Oceania

Aotearoa New Zealand: The Rose, the Thorn, and the Bouquet

Hey, everyone! It feels like ages since I’ve last posted, but it has really only been about two weeks. As promised, I wanted to put together a Rose, Thorn, and Bouquet of the trip as well as do a breakdown of some finances for you all.

If you’re unfamiliar with the rose, thorn, and bouquet… It is as such:

The Rose – favorite moments of a trip
The Thorn – least favorite moments of a trip
The Bouquet – something unexpected that ended up being really memorable and special

I first heard of this concept through Michael, my friend who planted the seed of long term travel in me many years ago and whom I have been inextricably linked with since well before that.

I also want to be transparent about money finances, so I’ll get into that as well.

I must admit that at the moment, I feel very, very far away from Aotearoa New Zealand (which I am, literally) and so it is interesting to be delving back into that moment in time. I have spent the last two weeks with family and I’ve been pretty busy/engaged, especially with my nephew. I’ll dive into that further later. But for now – the ROSE, THORN, and BOUQUET!

The Rose

To choose a favorite moment during twelve months in a country is quite hard to do, so I’m going to choose a few.

Back in April, returning from a quick journey home to see the total solar eclipse with my family, I ventured south of the South Island, to Rakiura/Stewart Island in search of kiwi. When I’d first arrived in the country, I had a mission to see a kiwi in the wild. I thought they would be… somewhat common? They are the national bird, after all. But no. During six nights on the island, I had three encounters with I think two separate birds.

The first encounter was on my first night – a greeting to the island. Another group had spotted the bird and I stumbled upon the area where they were observing it. It was a great sighting. The kiwi was out in the open, digging for insects with its beak for what must have been ten minutes.

Every night on Rakiura, I searched, searched, searched for kiwi. I would hear them calling out constantly, but spotting them was another matter. One night it was pouring rain. In my rain jacket and soaked shoes, I went on a short hike and saw JUST the butt of a kiwi as it ran away from me. DAMN! I decided to warm up at my hostel, take a nap, and set an alarm for midnight to go back to the same spot. I’m so glad I did.

When I returned, I was rewarded with an experience I am extremely fortunate to have had. I saw the butt of a kiwi on the trunk of a fallen tree, looking for insects. I stood as still as I could and began recording on my phone. The kiwi ended up hopping down from the tree trunk and walking over to me. It smelled my left shoe and then my right shoe… and then it waddled off. Many New Zealanders have never seen a kiwi in the wild before. I would ask practically every kiwi I met. When asked, they’d respond with, “Sure I have!” They’d answer. “…in the wild?” I’d ask. No. I think I actually only met one New Zealander on the mainland who had seen one. Funnily enough, that was the last New Zealander I ever met on the island.

Online, people have regarded seeing kiwi as being a spiritual experience. Having the intimate encounter, I knew I was very lucky, but it wasn’t until a while later and countless failed attempts at spotting kiwi on the mainland that I recognized just how special that prior encounter would turn out to be.

I did see one final kiwi on the mainland, the last evening of my road trip before selling my car. It felt symbolic.

Another rose for me was swimming with the dusky dolphins in Kaikoura. If you remember, I swam with dolphins in Hawaii back in 2019. It was an unforgettable moment for me but I always wished I’d had a GoPro at the time. Well, I hadn’t brought my GoPro to New Zealand with me, but luckily on the dolphin swim, I was able to rent one. So I did! The dusky dolphins were even more interactive than those in Hawaii. They spun around and around and around and around me. The water was frigid and I was exhausted from spinning in circles and occasionally catching water in my snorkel… but man, what an incredible experience. Absolutely not to be missed if in Kaikoura!

Of course, I loved seeing all three species of New Zealand penguin. The fiordland crested penguin at both Doubtful Sound and near Haast.

The blue penguins in Oamaru.

The yellow-eyed penguins at Kaitiki lighthouse.

I absolutely have to mention the aurora as well. It punctuated my time in Queenstown, with a major storm happening shortly after my arrival, another one halfway through my time there, and one final storm just before I was leaving. I’d never seen the aurora quite like those times before and it makes me excited to see the aurora again – next time, up north.

