From the depths of the Milford Sound to the tops of Ben Lomond mountain…from going down the Luge track in Queenstown 6 times to walking around GigCity in makeup, a dress and high heels…I had several amazing days of adventure during my third week being based in Queenstown.
Day 55 (Sunday Oct 14) – Picking up from where I stopped in my last blog post, I took a break on my drive 40km from Milford Sound to do a 3 hour day hike up to the Key Summit. It was a little after 4pm, and I wanted to do the ascent quickly so I could be back on the road before dark.
At first, the trail started off pretty easy.
But soon, like most treks in New Zealand, I would encounter a sign for rough conditions. Winter takes a toll on the hiking trails, and many of them need maintenance yearly due to the snow, ice, and rain that fall during the winter months.
But actually, there was only that one section of caution. Otherwise, it was a nice uphill ascent and I soon encountered the first of several waterfalls.
After about 35 minutes, I exited the tree line and started getting some good views. The trail also became a little steeper with some switchback trails to get to the top.
Reaching the summit, there was a large plateau that you could explore, as well as a small hike to the viewpoint on the south side of the summit.
I really enjoyed walking on the wooden walkways at the top.
Music for this video is called Breathe by the artist Two Steps from Hell.
One more video to show you the amazing views…
Soon, I was jogging back down the mountain. It had taken me about an hour to reach the top, and I really wanted to see how fast I could get back down…
With my wonderful hike completed, I drove the few remaining kilometers to Milford Sound. I had to pass through the Homer Tunnel – a one-lane tunnel directly through the mountain to get to the sound. You wait on one side while the traffic from the opposite side passes through (about 5-7 minutes). The tunnel itself takes over a minute to drive through, at the recommended 30 km/hr. During my wait, a Kea was hanging out right beside my car. It is one of the native parrots of New Zealand.
I arrived at Milford Sound Lodge around 7pm and checked in. They had a great map of the sound as well as another big board showing the various hikes you could do.
After a long day of driving and hiking, I decided to treat myself to a meal of beef cheeks, potatoes, and apple cider.
That night, I worked on my podcast, editing the next two sections that I would be reading and recording episode #5 – Sexual Stirrings, in Tuatoru. I had wanted to upload the episode while I was in Milford Sound, but there was no internet unless you paid for satellite internet at the lodge. They didn’t recommend it for downloading or uploading, so I decided to wait until I was back in Queenstown to release the episode.
To save money (since the lodge suites were over $500 NZD / night), I stayed in a backpacker room with bunk beds. A bed for the night was $40 NZD. I met Anna, from Finland, in the room. She would also be doing the scuba dive with me on Monday. She is a Dive Master and brought lots of experience to the dives.
Of course, I chose the lower bunk of the only person in the room who snored! By 4am, I was awake and couldn’t get back to sleep due to the sporadic snoring of my upper bunk-mate. I needed more sleep though, so I took my blanket and went to the lounge area, sleeping on a couch for another 2 hours.
Day 56 (Monday Oct 15) – The dive didn’t begin until 9am, but I was up by 6am, so I explored a short nature trail at the edge of the sound.
Next, here’s a little about Milford Sound:
Milford Sound sits within Fiordland National Park in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. The park is part of Te Wahipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Milford Sound is the jewel of Fiordland National Park – a hidden secret waiting to be discovered.
Despite its name, Milford Sound is actually a fiord, not a sound. It is also the only fiord in New Zealand that is accessible by road. However, its remote location, bounded by steep cliffs and dense rainforest, means its special features remain unspoilt. Rain or shine, Milford Sound continues to captivate even the most experienced traveller with its beautiful surroundings, ink-dark waters, gushing waterfalls and captivating views.
And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for… my third time diving in the ocean, and my first time capturing my dives in photographs and video!
Our dive masters / leaders were Simone, Lance, and Carrie. Simone and Lance own Descend Scuba, and Carrie is their sole employee, so it’s a very small, but extremely well-run operation. On the boat ride out, we saw many amazing sites, like the rainbows of Faerie Falls…
As well as another waterfall…
And a whole pod of dolphins surrounding our boat as we drove out to the dive site…
Soon, we made it to our first dive site, Penguin Cove. We descended into the water by rolling off the side of the boat, and suddenly I was in an underwater world of beautiful coral, fish, crayfish, starfish, and even a sea dragon! The photos of me with the sea dragon and by the black coral were taken by Simone who was leading the dive.
