Hey, everyone! Apologies in advance, because this is going to be a LONG POST. The past week has been pretty eventful, which is the trend as of late. The two major parts of the week were Lau’s going away celebration and a road trip down to Fiordland National Park. Read on!

Lau’s Going Away

On Friday, Lau and some others from the hostel had plans to do an Open Mic night at Searchlight Brewery which is down the road from the hostel (and by down the road, I mean like a 30min walk away).

I was originally thinking of driving down to Te Anau after work, but since Lau had been at the hostel since before me, I wanted to make sure I was able to celebrate him before going down to Fiordland. I figured I’d stay for a few songs and then dip out to drive to Te Anau in the evening, but it didn’t work out that way.

When I got to Searchlight, I found out that Open Mic night was actually every OTHER Friday. Damn! Still, we hung around the table and talked instead.

At one point, Marion ordered shots and we all cheers’ed Lau. In leu of a shot, I rose my vape as a shot glass instead LOL and then took a puff.

Marion and Lau are really good friends – often synchronizing their days off and going camping together. Marion had put together a little scrapbook of pictures of Lau. She also got people from the hostel to write their well wishes in it. What a kind gesture! I hope by the time I leave here, someone else will have made the effort to do something like that for me haha.

When Marion presented Lau with the scrapbook, he started to choke up a little. It was kind of hard to see it because Lau is always very happy, smiley, and cracking jokes. If you’ll remember, on New Year’s Eve, Lau was the one who grabbed me by the shoulders and said to me, “You have to be happy, Steve!”

I understand it, though. How hard it must be, to leave a place where you’ve made so many friendships and had all these experiences with people. I have experienced these feeling of loss in my own way, while traveling around Australia. The hardest place to leave was Perth, because I had known people there for six months. And yet, here it’s kind of different at the hostel because so many of us are somewhat likeminded. Majority of us love traveling, hiking, camping, wildlife, etc. We see each other day in and day out – at work, in the kitchen, out dancing, etc. I am sure it will be hard to leave when it is my time to go.

As it got later in the night, I realized I probably wasn’t going to be driving to Te Anau.

Lau still had his guitar with him and the employees said it was fine if we wanted to play music. Lau told me he wanted to play “our song.” That song being Don’t Stop Believing by Journey – a song we had played in the kitchen a couple of times in the past. He plays guitar and we both sing. And so we did. I don’t think I’ve ever sang in front of that many people before, but it ended up being fine. Afterwards, I gave Lau a hug and kissed him on the side of the head. I teared up a little bit because it was certainly an US thing. That was probably one of our earliest bonding moments, when we made music in the kitchen together.

The guitar was passed around from person to person. At one point, Martin sang a Czech song and got us all to sing along (poorly, as we don’t speak the language lol). Juan played some Argentinian songs and others sang along, others danced. The guitar was passed to me and I was asked to sing another song. I played Flesh Without Blood by Grimes – one of the easiest songs for me to play on guitar that I somehow still butchered haha. Afterwards, Martin asked me if I’ve had any music lessons for singing which was quite flattering.

It was a lovely night. Before it was over, I asked Lau if he had a moment. In Spanish, I told him that I’m glad we met, that it was really important to me that he helped me to practice my Spanish. I told him that he is the Heart of the hostel (true) and that I will miss him. I told him that the world is big, but it’s also small and I hope we meet again. As I told him this, he started to tear up again. He gave me a hug and told me that he’ll miss me, that I have a really calm presence. We then took a picture together and he kissed me on the cheek.

You’ll certainly be missed, Lau!

Vienen y se van. Sigh.

Queenstown to Fiordland National Park

In the morning, I woke up before 8am, had some quick breakfast, then went to my van to take it on its first road trip (well, first road trip with me). The ride to Monkey Creek would be about 3hr 30min. However, I have been dying to just be on a road trip, singing along to my favorite music again. I haven’t been able to do it in ages, since I’m always in a car with other people. Alas, the charger that was in the car was broken and it wasn’t connecting to the stereo system haha. So I had a good hour with music playing on the phone speaker and then had to turn it off because it was draining my battery too much.

