Hey, everyone! Well… I did it. After over six months of living in Queenstown, I finally made it to Moke Lake – a beautiful place only a twenty minute drive from town. It has been a busy, fulfilling week with lots of highlights but I think Moke Lake was likely the cherry on top.

Thank you, Jasper, for driving!

Guys’ Late Lunch

At work on Friday, my boss – Jen – and I left work around 2pm to help out at a charity event that Jim, the General Manager of the hotel, was hosting at a venue down the road called SODA. Neha and Carly joined us, too. It was a fun departure from the usual working day.

Jim has been doing these charity events for many years. Essentially, a bunch of local Queenstown dudes with varying wealth come through and buy raffle tickets for a variety of local business vouchers. There is also an auction where they can bid to win a number of activities/experiences. The charity event was for Cure Kids, which is a really incredible organization that started in Aotearoa New Zealand. It basically helps fund a bunch of research for any and all child-related diseases, etc.

After speeches had finished, Jen and I walked around the room. She took payment and I dispensed the raffle tickets. We advertised one ticket for $10, five for $40. Pretty much everyone bought the $40 tickets which was a nice start to the event.

During the auction portion, a man on a microphone listed all the rewards. “Can I get $500? Can I get $600?” Some of these items sold for over $1,000! Neha, Carly, and I exchanged glances at times. Unbelievable how much money people spent! And in some instances, it was on pretty silly stuff. My coworker Josh was there and he bid $400 for a sweater that would be signed by Jim… his boss, hahaha. Others spent nearly $1,000 on a bottle of “legacy” wine. Years ago, someone bid on a bottle of wine and never came to collect it. The next year, they bid that same bottle and a tradition was started. People would bid on the bottle of wine, not drink it, and keep it for the next event. How cool is that? Jim announced that once he figures out how to do it, he wants to get the bottle engraved with all the names of people who have won the bottle over the years.

While I haven’t done anything with Cure Kids before, it felt really cool to be part of the experience and share it with Jen, Carly, and Neha. Afterwards, we went to World Bar where we caught up and shared plenty of laughs. We had a nice day together! I would have stayed out later, but I wanted to eat dinner and get to an NA meeting before a night of dancing.

Ugly Thrift Store Outfits

In a group chat, Abby had announced Friday night would be “a night of dancing BUT with the ugliest thrift store outfit someone can choose out for you.” Needless to say, Jasper was very torn about this particular theme haha. He loves dressing up and looking good. I, on the other hand, am quite comfortable looking like garbage haha.

Around 10pm, we got together. We went into Abby & Yvonne’s room, took some pictures, and after a while, went out to Winnie’s.

Along the way, Courtney was walking backwards while filming our group… and she proceeded to fall over a bench! No one saw what was coming until it was too late. I suppose we were all busy striking a pose haha. Courtney is fine, though.

We spent the night dancing away at Winnie’s. The music was quite good. Later in the night, Emily found us. If you’ve been following along, you know a Wild Emily always completes the evening.

(I’d also like to give the caveat that while my shirt is not from the thrift store OR ugly… it seemed to fit the bill for the night haha. I shared with my friends the story about the iconic shirt – how my mom bought it for my dad, who didn’t want it, tried passing it onto my brother, who didn’t want it, tried passing it onto my OTHER brother, who didn’t want it… and finally, tried to pass it onto me… who decided – ABSOLUTELY.)

I ended up calling it around 1am because I had to be up at 8 for Kiwi Park. The sacrifice I make for these birds!!!

Moke Lake

After a lovely morning at Kiwi Park, I had brunch at the hostel. Abby, Jasper, Yvonne, and I drove up to Moke Lake. None of us had yet been there – and Jasper has lived here for quite some time! It was fun that we were able to experience it for the first time together.

Moke Lake is really close to town but it’s a super popular spot. Especially for aurora and astro-photography. I’ve seen some really nice pictures taken from there.

While we initially thought we might have a little picnic and work on some art projects, we nonverbally decided to just hike the loop track instead. It was estimated at 2.5 hours, but we did it in two, and that was WITH a picnic break.

The trail was really lovely. It’s funny how there are all these little nooks and crannies in Aotearoa New Zealand. Had I not known about Moke Lake, I never would have suspected taking that road would lead to such a gorgeous location.

