'm Alan and I'm here with the ever-divulgent Adam.
Adam:
[0:15] Woohoo! Still in Japan, Alan. Still with you.
Alun:
[0:18] We're here, almost in exactly the same spot as we was last week.
Adam:
[0:21] Yeah, this might not be the last recording in Japan, but it might be the last recording in japan and as the fans will know that when we're together in the same space it's much easier to record than when we're apart it's
Alun:
[0:32] Been a different type of trip this time though last time we were recording in the philippines it was very much a filipino journey about recording whereas this japan journey has not been about recording it's been about just hanging out.
Adam:
[0:46] It's been about you working
Alun:
[0:47] And that you're always complaining always complaining i work for one or two hours a day by the way.
Adam:
[0:56] Still calls it a full day, though.
Alun:
[0:59] It's not been very work-focused for us, so the recordings have suffered. But the time we've had has been great.
Adam:
[1:08] It's been really good. It's involved a lot of food. It's involved a lot of walking.
Alun:
[1:12] I'm wearing the same... I've been wearing the same outfit for almost every episode of Chipology.
Adam:
[1:19] Not one of them was a kimono.
Alun:
[1:21] Because I did laundry for us.
Adam:
[1:24] Yeah.
Alun:
[1:25] Because that's the kind of thing you do. If you have a friend who you want to look after, you put them up in a place that's too far away from the center of Tokyo and you do their laundry from time to time.
Adam:
[1:32] And if what you're thinking is, is this Alan basically saying that he is working full time, he's a breadwinner, and he's also the house husband. Yes, it is. And what does Adam do? Not a lot.
Alun:
[1:43] I left a tissue in the pants of one of my... let's call them trousers when i did the laundry.
Adam:
[1:51] In the pocket you think it covered he left a tissue in one of the pockets
Alun:
[1:56] Yeah what did i.
Adam:
[1:57] Say pants in one of your trousers yeah we're just trying to be inclusive for the u.s
Alun:
[2:01] Audience yeah i covered our laundry and little bits of tissue.
Adam:
[2:06] Yeah unrecognizable some of the pieces of clothes were some of the items little
Alun:
[2:11] Bits of tissue all over them like confetti at a snot party.
Adam:
[2:16] Yeah. And I mean I wasn't that bothered about it but it looks like something that was going to be very difficult for us to rectify.
Alun:
[2:24] I'm just rocking the same look as a result.
Adam:
[2:27] Yeah. Well I have checked the washing actually which is currently being hung on your balcony and it's not that bad.
Alun:
[2:34] Yeah you can wipe it off can't you? You know sometimes things happen you've got to keep your chin up.
Adam:
[2:38] Bit of wind bit japanese wind coming through the tokyo streets blows it all
Alun:
[2:41] Off i called you divulgent at the start of the episode because i said adam what should we talk about in this episode and you said i want to divulge something and i said can you give me a bit more you said no it's just a divulgence so i, seemed like the logical thing to call you as divulgent i'm hoping that i get divulged too what is it you want to divulge.
Adam:
[2:57] So this is long overdue and it's not necessarily in chronological order but i do think it's an episode that is going to be of value to anyone who wants to go to New Zealand on a working holiday visa as a
Alun:
[3:09] Backpacker. Oh, we're going back chronologically in time to before you were in Thailand.
Adam:
[3:14] Yep.
Alun:
[3:15] To when you were in New Zealand.
Adam:
[3:16] To when I was in New Zealand.
Alun:
[3:17] It's a place we've both been, it's a place we've both lived.
Adam:
[3:19] Yep, so I've had a couple of months to digest, to process everything that I lived, all the experiences that I absolutely loved. And now I've come up with a list that, let's be honest, is going to sound like I'm complaining. However, I am going to make it positive where I can. And I do think it's an important... We already know the positives about New Zealand, don't we?
Alun:
[3:39] Yeah. I can see the title of your list there. And I'm going to do a quick impromptu jingle for it.
Adam:
[3:45] Okay.
Alun:
[3:47] New Zealand travel, 10 things no one tells you.
Adam:
[3:50] Is that a jingle?
Alun:
[3:51] Yeah, because I'm going to put graphics.
Adam:
[3:52] Oh, amazing. And some songs.
Alun:
[3:54] Yeah, yeah. I've just persuaded Adam to do half of the editing, so we're going to do it.