The dive was 51 minutes long, and as I started running low on air, we surfaced. It was the first time I’ve actually had a warning on my computer that my air was low! Next, we took a two-hour surface interval to let the nitrogen in our bloodstream dissipate. During this time, we ate lunch (vegetarian wraps) and talked about Milford Sound. I also got a couple of selfies and enjoyed the spectacular views!
Next, we went to Dale Green for our second dive. This time, I got a video of me entering the water from the boat…
Unfortunately, Anna had some problems with her dry suit, so she had to get back on the boat and swap out suits. Meanwhile, Carrie led myself and the two Korean divers on the second dive. This dive felt much more comfortable, and I got some cool underwater videos.
The dive lasted 39 minutes. After surfacing we had to wait for a little bit longer for Anna and Lance to complete their dive. While we waited, we saw a seal having an octopus for a midday snack.
After about 10 more minutes, Anna and Lance surfaced. We then headed back to the boat dock, but not before catching a brief glimpse of a penguin in the rocks (the head is visible in the very center of the picture).
We also got to experience Stirling Falls…the accompanying music is entitled “For the Win” by Two Steps from Hell.
And on the boat ride back, I got a few more pics of me enjoying the sun and spray. I can also introduce you to Anna and show you my proof of successful dives. I needed this pic as I forgot to bring my dive log which I usually use to verify I completed the dives!
After we got back to the boat dock, we unpacked the boat and Anna and I were driven back to the Milford Sound Lodge where I had left Tuatoru. I quickly rinsed all my equipment in the showers at the lodge before laying it all out in my car to dry on the car ride home.
As I approached the Homer Tunnel to leave Milford Sound, God gave me an amazing video…
I stopped off in Te Anau for a calzone and then continued on to homebase in Queenstown. I was very tired by the end of the day and even rolled over the rumble strips a couple of times, so I’m very thankful that God protected me and gave me a safe trip back to Queenstown.
This was an amazing day. I met some great people, I saw all sorts of things I had never seen before, and I was able to worship God throughout the day because I saw, heard, and experienced the beauty of the natural world!
As I got home, I had a message from Abbie (one of Jay’s roommates). She said that another of their roommates, Kurt, was planning a hike for Tuesday. I didn’t have any plans, so I said I would join, not knowing what kind of hike Kurt was planning…
Day 57 (Tuesday Oct 16) – Kurt messaged me to say that we would be leaving around 10am, so I had some time in the morning to do my devotions and walk around Queenstown for a bit. Spring had definitely sprung, and it’s been amazing to experience my second spring of 2018!
When I got to Kurt’s place, he informed me that we would be doing the Ben Lomond summit hike, an 8-hour return trip to the top of one of the highest peaks near Queenstown. I had read about this hike, but I hadn’t planned on doing it. At the same time, I really didn’t have anything else to do this day, so I agreed to accompany Kurt to the top.
We stopped off downtown to get some food supplies for me (as I had only prepared my backpack for a 3 hour hike), and we checked into renting crampons, as there was snow and ice reported at the top. At the rental store, as we were deciding on crampons, another guy came in and said he had been to the top of Ben Lomond the day before and didn’t need crampons. So, we left without renting any gear and we were on our way to the top around 10:30am.
The first part of the trail was actually closed, but that didn’t stop us. We jumped the barrier and slowly climbed up until we got to a higher part of the trail that was open. We had to do a little backtracking, but we eventually made it to the rest of the trail.
At this point, it was 11:07am, and I started my workout on my Apple Watch. Kurt and I ascended for another hour and a half, taking a few rest breaks. We thought we were going to the top of this mountain…
But actually, we were mistaken. We had been eyeing the peak to our left the whole climb, saying how cool it would be to climb it. Once we reached the saddle (the low area between these two peaks), the signs for Ben Lomond pointed to our left and we realized we WOULD be hiking to the higher peak. So, we posed once again, pointing to the peak we would climb…and then Kurt took off like a mountain goat!
We took shorter, more frequent breaks on the final hour of our ascent. I took a photo of the grass and lichen while Kurt tried to make a phone call
As we neared the top of the hill, things got progressively more difficult. I ate a lot of trail mix to keep up my energy and realized I really like dried Inca berries…
Kurt also got some good photos of me on the hike. I think I look like a little bit like Link from the Legend of Zelda…
We encountered snow at the last 50 meters…
And then we reached the summit…
Here are views in the 4 cardinal directions (North, South, East, West)
At the top was a dial that actually highlighted different peaks. You would turn the top portion and then look through the viewing fields to see different peaks. The view that I took was towards Mt. Aspiring!
