2020: My Year in Review | New Zealand

2020 has been a good year for me.

That is, despite the miasma known as covid that has engulfed the world. People were stuck indoors. Businesses were closed. Recreational travel was exiled. No one knew much about this mysterious disease back then.

Yet, I was grateful in 2020. While avid hiker friends in Singapore were stuck in the country, I was tramping in the most beautiful places in New Zealand. Instead of circulating between working from home or working from the office in the urban concrete jungle, I was working on farms, picking and packing fruits in orchards and feeding infant animals.

Of all places to be stuck, New Zealand is probably the best place to be.

Bidding 2019 farewell

2019 was a good year for me too, career-wise. I was recently promoted and projects of the past year were finally bearing fruits.

Yet, I took the plunge, left my job and flew to New Zealand on 18 Dec.

Some people were surprised/ shocked/ aghast/ *insert the best negative perception from the society here*. But most were nonchalant, having known my eccentricity.

I had a plan in mind for 2020 when I left my job. Six months in New Zealand, back in Singapore to be certified as a Yoga Teacher, then maybe another six months in Africa, backpacking from South Africa to Egypt with my ex-partner.

Things didn’t work out as planned.

Covid came. The New Zealand Govt kept handing out free visa extensions. I left my old relationship and found myself in another one. As of now, I am still in NZ and can remain so until June 2021.

2020 in Brief

The year has been a worthwhile, albeit, very bumpy ride full of ups and downs for me.

The first three weeks in New Zealand were a tad terrifying. Sorting out bank and tax accounts, finding accommodations and securing a job in Queenstown during the year-end holiday were no fun things to do.

I drifted to Christchurch just before the new year began to start anew. Found my first job as a plastic packer through word-of-mouth from the host of the sharehouse. I worked and explored the city for another month before heading to the north of South Island, to Motueka.

Motueka was where many beautiful memories were made and valuable friendships were forged. It was also the town where I spent most of my time in NZ.

I went from mussel opener to pear packer, before finally settling into apple packing until the season ended.

The pre-covid plan was to remain in Motueka for the apple season until March when my ex would rejoin me for a short holiday. But covid struck NZ and we entered a full lockdown. Things deteriorated on the relationship part while work continued as NZ tried to contain the pandemic.

Post-lockdown and work, a trio of us went for the long-awaited Tour de South Island and took full advantage of local deals and promo prices.

We went out of the holiday mode to my first farm work as a calf rearer.

But that was not before I lost confidence in driving on NZ roads after a freakish accident caused by a sleepy driver.

We went from calf rearer in Hinds to hops trainer in Tapawera and finally cherry picker in Clyde. 

And amid all these jobs, we checked out several Great Walks and tried almost all common and novel touristy experiences in NZ.

My 2020 ended in fireworks over Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown.