Day 5 – I hit the start of my first weekend in NZ at full speed. Friday morning, Natalie (my couchsurfing host), Michael, and Olivia all piled into the car at 8am. First stop, dropping them off at school, then I was dropped off at Cornwall Park while Natalie continued on to her job at Kiwirail.

Cornwall Park was founded by Sir John Logan Campbell who purchased the land in 1853 and then put it into a trust for all New Zealanders to enjoy. Sir John himself is buried at the top underneath the Obelisk that was installed to honor the Maori people of Tāmaki Makaurau. It reminded me a bit of Mt Tabor in Portland, OR, although on a much grander scale. Once I reached the top, I took two panoramic pictures, the first is facing north, then south.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I descended, I decided to go off the beaten path and take a dirt trail down the north side of the park. I immediately encountered some sheep, quite a few actually. A little further down, I actually some some lambs, although they were too scared of me to get any closer than I did. I also found a very interesting tree that I could go inside of…

  

I took a little spill after exiting the tree which could have been disastrous! My backpack had my laptop and my iPad, and I was wearing my Apple Watch when I slipped on the dirt path (which was more mud than dirt due to all the rain that had been happening). Luckily, my gymnastics instincts took over and I caught myself so that only my sweatshirt and cuffs of my pants got dirty. With the extra-long cuffs on my American Giant sweatshirt, even the Apple Watch was protected (the hand I’m holding up in the picture is my watch hand).

I soon found a way to get back on the road and I descended quickly with muddy cuffs and hands to Cornwall Cafe and cleaned up in the bathroom.

Prices here are similar to San Francisco, as this breakfast of a small latte and bread with butter was $7.00 USD. But it was tasty and allowed me to rest after my spill.

At this point, my Grindr app had been blowing up with messages, although I was realizing that, just like in the US, most people on Grindr were primarily looking for sex. But, I like to use it for more than that, and I eventually found another guy who wanted to just meet and have lunch. And so, I met Ian, an obstetrics physician (edit: He made it clear to me that he is NOT an obstetrics doctor, as he doesn’t deliver babies, but instead monitors the health of the mother throughout pregnancy). We went to a cafe near Cornwall Park and he had some kind of savory pie while I had minestrone soup. We then went back to his house and I got to see how he and his partner lived (nothing extravagant but very nice with lots of interesting artwork) and we shared stories about life in the States and in NZ. And since I met Nick in the US, Ian is the first gay friend I have made here in New Zealand. Although I didn’t get a picture with Ian, I will see him again next week as he also teaches classes at a local gym and has invited me to participate.

Ian dropped me off at train station and I took that back to Manukau train station and met up with Natalie. On the way home, I saw my first rainbow in New Zealand. Rainbows are significant to both Christians and Homosexuals, and I feel blessed to be able to appreciate the significance of them in several ways. 🙂

I had planned to make Quinoa Vegetable Stew that night, but traffic was horrible and the grocery store was too far away, so we just had pizza instead. I only had one slice of pizza as I had started developing a rash on my leg and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe this was the return of my citric acid allergy, although it seemed different than my allergies before. Maybe I was allergic to something new in New Zealand? Maybe I was allergic to the chickens?? I guess we will find out…

Later that night, I met another guy from Grindr, Jermaine, who also considers himself a Christian. We went to Nando’s for a second dinner (I had a chicken burger and fries, as did he), and I shared my story about my family, relationship, and the journey I was on here in New Zealand. He shared some of his story which involved adoption into the US, finding his birth parents here in NZ, and now making a life for himself down here. And now I have another friend here in Auckland!

Day 6 – I spent my last night at Natalie’s, then left at 6:15am and got an Uber to the train station. Next, I took a train closer to Auckland, and then got a bus to get close to my Airbnb in Mount Eden. I dropped off my suitcase, reconfigured my backpack and dive bag, and then caught another bus to the Global Dive Scuba Shop on the Auckland waterfront by 8:45am.

I was there to meet Anna, my diving partner for the day, and she had rented a car to drive us to Goat Island, where I would do my first ocean dive. I had completed 18 dives up to this point, but those were all in freshwater lakes and craters in the states. Anna had only completed 8 dives, but she had been diving in Bali and around NZ for her dives and was very passionate about diving.

Anna was a truly lovely person to meet. She is a Ph.D. mathematician at University of Auckland studying the mathematics behind vortexes and fluid movement, but she had grown up in a small town in Washington State and had spent time in different universities doing her undergrad, grad, and post-doc work in the US. She has been living in NZ for several years though, as she has already obtained a resident visa and is planning to get her permanent visa in a few years. We had some amazing conversations about God, spirituality, and other mysteries of the universe and humanity. And hopefully we can meet up again, as I also didn’t get any pictures of her, but I did get several of our dive site.