I stopped in Te Anau to fill up on petrol and get some food for the next 24 hours and then I was off again. Along the way, I saw a huge bird of prey on the side of the road, feasting on roadkill. I also saw a duck that was literally just sitting in the middle of the road. Such a weirdo. Hello… someone’s gonna hit you! (Spoiler alert: I saw it the next day, alive and in the grass haha.)

Once I’d gotten into Fiordland National Park, the scenery started to change a lot. Entering the Eglington Valley, the views started to get really incredible. While I’d seen it before, it was still awesome. Tall mountains, the occasional waterfall. Roads that twist and turn every five seconds.

I was excited to get to Monkey Creek to try and see my kea birds again. Fingers crossed!

Monkey Creek: Take One

I arrived at Monkey Creek in the early afternoon and was met with a foggy, eerie setting. The low-hanging cloud cover obscured the surrounding mountains, only providing the occasional sneak-peek.

I didn’t see any kea, but I could hear them. Eventually, I was able to pin point where their “ke-aaa” call was coming from – a tree off in the distance. Occasionally, I could spot their large bodies hopping from branch to branch.

It started to drizzle, and then rain. I had decided against bringing a rain jacket which turned into an obvious mistake. I went back to my van and waited to see if the kea would come out. I was back and forth a few times but they never got any closer. The best I was able to get was when a kea flew overhead and off into another faraway tree. Damn! How lucky was I to be able to see kea on my birthday back in November??? Although, I wasn’t feeling very lucky this time. That’s wildlife, y’all.

I stayed at Monkey Creek for some time, trying to will them to come closer so I could observe them again. After all, the main purpose of the trip for me was to try and see them once more, and for longer this time.

I had a hike I wanted to do and I didn’t want to postpone it for too long. The hike was three hours return and I also wanted to get back to the campsite before dark. And so, begrudgingly – off I went, to do the hike to Lake Marian. I was bummed to not be able to see the kea closer up this time. Alas!

(I did also go back to Monkey Creek after the hike, but this time the kea were nowhere to be seen OR heard. Sad.)

Lake Marian

I had heard of Lake Marian from… Marion. She and Lau had gone on a camping trip there a few weeks prior and it looked really beautiful.

The hike was excellent. I was surprised to see how lush the area was. So many ferns, trees covered in moss, mushrooms, etc. For the first portion of the hike, I walked parallel to a waterfall. It was quite a powerful one.

About a third of the way into the hike, I… got lost. I am not always the best at following the little orange triangles that clearly show you where the next step along the hike is. More often than not, I have to watch my step because much of the hike was like walking up a stairmaster. I kind of can’t believe I got lost because the track seemed SO CLEAR. I think I had actually gone off to one of those little “viewpoint” detours, because it took me right next to the waterfall. There were some smaller veins of the trail that rose even higher along the trail. As I walked along one of those veins, I felt something was wrong. I wasn’t seeing people around and I was needing to push thick foilage out of the way to stay on this “trail”. I walked through a spiderweb and I think that’s when I knew something was definitely off. This was a well-traveled trail. I had seen so many people only ten minutes prior… there shouldn’t be a spiderweb in the middle of the main track.

So I tried going down, walking along the waterfall. And that wasn’t right either.

It was still relatively early in the day (3pm) but I realized I was definitely lost. I began to panick a little bit. What if I couldn’t find my way back to the main track and it gets dark out and I hurt myself and no one is around to save me? What if this? What if that? I knew I was stressing myself out, so I said a little prayer to ask my HP to calm me down. Shortly after, I heard bird song. It sounded almost like a kea. I walked towards the direction of it and a minute or two later, I found the way back to the main trail. What a sigh of relief that was!

I was wondering if I should just turn back but decided it would be a waste to give up. And so, onward I went.

I’m glad I continued on. It was a somewhat challenging hike. My heart rate was up and I was sweating a LOT. My hair was wet with sweat (well, sweat and also the rain from earlier), and so was my shirt.