Before we began our hike, we took some pictures with a good backdrop. (RIP Jasper’s tripod, which broke shortly after.)

We never stopped talking along the way and I was pleased to be sharing a hike with friends. I have gone on many hikes since living here but this was maybe only the second or third time I’ve actually gone for a walk with someone! Our schedules are so misaligned at times, it makes it difficult. Lately, we’ve been synced up.

This was also the first time we’ve all ever hung out together outside of Queenstown, save for a quick trip to Frankton one evening. It’s funny that we spend so much time together, yet have never left town to go on an adventure.

Halfway through the track, we set out picnic blankets and shared cheese and crackers. We admired the lake below and the mountains surrounding us. We had a LOT of laughs.

Jasper had checked the weather earlier in the day and it called for rain. The clouds were starting to look like it but we decided to trudge on and finish the hike. I’m glad we did. It never did end up raining that day.

The hike was a little bittersweet because we all were aware Yvonne was moving out of the hostel. Yvonne and Abby live in the room next to Jasper and me so we’re often knocking on one another’s walls, and coming over to chat. That’s okay – she has never lived on her own before and she’s really excited for that. And we will all still get together!

Moke Lake was a really wonderful time. I’d love to be back but geez there’s still so much left to see before I leave Queenstown!

Miscellaneous

What else?

I was invited to hang out with my friend Josh on Thursday evening. He is the host of the Sound Healing group – the peeps that get together to play music and sing. It was nice to have a one on one. He made a delicious veggie lasagna and side salad. Seriously, SO yum. We ended up talking for many hours. Astrology, family, spirituality, near death experiences, and more. I’m really glad we got to know each other better. He’s a great guy.

On Tuesday night, a group of us got together at Surreal Bar to do some karaoke. But we got there TOO LATE! They weren’t taking any more songs. Instead, we hung out and sang along to other people’s songs. I had to take a picture of “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes coming up on the screen. That song plays very infrequently in my life but always reminds me of my early days living in Chicago with my dear friend Michael.

Kiwi Park on Saturday was great. Same as usual – cleaning out the enclosures, feeding the animals. The highlight is always feeding the kiwi, though. They all are very different. Some of them are quite skittish, but there is one who I really adore. I think her name is spelled Korukoru. When I enter her enclosure, she actually follows me around as I’m looking for a place to set down her food in the dark. As I placed the food, her beak almost touched my hand haha. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to care for these special creatures – these “taonga,” which is a Māori word for something precious.

I also got to feed the kaka again. I’d only fed them once before and that was my first day. Back then, they flew onto my head and tried to eat my earring haha. This time, they flew on my head again and tried to get me to take my hood off. One of them was even biting me a little bit! They also were trying to chew at my shoes and then they got mad at each other and tried to fight. Crazy kaka!!!

I did have a day where I was feeling seasonal depression kick in a little bit. There had been a number of cloudy days and normally it’s basically dark by the time I finish work. It was strange to feel it again because it has been years. When I was in Australia, I had so much sunshine that I never felt bummed out. But here, there’s a LOT of darkness this time of year. I know better than to try and fight it, though. When I’m feeling bummed, I just have to let it do its thing and that’s that. The next day, I felt loads better. There will surely be more days in the future, but I know that its fleeting and only associated with the lack of sunshine.

Art of the Week

Abby asked me if I’d draw her a lupin as a tattoo idea. Here it is! I am not really the best with repetitive patterns, but I tried lol.

Reflections

More people leaving. Vienen y se van.

Romi leaves this Friday. Katy leaves in three weeks. My coworker Josh (the Michael Scott of the office) leaves for Christchurch on Wednesday.

Abby leaves in July at some point.

One thing I’ve noticed is that when someone is leaving town, there tends to be a conversation about seeing one another elsewhere in the world. “Oh, you might be in Asia next March? Well, I might be, too! Maybe we’ll be able to see each other then.” And while, of course that is the ideal, it won’t always come to fruition. I think it’s a comfort, though, trying to assure one another that we’ll meet again one day. Hopefully, many of us will. The world is big, but it’s small, too.

Things are going well. I am duty manager at the hostel again for the next two weeks as of today. Only part time, though. I will be doing half days between the hotel and the hostel. This weekend, I’m going to Oamaru on a little holiday to try and see the penguins. I’m looking forward to that!

Until next time – sending you all my love. x