Hey, everyone!  As with most weeks recently, this past week has gone by in a flash.  They go so quickly!  While I only went on one “adventure” this past week, there has been a lot going on.  Read on below!

Amanda Palmer (continued)

One of the more exciting moments for me this week was going online one day and seeing that my favorite musician, Amanda Palmer, posted the drawing I gave her on her Instagram.  On the post, she said “Stunning; and I keep seeing new things every time I gaze.  Given to me by the artist (@stevenrobertwind) at the Sherwood in Queenstown, Aotearoa NZ.”

While my artwork has been featured on Amanda’s crowd-funded platform Patreon before, this was the first time she posted it on Instagram.  As of this moment, it has over 1,000 likes with a lot of encouraging comments.  How cool!  I feel really grateful for that connection.  I’m still in a daze about the interaction I’d had with Amanda a couple of weekends back.  On the post, someone even commented “they captured your likeness” which to me is the highest compliment for my artwork.

Carly’s Birthday

After work one day, my co-worker Carly invited me to her house for a birthday get together she was having.  I had quite a bit to do that night (go to an NA meeting, make dinner, exercise, etc.) and I wasn’t sure if I’d make it.  I did end up going.  It was a fun time!  Some others from work were there as well as my roommate Cammy, his girlfriend Alexis, and Emily.  We listened to music, danced, talked, and I watched as Dermot and Lauren played beer pong.  Lauren reminded me that I am a “sweet angel” which she has said before.  So funny. 

At midnight, it was officially Carly’s birthday.  We cheered and took turns giving her hugs. 

Carly was making me laugh throughout the night because she kept putting music on, singing along to it but not knowing the words at all… but she sang as if she confidently knew the words.  I suppose it’s all about the confidence!

I am glad I ended up going because I haven’t hung out with these peeps before.  It was a “grand” time.

Bunker, Bungalow, and London

On Saturday night, I joined some friends out dancing.  There are a number of new people at the hostel, and quite a few of them were going out.  It was Valeria, Elias, Kevin, Carlos, Raul, some others that weren’t from the hostel.  We first went to Bunker, which I’d never been to before.  It was pretty chilly out and we had to wait in line for a little while but it wasn’t too bad.

The music, though!  This night of music was maybe one of the best I’ve had in a long, long time.  Everywhere we went, the music was great. It’s so funny that this little mountain town at the edge of the world has better music than most of the Chicago clubs I frequented throughout my 20s.

We stayed at Bunker for a while, dancing our hearts out.  One nice thing about New Zealand is that they have a free water station.  It really helps with staying hydrated… which is important, when you’re dancing for hours.

While dancing, Valeria kept putting her sunglasses on which I loved.  We’re inside!!!

After Bunker, we ventured over to Bungalow.  I have been before, but tonight the music was absolute perfection.  So good!  There, I bumped into Emily and some of her friends.  Emily had never seen me out and about before.  She was pretty gagged to see me haha.

At one point, a guy came up to me and said I was cute which was nice!

It was quite late by the time we left Bungalow, but I was determined to follow the night.  When we arrived, we saw Nittsy and Julian.  They were originally supposed to be dancing with us earlier in the night, so it was lovely to be reunited if only for a moment.  After arriving at London, somehow we all got split up.  After using the bathroom, I didn’t see any of the people I was originally with haha.  I bumped into some others from the hostel but as it was nearly 3am, I decided it was time to go home.  I went to the kitchen, ate a couple of Kit Kat bars (lol) and went to bed.  What a night! 

I slept in until 11am the next morning and my butt was actually sore from all the dancing I’d done.  Can’t say that’s happened before!

Bob’s Cove Reserve

On Sunday morning, the sky was overcast but I was determined to go on an adventure.  I have heard good things about Bob’s Cove so I decided to make my way out there.  After yoga at the beach, a phone call with my parents, lunch and a shower, I made way to the edge of town and stuck out my thumb.

I was talking about the act of hitchhiking with my concerned parents a few weeks back and I wanted to share with you all that the hitchhiking attitudes in New Zealand are VERY different from America.  Some people hitchhike all over the country.  My friend Marion hitchhiked from Auckland all the way down to Queenstown (with a ferry in the middle from the North to the South Island).  It is pretty widely accepted.  My friend Jose even got a ride from the police one day haha.  People also don’t really have guns here, so… not as much to be worried about. 

Anyway – I got a ride from a dude from Israel who had been traveling around New Zealand (and the world).  He was really nice.

I got to Bob’s Cove and was pleased to find there was, in fact, a hiking trail.  I was thinking it might just be a short walk to the beach but there was a trail called the Bridle Trail.  Count me in!

I was the only person on the trail, which as you all probably know by now… I love. 

Similarly to Sunshine Bay, the trail hugged the waterfront most of the time.  It was a nice walk because it was a cool day and I was in the shade – a perfect combination for a hike with inclines.

The Bridle Track was great and at times, slightly challenging.  Not because of steepness, but because of obstacles along the track.  Sometimes, I had to hop over a fallen tree, or push through overgrown plants.  My jumper had all sorts of “stickers” on them by the time I’d finished the hike!  I even had a caterpillar on me at one point.  Later, I found a spider in my backpack, too haha. 