Adam:
[3:59] But yeah, New Zealand travel, 10 things no one tells you. Obviously, New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. If you like the outdoors, if you like nature, if you like hiking, natural beauty, waterfalls, road trips, cool festivals, cool people, all that kind of stuff.
Alun:
[4:15] He's just blown through his whole list.
Adam:
[4:17] It all happens in New Zealand. There's wonderful experiences to be had. There's cool little villages and towns and lots of farms. If you love farming sheep and cows, you'll love New Zealand.
Alun:
[4:27] Do you think that's a large percentage of the backpacking community go to New Zealand because of that?
Adam:
[4:32] Maybe not because of that, but a lot of them end up working on those farms. Yeah. So if you're looking for experience shearing sheep,
Alun:
[4:38] Rearing sheep, Go on, think of some more. Eating sheep. Nice. What else? Come on, keep going.
Adam:
[4:45] Knitting wool rearing cheering eating cheering bop it um and yeah working and living on farms growing vegetables all that sort of stuff there's loads to do in new zealand for the backpacker and lots of it is positive if you don't like the outdoors if you don't really like camping in the wilderness and exploring nature there's good wildlife as well certainly around the coastlines
Alun:
[5:10] Yep you've got the the the bird with the world's shortest beak.
Adam:
[5:13] Yeah also known as the kiwi yep um you've got some whales off the coast of kaikura there's one of some dolphins loads of seals sea lions all that kind of thing so it's a great place for the outdoors if what you want is a really busy multicultural dynamic fast-paced city with loads to see and do like tokyo Don't go to New Zealand.
Alun:
[5:38] Oh, an anti-Tokyo.
Adam:
[5:40] Well, I mean, maybe. You've just got to be someone who understands what New Zealand is.
Alun:
[5:45] New Zealand is the L to Tokyo's Laito.
Adam:
[5:51] This is an anime reference now. If anyone else got that before I said it, I would be absolutely astonished. Yeah, we're currently halfway. Are we even halfway through the series? We're not, are we?
Alun:
[6:04] We're watching an anime. If you know what I was referencing then, leave it in the comments here on Spotify and you might win a little prize.
Adam:
[6:14] But anyway, back to New Zealand. I just want to preface this list by saying, because I am well aware that some people are going to say that it's negative, that it skews negative. But I'm just trying to restore some balance.
Alun:
[6:25] Do you want me to play the role of a sort of rebuttal? No. Like a big New Zealand fan?
Adam:
[6:34] No.
Alun:
[6:34] And just come at you viciously if I feel any criticism.
Adam:
[6:38] No, because if you disagree with this list, I'll be A, amazed, and B, upset.
Alun:
[6:43] But I can play the devil's advocate.
Adam:
[6:46] Okay. You're welcome to play it whichever way you want. Okay, we'll see. But don't play devil's advocate if you agree with what I'm saying.
Alun:
[6:52] Okay, you want me to just be honest? You want me to just be me?
Adam:
[6:54] That's what annoying people do.
Alun:
[6:55] I'll just be me.
Adam:
[6:55] I'm just playing devil's advocate.
Alun:
[6:57] Oh, really? No, you just come across.
Adam:
[6:59] Like you just want an argument. um but you know this is this is somewhat subjective because it's my experience okay and if by subjective you mean that i lived there for 14 months lived in a van for five of those months drove around the whole country twice and worked for multiple businesses sure you know i've got a lot of new zealand friends whatever so i think i've had enough i can say it because i've I think hopefully I've had enough experience, not just in New Zealand, but around the world, to have some degree of objectivity when it comes to this sort of stuff.
Alun:
[7:34] I also lived in New Zealand for a whole year, worked there for a year. It was my home for a year. I lived in, big fans of the show will remember, I lived in a terrible, terrible bit of accommodation, colloquially known as the crack house, in which windows were ripped out, replaced with pizza boxes, and people were taking drugs all the time. Not me, though. I was clean. So we both have experiences of New Zealand. So we will both be able to weigh in on the topic.
Adam:
[8:01] Yeah, absolutely. And I do think, I do want to say this, okay? And it is going to be fun. It's going to be lighthearted, but it's going to be true.
Alun:
[8:08] There's been 10 minutes of preface so far, so I can't wait.
Adam:
[8:12] I think that New Zealand's marketing team have done a fabulous job.
Alun:
[8:17] Really?
Adam:
[8:17] Is what I'm going to say.
