This will be my second Work Holiday away from Vancouver
Gerbs, I know your out and about somewhere, you should dump into this thread too
Why Work Holiday?
Because I'm a little bitch and I dislike the cold weather and rain.
especially since I'm outside for work
Furthermore, I can go surfing, enjoy the sun vs being in Vancouver
It's an experience to see if I want to move here long term
Where?
This time around, it's New Zealand, Raglan area for the most of it. Probably end up hitting multiple parts of the north island, and maybe a single location of south island.
I did this before in Australia just pre-pandemic, Gold Coast area, was an incredible 5 months, followed up with Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan for a month.
could not find literally any job in Australia but that's another story
Who?
Me myself and I, yeah the girlfriend was not happy about it, but she supports my decision, she is gonna come down for two weeks over the holidays.
Some friends said they want to come by during their holidays, but the odds of that happening are slim, flaky bastards
When?
Three months, I'm already here, so you do the math.
How?
Asked my boss for 3 months off, pre summer, he called me a prick several times and proceeded to approve the request
Applied for a work holiday visa, it was approved in less than 24hrs I think
300$cad
Flights 1300$ direct round trip
First month's stay 2200$ for a dinky "side house room/suite"
there is no availability in raglan
Il figure out the rest as I go.
Worst case, if I don't like it, I dip to another country.
Sub-leased my condo in Vancouver, a little less than break even, but for this life experience, I can't complain. So far they paid first month's rent, so that's a win.
Ask me again in three months, if my furniture is still inside the unit when i return.
Jobs
Applied to a bunch of jobs before leaving to NZ, mostly specialized work that I do, didn't hear anything
Applied to a bunch of random jobs when I arrived in Auckland, did not hear anything
A day later I called up several HVAC companies, ended up getting an interview scheduled for a few days down the line.
Had that interview on Friday, by the looks of it I got the job.
I messed up and did not get a bank account / tax number in advance. So now I'm waiting 3-4 weeks before they can legally employ me.
My ADHD is already kicking in...... Too much free time is too much free time.
Transport
6hrs after I landed, I bid on a 07 RSZ, sight unseen, by a local auction website.
The seller had a high rating, looked to be an auto shop based by location / pictures.
It was a sweaty Uber ride to the location, questioning if I just wasted 2500$, and how long before something breaks down.
It was an auto shop, they buy cars from dealers (trade in), then auction off with no reserve.
Car has made it 900km so far.
The temperature is always slightly now, and drops excessively low when on the highway for an hour.
I proceeded to install an air dam infront of the radiator, using my surfboard wrapping foam lol.... It fixed that issue. I'm guessing the thermostat is stuck open
The car is original to Japan, when you turn it on, you have some chick talking Japanese "Sooodessnee!" and "Kiwotsuketekudasai!"
every now and then, after 30 mins of driving, you will hear another blurt out.
The first time I heard it, all I thought about was, uh o.... what car warning is this, and what fluid did I run out of....
The drive to work, and to surf
Fuck me, I came here for the surf, but honestly I have more fun driving to the surf, and into the main town.
This is a single road. 
One road is 15km of neat gravel, straight up rally shit.
At the start of the road, someone has spray painted "RALLY" on the gravel. At first I had no idea what this meant, but then I found a sign on the way back.
I read the sign, drove past it, stopped, reversed back 100m, to re read the dam thing.
I'm pretty sure the locals straight up close off this road and do FOUL shit to it in their cars.
Another road is 30km of pavement, with several raunchy winding sections (town to town)
