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Queenstown, New Zealand and its surrounding area has a population of around 11,000. Of those 11,000, I would venture to guess that at least 2,000 are backpackers who came here on a holiday and just haven’t managed to leave yet. Why haven’t they left? Several reasons. The reason that many write home to mom and dad is that they have fallen in love with this place, either its natural beauty or its many adventure sports. A very few have fallen in love in this place. Although, love here is like love in University. It may be passionate and meaningful from day one, but it rarely lasts through the summer. The biggest reason that many backpackers end up staying, however, is one that they don’t often share with friends and family. A not insignificant number stay because they don’t have enough money to go anywhere else. It’s not the case that Queenstown is less expensive than other areas of the country, just the opposite, in fact. It’s not that they are able to make more money working in Queenstown. Again, just the opposite is true. What seems most often to happen is that any money that is made above and beyond the ordinary living expenses gets used on a big night out or one of those adventure activities that draws everyone in here like a moth to the flame to begin with. Those things that everyone loves most about Queenstown are exactly what is keeping them tied to this place.
That being said, there is still a relatively high turnover of people, which also makes for a relatively high turnover of jobs. Theoretically, this means that finding a job here is simple. Yes and no. It is by no means difficult to find a job in Queenstown. There are adverts for jobs everywhere. You can get a job as a cleaner in a hotel by walking into any job agency as long as you aren’t so drunk that you cant stand and you don’t smell like you have been living in a trash can, although I am certain that some places don’t even require the latter. Here is the problem. Distraction! There are so many other things to do here that for some reason finding a job keeps falling down on the priority list. Goal one upon arriving in Queenstown was to find a place to live. Done within the first two days. But goal two was always supposed to be finding a job to be able to pay for that cute little house without having to dip very far into the savings account. So, why then have I managed to go almost 5 days now without even beginning to look for a job? I will tell you why. The sun has been out and the skies have been blue and there are mountains to be climbed and lakes to be walked around and people to see and talk to and beaches to be sat on and parks to be sat in and finding a job just keeps getting pushed to tomorrow.
Well today is tomorrow, the fourth tomorrow, that is. I have resorted to bribing myself with the purchase of a new blow dryer as soon as I find a job (I blew my original one up not 24 hours after I arrived. It was a very painful experience as I was overly attached to that poor blow dryer and will miss it dearly. Its death was meaningless and stupid and I will never forgive myself for forgetting to use the voltage converter). So, today is the day that I will conquer the Queenstown job market once and for all. Beware all you available positions… I’m coming for you!