Before I begin, I want to tell you about an interesting online conversation I had recently. Since coming to New Zealand, I actually linked my Instagram profile with my Grindr profile. Ultimately, this means someone on Grindr can go through my Instagram (which is public) and find my website, then go to this blog and find out all sorts of interesting things about me. While many people do link their Instagram accounts on Grindr, to also have a blog means I do have to be careful about what I mention on this blog. Not for me, I don’t have anything to hide from any group (christian, homosexual, family, friends, employers) so I’m not worried about what people can find out. But I am becoming more cognizant of what I share about other people. And that’s good, because they deserve to share THEIR stories in their own time.
But here’s the interesting interaction that I had on Grindr recently.
Even before New Zealand, my age on Grindr was 29. Mainly it was to attract younger guys who said they wouldn’t chat with profiles over 30. When a 21 year old who made that statement on their profile met with me, it was always fun to expose my true age and say they agreed to meet with an older guy. I had hoped it would open up their eyes to being too exclusive about age, since someone’s looks and personality can often not match their true age. Personally, I never gave Grindr “ages” too much meaning.
But I will let you know that I stopped displaying an age on Grindr a few days ago. This is because after I linked my Instagram profile to Grindr when I came to NZ, someone followed the rabbit trail from Grindr to Instagram to my website and saw my birthday post, so they knew I was actually 38.
I got called to account by a Grindr profile with no picture, who said he didn’t like to play games, and the profile asked how I could be a Christian and lie on my profile. He did bring up a good point, but I did remind him that it was the internet and so you shouldn’t really believe very much anyway. We went back and forth, I agreed I had lied and that was between me and God, but he just wouldn’t let up, so I eventually blocked him. This interaction stuck with me, though, and I now no longer display my age on Grindr. Ultimately, anyone curious enough to follow the path to my blog can find the answer, and it rewards some sleuthing!
One final reminder before I begin recounting days 16-19, I refer to the current place I am residing as my “Homebase”. Since I don’t really have a home and I move around quite a bit, this is how I refer to my base of operations from which I launch all of my adventures and explorations.
Day 16 (Tuesday) – For my first full day in GigCity, I decided to stick close to Homebase and explore the small community of Mosgiel. First, I went to the local grocery store and got provisions for my time here (snacks for hiking and breakfast and lunch items). When I got home, I photographed my Homebase and my provisions.
It’s a very simple set-up, but more than enough to act as a base for my activities in and around GigCity. Next, I walked to the local library. As I walked around town, I noticed a lot of elderly people, and I thought it was a little odd until I learned this is a town many people “retire” to, so that they can escape the “city” life of Dunedin. This gives Mosgiel a slower, more peaceful feel, and I actually appreciated spending several hours in the library, and I was finally able to start a book from my Recommendations list.
Many of my readers might recall that during my Roadtrip and my time in my Hometown of Billings, MT, I asked my friends and family for one book, podcast, movie, or other form of media that I could experience while I was in New Zealand. I had a list of 36 items when I left the US, and so I started from the top and worked my way down to find a book I could read while I was at the library. I finally found it at #28, and it was recommended to me by Ryan Gage, the husband of my high school friend Elizabeth Allen Gage. I am not going to reveal the title yet, as I think I will craft a blog post about the book after I finish it. But suffice to say, it has captured my interest, and it is actually very relevant to my story and my journey here in New Zealand.
Next up, I went in search of a pharmacy, as the rash I had developed on my leg in Auckland hadn’t been healing up and was getting more itchy each day. I knew it wasn’t my citric acid allergy coming back, but I didn’t know what it was. The pharmacist was very helpful and suspected it was some type of fungus. And so I bought an anti-fungal cream that also had a low-dose steroid and anti-itch properties. I need to put it on twice a day for several weeks, but in the days that followed, I could tell it was working.
After the pharmacy, I returned home and had a can of ravioli for lunch. That afternoon, I went back to the library to read a little bit more. I can’t get a library card since I am not a resident, and my Couchsurfing host Gary had lost his borrowing privileges as he had some unpaid library fines. But, I could be on Grindr while I read, so I could meet people and find people to chat with or have a meal with, and it was nice to just relax for a day after 3 days of intense travel.
As the library closed, I went to the park right behind the library and found an amazing playground structure.
It called to me, as I never had anything this cool to play on when I was a kid. And since I had sat in the library for most of the day, I decided to climb it.