I also confirmed our height using my compass app on iPhone – 5710 ft, or 1740 m, or 1.08 miles. What was even more incredible was having 4G connection at the top. I ended up talking to my brother Johnathan, my friend Meagan, and another friend from Billings, Jared. After enjoying the views, eating some more food, and relaxing, we then started our descent.
While the trek up to the peak took about 4 hours, we did the return to the bottom in half that time. We literally ran down a bit portion of the mountain, although both of us took a fall in some mud. But, it was nothing more than a muddy butt for Kurt and muddy sleeves for me. Here are the impressive workouts as recorded by my Apple Watch. I also obtained several new achievements for doubling, tripling, and quadrupling my daily calories burned, and walked an impressive 44,000 steps!
After we got back down, I went back to my place to get cleaned up. Then, Kurt and I met back up to have dinner at Fergburger, Queenstown’s best hamburgers. I got “The Deluxe” and Kurt got the “Little Lamby”. We both also had fries with aioli, and I treated myself to a chocolate brownie shake. We went back to his place to eat. We also planned ahead while we were at the peak. Since we had 4g coverage, we had booked a hot tub (a perk of Kurt’s living situation), so we were able to soak away some of the aches and pains from the hike. It was an awesome way to end an epic day.
Day 58 (Wednesday Oct 17) – This day was consumed with writing up my week #2 Queenstown post. I also released episode #5 of My Story entitled “Sexual Stirrings” and used my high school graduation photos to post about it on Instagram and Facebook. I also took two selfies to show how excited I was, as well as to show off my hair (I felt like I was having a really good hair day).
Writing up a blog post as well as recording, editing, and posting a podcast episode used up most of this day. But it was a very productive day!
Day 59 (Thursday Oct 18) – I knew that I would be luging this afternoon, but I decided to get my steps in early, as well as stretch my legs some more from Tuesday’s massive hike (my quads were sore for several days after that hike). So, I hiked back up the Tiki Trail to the top of the gondola. On the way there, I got a beautiful springtime photo, and I found the Frog-mobile!
During the hike, I actually talked to a new friend Ali, Meagan’s friend who lives in Christchurch. We set-up a time to have a meal together with her family, and she invited me to her church for the first Sunday I’m in Queenstown. So, I already have some plans for my time in Christchurch.
I also talked to my Wheaton friend Jennie, who is the subject of episode #6 of My Story. As I was naming the episode after her, I wanted to make sure she was okay with it. She said it would be fine to use her name as the episode title! We also caught up about the events in our lives and I was very happy to be able to Facetime with her.
At the top of the trail, I saw these three posters again. I think I said they were made of colored beans before, but I should have clarified that they were actually made of jelly beans. And they also had descriptions of the photos…
I read my bible, journaled, and worked on my blog for a bit. I also got a steak and cheese pie and some fries for lunch while waiting for Jay to contact me about doing the luge.
I also did one more postcard as I had one postcard stamp left from the previous month’s postcard extravaganza. I sent it to the only person who thanked me for the card. What’s interesting is that I didn’t get a thank-you from my parents, my siblings, my nieces or nephew, or my friends. The person who thanked me was actually my ex-partner Tracy. It confirmed to me yet again that he truly is my family, and that makes me very thankful that even though our partnership has ended, our connection and friendship did not.
Jay and his friends got to the top of the gondola around 2pm and then we did six luge runs together. I remembered I had my GoPro in my backpack. and luckily it still had about 20% battery left, so I was able to record 2 of my luge runs and got one more video from Rearn, Jay’s friend who works at the luge.
I only had the underwater case with me, so that’s why it has the black circle around the edges. In some ways, it makes it look a little more like a video game! Ultimately, it was a ton of fun and I hope to do it again before I leave Queenstown.
This video was my second luge run and my first time down the “advanced” course…
This is Rearn’s luge run, a true professional…
Here is my fourth luge run, my most interesting run…
We finished luging around 4pm, and I walked back to my place, packed up my car and drove down to Dunedin. It was now time for my Drag Queen Weekend in GigCity!
I arrived around 8pm on Thursday night in Mosgiel. I stayed with Gary, my Couchsurf host for the month of September. It was great to see him again. I also had some mail at his house (my New World grocery shopping discount card and ANOTHER American Giant sweatshirt).