The trees, though. It was like a little fairy wonderland. It reminded me a lot of Hall of Mosses in Hoh Rainforest, Washington state.

Eventually, I plateaued and was almost out of the woods. I could see bits of mountain finally peaking through in the distance. Before I got to Lake Marian, I spotted a little South Island robin (at least, I think this is what it is after using Google Lens). It was sort of my reward for successfully completing the hike. I love how birds seem to present themselves to me at/near the end of my hikes. There was a lone bird greeting me at the top of Ben Lomond summit, too, if you’ll remember!

The view at Lake Marian was fantastic. I don’t think the picture really does it justice. However, before you think I spent the rest of my evening admiring the views, think again. Within seconds, I was being attacked by sandflies.

Where are sandflies? Oh, how have I not mentioned them yet? They are basically the Aotearoa New Zealand answer to mosquitoes. They look like teeny little flies, but they bite the HELL out of you/suck your blood. They are so gnarly. I wanted to stay longer but I didn’t have bugspray and since it was later in the day anyway, I unfortunately didn’t stay long. Next time, I will come prepared with insect repellent haha.

Still… worth it.

Cascade Creek Campsite

NOT to be confused with Crystal Castles.

Before going to Monkey Creek, I stopped at my campsite to check out the area and to do my registration. I have never in my life gone camping on my own before and I didn’t exactly know what the process was. I had printed out my camp pass (or so I thought) and knew that I should be displaying it on my dashboard. I also had to fill out a little card that has my vehicle registration, how many nights I’m staying, etc. Wild.

In the evening, I returned to the campsite and tried to find a spot. I noticed some campsites had numbers next to them but since I had no cell coverage, I wasn’t able to refer to my booking to see which campsite I was supposed to be using haha. I ended up parking at an unmarked one, hoping the ranger wouldn’t be giving me a reprimanding at six in the morning.

I took the back seats out of the van and put them in the front, then set up my bed. All in all, what a convenient set up! It will be nice to sleep in my van whenever I want to go camping. I bought a 365 day camping pass for just under $200 NZD, so I don’t have to pay for any of the campsites. Each night is $15 otherwise. Hopefully, I go camping more than 13 times haha. I think I will.

I still had some daylight left and there was a nature trail right next to the campsite. I decided to go explore.

Lake Gunn Nature Trail

Now, the Lake Gunn Nature Trail is the type of hike I would do any day. The whole track was… surprise… FLAT! It was a loop track that allegedly takes 45min to complete. I think it took me maybe 20min. What a lovely area. It was similar to the Lake Marion hike, except much easier to walk around it haha.

After the hike, I read a little bit in my van and relaxed some. It was too early to go to sleep and I had plans to go on a night hike to try to hear/see some kiwi. Fiordland National Park is home to kiwi, believe it or not!

Once it was dark enough, I went back to the trail with my headtorch. It has been a couple of months since I’ve been on a night hike. They are so eerie but I really love them. I walked around the track two times, trying to be quiet and look around for kiwi, possum, stoats, bats, etc. I saw… nothing. I did hear some birds making noise high up in their trees though.

I got back to my van around 11pm and decided to go to sleep. I wanted to wake up early because I had a six hour hike to do the next morning.

Key Summit

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start my day with a trip to Monkey Creek or just starting the day with a hike first. The hike was supposed to be six hours and even though it was only 7.30am, the hike + Monkey Creek + drive back to Queenstown meant I wasn’t going to get home until evening.

I decided to get the hike out of the way.

Upon arrival at the parking lot, I realized the hike wasn’t six hours at all. It was a three hour return! I must have looked it up online, saw three hours and thought “three hours one way.” Kind of a pleasant surprise as my legs and butt were slightly sore from the previous hike.

The hike had a pretty gradual incline. The occasional bird fluttered into view. Fantails, robins, and… a tomtit! I haven’t been able to get a picture of a tomtit yet (yes, that’s really their name). What a curious looking bird! Absolutely adorable.

The tomtit allowed me to snap a couple of pictures and then off it went.