From my vantage point at the top of the structure, I noticed finally noticed what had been painted below the “web”. It was none other than Spider-man, one of my favorite super heroes. It had the Spider-Man mask and his signature web-slinging hand. With the sun beginning to set, I decided to go back up the other side for some more selfie fun. I also didn’t bring my backpack (I’m not sure why I felt I had to take it with my the first time I went up!)
I had a lot of fun taking the selfies, as I was also jamming out to my playlists as I took them (notice the headphones in my ears). After I was done, I returned to earth and started dancing around a bit. Not long after, two kids came up to me and asked me what I was doing right now and what had I done on the web. When I explained I took selfies on the web and was now dancing to music, they wanted to know what kind of music it was.
So, I disconnected my TaoTronics Bluetooth headphones and played them a few songs from the upcoming “Revealed” playlist that I am constructing for my October 2018 stay in Queenstown. I danced to a few songs, eventually having the girl join me a bit while the boy scootered around, or spun his scooter around in the air.
We eventually started talking and I told them why I was here, and we even got into the fact that I am homosexual and that I had gotten a divorce from my partner. They were quite curious, and I tried to show them that homosexuality is a normal, natural part of the created order, although they are probably too young to really worry about that kind of thing. They said I had an accent, which was funny, because to me, I think the same thing of all the New Zealanders I meet. 😉
I found out their names right before I left the park, and I remembered to take a selfie with them, so I’d like to introduce you to Shaydon (in the Starter Sweatshirt) and -Leah (rocking out an epic Duck Face!). I told them I would make them famous on the internet, so hopefully they find this post once it launches!
I had made a date with a guy from Grindr earlier in the day. He was supposed to come pick me up and then we would go to dinner somewhere. I told him I would be waiting outside the library, and I was there, although after waiting for him for over 25 minutes, I realized he had blocked the conversation on Grindr, which means he either chickened out on meeting me, or he drove out to get me and saw that I was street dancing (and I was rocking out pretty hard), so maybe he got scared off. But if my street dancing can draw in two kids like Shaydon and -Leah, I didn’t let him flaking out on me ruin my night. It was 7pm, I was hungry, and I went in search of food in downtown Mosgiel. I soon found out that not many places were open, but I did find something, Subway.
I got a foot long meatball sub and chips. It hit the spot and after I was done, I started heading home. It was around 8:00pm, and quite dark at this point. As I took a short-cut across a field, I looked up and was amazed at the night sky. There were tons of stars, and it’s a new night sky to me, so I first balanced myself on the teeter totter in the exact center, which I also try to do in all areas of my life – achieve BALANCE!. After only being able to keep that up for a little bit, I jumped off and just communed with nature and the Divine for a few songs. It was heavenly, literally! I tried to take a picture, but my camera on my phone could only pick up Venus, the brightest object in the night sky at this time of year outside of the moon. Here’s the picture, but I still like it, because it reminds me of that moment.
And that’s how my first day in GigCity concluded. I got back home and got to bed. It had been a good day, but I was ready to explore Dunedin!
Day 17 (Wednesday) – I was up and out the door by 9am, catching a bus into Dunedin. Here’s a look at the day and my neighborhood surrounding Homebase. I learned that the two large hills to the south of town are called Saddle Hill, and they make a great landmark to orient myself whenever I’m out and about in Mosgiel.
The total trip time was about an hour between walking to the bus stop and busing into the city. As I jumped off the bus, I was immediately drawn to the church across the street, The First Church of Otago.
Next up, I walked to the Octagon – the City Center of Dunedin. It is an eight-sided plaza with a circular one-way carriageway, bisected by the city’s main street, and is also the central terminus of two other main thoroughfares. As I have been trying to do more video posts, I took a video in the center of the Octagon.
Next, I walked up to the Starbucks and parked myself for several hours writing my Day 13,14,15 post. It actually took close to 5 hours, but I was very proud of it when I was done. I also learned a lot more about videos, editing in iMovie, and I’m getting better at placing pictures and text as I figure out the intricacies of WordPress.
Once I made posts to Facebook and Instagram, I mapped out how to get to the scuba shop that had been recommended to me by Global Dive in Auckland. Dive Otago Ltd. was south of the Octagon, so I started walking and encountered Queen’s Garden, a monument built to honor and commemorate fallen soldiers in the various wars that New Zealand has participated in. At the center stands the Cenotaph, a 28-metre (92 ft) tall eight-sided column, this design reflecting Dunedin’s octagonal city center and being appropriate for an irregularly shaped site. It is also topped by a symbolic beacon.
