Hey, everyone! This week has gone by so quickly. While I’ve been working during the week, I’ve still found time to go for night walks and have checked out Sunshine Bay and Arthur’s Point Gorge Scenic Reserve.

Night Walks

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that I’ve enjoyed going on night walks since being in Darwin. I had the weakest headtorch EVER but I ended up going to a hiking shop last weekend and got myself a new torch. It is rechargeable, too, which is convenient.

While I work until 5.30pm, it’s not fully dark outside until maybe 10.30pm. In the winter months, it will be much, much earlier… but it’s springtime and will be heading into summer soon. While it’s really cool to have daylight for so long, it makes it very difficult for aurora hunting, haha. I basically have to wait until 11pm before I go looking!

I’ve typically been going to one spot during my night walks lately – it’s a little track that goes to a place called Sunshine Bay. I’ll touch on Sunshine Bay more later. As soon as you enter the track, you’re pretty much removed from a lot of the light pollution from the city. There are a couple of benches placed along the trail and it makes for a perfect spot to stargaze.

I’ve been lucky enough to see a couple of shooting stars on some nights, but no aurora. I was actually counting through the number of times I’ve seen the aurora in my life and was surprised to find I’ve seen it six times. How lucky is that?! Surely, I’ll see it with the naked eye here in Queenstown eventually. I know it will happen at some point but solar activity hasn’t been very intense lately. Hopefully soon! I suppose I can be rather impatient. Even still, it’s nice to get outside town and to just look at the sky.

I saw another possum the other night. I accidentally spooked it and it jumped up onto the tree. Sorry, little guy!

I also saw a black bunny around dusk one day. It was so cool! I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a black bunny in the wild before. When I was walking around the same area yesterday, I saw heaps of bunnies but none of these guys were black.

I’m sure I’ll continue to go on night walks while in Queenstown. Auroras and stargazing aside, once I’ve made it to the benches, it’s a nice time for me to calm down my breathing and to just exist for a little while.

Sunshine Bay

As I mentioned, the trail I’ve been frequenting leads down to Sunshine Bay. After work one day, I decided to check it out since I haven’t walked very far outside of town. It’s incredible how quickly I was able to feel as if I was on a proper walk, away from a bustling tourist town. The trail occasionally nudges up against the road, but for the most part it’s walking by the water and being surrounded by beautiful foliage and the occasional bird.

I passed a small waterfall along the way. I’m going to have to return on another day because I found out afterwards that the trail forks and if I go to the left, I can actually go down to the water and the view of the waterfall is much better. Perhaps I’ll do that tomorrow.

It was later in the day and I only saw one person on the trail – he was heading back into town. I followed the trail until I arrived at Sunshine Bay which is a small little beach made up of rocks and pebbles. There were some larger boulders to sit on and watch the clouds change color as the sun set. I listened to music and sang along since I was alone. I love to sing! And speaking of singing…

Amanda Palmer

While I was on break at work yesterday, I was checking my email and found out that my favorite musician, Amanda Palmer, is going to be coming to Queenstown in mid January. I knew she was planning on a tour to New Zealand but I didn’t think there was a chance in hell she would make it down to Queenstown. I was elated!

Amanda Palmer has a solo career as an artist, but she’s also part of a duo called The Dresden Dolls. They are incredible. She said she’ll be playing some new songs from The Dresden Dolls’ upcoming album on piano which is a treat in itself. They were on a break for something like fifteen years, so I’m really looking forward to new material from them. I never thought I’d see the day.

And lastly, regarding Amanda… she is releasing an EP called New Zealand Survival Songs. Amanda was touring in New Zealand when the pandemic struck and since she was with her eight year old son, she decided to stay in New Zealand since America was such a shit show at the time. She ended up staying for two years and this will be her first time back to New Zealand since she returned home last year.

The venue she’ll be playing at is supposedly quite small. Fingers crossed it will be intimate enough that I might be able to chat with her after the show! I would be so thrilled.