My final rose goes to my Queenstown friends and the nights we spent out dancing. It had been many years since I’d had proper dancing buddies, and my Queenstown gang certainly delivered on that front. I love to dance and I don’t mind dancing alone, but it’s always fun to be dancing with a group of people. I’m so thankful for all the fun nights we spent out together and I hope we can dance again together one day in the future.

The Thorn

The sandflies were a major, MAJOR thorn of my time on the island. Lord have mercy, were they awful in some places. Most notably the West Coast. Sleeping in my van, there would be times I would just be crushing them against the windowpane one after the other lol. Their bites were three times worse than mosquito bites. The itch lasted for days. My feet are still scarred from scratching some of the bites too hard.

Another huge thorn for me was my Instagram suspension shortly after beginning my road trip. I was JUST beginning two months of strictly adventure, with so much content to share with friends, family, and random strangers on the internet. After that, I’d have a whole year in Asia to share. I was completely gutted. I could not believe that it was only the very beginning of my full time adventure, and I wasn’t going to be able to post it online. Not to mention, losing the contacts I’d made throughout my travels that I was only connected to on Instagram… the strangers who would see my artwork and get some of my pieces tattooed, etc. From sharing my blog to sharing my art, Instagram is a major marketing tool for me and I had LOST IT! As we all know, three weeks passed and I was finally able to somehow get it back. Since then, I’ve been trying to be mindful of my social media use and not rely on it so much.

The final thorn was… Goldie. While I loved that van and the time I’d spent driving all around the country, I was also given grief pretty much from the get go. Very early on, I popped a tire. I decided to get a “service” on her, where they changed my fluids/oils, did checks on the vehicle overall, and discovered there were a lot more things that would need taking care of at some point. I think $3,500 worth of maintenance. I had already spent $3,000 to purchase it, $100 on the WoF, $100(?) on registration, and $200 on the popped tire. Oh, and $400 on the service and another new tire. I got a new cambelt for $1,400 but that was all I felt I could afford, knowing I wouldn’t be able to make back the money I’d already spent when it was time to sell. Boy, was she expensive. I really wanted to start my road trip with a car I felt was safe but it was just too expensive. I ended up chancing it. Along the road trip, I had to get a new ignition switch which was another $200. During my last week of driving, the van was making some really scary noises. I don’t know if it was the wheel bearings or the break pads… I have no idea. Anyway. It was pretty stressful at certain times, driving so many miles around the country, not knowing if I would make it back to Auckland safely. Well, I did, and I was able to get some money back. And by some, I mean $650 LOL. Pennies. But still, Goldie served as my accommodation most evenings. I had a really amazing experience driving around the country at my own pace, seeing exactly what I wanted. So while she was a major thorn, she was also a rose in many ways.

The Bouquet

And now, for the bouquet.

Volunteering at Kiwi Park was certainly a bouquet for me. Coming to Queenstown, I never anticipated I would be volunteering at a wildlife park, having such unique experiences caring for the native wildlife of New Zealand. Some memorable moments include:

-Kereru and kaka landing on my head (sometimes biting me)
-Trying not to get bitten by the geckos while feeding them the creepy, crawly mealworms
-Walking into the staff room and seeing a decapitated mouse in a container (food for the raptors LOL)
-Meeting the employees of the park and learning about wildlife from them
-Being able to feed kiwi

Another bouquet was the geothermal activity around Rotorua. I couldn’t believe that at a local park/playground, they had steam vents, bubbling mud pots, hot springs. Insanity to me! And of course Wai-o-Tapu was really magnificent. I still can’t get over Devil’s Bath. The most vibrant BRAT green water I’d ever seen in my life. I don’t think I’ll ever see something like that again.

It’s been so long ago at this point I almost didn’t think to mention it but obviously a major surprise & highlight of my time in Queenstown was re-meeting and having an awesome exchange with my absolute favorite musician, Amanda Palmer! How amazing was that?!

