This year I was prepared for the festive period, or rather I saw some decorations on sale when I was ordering clothes from Warehouse and thought I'd get them in early! So up went the Christmas Tree on the 1st December in our new house having moved in November.
TREE
Not Cadburys unfortunately
I was still living with Gavin but now also an American called Miesha, another Canadian called Tony, an Italian called Marco and his girlfriend Erika. The summer season was kicking in and having gone from a maximum of three people in the bar there was now ten people over restaurant hours. Busy busy.
Pretty
One day I turned up to work and there was a dead goat hanging in the keg chiller. Made me jump a little bit. Someone had hunted one and had given it to us to eat. I didn't like it looking at me for the few days it was in there. So much so it completely put me off changing the kegs and I managed to drain 100 lites of Tui all over the floor! That was a bit of a bugger! I was relived but still horrified when I found its head in the kitchen (still looking at me!!!)
ew
One fantastic day in December I was opening the bar as usual when Vicky came to ask me if I wanted to go on a scenic flight. Hamish (DJ Payload!) had rung up offering a spare seat and as Vicky said she had too much work to do she offered it to me! Hell yes!
Going up the valley
I ran down to Heli Services and jumped on a helicopter. It was a beautiful day for it. We flew over the river and up to Franz Josef Glacier. It was spectacular up there. Huge chunks of ice clinging to the mountains. It really was like a scene from a movie but so much better than that. I took as many photos and videos as I could but neither do it justice.
Top of Franz Josef glacier
bit snowy!
We flew up to the snow fields at the top of the glacier and as we came around a mountain it revealed the entire southern alps as far as the eye could see. Simply amazing! We flew over to fox glacier and landed on the snow right in front of Mount Tasman - New Zealands second highest mountain!
Mount Tasman
Fox Glacier
Time for a panoramic
leaving my mark!
It has to be said that the Asian dude sat next to me seemed completely unfazed by the whole thing. He could have been riding the bus to the supermarket to look at him. Crack a smile man!
Fox Glacier
We flew down Fox Glacier and back around to Franz. The best and most unexpected surprise ever, well until that point. January and February are awesome months too!
Hut in the hills
Time for festive activities to begin and first up was our Christmas party starting with paintball. I've never been paintballing before so I was a little nervous about what to expect but OH MY GOD! It was a ridiculous amount of fun!!
Getting ready to shoot someone!
A selection of bar staff, hosts and housekeeping staff gathered on the edge of the rainforest just down the road from the bar and geared up. We played capture the flag which is when one person on your team has a flag and you have to get the opposing teams flag. I thought it would be all out warfare but really wasn't like that. One minute after entering the playing area the whistle blew to single the start of the game and there was silence. I couldn't see anyone. Everyone was going for the stealth approach. It was like being in a computer game. You hear a shot and your heart starts pounding while you try to figure out who's shooting at you. Do you run? Do you hide? Do you just shoot in the bush wildly and hope you hit them? So often I had to stop breathing just so I could listen for some movement. A twig snap or a leaf russell! SO MUCH FUN!
Meisha with our flag
We won 5 times against the woofers. Pros! I got shot a few times, once in the head which was fun! It hit the mask so it actually hurt the least. The last game was a free for all, no teams, and you just use up all your balls. I unloaded all mine on someone and then ran for it. I couldn't see anyone so ran straight for the exit but little did I know there were about 5 people hiding around there who all shot me as I made a run for it. OUCH!
Head shot!
Oscar (boss man) offered to pay for Gavin and I to get a Duty Managers
Certificate which would allow us to be in charge of the bar. We went to a
2-day course and completed the LCQ exam which is the first step and
allowed us to be temporary managers.
As I was now able to be in charge of the bar that meant James and Sarah would get to go enjoy the Christmas party whilst the rest of us 'newbies' had to work.
GRINCH!
Big Boss Man
It was a really quite night so we still got to be included in the festivities. We had some of the roast dinner which was really good but the lack of chicken, yorkshire puds and stuffing was noticeable! Oscar then played santa and dished out the secret santa presents. I got a pen knife and a big block of mint chocolate a bit like After Eights. I still to this day do not know who my secret santa was!
Santa!
The party started with Payload Vs Panda. Our DJ against one of the stray drivers. He does singing and wrapping over songs and he's really good but there was a distinct lack of Christmas songs from both of them. So when they finished up I crammed as many Christmas songs into the last hour as I could!
Payload Vs Panda
Once we had all closed up Gavin, Edo and I had our own Christmas party with a few of the stragglers and it was dawn before we got home.
suns up - time to go to bed!
A couple of weeks later it was actual Christmas! Working in a hospitality in a tourist town in the middle of the season means there is no chance of christmas day off. We weren't open all day though. We opened at 6 for an epic christmas buffet where me and Gavin dressed up as santas for a bit! Then everyone just got drunk. Standard christmas really!
Double christmas
Jess, Jose, Meisha, Moi and Laura partying
There was some great weather on Boxing Day so before work Meisha, Edo and I went for a walk up to the glacier. We went down the secret track to the front of it which had changed a lot since I was first there. The hole at the bottom was a lot bigger and gushing water out whereas it was just a dribble before.
Waterfall!
Glacier valley
Animals!
Prettiness
Melting!
With the weather so good I decided to go for another trip up the Knob. I thought I would go up late afternoon as the middle of the day usually clouds over. This meant I was up there just before sunset and as I predicted it was clear up there and view was a stunning as ever!
That's me that is!
This picture should win an award!
Obviously being up there just before sunset meant as I was going down it was getting darker and darker. I brought a torch with but by the time i got to the bottom it was well into nighttime and my head was hurting from concentrating and my eyes were aching from straining with only a beam of light to guide me. Worth it though.
Sunset
ARGH!
New Years Eve was beyond epic! Its hard to know where to start! We expected a big night obviously but it was just insane. The place was rammed. I don't know if there is a maximum capacity in the bar but if there is then we were definitely over it! The courtyard is often busy but now it was standing room only and that's on any floor space, stool or table you can find a space to put yourself. We took so much money that we were only a few thousand dollars behind one of Queenstown's biggest clubs!
face pulling with sarah
Even Vicky was helping
The new year moment involved me, Sarah and Jon climbing on the bar and spraying everyone in champagne like something off Formula 1! I ran around and said happy new year to everyone and then went straight back into it as the bar was still rammed! It was about two hours later we got to say it properly!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
When Wagon Wheel came on (basically the Franz Josef theme tune) everyone abandoned Edo on the bar and went to sing along on the dance floor with everyone.
WAGON WHEEL!
New Year Celebrations!
So at the end of a 14 hour epic shift, which was a real effort to work, we welcomed in the New Year in style. It was probably the best New Year I've ever had, so much fun was had and it capped what had been such a fantastic year! From Sydney to Adelaide, Melbourne to Bundaberg, Cairns to here now in New Zealand. Literally living the dream!
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