Update: I also had to edit this post moments after publishing because as I was on Facebook, I found this memory of me meeting Amanda Palmer 13 years ago! She had shaved eyebrows at the time that she painted on with liner in crazy designs. She’d taken her makeup off after the show and I think really did not want to take a picture LOL but it’s her!

Arthur’s Point Gorge Scenic Reserve

I wasn’t sure if I was going to do much of anything today. I was having a slow morning doing laundry, getting groceries, calling my parents, etc… but then I decided to go for a long walk to check out a place called Arthur’s Point Gorge Scenic Reserve.

It was about an hour and a half walk one way but I’m glad I walked instead of taking the bus there. Along the way, I saw some other spots I want to check out – like a wetland boardwalk, the beginning of some other trailheads, etc. I also passed some farms and saw sheep, goats, chickens, and a cow. Animals!

I listened to music along the way and since no one else was walking down the sidewalk, I was singing once again.

When I arrived at the Scenic Reserve, I was expecting a park that overlooked the gorge down below, but I didn’t really find anything like that. I continued walking and made it to a bridge which offered beautiful views of the gorge below. The water was a milky blue. The mountains in the background only added to the beauty.

I wish I could say I stayed for a while but there was nowhere for me TO stay! I hung out by the bridge for a few moments and then eventually made my way to a bus stop. I was surprised to see three wild goats near the side of the road munching on some plants while heading to the bus.

A bus ride anywhere in Queenstown is only $2, so I figured I’d just take the bus back. Along the way, I discovered that there actually are a couple of other things to check out near the gorge, so I’ll be returning at some point. I’m not in much of a rush. I have time to explore Queenstown!

Miscellaneous

I went to the store one day and got myself a yoga mat, water bottle for work, a new bath towel… all signs that I’m settling in and making a home for myself.

I also FINALLY got my bank account finalized! That was quite the process. It took about three weeks to finally get it. Geez! My debit card arrived the day before my first paycheck. Yahoo! I am now officially living off New Zealand money which is significantly more expensive than if I were paying with USD haha. That’s alright. $10 for a box of cereal!

The Queenstown Marathon was today and the city was pretty much detouring all the traffic. It was cool to see so many people running. The city really came to life. Lots of supporters were along the sidelines, clapping and cheering on the runners.

There is a boat that goes around the Whakatipu Lake (the large lake in Queenstown) called the TSS Earnslaw. I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of it yet but I’ll take one this week to share with you all next time. It is the only running steam ship in the southern hemisphere! Very cool.

And lastly for this section… the clouds here in New Zealand are just so beautiful. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that clouds appear differently depending on where in the world you are.

Art of the Week

I made this one for my new boss! It’s actually the second iteration – the first had an aurora in the background but I didn’t like how it looked and also thought my boss would like the sun a little bit more.

Reflections

Things are good! I feel I am settling in to work and doing a great job so far. It’s nice to be able to shut it off at 5.30 and then enjoy the rest of my night without thinking about work. That’s certainly a first!

I think if anything, I am realizing it will probably be hard to explore here without a car, too. I guess anywhere you go, it’s harder to explore without a car. BUT there are a lot of walking trails near the city that I can familiarize myself with and I can always go on tours if I want to get outside the city. The bus system doesn’t take me that far out of Queenstown, but it does take me to a few different areas that I haven’t checked out yet. Hopefully, I’ll make some friends who want to go on adventures, too.

I have to remind myself that this part of my New Zealand travel will be a little bit slower, much like my early days in Perth. I’ll be working, so it’s not the freedom of going and adventuring every day to somewhere new. But it will be that again one day! Just not for the time being. Nothing wrong with that! If anything, I will try to do one new, fun thing a week so I can continue sharing with you all.

I’m not sure if I’ll be doing too much this coming week, but next Saturday I am treating myself on a boat tour to Milford Sound for my birthday. It’s supposed to be a beautiful area on the ocean with fjords, massive waterfalls, and cool birds and ocean life. I’m sure that will be a really fun time and a wonderful way to celebrate my 32nd birthday. Yahoo!

Until then… sending you all my love! xx