Anna and I completed a 68 minute dive and I was able to see several types of fish, lots of kelp forests, and even a large sea slug. It was a great dive and I felt very competent. The bathrooms also had an English and Maori quote about how important oceans are.

We stopped off at the Rusty Pelican in Matakana to have some curly fries and pizza. We also continued our discussion on life and love and the divine. We arrived back to the dive shop around 4pm and I got back to Mount Eden by 5:30pm. I spent an hour cleaning my scuba gear in the shower… it might sound a little odd, but I like cleaning my gear as I just put on some music, stand in the shower and slowly wash and clean all the gear. It’s incredibly important, especially now that I am diving in salt water. If you don’t clean it, the salt will corrode and wear down your scuba gear.

Saturday Night I decided to go to the gay sauna here in Auckland – Centurion Sauna. In the United States, they call them bathhouses, but they are all very similar. Primarily a place where men go to have sex with other men, they can also have showers, steam rooms, saunas, tv rooms, gyms, cafes, and other amenities. If you have read My Story, you know my fascination with these types of places. In some ways, I feel a connection because this is how gay men have always interacted, dating back to ancient Rome and Greece. I also just love showers and hot tubs and water.  So, if you want to hear more about this part of my trip, please send me an email. I’d be happy to tell you more about my experience and my observations. Suffice to say, I was quite impressed with the facilities. Lots of places to explore and twists and turns throughout the expansive complex (biggest one I’ve been in to date). And beyond the normal free items (condoms, lube), they also had free tea, coffee, and hot chocolate and were showing Ghostbusters in one area of the sauna.

I was up until about 3am, and was exhausted by the end of this day, but it was a great day.

Day 7 – After getting about 5 hours of sleep, I had what I referred to on Instagram as “possibly the most beautiful breakfast”. It was called “So Frenchy, So Toast” – Caramelised apple French toast, cinnamon pastry creme, almond, Ethiopian and Columbian coffee crumb, Rush Muros Vanilla Bean served with crispy free range bacon. I mean seriously, the Vanilla Bean was ice cream…on my french toast!

This was at the Rad Cafe, about a block from my Airbnb, although the A in Rad was actually just a triangle, and so once again I felt connected to the number 3 and the Trinity. After breakfast, I went to Valley Road International Church, also a block away. The church had a mural in their lobby with a biblical quote in English and Maori, and I would have liked to hear the sermon as the worship was vibrant and the sense of love and community was tangible to me, but I only got to experience the announcements, tithing, worship, and baby dedications. I couldn’t stay any longer as I was going hiking with some new friends…

I met a friend of a friend – Adam Van Kampen. He used to work with one of my former college roommates – Jon Marshall. Jon put us in touch via Facebook before I left, and it was great to meet in person. Adam, his partner Hamish, and his flatmate Lynda were headed to Piha – a small seaside village on the west coast of New Zealand, about an hour away. There were several good hiking trails and we explored both the cliffs and the beaches.  I found some colorful mollusks, explored tide pools, and got to know Lynda better (as we braved a part of the trail that Hamish and Adam did not).

Here are the photos –  Adam is in the black coat, Hamish is in the green shirt and black shorts.

All in all, we did about 2 hours of hiking before heading back to Auckland. They dropped me off at my Airbnb around 3pm, and I relaxed for a bit. I got dinner at Corner Burger  (Burger, fries, chocolate shake) and after a long day of hiking, it was very tasty. And since I had been going non-stop since Friday morning, I crashed and was asleep by 9pm, and ended up sleeping until 7am the next morning.

And there you have it. My first week in New Zealand is complete! I’ve already met several people who I consider friends, I’ve had some awesome adventures exploring local areas in and around Auckland, and I’ve settled in to my new existence of traveling, reflecting, and experiencing whatever the day brings. If I could convey one thing to you, it is that you should appreciate and live your life to the fullest each and every day.

The song for this post I’ve been listening to since I found it back in June. But I placed it in the Apperception III playlist, and it’s position has special meaning to me. It is the 30th song of the August 2018 playlist, which connects it to my Birthday, the start of my 38th year of life. The day I’ll bungy jump for the first time.

It’s a song that has a message and a quote I want to embrace while I’m here in NZ and for the rest of my life…

The message – Live it up

The quote – “Where there is Unity, there is always Victory”