But of course, the best bouquet of all was meeting friends along the way. I came to meet a lot of people in Queenstown. Not all of them were CLOSE-close, but those that were… I cherish those friendships. Jasper, Nittsy, Abby, Yvonne, Katy, Marion, Jose, and more. I’ve stayed in contact with a number of people even though it’s been a few months since I’ve left Queenstown. For some of them, I’m sure we will be friends for life. Living with Jasper was a major highlight of my time in Queenstown, despite his awful snoring (I hate, Hate, HATED that!). Learning how to slackline and the friends I made there. Practicing Spanish with those from Chile and Argentina – man, I NEVER expected that when moving to New Zealand. What an experience.

Finance Breakdown

This is going to have to be a rough breakdown unfortunately, because I’ve since moved my remaining money to my American bank account and no longer have access to the New Zealand one.

Similarly to Australia, I came to New Zealand hoping not to spent much of the travel money I’d saved in America. I had something like $600 Australian dollars that I used in my early days of New Zealand before finding a job. I started my job less than three weeks after landing in the country, so this worked out pretty well for me. During my ten months working at the hotel, I never had to dip into American money. I was making $29 NZD an hour, which allowed me to pay $200 in weekly rent, go out to eat on weekends, get groceries, pay for gas, and go on frequent adventures. It also paid for my flights to/from America in April for the eclipse, for the flight to/from Fiji, and for my flight back to the US two weeks ago.

I am quite a frugal person, so I didn’t make too many unnecessary purchases. And yet, I didn’t necessarily skrimp, either. If you remember, I went on an adventure basically every weekend. On some of those weekends, I went on paid tours.

I had left Queenstown with about $12,000 NZD in my bank account. I had nine weeks of traveling before coming back to the States.

I left Auckland with… $5,000 NZD left?

So that means I spent about $7,000 from the time I left Queenstown to the time I flew from Auckland to Chicago.

About $1,600 of that was spent on gas. I didn’t do many tours except for in Kaikoura, where I dropped a LOAD of cash. I think it was $280 for dolphin swim + GoPro rental, $160 for whale watching flight, $200 for sperm whale watching tour. I also spent some money on tours in Fiji, and stayed at a hostel the whole time.

At one point, I spent $200 to take the ferry from the South Island to the North.

I took a $80 ferry to/from Rangitoto Island, a $100 ferry to/from Rotoroa Island.

Other than that, the rest of my money was spent on food and the occasional accommodation. I just did the math on these numbers and it doesn’t really seem accurate LOL. But anyway. All I know is that majority of the money was spent on fuel, food, and holiday parks/hostels.

All in all, not bad. I was able to enjoy myself, see SO MUCH of the beautiful country, and come back with money to use on Xmas gifts for loved ones and the occasional dinner. Hopefully come February, I’ll have a good chunk of money to go towards the Asia fund.

Afterthoughts on Aotearoa New Zealand

It is hard to try and sum up my experience in Aotearoa.

I know I’ve mentioned much of this before, but here I go again:

I didn’t originally intend to spend a year in New Zealand. When I got to Australia, I figured maybe I’d stop over for a couple of weeks. But then I decided to apply for a working holiday visa there. In October 2023, I decided I’d stay in New Zealand until April, then go home for the eclipse and go to Asia after that. But then I’d secured a job where I got a month of paid holiday, and they really wanted me to stay longer than just a few months. I decided to commit to ten months or so in Queenstown. At the end of it all, I ended up spending more time in New Zealand than in Australia.

With Australia, I fell in love like a punch in the face. With New Zealand, it was slower. Like a blooming flower.

I couldn’t help comparing the two countries upon my arrival. “It’s beautiful, but… where’s the wildlife? It’s all birds!” But I came to love the birds. The kereru, the tui, the takahe. The ducks hanging out at the Queenstown foreshore. The penguins. The kea. The kaka. Silvereye, albatross, bellbirds, crested grebes, kingfishers, finch. And of course, the kiwi.

And what is so special about New Zealand for me is the care the people have for their wildlife. Much of it is endangered because of predators like stoats, rats, possums. But the Department of Conservation has worked very diligently to try and eradicate these pests. The people are CONNECTED to their wildlife.

I talked to my Māori friend Ash recently and we were talking about eels, about whales, about Māori culture. He shared with me how Māori are very closely intertwined with their wildlife and with their nature. How in many ways, the wildlife are guides. The Māori followed sperm whales to New Zealand, for example. When Māori introduce themselves, they share the name of their river, the name of their mountain, etc. They are connected to the land, and the inhabitants of it.

