After 13 hours of wine, movie watching, and cat napping, I had arrived to Auckland International Airport at 5:45 a.m, two days later. Damn you international dateline!

It was 5:30am and despite the darkness, my obvious drowsiness, and the cold, I was excited. Today I was going to swim with wild dolphins in Kaikoura.

I noticed a job posting for a winery up north looking for a live-in Barista. The job entailed working events at the winery, making coffees, and informing guests about the wines produced on the land. I immediately applied, thinking that would be a great first job.