Alun:
[8:18] All filler, no killer.
Adam:
[8:20] Well, if you show enough reels on Instagram, TikTok, whatever.
Alun:
[8:24] Look at her sheep! Share it. Look at a sheep. Rear it. Look at a sheep. Eat it.
Adam:
[8:31] You know, the beautiful mountains, the landscapes, the sunsets, the lakes, all that sort of stuff. And these wonderful hikes. The Fjordland, obviously Milford Sound, blah, blah, blah. It just looks wonderful everywhere. And that also is true. It is, I think, possibly the most beautiful country I've ever been to.
Alun:
[8:46] Wow. And you've been to some beautiful places, man. Let me list some of them now.
Adam:
[8:51] No. We can't have more than one list in this episode. But this is the sort of stuff that you might find out if you live there, you experience it, and if you talk to lots of other backpackers.
Alun:
[9:01] Okay.
Adam:
[9:02] So, number one, bad phone connectivity.
Alun:
[9:05] Oh.
Adam:
[9:06] Did you feel that? Maybe not because you were in Auckland, weren't you?
Alun:
[9:09] No, because if I ever want a good reception when I'm traveling, I tend to use Saley. Let's go to the med break. Okay. And that's why I never had bad phone connectivity when I was in New Zealand, Adam. Did you?
Adam:
[9:29] Amazing. Yes, because I wasn't using Saley. I was paying through the nose for a local provider. And I found that even as you go out of the larger towns and cities, not even that far, you're still within the suburbs. Sometimes the connection drops. If you go anywhere out in the sticks, which is often in New Zealand, most of it's the sticks, the phone connectivity will drop. And it doesn't mean you're
paying any less. these companies will still charge you top dollar per month and the service is just either non-existent or below par
Alun:
[9:56] Now skeptical listeners will think that that was in the list because of, sponsorship from saley yeah i just want to go out now and say and you have to believe me that is actually not the case adam didn't know i was going to do that then no i don't know just, just so happens that we got a saline sponsorship for this week's episode yeah so and that list has been written for a long time i can see that you started working about two weeks ago.
Adam:
[10:25] Um so yeah bad phone connectivity don't expect if you've got a new zealand provider a local provider um it's going to be expensive and it's not always going to be good
Alun:
[10:34] Just using e-sim that's genuinely what i do i use them here in japan as well yeah yeah because i just needed an e-sim so i just go and i don't have to deal with like setting up you know what's what's your oh oh what's your name in kanji i don't know do it online.
Adam:
[10:50] Um so yeah that's real number two everything closes early even the bars and nightclubs also there's sometimes weird alcohol bans in some areas and on public holidays which for someone like me alan yeah an unjustified in my opinion alcohol ban it's annoying it's annoying for the travel community within new zealand because we like to drink
Alun:
[11:10] Yeah i like this because sometimes i'd receive a little call from you when you were sent home from the pub saying oh i'm just walking home all the bars have closed and.
Adam:
[11:20] It brought
Alun:
[11:21] Us close together um so that's why i like it but i know it was a big frustration.
Adam:
[11:26] For you yeah and it is you sometimes you're in a city or a large town or a small town and if you're in a small town there's usually only one or two bars or one or two bars that are worth going to and they close so ridiculously early by european standards It's just, you know, you're left feeling frustrated.
Alun:
[11:44] Well, maybe that should be the standard. Maybe European standards are wrong. Did you ever think of that? Maybe people are drinking a little bit too much, a little bit too late. I did think that. And it's disrupting society.
Adam:
[11:53] Because I'm a fair person and I have experience in other countries as well. Okay, so what I've come to, I've come to the conclusion, Alan, basically there's just not the market for it. And the businesses haven't justified staying open later because they wouldn't get any more business. That's fair enough. They want to go home to their families. But it is like going back in time. Someone said to me one.
Alun:
[12:11] I've got a lovely little sheep at home needs rearing. But if you think I'm going to stay out until 4am drinking with you, you've got another thing coming.
Adam:
[12:21] But just be prepared for that, all right? I think it's annoying. I think that the bars and restaurants and everything should stay open much later. If, hang on, positive flip. Wow, this has just come to me. If you want to work in hospitality, but you still want a social life or, you know, a normal sleep schedule, just go to New Zealand. You'll be off work by 9pm.
Alun:
[12:41] It's amazing that's nice yeah so don't live there work there instead.