I was particularly moved by the field of crosses representing all the individual soldiers.
I eventually reached the scuba shop, got entered into their system as a valid diver, and was told they would be doing a dive on September 22nd, so I signed up. I think it will cost me between $20-$40 NZD, which is pretty cheap. I’m hoping to use my underwater camera (as I now know how to use it and I have it charged up), and I’m REALLY hoping there are some playful seals for me to see.
On the way back from the scuba shop, I had some fun riding a seal, and got a nice mural picture.
Next, I encountered the Chinese Scholar’s Garden, which was built as an apology for poll taxes imposed on the Chinese in the 1880’s. In 2002, New Zealand’s government formally apologized and started a heritage trust that was used to build the garden. I didn’t actually go inside, but I did get some good pictures in the outer entryway.
As I walked away from the garden, I saw a building in the distance that looked interesting. It turned out to be the Dunedin Railway Station. While it still receives the Dunedin Railways tourist trains, it serves many other purposes. Much of the ground floor is used as a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society. They also had some beautiful Stained Glass windows on the upper floor.
As I started to walk back to the Octagon, I got an additional picture and video that are quite artistic.
The video is of a fountain, but what I found special is that is cycles through the colors of the rainbow. As I have a connection to rainbows both as a Christian and as a Homosexual, I thought it was very appropriate to put on this blog. The picture also has a rainbow of sorts, and it is equally divided between varied color, and sky blue.
By this time, my stomach was rumbling so I got a cheap burger and fries that were on the way to my bus stop. They were okay, but nothing special. Soon after, I was catching the bus back to Mosgiel and settling in for the night. I watched a few episodes of season 9 of Ru Paul’s drag race and then crawled in to bed. Thanks to my Apple Watch, I realized I had gone 9.5 miles during my trip in Dunedin, and I earned an achievement for reaching my “Move” goal for the 9th day in a row!
Day 18 – After a long day of travel in Dunedin, I decided to stay around Mosgiel again on Day 18 (Thursday). At first, I thought I would read for the entire morning, but I got to a good stopping point in the novel I’m reading at the library, and it was only 10:30 am. I did take note of a few passages that I will share now, to possibly entice you to pick it up once I reveal it…
“…no good would come of conceiving of this person as a monster, because he was most assuredly a man (or a woman); and that man or woman had once been a child. First and foremost, we must get to know that child, and to know his parents, his siblings, his complete world. It was pointless to talk about evil and barbarity and madness; none of these concepts would lead us any closer to him. But if we could capture the human child in our imagination – then we would capture the man in fact.”
For me, this passage speaks to my desire to enter into grad school to study attachment theory, which has its roots in our earliest attachments to our parental figures. I know from personal experience, that the events from our childhood can often have the most profound effects on our psyche and behavior as adults. I also know that the best way to gain mastery over these behaviors is to understand WHY we do things (i.e. what events and thoughts led us up to the actions). But, with my mind spinning over psychological concepts, I decided to get some exercise.
I decided I’d try to hike to the top of Saddle Hill, even though there are no marked trails to the top. There is a road that takes you close to the top, but I was told the very top was private land. Well, by the time I found that out, I had already decided I would go, because I knew the views would be just too tempting to pass up.
On the way out of town, I passed by a small park with a mural and sign that explained the Māori beliefs about how Saddle Hill was created. From Wikipedia, I learned that the Māori believed that it is the body of a taniwha. Taniwha (Māori pronunciation: ‘tanifa’) are beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers (giant waves).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taniwha
The legend is described by the sign, and the mural depicts the two saddle points on Saddle Hill. I also got a nice reflection going on in the sign, you can see my blond hair right above the text.
And so I set off, passing a cycling shop called Spin City Cycles.
https://www.facebook.com/SpinCity-Cycles-224872964195248/
As I had been thinking of buying a used bike to get in to Dunedin (as bus fare is $4.40 NZD each way), I went in and asked if the owner had any used bikes. He did have a bike that he would sell me for $50 NZD ($35 USD) and he said I could pick it up tomorrow after he did some last minute repairs on it. Exiting the bike shop, I soon found that I was following a path of fish out of town…
The trail stopped as I got out of the “downtown” of Mosgiel, and soon I started heading up into the hills. A little ways up, I took a selfie that ended up making me look a little like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. It also looked like hiking in Montana, except when I would encounter more tropical vegetation. And I found an interesting pouch of beads that I posted asking what they were. I got a response on both Instagram and Facebook that said it was an odor eater / car air freshener. So, that was one mystery solved.