It is also hard to deny that everywhere you go in New Zealand, there is beauty.

Looming mountains, powerful waterfalls, volcanoes, geothermal activity. The ocean, the glacial lakes, the rainforests, the challenging yet rewarding hiking tracks. The aurora australis.

The above gallery is a random assortment of the gorgeous views along the country.

Some things I’ll miss about New Zealand:

-Mother Earth muesli bars
-All the crazy Pokémon-esque birds
-Summer shenanigans in Queenstown
-The people I met, some of whom I’ll hopefully meet again one day
-Having such easy access to incredible views and amazing hikes
-Endlessly searching for wild kiwi
-NOT Jasper’s snoring
-Iconic American Movie Education Nights with Jasper
-Dancing with the crew
-Pavlova
-Anita’s ice cream
-Being able to potentially see the aurora during any period of strong activity

And dozens of other things that are currently escaping my memory.

I was looking at photos of the South Island before leaving Auckland. Some of the photos, I hadn’t looked at in a while. The landscape between the South and North Islands are very different. The South is so much more dramatic. But both islands are gorgeous in their own ways.

I am very grateful for my time in that beautiful country, and to have been fortunate enough to explore so much of it.

The places I’ve been to in Aotearoa NZ

Welcome to the United States of America

I arrived back in Chicago on the 20th of November, five days before my birthday. It took me 24 hours from the time I left my hostel in Auckland to the time I’d exited the O’Hare airport terminal. I was greeted by the first snow of the season. It was 32 Fahrenheit. I hardly felt prepared. While it hadn’t been that long since I’d been home, it somehow felt like ages. To see a sign at the airport saying “Welcome to the United States of America” felt like a big homecoming.

My dear friends Joey and Rob picked me up. I would be staying with them for a few nights because they were near the airport and I wanted to spent time with them before heading up to Michigan to be with my parents and nephew.

On some nights, they made me food, on others we went out to eat. They had a birthday surprise for me which ended up being seeing one of my favorite musicians, Allie X. Amazing! She was maybe one of the best singers I’ve ever seen live. Holy hell! Michael and Brandon were at the concert, too, and we got to see it together. About a decade ago, Michael and I used to listen to Allie X while doing our makeup and going out in drag haha.

During the day, Joey and Rob had work. The day after I’d arrived, my brother Dan picked me up and we spent the afternoon together. He bought me a new daypack for my birthday which was a HUGE need. The one I’d bought ahead of New Zealand was just way too small and very annoying because I couldn’t fit my camera in it.

Left was my old backpack. The new one is like double the size in terms of what it’s capable of holding!

We then went to the burbs and I visited his dogs and the home I grew up in. I picked up my sister-in-law from her Pilates class. She is pregnant and due to give birth while I’m home, which is really exciting. We caught up back at the house, then drove to Oak Park to go to dinner. Afterwards, they dropped me off by Joey and Rob.

The next day, I met up with my friend and former boss, Gretchen. I wasn’t able to link up with her last time I was home. It is always a great time with her. We went for burritos and spent an hour catching up. Afterwards, she dropped me off by my friend Michael.

Michael and I drove down to our old neighborhood, Lincoln Park. We had some errands to do and I desperately needed a black marker and some other things from an art store. Once finished, we returned to his apartment and hung out with Brandon and the dogs. In the evening, I met up with Joey and Rob. We went for Thai food. Yum!

On Sunday, the boys and I drove up to Michigan. I was really looking forward to seeing my parents, but I was extra excited because my nephew was going to be up in Michigan for a week.

From the minute I arrived to the minute Dillan was dropped off back home, he was glued to my hip. From playing It Takes Two on Xbox, to Fortnite, to playing cards and him kicking all our asses at Monopoly, to making documentaries about the dogs, to doing our “Zork battles” to walking Gizmo, to turning the lights off and scaring Dillan over and over again in the dark (lol)… it was a VERY full on week. Dillan is such a gamer. There are some games I like to play, but I don’t own any gaming consoles and am not a gamer. This means when we play together, Dillan sometimes gets frustrated at my lousy game play lol. Which makes ME frustrated. So at times we bicker a little bit, but I absolutely adore that kid. And I’m so glad we got to spend all that time together. We have a very special bond.

