This blog post attempts to record the people I met, the impressions I received, and the ponderings I made during my second week in Queenstown. I spent a lot of time at Homebase, in Starbucks, and in the public library. I also became more acquainted with two very diverse ways to experience Queenstown.
All in all, I checked off two more recommendations from my list, met several interesting people, and planned out the Australia portion of my trip.
Day 49 (Monday Oct 8) – I met Pastor Tom Kerr at City Impact Church in Frankton, NZ. I had attended church here the day before, and I wanted to ask him about his church’s views on homosexuality. I certainly didn’t expect the conversation to last 3 hours, but we talked from 10am till about 1pm. In that time, we were both able to share parts of our stories, and I realized we agreed on a lot more than we disagreed on.
While we disagree on whether homosexuals should be in relationships, Tom admitted to me that his thinking around this issue has been evolving over the past several years. I feel like meeting him was another step on his journey. And I was thankful for the things that I learned from him.
He had a beautiful insight about the house of God. In John 14:2-3, Jesus talks about going to prepare a place for us in his Father’s house. Tom made the point that some of us are only standing in the yard, others are on the front porch, some of us are sitting in the living room, others are hanging out in the kitchen, while others are getting washed and cleaned in the bathroom. It’s a beautiful picture of God meeting us on ALL points of our spiritual journey.
This conversation made me decide to attend City Impact Church for my time here in Queenstown!
After this conversation I also spoke with my parents on Facetime. While part of me wanted to leave all my friends and family behind and just experience New Zealand on my own, that’s a false way of thinking. Because part of experiencing something is being able to share it with the people that you love. Also, I still desire family, and so regular connection with the only family that I know, even if I don’t always get along with them, is the best way forward. I’m going to try and make this a weekly check-in with them, not only for me, but also for them to let them know that I love them.
I started Robinson Crusoe on this day, and I was drawn in immediately because he was also a third son of the family. “Being the third son of the family, and not bred to any trade, my head began to fill very early with rambling thoughts”. I also ended up alone when I ended my relationship at the beginning of 2018. Crusoe, who had many misadventures, ended up alone on an island off the coast of America. But he wasn’t really alone, because he found God through his 27 years on the island. And I wasn’t alone, because I re-found God on Miracle Sunday.
I also started my new journal and did a hike up Queenstown hill. Picture time!
My new journal was only 6.99 NZD, and I love the quote on the front. Because I am truly being myself at this point in my journey. Fully Christian, fully homosexual, and embracing BOTH sides of myself which are still only part of what makes me ME!
I got some confusing directions to the start of the trail, but I eventually found it.
A few minutes into my hike, I encountered a group of 5 goats. I was only able to catch a picture of one as they ran down the path ahead of me.
The hike to the top started with an impressive gate. The inscription on the rock reads, “This pathway leads to our future. With each step, we seek the guidance and wisdom of those who have gone before us: we walk with a sense of hope, that those who follow in our footsteps beyond the year 2000 can do so with the same sense of pride in, and protection for, this beautiful place.
There were also six posted signs to help you learn about the history of the area around Lake Wakatipu.
On the way to the top, I also encountered a faerie grove with dozens of standing stone monuments. In the second picture, you can see the faerie door, which had a surprise message inside!
After an hour of hiking, I reached the top. As I am Trinity Dreamer, here are 3 videos of different viewpoints of the summit. I’ve also been working in iMovie and am now starting to add music to my videos. I hope you enjoy!
One sculpture at the top is the Basket of Dreams – “The Basket’s spiral of steel follows you inward to reflect…to draw inspiration from the mountains, lake and from those who are with you…outward to dream for the future. Time flies, eternity awaits.”
Music accompanying this video is Chorten Monuments from the Everest soundtrack by Steve Wood and Daniel May.
Music accompanying this video is A Ma Ka Ma from Adiemus II by Adiemus.
After taking my third video, I met Tim, an 18 year old Australian aspiring model on his gap year traveling New Zealand and trying to discover his passions and his path forward in life. We hiked back down the hill together, and walked around Queenstown for a bit talking. We even went into Louis Vuitton and Tim tried on a $600 beanie!!! Hopefully I run into him again.
Day 50 (Tuesday Oct 9) – I continued reading Robinson Crusoe on Tuesday, and also typed up my first week in Queenstown. Since I spent most of the day in Starbucks, I also met two people who needed to charge their devices, and I let them plug into my USB hub (since it has 6 slots for USB devices).
- Mary – She is from Scotland, but is living in Queenstown on a work/travel visa. We spoke briefly, I gave her my contact info, and said she could contact me if she wanted a hiking or coffee buddy.
- Sean – He was on a vacation here in Queenstown. Originally from the UK, he has been in Shanghai for the past few years working. He was only spending a week here and he was actually on his way to the airport.
This highlights the dichotomy that exists in Queenstown. There are very few Queenstown residents who have lived here for more than 2 years (although I have met a few). Most people in Queenstown fall into one of two categories. Either you are here on a short vacation (1-2 weeks), or you are on some type of longer term visa, working here for 6 months to two years before traveling around New Zealand.