Adam:
[12:45] Yeah you can work there if you want very little money and no chance of saving but that's further down the list number three terrible roads okay which if you're going to do a road trip in new zealand is a problem i
Alun:
[12:59] Cycled everywhere i didn't.
Adam:
[13:00] Drive but that was in auckland where there is infrastructure right i was you know down on the south island for about eight months up on the north island for roughly five or six months and i went to lots of different places all over the coastline and out in the middle of nowhere and blah blah blah even if you are driving through not a built-up area but a main road that connects two built-up areas which sometimes can be hours long let's face it um or kilometers depending on the term of measurement you choose to use for length uh inches it will just it will just uh turn into gravel without warning so it goes from a normal road just tarmac or whatever it is the you know that they're choosing to use and then it just changes into gravel and then before you know it you know stones flicking everywhere and you'd pop a tire and all that
Alun:
[13:46] So i did a road trip as well but i didn't drive my friend drove and.
Adam:
[13:50] That's why you're still with us today we had
Alun:
[13:51] A hyundai yeah and by the time we returned the car only the y and the a is still on the back.
Adam:
[14:00] The badge of the back yeah well it'd just be like just vibrated yeah
Alun:
[14:04] And my friend was a good driver yeah so i can only imagine that what you're saying about the roads is true because of that is empirical evidence that the roads are bad only the y and the a held on for dear.
Adam:
[14:14] Life yes and you will i've actually since seen reels on instagram about this sort of stuff and tiktok there is this this funny joke in new zealand about the road work and the road workers right the construction and stuff that goes on so many fucking cones everywhere that's true and in my opinion these road workers and construction companies they do the absolute bare minimum to potholes or to fix the roads and that sort of stuff to repair them um so that they'll just you know, in five years' time, need the same work doing again. And you really do feel like that. There's this weird, if anyone has ever seen one of these, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's like a tarmac wave that appears at the edge of the road, almost as if when it was being laid, when it was wet, a truck drove over it and compressed part of the road.
Alun:
[15:01] Or perhaps an overweight person. The same thing is true in the Philippines. Someone told me that they deliberately don't complete the work to a high standard so that they'll get the contract again. Now, I'm not saying that's what's going on in New Zealand, but it seems a little bit suspicious.
Adam:
[15:18] It is a little bit suspicious.
Alun:
[15:19] The work keeps on needing doing.
Adam:
[15:21] Yeah. So the number of potholes, the conditions of the roads themselves, the fact they change into gravel without warning, the fact that sometimes they're just gravel fucking hundreds of kilometers or whatever, is a bit annoying and potentially will damage your car. Number four, crazy haircuts.
Alun:
[15:36] Yeah.
Adam:
[15:36] Seriously, crazy haircuts. Ones that you can't even imagine.
Alun:
[15:42] People aren't sharing.
Adam:
[15:44] They're not shearing. They're not shearing the sheep. They've got fairly conventional haircuts.
Alun:
[15:48] Standard.
Adam:
[15:49] But some of the people, can you, do you know which ones I'm talking about?
Alun:
[15:52] The mullets. I always respected that about the sheep though, because they get one haircut a season and it's always the same one, uniform, all of them get it. Yeah. Fuzz cut. Down to the bone and then they let that shit grow.
Adam:
[16:04] They go to the same barber every time. Short back and sides.
Alun:
[16:07] And underneath.
Adam:
[16:08] Yeah. The haircuts I'm talking about, sometimes it might involve a rat's tail. sometimes it's a mullet sometimes it's shaved across the front it's all crazy all the time the one
Alun:
[16:18] Thing that's linear about them is the sides are short often.
Adam:
[16:22] Always i've seen some serious mullets in new zealand yeah some of them are really impressive
Alun:
[16:28] Just go short on the sides and then fucking do what you like with the front and the back but that's where i want my personality to be on.
Adam:
[16:35] Show yeah yeah i mean i'm treading carefully here because i think in maori culture I think there is some significance perhaps to the little rat's tail.
Alun:
[16:42] In that case, I like it. I think it's nice to have a rat's tail. Good, if anything.
Adam:
[16:48] But it doesn't mean that they're not unusual. I mean, they are still very usual. I just need to do more reading on the cultural significance and what they really mean. It's just when you see them all the time, you start to wonder, should I get one myself?
Alun:
[17:00] I want to come out on the podcast and say that I really like Mokko.
