Hey, everyone!  What a chock-full week this has been!  Lots going on, and never a dull moment.  Except for the times where I took naps whenever I could haha.  While hiking up Roy’s Peak was a major highlight of the week, I think Abby’s farewell doings take the cake.  Read on!

Roy’s Peak

Over the weekend, Jasper and I drove up to Wānaka to hike up Roy’s Peak.  I have been hearing about Roy’s Peak ever since I first got to Queenstown.  When I first heard of the location, I thought it was called Rose Peak haha.  I was never sure if I would make it there.  Everyone said it was a challenging hike, around 5-6 hours roundtrip, and some have even called it “overrated.”  I suppose it is subjective, and after doing the hike, it was a reminder to not believe everything you hear.

Abby, Yvonne, Jasper, and I had made tentative plans at one point to go on the hike together but Abby and Yvonne ended up feeling it might be too difficult for them.  The way everyone was talking about it, I wondered if it would be too difficult for me, too.  I was definitely feeling apprehensive – especially because of my knees which have had issues in the past.  However, Jasper and I eventually decided to go solo.  

Since I’d driven to Routeburn track a few weeks back, Jasper drove us to Roy’s Peak this time.  Thanks, Jasper!

Wānaka is a beautiful area and the drive there is stunning.  For some reason, the drive to/from Wānaka always feels like it takes FOREVER, but it’s only an hour away.  I was chatting with Jasper and I think I found out the reason.   It has to do with the scenery constantly changing along the drive.  You have to exit Queenstown, pass through the suburbs, go up a winding hill, pass through some farmland, go through a valley, pass through another town, etc., etc.  It has a lot of moments along the way.  All beautiful, though.

One thing Roy’s Peak is kind of famous for is its sunrise views.  We decided we didn’t really care that much.  Of course, it would be beautiful at sunrise… Everything is beautiful at sunrise.  Plus, to get to the lookout point before sunrise, you have to wake up super early and hike in the dark, etc., etc.  No, thanks!

Finally, we arrived and were set to begin our hike.  We both stretched our legs beforehand to lower our risk of injury.  As we started to climb the seemingly endless incline, we were greeted by cows and sheep.  Hi, guys!

Jasper and I hadn’t yet done a “tough” hike together.  Most of them have been pretty cruisy, with subtle or occasional inclines.  I wasn’t sure how he would fare, but he actually did a killer job and didn’t seem out of breath the entire time.  Legend!  He is a great hiking buddy.

As we started to make progress, we saw low-hanging fog masking Lake Wānaka.  It was a beautiful scene.  I’d seen a few pictures of the Roy’s Peak lookout before – it is allegedly the most photographed spot in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Whether it was cloudy, sunny, or foggy, the pictures all looked beautiful.  I was curious to see what view we had in store for us at the top.

Since it is such a popular hike, we passed by lots of people along the way.  Many of them had hiking sticks – something I should probably invest in for the future haha.  

I was breaking a sweat up to the lookout point and my heart was beating faster than normal, but overall, it wasn’t overly strenuous.  I felt the reviews of it being a difficult walk were a little misleading.  Jasper agreed.  We kept talking about it along the walk.

While gaining elevation, the trail changes.  At first it was a dusty/dirt path.  As we were halfway up, it changed to mud (which always reminds me of Green Lake Hut tramp).  During the last segment of the hike, the mud had transitioned to snow and ice.  

It was truly a beautiful hike.  Sure – the views were “the same” as you’re zig zagging up the mountain, but the perspective changes.  The fog covering Lake Wānaka cleared.  The trail changed into snow.  No more livestock along the mountainside the higher up we got.

And then we were there – at the famous viewpoint.  It was icy haha.

We carefully balanced along the ridgeline to take pictures and admire the absolutely incredible views.  How beautiful it was!  And the perfect day to experience the hike as well.

We stopped for snacks and contemplated hiking the extra thirty minutes to the summit.  We both agreed that the views were gorgeous enough at the lookout point – it wasn’t necessary to go to the summit.  In hindsight, I’m not sure why we didn’t.  Surely, it would have been fine to just do it.  Alas – the viewpoint was our summit and it was gorgeous.  Such a great hike!

We began our descent.  Fog had started to roll in again, so we apparently timed it perfectly.  Jasper was much quicker than me on the descent. Not to be harping on this, but from past experiences, I have to be very wary of my knees.  I couldn’t move that quickly downhill!  