I realized I was about halfway done with my hike, so I took a video that is below. I had to take a second video because this one was too long. So, this is brand new footage for all!
Did you catch the Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion? Let me remind you one more time. This is only an estimation, but it gets it close enough to be useful.
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, just double the Celsius reading and add 30 to get the Fahrenheit equivalent. Here is an example – 11° Celsius is doubled to 22° and then when you add 30°, you get a total of 52° Fahrenheit.
The true conversation of 10° Celsius = 51.8° Fahrenheit. Pretty neat, right?
I finally got to the top of the path that I was on and took another video, as I thought I wouldn’t be going any farther.
I was now surrounded by private land on all sides. My only other option besides trespassing was to continue on the road which did a loop and descended back down to Mosgiel. I tried knocking on the doors at 2 houses I believed to own the land, but no one was home, so I just decided to go for the top.
I decided to go for the skull portion, as it was closer, easier to ascend, and there didn’t seem to be any trees at the top that would obstruct the view. So, I jumped 3 fences and got into the pastureland for the cows. There only seemed to be a few cows and I found I could go around to the back side of the hill to ascend and would be out of the line of site of any homes.
Here is a video of me reaching the top. This has not been posted anywhere else besides this blog.
As you could see from the video, they were actually mining out parts of the “skull” of the Taniwha. To me, that’s really interesting that this legend of a great beast dying here resulted in actual minerals that we find valuable. It’s pretty cool, although sad we were destroying parts of this majestic hill. But I felt a little like a spy as I took a top-down photo of the excavation site.
The below pictures have also never been seen on social media, as they were taken at the top of the hill. They show he other hill with the trees, which would the Taniwha’s torso and back. I also got another picture looking over Mosgiel.
I then had a LONG walk back, but I took my time and made sure to drink the rest of my water from my water bottle. Towards the end of the trek back into town, I found another piece of roadside art and created a nice photo. I liked it because the red broken piece of a car’s body creates a mountain-like silhouette, and the red color matches the flower in the background.
And I finally got back in to town around 2:30 pm. I had run this hike as a “outdoor walk workout” on my Apple Watch. And actually, it was my first workout ever, so it will be a hard one to beat, at least for outdoor walking. I was really surprised at the amount of data it generated, and I had fun learning how my hike was tracked. I loved the mapping feature especially.
Weather = 11° Celsius or ~52° Fahrenheit
Humidity = 58%
At 3pm, I had settled down outside the library on a bench. The WiFi signal is strong enough and I was able to use it to Facetime another guy I’ve met online. His name is Michael Boyd, and he is an illusionist from Melbourne, Australia.
https://www.facebook.com/michaelboydtheillusionist/
We talked for a while about ourselves and our pasts. As always, I enjoyed hearing his story and sharing mine. And we will continue to talk over the coming months to see if I can possibly join part of his tour for his show!
I got back to Gary’s house by 4pm. I jumped on Grindr and tried to find a dinner companion, and eventually did, a much younger 21 year old. His profile picture showed him bungy jumping, so we connected on that. He said he would drive out to Mosgiel and meet for dinner at 6:30pm.
I then jumped on Facebook and saw Andy Eastman post one of his long posts that had lots of questions. I always feel a little bad that he spends all this time writing content, and might get some likes, but barely any responses. So, I responded to every question he posed. Here is what I wrote.
What makes you special?
☯️ I’ve been given up for Lent – yes, I am proudly “Lent Boy”!
How do you show up?
☯️ I show up Passionately, Profoundly, & Personally!
What would people say about you?
☯️ The most recent people that have met me have said I am special!
What are you most proud of?
☯️ I’ve written my autobiography… and read it out loud to my Dad!
What would you change about yourself and could you find a way to value those things as an important part of what it means to be you?
☯️ I would stop myself from chewing my fingernails, but I wouldn’t change the understanding I’ve gained by realizing WHY I chew them.
What do you want people to know about you?
☯️ I want people to know that I am a Homosexual Christian, I am also known as TrinityDreamer, and I am obsessed with 3s!
What do you not want them to find out?
☯️ There is nothing that I don’t want people to find out about me. In fact, I am actually waiting for a question that someone asks me that I hesitate to answer…
How do you nurture your talents?
☯️ Practice, Practice, Practice!
How do you hold back?