Adam:
[17:03] The chin tattoo.
Alun:
[17:04] I think it's nice to have tattoos down your chin. Alan's.
Adam:
[17:08] Got one you just can't see it because it's hidden by his
Alun:
[17:10] Fantastic beard that's why I've grown this beard, but I think it's cool I think I actually really like the Polynesian Maori art style and I think those moko look nice.
Adam:
[17:23] Yeah they're beautiful yeah they really are they're very very cool number five changeable weather Very bad weather.
Alun:
[17:30] It's just the same as Britain, isn't it, in that respect, the weather?
Adam:
[17:32] The weather in New Zealand's much worse.
Alun:
[17:34] Than Britain?
Adam:
[17:35] Much worse. Yeah, in my opinion. Certainly on the west coast of the South Island. Alan, some years they get nine metres of rain. Are you fucking serious?
Alun:
[17:41] I've never understood what it means when people describe rain as a... as length, like that.
Adam:
[17:47] What, height?
Alun:
[17:48] Of what?
Adam:
[17:50] Do you know what's the same height as nine metres?
Alun:
[17:54] About eight and a half of me.
Adam:
[17:57] That's a lot of rain.
Alun:
[17:59] Yeah, yeah, but what does that mean?
Adam:
[18:00] That it's very rainy.
Alun:
[18:01] Well, that's when it goes on the ground. That's how much it is.
Adam:
[18:05] Yeah, if you were to have a tube, a long tube, a cylinder that could collect the rain. Right. It'd be nine meters tall.
Alun:
[18:10] Depends on the diameter of the cylinder.
Adam:
[18:12] In the whole year.
Alun:
[18:14] Is it a standard width, the cylinder?
Adam:
[18:16] No idea.
Alun:
[18:16] Is it a rain gauge?
Adam:
[18:18] Yeah, I guess so. That would make sense if it was a rain gauge.
Alun:
[18:20] That makes more sense.
Adam:
[18:21] Yeah. How else do they measure rain?
Alun:
[18:23] Well, I don't know because for me it just thinks if you made a wider cylinder, or perhaps like a cafetiere or something, then more water or less water would go in, depending if you had a very thin cylinder. So it must just be a standard thing. But I don't think that anyone has a concept in their head of how wide that thing is. So when you say it was nine meters of rain, that could be a lot of rain or a very little amount of rain.
Adam:
[18:46] I'm not sure it could.
Alun:
[18:47] If it was a tiny, tiny tube, about... one bottle of water would go to.
Adam:
[18:54] Nine meters it would fill up quicker absolutely but even if it was the diameter of a raindrop and they were just falling one after another
Alun:
[19:00] Then you'd be surprised how quick nine nine meters get filled whereas if it was the size of a car take longer no it would take a long.
Adam:
[19:08] Time but put it this way it's one of the rainiest places on earth
Alun:
[19:13] So that's that's better measurement rather than using abstract oh it's 62 farlings of rain every minute it i think just say.
Adam:
[19:23] Rainiest place on earth there you go just give you some idea sometimes you can be driving just a couple of hours and the weather will change and a lot of what's good about new zealand is the outdoors adventure sports all that sort of stuff and it's shit to do in the rain and often cancelled because of bad weather even short flights that go from say i don't know queenstown to milford sound or whatever for example so yeah it will if you're doing a road trip and sometimes the weather's unpredictable even in the summer it will dampen the spirits which of
Alun:
[19:53] Course exacerbates the bad roads so new zealand you know things are going bad and maybe even the haircuts as well get affected because people's moods they get cooped up indoors they get a little bit crazy so in many ways the list is a cacophony, each one causes and you you've got to understand that the bad weather probably affects the phone reception as well.
Adam:
[20:11] Yeah quite possibly so it's all
Alun:
[20:12] Part and parcel of the same problem that new zealand's facing isn't it.
Adam:
[20:16] I think so i think maybe it's just the weather and it will look i'm just telling you this so that if you go to new zealand don't be surprised that the weather's shit a lot of the time and it's unpredictable and when it should be sunny in some places maybe it won't be yeah and it might affect your road trip and that's what happened to me yeah so just do your do your research but don't pin all your hopes on doing something on the basis of a weather report you've read for something that is longer than 72 hours in the future right does that make sense yeah yeah totally just keep looking at the weather apps all right number six it is very difficult for backpackers to save money and there are few work opportunities
Alun:
[20:53] It's another weather problem there's nowhere to work.