Eventually, we made it to the carpark and drove back to Queenstown.

What a fantastic hike!  It was lovely to be able to go on a proper hike. It has been a while.  With it being winter time, a lot of the hikes aren’t easy/safe to do but this was an awesome exception.  

Thanks for being my hiking buddy, Jasper!

One Last Dance (kinda!)

I’ve been mentioning in recent posts, but now it’s really almost here.  Abby leaves this Thursday, which obviously… sucks.  

She invited the whole hostel to go dancing on Saturday night and the turnout was lovely.  With wintertime, people have been less inclined to go out dancing.  I can’t remember when our last Big Night Out was.  It has been a while (the staff party is an exception).  

The plan was to start at World Bar around 9.30am and go from there.  I was sleepy, so I chilled out while Jasper got ready.  And then… Time to go!

The turnout was amazing.  It has felt like ages since we had a big group get together for a night out on the town.

We had Jasper, Yvonne, Abby, Tiago, and myself, but also…  Nittsy, Ian, Emma, Rose, Fabian, Lau, Juanito, Alexis, Cammy, Jack, Finlay, DARA, Shubankar, and on and on and on.  People came and went throughout the night.  

From World Bar, we went to Winnie’s, then to Bungalow, and then to London.

We spent the most time at Winnie’s, as we usually seem to.  Dancing on tables, dancing with people during their “hen’s night” parties.  We got gifted some boas by one of the bridesmaids and I had a beautiful woman dancing up on me for 30sec or so.  Later, Ian and Nittsy were joking with me about that.

These moments are so special.  They are fleeting moments, but they are what defined probably the largest portion of our time with Abby.  We have spent LOTS of nights out dancing together.  There was one point where, once again, it was just the four of us dancing together.  Hugging – laughing – dancing.  V. special.

Oh, we also went to Cowboy’s for all of five minutes, too.

From there, to Bungalow – where we bumped into a WILD EMILY!  We stayed at Bungalow for a while, dancing to electronic trance-y music with no words.  And finally, on to London for Latin party.  Not many of us were left at that point and we only stayed for maybe half an hour or so.  Many others had work the next morning, including Abby, so we dipped out.

Emily wanted to go to Barmuda with Emma, Jasper, and I.  Since none of us worked the next day, we agreed.  I had also never been to Barmuda which is a small bar with a cute atmosphere.  I liked the DJ a lot, too.

Emily was wasted haha but she is always such a laugh – love spending time with her.  She somehow seems to know everybody in Queenstown, so on the walk over and even at the bar, people were coming up and talking to her.  Queenstown Legend, that one!

At this point, it was around 3am. YIKES!  I hadn’t been awake that long in some time.  We stopped at Night n Day for snacks.  This is perhaps when one of the funniest moments of the night happened.  I ordered hash browns and a veggie pie.  Emma ordered some fries with sweet chili sauce and sour cream.  Emily couldn’t remember what she ordered.  Emma’s order comes out and Emily goes, “that looks absolutely disgusting.”  Not ten seconds later, the cashier pulls out a second box – OF THE EXACT SAME THING – for Emily.  Emma and I were dying laughing.

Then Emily invited us to her apartment to eat and chill for a bit.  Jasper had never seen Emily’s room in the hostel before so he was blown away.  It is really big compared to the other rooms.  After eating, Emily slowly turned horizontal, talked some gibberish, and then… Started to lightly snore.  She was out within SECONDS haha.  I gave Emily a kiss on the forehead and then the three of us left.  What a NIGHT!  

Within minutes, I was asleep.

The Last Supper

And the farewells continued.

On Sunday night, Juanito was gracious enough to host a small group of us at his place for Abby’s farewell dinner.

We met up around 7pm and everyone proceeded to cook various meals/desserts.  Abby had asked me to bring cheese/crackers so that was my contribution haha.  I was also dishwasher.

Good tunes were played, laughs were had, and good conversation. 

Dinner was delicious so kudos to the chefs.

Come dessert, it was time to play a “game,” as Yvonne called it.  We went around the table and shared memories of our time with Abby and ended with our well wishes for her.  It was a sweet moment. 

Tiago, Abby’s partner, gave the last speech.  Knowing the pair will be splitting up in a few days, it was very emotional and sad to witness.  I started tearing up.  Once Tiago finished his speech, Abby spoke.  She started crying and then I started to cry, too.  And then Jasper as well.  I think a lot of us were crying haha.