Both types of people are drawn here, because Queenstown is an adult playground. You can do all types of adventure sports here: bungy jumping, skydiving, skiing, hiking, snowboarding, paragliding, gondoling, luging, ziplining, mountain biking, kayaking, jet boating, and tours by plane, helicopter, boat, bus, or car! And if you aren’t doing any of that, you are probably drinking and smoking your days and nights away. I realize it’s not quite THAT simplistic (as people also eat, sleep, do their laundry and I’ve even seen a runner or two) but by-and-large, that’s mostly what happens in Qtown.
And, I’m somewhere in the middle…just like most of my life. But it gives me a unique vantage point, as I get to truly experience the full range of what Queenstown offers, while also injecting my unique personality and beliefs into the world around me.
And of course, I found another rainbow, right inside Starbucks!
Day 51 (Wednesday Oct 10) – More Robinson Crusoe, as well as lots of planning for the Australian portion of my trip. I applied for and received my 3-month visa to enter Australia, I booked an Airbnb in Sydney for Dec 18 through Jan 16, and I booked an 8 day / 7 night liveaboard scuba trip for the Great Barrier Reef.
I also released episode #3 of My Story!
I still can’t believe I’m adventuring, maintaining a website which include a blog AND a podcast. This year is going to be so well-documented, and that’s amazing because God is doing big things in my life!
Day 52 (Thursday Oct 11) – I woke up to snow on the mountain side…
I spent my morning at Starbucks. Reading Robinson Crusoe inspired me to get back into daily bible reading, daily journaling, and starting off my morning with prayer, meditation and worship, so I posted a picture about this change on Instagram. Next, I met a guy named Alvin from Grindr. It turned out that he was from San Francisco and actually works at USF, where I also worked when I lived in SF. We couldn’t chat long as it was his final day in Queenstown and he had a luge scheduled and a dinner boat tour. But he was interested in Robinson Crusoe, and so after he left, I finished reading Robinson Crusoe and wrote a note in the cover of the book, which I planned to give him later on that night. It contained various sections of the book that were impactful to me.
In the afternoon I received confirmation for my liveaboard scuba trip, so I booked flights from Sydney to Cairns on Jan 16 as well as Cairns back to Christchurch on Jan 25, where I will pick up Tuatoru and head back to the north island of New Zealand.
Alvin and I met up for a beer at 11pm, talked more about our stories, and I gave him Robinson Crusoe. Hopefully I can see him again sometime when I go back to the states next year.
Day 53 (Friday Oct 12) – Another snowy morning, but an interesting juxtaposition with flowers in the foreground and a snowy mountainside in the background. Spring had sprung…
This day, I taught myself how to knit using Youtube videos. Another new experience and skill obtained!
I also met Elza who I had previously met in the Dunedin library. She is a student in GigCity but was on break visiting family in Alexandra, about an hour away from Queenstown. She had some things to do in Queenstown, so we met for coffee and chatted for a bit. I neglected to get a picture, but hopefully our paths will cross again.
Friday, it also snowed in downtown Queenstown. It was quite funny, because a dozen people in Starbucks (myself included) rushed out to take a video the fat snowflakes falling from the sky…
Day 54 (Saturday Oct 13) – A day spent at the library (10am – 5pm), reading John Saveland’s book recommendation. It hooked me from page 1 and I couldn’t put it down until I finished. It was another recommendation that connected with me personally as well as the journey I am on and the education I want to pursue. I can’t wait to share it with you, but I won’t reveal the title here…you’ll need to wait for another page creation in My Recommendations.
I wandered around Queenstown for a bit as well. I found the complete set of Calvin & Hobbes at the Salvation Army. I wanted to purchase them, but decided they would be too heavy to take home with me. I snapped a picture of more spring growth, and another trash to treasure photo, finding a broken mirror on the ground that I used to create an artistic photo of my face and smile.
I also purchased a GoPro camera with an underwater case as my other underwater camera just wasn’t working right and was randomly turning off. I played around with the camera Saturday evening to get used to the functionality and settings. I planned to use it on Monday.
Day 55 (Sunday Oct 14) – I started a new knitting project as I wanted to do something a bit bigger than my training piece that I had worked on for several days. I only completed a few rows of stitches, as I had to get to church, but I took an artistic photo of my beginnings.
I went to church at City Impact Church again and then hit the road because I needed to drive to Milford Sound (about 4 hours away by car). I was going to go scuba diving on Monday at 9am. As I got closer, the mountains started to rise up in the distance.
Here is where I will take a pause. This afternoon, along with the next two days, would have some epic adventuring, and so I’ve decided to do a separate post covering the afternoon of day 55 as well as days 56 and 57. Stay tuned, as I will be posting my first underwater photos, as well as photos from the tallest point I’ve been to yet!
Thanks for visiting. You deserve an awesome new song, and most readers probably haven’t heard this one. But, it is the title track to this month’s playlist – ReInvented. Because Derek 2.0 is just beginning!
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!
This is the beginning, the beginning!
This is the beginning of the rest of your life!