I was surprised to find another little waterfall maybe twenty minutes into the hike. Starting the day with a waterfall is always a superb way to start the day.

And then… a wood pidgeon! I don’t think I’ve seen a wood pidgeon up close since my first week in Aotearoa New Zealand. I was glad to finally get a (kind of) decent picture of one. They are FAT birds. My brother sent me a video of them a month or two ago and apparently they are also alcoholic birds. They gorge on fruit to the point that they actually get drunk off them haha.

It was my friend Joey’s birthday and so I took a couple of videos along the hike to wish him a happy birthday and show him the views. I told him I was looking forward to seeing him when I’m home in a few weeks. I can’t wait!

The hike continued up, up, up… and eventually, it rose above the tree line. Incredible.

The morning fog hung in the valleys. Clouds shrouded the mountains. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the clouds and fog slowly began to dissipate.

The track continued to a scenic loop track which I really, really loved. The terrain was so amazing. Key Summit was one of the smaller mountain tops among many other massive mountains. I was on a plateau of sorts, dwarfed by a ring of mountains.

At the end of the trail, there were a few benches. I sat and had a snack, and enjoyed the view. The clouds still blocked a lot of the mountains, but I was fine with that. It was less about the view, more about the ambience.

I took the loop track down the other way and encountered… a BOARDWALK! Success. Y’all know boardwalks are my favorite haha.

The track led me to a small bog-like area surrounded by trees covered in moss. I later texted a picture to Joey and told him that I thought he would like the area a lot. He likes weird trees.

As I hiked back down to the car park, more and more people passed by me on the way up. I was glad I had most of the hike to myself. It was a peaceful way to start the day.

Monkey Creek: Take Two

My final adventure in Fiordland was a return to Monkey Creek. Oh, how I hoped to see some kea! It was only a twenty minute drive from Key Summit car park to Monkey Creek.

As soon as I pulled up, I saw people taking pictures of something in a tree. And then, as I pulled in, I also noticed two kea on top of someone’s car.

YES!

I was eager to park the car, but someone stood right in the middle of the parking lot. I almost honked my horn at them. I was really, really excited that the kea were there haha.

I quickly hopped out of my van and went to observe the kea. So cute! The lighting was perfect, too. The reason I’ve been wanting to see the kea again is 1) because I only got five minutes to observe them on my Milford Sound tour back in November and 2) when I did see them, the lighting was very harsh and contrast-y. The pictures weren’t the best. I love photographing wildlife, so I really wanted to try again.

A juvenile kea was my first focus. It was on the street and then flew/hopped over to the trees. It found a broken tree branch and perched itself on it, tearing off large pieces of bark. It flapped open its wings a few times and while they’re not the best pictures (because I was zoomed in too much), I was thrilled to be able to capture the vibrance of its coloring and patterning. Que bonito!!!

Sometimes, these birds really do seem like they’re posing. So cute!

The main difference between juvenile kea and the adults is the coloring around their beak and eyes. Juveniles have sort of a yellow-y coloring and are generally smaller in general. Adults have a more grey color and are much larger. I’m not sure if this is true, but it seems like their feathers are almost “thicker,” too.

The juvenile kea flew into a higher canopy and I turned to check out one of the adults.

The adult kea really gave me the money shot I had been hoping for. In Queenstown, there is a tourism shop called RealNZ and they have a big poster of a kea right outside. The picture I was able to capture is funnily enough almost an exact replica of the kea poster on the shop window haha.

The real money shot for me was getting the profile of the adult kea as a slight wind blew through its feathers. I feel like it really showcases how thick their feathers are and how colorful the birds are, too. Such a vibrant green and then the underbelly is almost a reddish pink. They are beautiful! As a reminder, kea are the only alpine parrots in the world and can only be found on the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.

I must have spent about thirty minutes with the kea before they all flew back to the faraway tree from the night before. I felt very lucky that I was able to see them up close again. Surely, many people have come to Fiordland National Park in hopes of seeing a kea and were disappointed they weren’t able to.

Success!

