An Au Pair in Wellington

Three months have been and gone, non stop exploring, non stop excitement but also non stop spending! I decided to look for some temporary work and as Wellington is still on the to do list i thought it would be a nice place to be and explore for a short while and also a good place to perhaps find some work. 

I spoke to a girl in my room in the hostel and she was telling me she had applied to over 30 jobs and hadn't got anywhere.  This did not fill me with confidence!  I found that a lot of temporary jobs were listed on the Backpackers Board NZ which is a free noticeboard for jobs, cars, notices from people looking for travel buddies, that sort of thing. Anyway to cut a long story short, i found an advert for a job that was for an Au Pair for 6 weeks. It is an interim period before the child went to daycare and after the last Au Pair had left. 

So here i am. I look after a little boy named Archer who has just turned one.  I work Monday to Friday 7.30- 5. I live with a great family in a lovely house overlooking the harbour in a suburb of Wellington called Kandallah. I don't have to pay for food or board or anything for that matter except of course things i want to do in my own time. I help with the cooking and the clearing up and i look after my own room but that is all. Au Pairs are typically people looking for immersion in a different country/culture, usually to learn the language and they help out with the housework and childcare. For me, this was a perfect solution as i could save and earn as i am also getting paid (quite a good going rate for an Au Pair which is also great!). It is also very close to the city and within easy reach of many surrounding places to visit. I spend my days during the week with little Archer who is a delight to be around and i also get my evenings and weekends to do as i wish.  I have had to dig out my repertoire of nursery rhymes and get used to singing them over and over again, along with various first word books over and over again but so far i think i am doing OK! I have introduced Archer to Spot the dog books and eggybread! I am pretty lucky to have such a gorgeous boy to look after, he has accepted me quite well and greets me with a huge smile each morning (or maybe that's just because I'm making him breakfast!) He is also in the process of taking his first steps, learning to point and standing up to reach things he shouldn't! I am here until the end of March so look out for more posts about my time in a pretty cool city! 

This is a view from my bedroom, that's the airport runway in the middle there!