Adam:
[20:56] Unless you're working about the weather um no no it was actually a shock to me mate i'm gonna you know forget the jokes i'm gonna be a bit serious now let's just calm down everyone it was it was a shock to me how little i was being paid given maybe i'll just fucking tell you how much i was being paid i'd like to know i was offered a contract with a wine retail business for 27 an hour
Alun:
[21:20] Which is a decent wage in new zealand is it yes.
Adam:
[21:24] So given that i've got 10 years experience in the wine industry i've sold millions of dollars worth of wine in my career i've worked in the wine industry in seven countries i think uh and done a hell of a lot of vineyard work as well and have qualifications in wine and I was offered $27 an hour which is abysmally low.
Alun:
[21:43] That's what I started on in my music shop as well I think and then it was later increased. But that's just really standard. I would say though, this is where I agree with you that is a low wage. 100%. There's no argument from me. But I want to add into that though I saved more money in New Zealand than I ever have done before backpacking.
Adam:
[22:07] But you were working a hell of a lot, weren't you?
Alun:
[22:09] Oh, almost constantly.
Adam:
[22:10] Yeah. So your main objective was to work every hour that God gave you.
Alun:
[22:15] Because I didn't want to go back to the crack den.
Adam:
[22:18] Right. Right. So if you're living an incredibly humble, restricted life...
Alun:
[22:23] And working every hour that God sends... Yeah. It's possible to save money in New Zealand.
Adam:
[22:28] Yeah. Well, I think you could probably do that in most countries.
Alun:
[22:31] I've never managed to in other countries, though. That's the thing. but was it obviously gives gave me some form of opportunity because there is like you know there's people there with money and i was working in a shop but also charging like privately right and for some of my work as well i ran classes that the government paid me for so there was money.
Adam:
[22:52] Right like i
Alun:
[22:53] Could charge a lot for my lessons and i could charge the government a lot for some of my lessons as well so new zealand you know although the wages might be low the money is there.
Adam:
[23:03] Also the cost of living is high and a lot of people are leaving new zealand as a result and going to places like australia so i mean there were people working for the same business as me who have like degrees in political science and they're being employed to chop cheese up and put it on a board and they're getting paid even less than i am yeah which i think is a real shame but it's the story across the whole of new zealand don't think you're going to come to new zealand with your qualifications and just get a job in whatever you want to do you've got to be prepared to make a few sacrifices, even in terms of your living conditions as well, you often be in a share house or whatever, you might be lucky and get a really high-paying job.
Alun:
[23:36] Or just do your own thing as well, like hustle. I think, like, you know...
Adam:
[23:39] Get multiple jobs.
Alun:
[23:40] Or just try... I think a lot of people, backpackers, they're trying so desperately to like get a job working for someone, but if they invested that same time working for themselves and building a hustle, they'd probably make more money.
Adam:
[23:54] But there is also a high cost of living. So if you come with a few thousand dollars or even five, $10,000, you might end up spending all of that trying to get something off the ground. So it's probably an idea that you work at the same time. Yeah. but you um just concede i'd work at the same time um but yeah i think that a lot of people that i've spoken to about this in particular complaining about the lack of opportunities complaining about the well the number of other backpackers trying to get the same jobs all this kind of stuff especially in things like hospitality so you could work on a farm and have an experience but i had to decide very early on or accept it's probably more appropriate to say uh very early on that this was just going to be an experience for me. New Zealand will be an experience and it won't be a financial trampoline where I can do as you did and just work hard for six months or for 12 months, save all my money.
Alun:
[24:44] It bought me a year in South America.
Adam:
[24:47] It was amazing. Well, working in Canada, where there are fantastic opportunities and I was getting paid what I'm worth.
Alun:
[24:52] You're still spending the money now.
Adam:
[24:54] I'm still on the money now two years later.
Alun:
[24:56] There you go. Two years he's travelled for just a little bit of work in Canada.
Adam:
[25:00] Can you believe it? eating sushi every day michelin star restaurants all this kind of stuff yeah go to canada guys i'll see you there um that was a little spoiler alert i guess i'm not going there right now but um but it's definitely worth going but you just maybe have to go into new zealand with a bit of an open mind be prepared to work hard uh and don't think that you're going to save bags of cash because it can get difficult number seven some people might say this is a positive the people there are incredibly relaxed and there's no sense of urgency. Is that good or bad?