She talked about how special her time was in Queenstown, how nice we’ve all been, how we all share the same interests in traveling and adventure, and how cool it is that she was able to meet people from all over the world. She mentioned how “it probably seems silly to be leaving a place that I love so much” – but she needn’t explain herself.  We will all leave at one point or another.  Queenstown tends to be a transient place.  It’s only temporary.  Everything is ephemeral.  That is life.

I had made a little scrapbook with various pictures of Abby people sent me.  I’d gone around the hostel and hotel asking people to write in it, and so after speeches, I passed the book to Tiago to give to Abby.  I’m glad we were able to put something like that together for her.

After dessert, we took group pictures and then parted ways.

On Wednesday night, we’ll go to Silent Disco one final time together.  On Thursday, Jasper, Yvonne, and I will drive Abby to the airport.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this last week, but if not, I’ll mention it here:

Our little foursome group has been really important to me.  While I get along with a lot of people, the four of us spending time together has been the most consistent part of my time in Queenstown.  It’s not every day, but it has been often enough and we’ve shared lots of experiences together – from bubble tea to dancing to hikes to sunset walks, movie nights, etc.

I think the thing that bonded us together so easily is that we are all kind of “outsiders.”  It is easy for people in their various departments to bond.  Housekeepers with housekeepers, F&B peeps with F&B peeps, Front Office with Front Office, etc.  And aside from that, there are other groups.  The Latin groups tend to hang together.  The Filipinos, the Japanese, the Scottish, etc.  

But for our group?  We’re not in the same departments (well, Jasper and Yvonne are both in housekeeping, but Abby is F&B and I’m Sales & Marketing).  And we’re all from different places.  Jasper is from Malaysia.  Yvonne is from the Philippines.  Abby from Australia, and I’m from the States.  In some ways, it’s almost as if we bonded together BECAUSE we didn’t fit easily into any of the other groups.  And that is a beautiful thing, I think.  

It will be very sad to see Abby go.  Vienen y se van.  But I am grateful to have had her in my life and I hope we will meet again one day.  The world is big, but it is also small. 

Miscellaneous

Some other things as well, this week.  I mentioned that our General Manager is leaving Queenstown after 16 years and going to Fiji.  We had his farewell party on Friday.  It started at the hotel – with a slideshow of Jim and his colleagues over the years.  Lots of yummy food.  From there, we went to Ballarat.  I stayed for about an hour, met up with some sober friends for tea, and then returned to Ballarat.  At that point, everyone was pretty drunk haha.  Someone even flashed me!  LOL.

Earlier that day, Catherine came to talk to Jen about posting my job role on the website.  I mentioned how weird it was to be hearing that while I’m in the room haha.  Catherine proceeded to tell me that when she asked Jen what she’s looking for with my replacement, Jen had said, “Another Steve.”  How sweet is that?

Before going out dancing on Saturday night, I got dinner with Emily, Emma, and Lauren.  We went to Momentos for tapas.  It was great to get together again.  The last time we’d gone for dinner was just before Emily and Emma went on holiday to Cook Islands.  Following that, Lauren was on holiday in Scotland for five weeks.  Lovely to be reunited!  Afterwards, there was a Winter Fireworks display over the lake.  We watched them and then parted ways.

On Thursday, we continued our Movie Night tradition at the hostel and watched Bridget Jones’ Diary.  I’d never seen it before.  Very cute movie!

Art of the Week

Reflections

Busy week!  Lots going on.  But it’s nice.  Since it’s so chilly outside, it’s good for me to keep busy and be around others.  

I’m kinda counting down the weeks until I’m done with work.  Not because I’m miserable here, but I’m looking forward to NOT working.  On the same coin, it is weird to think about how much time I have left to explore the area. Only eight weekends left.

This weekend, I don’t have much planned.  The following, my friend Mo/Rey is visiting from Australia and we are going to Mount Cook for the weekend.  Jasper then goes on holiday for three weeks, during which time I’ll go on a trip to Doubtful Sound.  Then there are three more weekends, with one weekend in the Catlins. The last weekend will probably be in town so I can throw a similar goodbye party to what Abby did.

It is going to go by extremely quickly.  

Maybe this weekend, I’ll go up to Skipper’s Canyon which is just an hour outside of town.  We’ll see!

Until next time – sending you all my love.  x