Why did I buy another sweatshirt? Well, if you didn’t know, I became rather smitten with “Guy” after meeting him in September and having two “dates” in Dunedin. I had hoped we would get to know each other even better, but as it turns out, he is a pretty busy man, and so we just didn’t find time to hang out the last few weeks of September. Since I’ve moved to Queenstown, the only time I’ve heard from him (besides an occasional like on Instagram) is when I reached out to him to let him know I was coming down for this weekend. He was going to be out of town, and so my hopes of seeing him one more time proved fruitless.
My back-up plan for the sweatshirt was to add it to my own collection, since Guy and I are the same size (medium). I also got it in Sea Blue after Guy said his favorite color was aqua. Really, though, this whole experience is just my romantic side showing itself. I’ve always done nice things for people I care about, and even more so for people I care about AND am attracted to. This incident sums up my inner state right now. I’m on a grand adventure, having the time of my life, but really what I want is someone to share my experiences with. Someone who WANTS to get to know me. Ultimately, I’m just a man wanting romantic involvement…and instead I’m literally posting my life story on the internet…
Day 60 (Friday Oct 19) – No pictures from Friday. I spent the morning blogging, doing devotionals, and reading. Then I met my drag mother, Amara Morningstar, for an afternoon shopping trip. We found my dress, shoes, and we got makeup for me. Here is Amara’s Instagram so you can get to know a little more about her.
Day 61 (Saturday Oct 20) – I had a lazy morning but then met-up with my friend Elza at St. Clair beach (where I previously had my surf lesson). If you recall, I met Elza at the Dunedin public library, as I needed to charge my laptop and she had the only available plug next to her. We got takeaway coffee on Saturday and walked the beach together. She was already back in school in Dunedin. I’m proud that I remembered to snap a selfie with her. And spring is in full bloom here in New Zealand so I took another picture of a trinity of blooms on my walk to the car.
Soon, it was time to have my debut night as a drag queen. I went over to Amara’s place after dinner and from 7pm to 11pm we primped, and stuffed, and prepped. It took so long because she had to do both her make-up and my own. And as you will soon see, I went through a massive transformation.
After we took these photos at Amara’s house, we walked about 1km to Vault 21, our bar of choice for the night. Let me say, walking in heels was difficult, painful, and not something I want to do again. But I’m very proud that I did it. I’m also proud of the experience for these reasons –
- It helped me to experience some of the trials and tribulations real women go through. We were honked at walking down the road, we were called names, and Amara had two people try to tug off her wig.
- It showed me how much blood, sweat, and tears go into drag, and I have a much more profound respect for the craft, as well as all those drag queens that can dance, lip synch, and do the splits.
- It made me feel like a minor celebrity. This was probably the only time I’ve gone into a club and had my picture taken by numerous people who I had never met. Women, young and old, would come up and ask to get a picture with us, and they would comment on how beautiful we looked. It was quite fun to pose for their photos and receive that kind of praise.
- It’s ANOTHER new experience, and I’ve racked up a ton of them this month!
Here’s a couple of photos at the club…
And one video on the walk back to Amara’s house
Overall, it was a fun night, and I’m so glad I took the plunge. I’m also grateful to my first drag mother, Amara. She created the women you’ve experienced on this blog.
Throughout the night, it felt like blood was running down my toes, and sure enough, when I took the heels off for the night, I had several blisters, including a blood blister on my right pinky toe that was almost as big as the toe itself. So, I truly experienced drag, or as Amara likes to call it, “voluntary torture”. 🙂
We each cleaned off most of the make-up with coconut oil, and then I drove back to Mosgiel for the night. I got back to Gary’s place around 2am, and promptly fell asleep.
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In summary, it was an EPIC week of adventure, and I’m so glad you were able to read about it on this blog. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you now understand the hidden meanings in this month’s playlist ReInvented. Here is the description of the playlist –
October 2018 – Queenstown, NZ. I am going to reinvent myself this month! There are clues to what will occur in the images and songs associated with this playlist. To stay relevant, to continue to grow, and to make a new impact, you often need to reinvent yourself. How will you reinvent yourself?
The 3 RuPaul songs that I included on this month’s playlist and the playlist image which is the outline of a female both point towards my drag coming out. Even with the name being ReInvented, I truly feel like I’ve reinvented myself this month, and I’m becoming an even better version of Derek. More honest, more adventurous, and more willing to share and experience other ways of living, while appreciating God’s love, beauty, and providence.
Your song for completing this blog post… it’s the amazing second RuPaul song from this month’s playlist!