Alun:
[25:32] Um oh well i i think.
Adam:
[25:35] It's a small observation i think it's a
Alun:
[25:36] Positive do you i like it when people are a bit chilled out because it's nice it goes against my horrible aggressively anxious energy.
Adam:
[25:45] So i came into new zealand and maybe this is just because of the way i am as well with kind of that city mindset fast-paced high energy expecting things to be done yesterday and not really understanding why people are just wasting hours and hours standing in a queue when they haven't even asked this you know the staff any information about what it is that needs to happen to get them whatever it is they want so i wouldn't say i'm impatient but it was the people there are so relaxed it's almost you know to the point of like how does anything get done do you know i mean like it was it felt a little bit disrespectful that the person that i was i was like paying for a service for example they just didn't give a casual they didn't give a shit how long they took to do something i was like come on i'm i haven't got all day for this and i think i'm quite tolerant
Alun:
[26:38] When i was in new zealand yeah i was walking past a window my housemate's window he opened it and it's cut the top of my head right i went to.
Adam:
[26:46] Hospital yeah and
Alun:
[26:48] The nurse glued my head shut and a bit of the glove she was wearing got caught in the glue and then stuck in my hair. Right. And she went, oh, you're going to have a glove in your hair for a few weeks.
Adam:
[27:05] And that was it?
Alun:
[27:06] Yeah. So she was relaxed about that.
Adam:
[27:08] So relaxed.
Alun:
[27:09] And I did think, you don't have to live with this glove. And indeed, the glove was in my head.
Adam:
[27:17] No compensation, nothing.
Alun:
[27:18] It wasn't just glued to my hair. It was glued to my scalp. I had to go and teach ukulele with a little blue finger of a glove glued to my head.
Adam:
[27:26] What did they offer you? It was like, they just said, sorry.
Alun:
[27:29] Oh, she went, oh, it's going to just be a blue glove in you here, mate. Making accessory out of it.
Adam:
[27:35] Yeah it doesn't surprise me i think mostly i'm talking about things like i don't know i've interacted with people in banks or you know shops and whatever i'm like come on guys can we get moving they basically the staff in some some shops they don't seem to go faster even if there are more customers yeah usually if i was working in hospitality or some sort of you know service i would work faster if i had an influx of customers
Alun:
[28:00] I've seen that.
Adam:
[28:00] Happen actually but they don't do it they don't do it they just think well this is going to take as long as it takes and i don't care if there's 100 people waiting on one i'm gonna do the same thing it shouldn't affect my life having said that though i did get a number of tires changed on my van incredibly efficient i'll call them up and say oh what do you think you could they're like yeah just drive in we'll do it now mate
Alun:
[28:18] So why do you think that's what's the point then sometimes it's just by person by person.
Adam:
[28:22] Basis maybe you
Alun:
[28:23] Think there's something inherent about the kiwi culture that makes them relaxed.
Adam:
[28:26] They are super relaxed they're super chill they're never in a rush to do anything everything's apart from tires yeah maybe apart
Alun:
[28:32] From tires well.
Adam:
[28:33] Adam go on i can
Alun:
[28:34] See that you've got a couple of belters left on the list yeah i'm going to suggest that we finish the list over in the patreon section how would you feel about.
Adam:
[28:41] That really
Alun:
[28:42] I think so.
Adam:
[28:43] Well that's come as a surprise to me i think
Alun:
[28:45] It's high time if people enjoyed the.
Adam:
[28:47] List oh you're worried about the end one aren't you head over
Alun:
[28:50] To patreon i think the end one's controversial and i'd like to hear it over in patreon so i think sum it up.
Adam:
[28:56] Yeah well i mean things
Alun:
[28:58] That no one tells you.
Adam:
[28:59] Yeah things that no one tells you about living in new zealand things that you would only know if you've lived in new zealand and you form part of the travel community uh i want people to go to new zealand to experience it for themselves but as i said at the top of the episode i do think the new zealand marketing team i've had amazing time there i've had an amazing time there but the new zealand marketing team have done a fabulous job of selling that country okay
Alun:
[29:21] Well there's plenty more to say about it there's some bangers left in the list there's a link in the description in the show notes to our patreon where you can go and hear a little bit more baby all about what adam thinks about new zealand we'll catch you there we'll see you next time.
Adam:
[29:32] See you there bye
