Reminder

I have not been in good condition for more than a week. I caught a cold and a cough didn't stop at all. I have been taken medicine which I borrowd from my friend because mine was finally used up. I guess the room condition was not good enough to recover from sick. At the moment five people live in the same room and our room hasn't been cleaned for the time being. I always cough when I sleep in the room. I want the room to be cleaned more often and I never want to catch a cold during the stay in this backpackers hostel.

The work is still boring because only a few customers come in a day. I have nothing to do while I am working. But if the more customers come, I won't prefer this job. The receptionist has to be at the desk except for showing the customers the room or going on patrol. I want to move more actively. I don't like to sit down all the time. It was good to know that at least a receptionist doesn't suit me.

I should experiense better job in New Zealand after the graduation from the school. Actually I am anxious when I think about the future, but I want to try my best. Though I have a problem with speaking English fluently, I believe in myself I can get it over.

I always write same thing because it is important to remind me to do a right thing.

Planning to take IELTS

I am planning to take IELTS which is the English test including reading, listening, writing, speaking. IELTS is the most popular English test in New Zealand and those who want to get NZ permanent regidency must get 6.5 score in IELTS. As I have not taken this test, I can't imagine how difficult it is. I don't need to get 6.5 at the moment,  but at least I want to get 6.0 to prove my English skill to the company I would work for after the graduation from the school.

I need to set up my objective. I haven't STUDIED Engish so much nowadays, and I realized my English grammer level is getting worse and worse. I have concentrated on listening to natural conversation because I wanted to learn not systematically but naturally. However, I had come to think that I have to study English more systematically. After all learning naturally is that difficult and it probably doesn't suit me. I can improve my English skill through studying hard.

I will take IELTS in this year to test my English level and to feedback.

Sherlock Holmes

I have read some Sherlock Holmes series lately. This series are so famous that I guess I don't need to explain and I know many people love them. In my first impression, however, I couldn't understand why many people love Sherlock Holmes. What I read up to now was "Sign of Four" and "The Speckled Band". These were exactlly easy to read and understand the story, but I thought they were nothing but just usual mystery novels. I should have read in chronological order, but I am not sure whether or not it can be more interesting than when I read in random chronological order.

I hope someone would explain to me what made Sherlock Holmes so attractive.

Working in Backpackers' hostel

Lately I started to work as a receptionist in backpackers' hostel in the city centre. I work there and I can get free accommodation which means that I work and stay in the backpackers' hostel at the moment. It is not busy because it is off season now, more specifically I don't have anything to do during working. I usually work for five or six hours a day (twenty hours a week), but only a couple of customers come to our hostel while I am working. I don't know what to do in my time. I want to do more practice to deal with customers. For this reason, I can't still do check-in process very well.

Only a good thing is that I can save money for the time being. What I have to pay for is just a food. Probably I am going to work for two or three months because it would be tough to stay for a long time in backpackers' hostel and it might be waste of time to work here because of the reason I mentioned above.

I hope I can get more useful job in the future anyhow.

The half of the course passed

I am majoring in Travel & Tourism, Airline (National Certificate Level 3 & 4). The whole term of the school is ten months and the half term has already passed. Then, I want to take a look back on the first half of the school. Actually what I learnt so far was not that difficult though it was completely new for me. Only the problem was English. I can understand what the teacher says because she is swiss and she speaks relatively slowly so that we can understand easily. However, I can't understand what the other students say. All of them are native English speakers and they speak so fast. To be honest I can't keep up with their conversation even although I have already been with them for five months. Hopefully I want to have natural conversation with them because I am planning to work in New Zealand and I must understand native English speakers to deal with them as customers or cowokers. I am a little rushed. I need more practice. Having a willing to learn English more positively is my duty of the latter half of the term. Be confident and believe in myself.

Northland trip - Day 2

On 2nd of July, the destination of the day was Cape Reinga which is located in the northern-most in North Island. I woke up in the early morning because I was tired and I went to bed so early. I just had hamburger at McDonald and I drove to the way SH10. SH10 and SH1 are crossing in the root of the Aupouri Penisula. From the point of crossing, it took about one and a half hours to the cape. After I arrived the cape, I could see the stunning view. Regardless of the exhaustion of the drive, it was worth seeing.

After I finished seeing the Cape Reinga, all I had to do was to go back to Auckland. Actually it was the toughest thing of this trip. I stopped by Kaitaia which is a small town just 20 or 30km from the root of the peninsula. I had lunch there and I took my way to Auckland. It took approximately six hours.

I like travelling alone, but it was too hard to drive this time. I hope I can go by bus or go with someone by rental car next time.

 

Northland trip - Day 1

On 1st of July, I set off to the Northland which is located in the northern part in the North Island. I rent a car with Ace Rental Car. It was slightly cheaper than the major company like Avis or Budget, but it cost a lot because I was alone and I couldn’t share the fee with anyone. I realized that going by rental car alone is quite bad option in the point of money.
 
Anyway, my plan of the first day was to go to Waipoua Forest which is famous for the Kauri Tree. As it is winter now and I avoided a weekend, it was really quiet in the forest. Moreover it was amazingly sunny, so I could spend really great time there. The Kauri Tree was so big that I was overwhelmed. It was mysterious and fantastic.
 
After walking in the forest, I went to Bay of Islands. Many tourists usually seem to do marine activities there, but I just ended up looking around the town of Paihia and Waitangi because I didn’t want to spend so much money on these activities.

In the end, I went to Kerikeri to stay a night. It was very small town and there were only a few backpackers hostel. Actually I could find only one and it was not good for the price. I didn’t have other options, however, I stayed at the backpackers hostel.

 
The biggest problem was that I had to drive alone and it was really hard. I think I drove more than five hours in a single day. But other than that it was good and I could do quite a nice experience.

Four Sisters

Te Matua Ngahere

Tane Mahuta