Second week in NZ - Wellington

On Sunday we settled into our semi-permenant residence in Wellington - we're actually located closer to Porirua but only 20 minutes on a train to Wellington city. It's been a rainy week here - but the sunshine finally broke out today and we were able to go on a long 4 hour hike near the house. It was gorgeous. We went also went into Wellington on a drizzly day on Wednesday and started exploring the free and fantastic Te Papa museum; the national museum which has exhibits on natural science, war, culture and more. We only explored 1 floor so far and plan to visit the rest throughout our 2.5 months here. We've also had a week of healthy eating and loads of exercise so we feel great! 

So! The NZ plan. 

This weekend we're going to explore more of Wellington, especially as it's meant to be sunny. The following weekend we're hoping to visit Abel Tasman National Park; it's only a short flight from here. Basically hoping to do the 'beach' thing and go kayaking! 

At the end of February we're planning to travel to South Island for a weeks holiday. We start off in Queenstown and end in ChristChurch before flying back to Wellington. Can't wait. It's going to be a busy week but we've left some time for the un-planned. 

Mid-March we have a week booked in the Rotorua / Lake Taupo area. Richard will be working in the evenings but we have two full weekends there, and time to explore a bit during the days. We're actually driving there from Wellington which I'm looking forward to; I love driving and it's only 5 hours. We're planning on visiting Hobbiton, the volcanic activity (geysers, mud pools, etc.), and we're hoping to do a long hike near lake Taupo called the Tongariroa Alpine Crossing.

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I've been hunting for things to do while Richard is working. It's not often you get a break in your career, allowing you to think about what you want to do next. When we get to Ottawa I'll be looking for work in either the NGO sector, the government, parliament, or small community organisations. My main interest and passion is still refugees so hopefully still something in line with that! Although I already miss my old job, it was definitely time for something new, and I'm excited at what I'll find. 

In the meantime, I've decided to focus on a few things:  

1. Learn to code. Richard's colleague kindly suggested a few websites for me to learn through. I've picked one called 'Free Code Camp'. You can learn code and practice by building projects for nonprofits. I'm planning on focusing on this Monday-Thursday.
2. Take a course on Refugee Rights. This is an 8 week online course given by Amnesty International where you get a certificate at the end ; I plan to focus on this on Fridays.

If I feel as though I want something else to do, I can also volunteer online through the UN online volunteering service. I had originally thought of doing this alongside learning coding but I work better when I focus on one thing at a time. I'm also slowly realising that learning web design can help nonprofits; it would be awesome to have that extra skill. 

Of course I'll be doing most of the travel planning but the worst is done; planning Australia/Japan/Austria/France will be quite easy because we've already decided what we're doing. Just need to book! And closer to the time of when we arrive in Ottawa, I will start looking for work (and accommodation!!). 

Aside from that, just catching up on reading and enjoying my subscription to the Economist :) 

It's been a weird transition and I miss my colleagues and work sometimes; that being said I'm so enjoying being here, seeing something new every day, and getting the chance to think about what's next. I'm really glad we took the scary plunge to travel for 6 months before settling down somewhere. We're very lucky we get to do this, and we really are trying to make the most of it.