As a side note… there were parts of the kea observation that were a bit of a bummer. In the photos below, you’ll see 1) a kea on top of my van and 2) a massive horde of people crowding around kea on top of a car.

In terms of 1) the kea are regarded as very “cheeky.” They will totally tear apart your car if you let them hang around too long. They love the rubber in between the car and inside of the door. Luckily, my van was unscathed but I did witness them tear like a two-inch piece of rubber off someone’s door.

For 2) it is a little bit more of a bummer to me. Obviously, it’s a great thing that people love wildlife, right? But there is a limit. We should always give a safe distance to these beautiful creatures and never make them feel crowded. Have I ever gotten too close to a wild animal? Sure, probably. But when there are massive groups of people like this, it feels especially important not to overwhelm the creatures. It was a little sad to see. Of course, the kea could fly away if it wants to but I think it’s the human behavior that is the issue. Remember the baby dolphin people were taking pictures with? We affect these animals and often, it is not for the best.

As a 3) there was a woman who had put small pieces of bread on the top of her car. There are signs all over the South Island that explicitly say NOT to feed the kea. Sigh.

Miscellaneous

It was my friend Elias’ birthday the other evening. He joined me in practicing slackline on Wednesday and afterwards, I treated him to ice cream. We walked over by the Kiwi Park and surprisingly, we were able to hear the kiwi calling out! It was pretty exciting.

I haven’t been to the Kiwi Park yet because I thought it was kind of like a zoo. After my night adventure with Elias, I decided to look into it. Kiwi Park actually has done lots of conservation efforts for their animals and it isn’t really the same as a zoo. They do volunteer programs and I decided to reach out… and so, this Saturday I’ll be meeting with them and will be committing to 3 hour shifts once a week! That might not be consistent until after my holiday is over in April, though. It will be a nice way to start my Saturday, cleaning the enclosures, feeding the birds, etc.

I went to Sonic Healing on Thursday. We ended up talking much of the evening and so we were only able to really play two songs before calling it a night. It was a nice time but hopefully this coming Thursday, there is more music! We will see.

Art of the Week

While I haven’t had a moment to make any art this week… I do have some exciting news to share! I am starting an online shop, where people can order stickers/magnets/T-shirts of my artwork. I will share the link to the new artwork I upload each week… although, the site isn’t live yet. Apparently, it takes about a week for the shop to go live. Fingers crossed it is live by next week!

Perhaps most exciting of all… Amanda Palmer POSTED THE SELFIE that she and I took together at her show. I had my fingers crossed so tightly for this one. I know it’s sort of a superficial thing, but I am so, so glad I was able to get the picture.

Also, in looking at this picture, it’s kind of funny. Amanda, next to her ukulele. Me, next to my artwork. Me with headphones around my neck, where I had just been listening to Amanda Palmer’s new EP before going to her show. Oh, life! You crazy.

She also posted a picture of me writing my Instagram handle on the back of the artwork. So cool!!

Reflections

Everything is good! I am so glad I have a van now and can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I do have some financial goals I am saving for and petrol is expensive, so I can’t be going on farrrrr road trips all the time, but there are plenty of places to explore that aren’t 3+ hours each way. I have time!

I am also really looking forward to seeing my family and friends. It almost doesn’t feel real – it’s just something I know is on the horizon. And yet, only a little more than three weeks and I’ll be landing in Chicago for a brief visit. Yahoo!

There is certainly a shift at the hostel at the moment. Lots of new people coming through and, as I’ve discussed, lots of people leaving. I think the place, and the people here, are trying to find the new balance and there are some growing pains.

However, my new room is so great! Jasper and I get along really well and it’s nice to wind down at the end of the night and talk/laugh together. He is very clean and respectful which is nice. The other guys were great, too, but a little messy and used up a lot of the surfaces haha.

As for this week… just the usual things, I suppose. Circus kids on Wednesday, Sonic Healing Thursday… Dance Friday? Saturday Kiwi Park volunteering, and then I’m not quite sure!

Until next time, I’m sending you all my love. xx