Originally I was going to volunteer for an International Business. I get weekly emails from the University of Auckland Business School with several opportunities for volunteering, internships, and jobs (if my visa allowed), and I figured it would be a good way to get into the field, considering all my previous work experience is not related to business at all (except for my beloved H2O). But, here we are, a month and a half later, with my toes still not dipped in the water of the business world. This story is very similar to that which I told in my scuba adventure post about the boat guy in the Caribbean. Instead of doing something useful that could potentially help my career exponentially, my volunteer time is spent as a snorkel guide for Experiencing Marine Reserves, a company with a focus in marine education.
So last night I had my Pal breakdown episode (this post is written the same day the Time of Dying post was written but has been scheduled to be published after the rest of my Byron Bay posts are published as to try to stick to chronological order as best as possible). So I ended up not getting to sleep until super duper late, because before that we had the fire alarm go off just before midnight due to a pop-tart in a toaster. I didn't even know they had pop-tarts here, and the lady that was in charge of the snorkel day didn't even know what a pop-tart was so I'm not sure how there was a pop-tart stuck in the toaster, but anyways! It was a rough night with little sleep, but 7am rolled around and up I got in order to prepare for my day. Fortunately, daylight savings means I actually had an extra hour to sleep, which is extremely lovely because if I hadn't had that hour, I'm not sure I would've been able to get up. My eyes were totally bloodshot when I awoke and I had to pour about half my (big) bottle of contact solution in them to keep them semi-alive.But somehow I managed to get myself and my snorkeling equipment together and head to the Owen G. Glenn Business Building to get picked up by 7:50 to go to Takapuna for the Community Guided Snorkel.
We got to the boat ramp a little after 8 and for a while it was just Lorna and I so we set up the entire area for the day. It really wasn't that bad. Maybe it's all the exercise because of the hills or maybe it's the fact I drink 3 liters of juice in a matter of days (okay sometimes hours), but I think it went totally smooth and easy and we got it done quite quickly.Oh also I forgot to mention that I woke up to a message from my father saying he got me PIT tickets for Halestorm in August!! AHH SO EXCITED! He's the best. My daddy really does love me :) It's just really great because he goes to concerts like all the time (like almost as much as he works, well now he goes less frequently but still) and he would never take me (except to like family concerts like Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry) and when Momma would get me tickets for concerts she would be the one that would have to take me because Daddy wouldn't wanna go. & every year he goes to M3 Rockfest with his friends and it makes me so sad because I wanna go and he doesn't take me and I get that it's his guys weekend but he could like find someone else to take me and I wouldn't even have to see him but noo so then I thought he didn't really like me (and don't even get me started about Sunday in the Country; actually turns out it might just be Josh Turner that Daddy doesn't like...but either way). But then last year he asked me if I wanted to go to Charm City Devils with him and I don't even listen to Charm City Devils but I was so happy he finally wanted to take me to a concert so of course I went and it was so nice because finally I got to go to a concert with my daddy. So then I saw Halestorm was on tour (shoutout to either Lzzy or Lita [Ford] for posting the pic of them before their joint concert the other night) and I sent Daddy the link for when they're in Maryland because, get this, it's practically a miracle, it's when I'm actually in Maryland (sorry, Autumn, might have to postpone LA). Then I woke up this morning and voila! Now I'm going to another concert with my daddy and this time it's for a band we both like! (Not that I don't like CCD, ya'll rock and I love ya but I couldn't even name one song til I got your set list.)
Okay so back to my snorkel tale.
All in all, the day went really quickly. It was supposed to go until 1:30, but by the time we actually finished and ate and packed everything up, we weren't headed back to the car until 4:45. It definitely didn't seem that long though.
At first, Lorna said that I would probably be first kayak duty. There were only 5 of us helping because the event was postponed 3 times and guides cancelled this morning. There was also a major event happening in the morning, but we were unaware until we showed up, even though Lorna needed a permit for the event and specifically asked if there were any clashing events. Once Ian, Aaron, El, and Kayla showed up though, I was paired with Aaron and El and Kayla were paired and Ian was sent out on first kayak duty.El and Kayla took out the first group and Aaron and I quickly followed with our group. I should've known ours would be trouble from the beginning - the girl really didn't want to snorkel but with the help of us lovely volunteers and the adults of her group, she reluctantly got in the water. She kept having problems with her mask and claimed she couldn't see, when in reality the water was just really murky due to the storms we've been having all week and the fact that the tide was just starting to come back in. Soon we got her to use the boogie board as a kick board and she quickly went off with her brother towards the front, eager to see a fish or two. The two adults in the group though stayed quite far behind, and I stayed back with them while Aaron led the front of the group. The one man spent more time standing, fixing his mask and snorkel than actually floating/snorkeling/anything. It was kinda super frustrating. Then he would totally duck his entire head underwater and come up freaking out that he had a mouthful of water when he just put his snorkel underwater! I probably should've been more helpful but he didn't seem like he wanted help. At least he wasn't drowning. We did see some spotties and parore, so at least they can say they saw some fish.
I feel like that snorkel took a really long time, but I also think the group was sorta scared of the water. But once I got out, I was told to take kayak duty. I was like "yeah no problem" because I love kayaking and I dearly miss my beloved yellow banana ocean kayak at home. But lemme tell you, kayaking from the rough Byron Bay out to the even rougher Pacific Ocean and back was about a million times easier than kayaking in this flat water. I don't know if there was a strong current, but the wind was certainly strong. It kept turning me around and taking me places where I didn't want to be so I constantly had to paddle around to make sure I wasn't hitting any snorkelers and could still see them all (I thought of kayak duty as an in-water lifeguard, but I think kayak duty actually just meant "make sure the boats don't hit the kayakers". Oh well). And the stupid flag on the stupid buoy wouldn't stay up and I had to try to make it stay up and it wasn't working and it kept falling on me. |
| Jodi returning the starfish to it's natural habitat. |
Although Lorna came in, Aaron and I also went in as snorkel guides. It was nice having three of us because then we could kinda just chill in the water. But it was late, so the snorkel was quick, and soon we were out and back on land.
After the snorkel, we had our lunch of hamburgers! I feel like the only food people eat here is sausages, especially when they say they're going to have a bbq, so it was really nice to have it mean hamburgers instead (although, honestly, I could've gone for both!). Eggs were also made, which were put on top of the hamburgers. Once everyone had their fill, there were three cooked patties left, so they allowed me to take them back to my flat since I don't have a meal plan.
We then had ice cream treated to us by the Experiencing Marine Reserves and it was so good; I got coconut flavor (bc, ya know, the addiction is real). I've been wanting good ice cream for a while. I have a tub of ice cream in my freezer from mini-mart but it doesn't taste very good so it's taking me a while to eat it.
So I was in a great mood because I had a great day. Then, well, if you follow my blog you know what happened, but hey apparently it's the circle of life and life goes on (for some; wait, no. if it's long after the days of living is gone then that would mean for all, even after death? I don't really think that's what John Mellencamp meant [especially because he says long after the thrill of living is gone, not long after the days, but who cares?], but maybe it is, but either way maybe that's my new way of lookin at it for now). But hey, my life goes on. And my thrill for living certainly isn't gone (yet) while I'm still on the other side of the Earth just tryna survive.
Until next time,
xoxo,
Tasha
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