I had two favorite moments along the trail.  One was an obstacle I had to navigate.  A giant tree had fallen and blocked the path forward.  I wasn’t able to simply step over it or under it.  I had to push myself up on top of it and balance my way down the length of the tree to get to the other side of the trail.  At first, I was thinking “maybe this is the end of the trail?”  But nope!  I’m glad I continued on.

My other favorite moment was finally being able to snap some pictures of a fantail bird!  I have seen fantails a few times before, but never while I had my camera on me.  Unfortunately, the first time I encountered the fantail on the Bridle track, it was too fast and it flew away before I could get a picture. 

Upon my return, just before getting back to the big fallen tree obstacle, I saw the fantail again (or maybe a new one?).  This time, it posed for me and chirped every now and again.  I took a page out of my mom’s book and started calling out to it, telling it how pretty it was and wow, what a nice tail!  It hopped from branch to branch, allowing me to take pictures and showing off its tail.  So cool!!!

I know it probably didn’t even care about me and was likely just trying to attract a mate or something – but it really did feel like it was showing off for me! I kept snap-snap-snapping my camera and the fantail kept pose-pose-posing.

After returning to the head of the trail, I went down to Bob’s Cove.  I sat down, listened to music for a while, and admired the scenery.  At one point, I saw a tūī fly by. 

In the distance, I saw Mt. Crichton which is a small li’l montañita I’d like to return to one day soon.  Maybe next weekend!  Maybe even tomorrow if it doesn’t rain.

It was already 5pm at this point, so I hitchhiked back home.  A man from Auckland picked me up.  He works as a transporter – taking people back and forth from Queenstown to Glenorchy.  He told me he has hitched a fair bit in his time so he always tries to pick people up when he sees them.  We had a nice conversation about New Zealand, kea birds, and Queenstown.

Little Critters

I had some nice little critter encounters over the weekend!

While doing yoga at the lakefront the other morning, I noticed a bumblebee friend had returned.  It was hanging out at the edge of my yoga mat. Unfortunately, it didn’t have any wings.  Where were they?!  I took a twig and allowed the bumblebee to climb onto it.  I tried to put it on higher ground since I thought maybe it was a little too close to the water.  While moving it, the bumblebee ended up climbing onto my sweater and then up to my shoulders.  Cute!!!  I ended up moving it to higher ground and continuing my yoga practice.

Once I’d finished, I was on the phone with my parents and realized the bumblebee was BACK!   This time, I allowed it to climb onto my hand before relocating it.  Bumblebees seem to really love the lakefront.  So many of them hang out there!

As I was rolling up my mat, I also saw a caterpillar that had been on my mat.  Really lovely colors!

However, the best critter moment happened last night.  I went to get ice cream with Yvonne and Jasper and while we were walking down the sidewalk, I spotted… A HEDGEHOG!

I couldn’t believe it.  I had heard hedgehogs were in New Zealand but for some reason, I almost didn’t believe it.  Apparently, they are native to New Zealand, too?

The three of us snapped pictures and watched it for a few minutes.  A small crowd gathered.  The hedgehog was SO teeny tiny.  I always pictured them being larger – maybe the size of an echidna.  I could have easily held it in the palm of my hand.  I would have liked to! 

Were I not with Yvonne and Jasper, I would have observed the hedgehog for longer, but alas.  It was gone once we finished our ice cream!

I hope I can run into another hedgehog while in New Zealand… next time, with my nice camera!

Miscellaneous

Mi amigo Jose is very talented with crochet and I asked if I could commission him to make a shirt for me.  And he did!  What a great shirt.

I have wanted a shirt like this for ages, ever since I saw a Kesha music video years and years ago where she wore a similar one.  I’ve never found one in stores.  Now I have a bespoke one!

I have Tuesday off for Waitangi Day.  Waitangi Day is the day the Māori people signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British colonizers.  It is regarded as a somewhat controversial day, similar to Australia Day in Australia.  The weather is supposed to be lousy, but if it’s not, I may go on an adventure!

I also got a card from my aunt Kiki! Thanks, Kiki!

Art of the Week

Reflections

Things are going well! 

One thing I’ve been aware of lately is the departure of my “first group” of peeps at the hostel.  It seems like everyone is leaving.  Queenstown is such a transient town, so people come and go in the blink of an eye.  It feels strange to know so many are leaving in the next month or two.  It’s like, as soon as I got used to everyone and started to make a connection with them… they are now moving haha.

I am especially gutted that my friend Nittsy will be leaving – she has been really patient with me as I try to speak Spanish. 

I suppose, if anything, all the people here are travellers.  Maybe one day, we will meet again, somewhere in the world.

I don’t have any specific plans in the coming days.  I work until Friday (with the exception of tomorrow).  I’ve heard some people may go camping at Moke Lake over the weekend.  If not, I’m sure I will find something else to keep me occupied.

Until next time – sending you all my love. xx