Despite spending a week in Michigan, I hardly had any time to catch up with my parents haha. Because I was with Dillan the whole time! Next time I’m up, we will be able to just hang out by ourselves. I’m looking forward to that! We did spend time together, though. My mom made an incredible Thanksgiving feast for us. And of course, her homemade pizza is to die for. We would play board games together and watch movies/shows in the evening. We also went out to dinner for my birthday. Mexican food all around since I’ve been home AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!! And of course, my favorite strawberry torte cake from Jewel! <3

One day, my mom took Dillan and me to see Moana 2. Sequels can oftentimes be hit or miss so we weren’t sure how it would be, but it actually was incredible and in some ways better than the first. After having just come back from Aotearoa New Zealand and having learned what I have of Māori culture, the movie resonated in a very special way. There were also a lot of conversations about loss, family ties, and temporarily leaving loved ones behind to travel which had me shedding tears multiple times throughout the movie. I LOVE Moana. So damn good!

My brother Mike came up on Thanksgiving and was really great to see him, too. I didn’t have that much time to connect with him while Dillan was there but I went back to the suburbs with him. We were hanging out yesterday all afternoon which was great and I’ll see him again tonight and tomorrow.

In the evening, Joey and Rob picked me up and took me to Joey’s mom Jeanne’s house. I haven’t seen Jeanne for about a year because I wasn’t able to get over to her place during my April visit. We all went out for dinner to celebrate Jeanne’s brother’s birthday. We then returned to their place and hung out the rest of the night.

I’m now sitting on the couch, typing up this blog post!

Miscellaneous

Upon my arrival in Chicago, I knew it would be colder than New Zealand… but I wasn’t prepared for HOW cold. I also was thinking I’d had more time before it felt like winter. It has been almost three years since I’ve experienced a proper Chicago winter and man, they are brutal. I’d experienced similar winter temperatures in Queenstown, but the cold air feels different in Chicago somehow. It chills you to the bone. And it isn’t even really WINTER yet!!! AHHHH!!

But that said, I was kind of prepared for the cold. What I had forgotten about was the dark and the gloominess. The sun goes down so early, and most days have been extremely overcast since I’ve been home.

Another thing I have to mention is my first experience back at a Jewel Osco. The sheer amount of cereal had me laughing out loud. It was an entire aisle! I was definitely freaking out some of the other customers with the way I was cracking up haha.

Also, had to include one of my favorite Auckland meals at a Thai restaurant:

Veg curry, curry puffs, and thai iced milk tea

Art of the Week

“Roberto”

I drew this for my friend Rob as a thank you for giving me access to his Canva account. I had posted online asking if anyone could help me remove backgrounds from my art designs so I could upload them to RedBubble. In exchange, I’d make them a drawing. Rob just started his own candle business and as of yesterday, the Etsy shop is live. I was able to sample some of the candles recently and they smell incredible. They would make a great gift for the holidays!

And I think some of my art would make a great gift, too, so be sure to check out my RedBubble shop, too!

Reflections

It is so lovely to be home again. I’ve spent majority of the past two months alone. Since I’ve been back, I’ve hardly had a moment to myself haha. I have been meaning to type up this blog post, to work on a drawing, etc. but there has been no time! Soon enough, I keep telling myself. Although, I’m also enjoying the constant company.

I haven’t planned out the rest of my visit home. I’m kind of going where the wind blows me. I will be by my brother Mike tonight and tomorrow, then my brother Dan for a few days to help out with the baby shower. I will link up with Joey and Rob again on Sunday and Monday when they’re off work and then maybe head up to the city with them. After that, I’ll go back to Michigan and see what happens from there.

As mentioned in my last post, I am going to take a break from blogging while home which is admittedly kind of weird. It feels so commonplace to post every week. But I am using this as my “vacation” haha. I’ll likely be back online about a week before heading to Asia. There are a number of things I have to get sorted between now and then – figuring out immunizations, getting new credit cards sent to me (since most of mine would be expiring when I’m in Asia otherwise), travel insurance, accommodation, new travel gear, etc. Lots to do, but also a lot of relaxation time.

Until next time, sending you all my love. x

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