☯️ I don’t force myself onto people…although I come close! Look at how many times I’ve co-opted your feed to point back to my own… :-P) (www.trinitydreamer.com)
What would you really love to do if it didn’t matter?
☯️ I would want to help people with their Faith, their Relationships, and their Sexuality, because I am passionate about those areas in ALL our lives.
When do you listen to yourself and when do you try to ignore or avoid yourself?
☯️ I try to always listen to myself. I think it is pretty foolish to avoid yourself, and I have been spending A LOT of time with me!
How can you find ways to show and speak your truth?
☯️ I show and speak my truth by calling, texting, emailing, messaging, blogging, posting, facetiming, volunteering, serving, street dancing, seat dancing, and just being open to whoever is brought into my path.
Why wouldn’t you?
☯️ I don’t really know. My truth is that God creates Homosexuals, and I think that’s pretty much the greatest thing I’ve heard in a long time!
I finished the post at 6:25 and realized I would be a little late, but I texted my dinner companion and he said he was fine with waiting. He had willingly drove out to Mosgiel from Dunedin to have dinner with me at Pizza Bella and I didn’t want him to think I was standing him up, like the other guy did to me on Grindr a few days previously.
We shared a pizza and a coke which I paid for (since he drove out and he is a young, poor student) and I got to hear parts of his story as well. Since he is not out to his family, I am respecting his privacy and not including his name here. But, I enjoyed meeting him and sharing my story with him.
I got home about 8:30pm and jumped back online. I quickly found a guy who was interested in meeting, so we set-up a coffee date at Coffee Culture in Dunedin at 10:30 am for the following day, as he mentioned he had the day off. I was planning on picking up my bike the next morning, so I just told him I could meet him there. He also gave me his Instagram, which is pretty normal, and he already had mine as it is in my Grindr profile.
It would take me about an hour to get to Coffee Culture on the route I had mapped. It wasn’t a main road, but it did map for bike and walking, so I thought it would be fine. With a plan for Friday in place, I went to bed, knowing I would have to be up and out the door fairly early to make sure I got a bike helmet, my bike, and had enough time to bike to Dunedin for coffee.
Day 19 (Friday) – I was out the door at 8 am, had my bike helmet by 8:30 am, and I was at Spin City Cycles by 8:50 am. The owner recognized me from the day before, but he hadn’t even STARTED on my bike yet. Luckily, I had planned for this, as I figured I didn’t need to depart until 9:30 am. So he pulled the bike in to do some minor fixes while I went to get a flat white.
I was back at the shop at 9:20 am and the bike was ready. It was fairly used, slightly rusted, and nothing special, but I figured it would be more than enough to get me to Dunedin. I had the owner take a picture of me, and I was off.
After a few blocks, I noticed the chain was slipping slightly and a few links were bent. At this point, I didn’t have time to go back and get it fixed, plus I figured the shop owner would have changed it if it had been a problem. So, I kept going, although the chain slipped off twice in the first mile. As I came to a hill about a half a mile further down the road, I started going up a hill, so I tried to downshift and the chain must have slipped at the same time, because the gears locked up and my back wheel would no longer turn.
The front and rear derailleurs had gotten bent, and I theorized the bend in the chain was at that exact spot when I shift gears so it messed up the entire assembly. Suddenly, at 9:41 am, 5 miles away from Dunedin, I was without my bike. After realizing I couldn’t fix this on my own, I stashed the bike behind a bush, tightened the straps on my backpack, and kept going. I would probably be late for the coffee date, and I messaged the guy that.
I didn’t hear back initially, and so I continued on, but soon the road was no longer paved, and then a sign said no vehicles, and suddenly I was on some type of cow trail. The map had said this path was for pedestrians and bikes, so I wasn’t expecting cow manure, or the amount of elevation climb.
I SHOULD have done more research on this path, and if the bike had not seized up, I still would have needed to carry it up some very large hills, as it wasn’t a mountain bike and there were some very big holes and grooves. I messaged the guy again at 10:15 with an updated location, but I was still about 4 miles away (6.3 km). We eventually decided on meeting for lunch at 12 pm. I would still go to Coffee Culture and then he would pick me up and we would go somewhere for lunch.
So, I kept marching the path, and saw several interesting sites (such as a deer farm), as well as some gorgeous views.
Soon, I was back to pavement, although I hit another dirt trail for a quarter mile, before getting to pavement again for the rest of my journey. As I descended into Dunedin, I made another video reflecting on my morning that went very different from how I planned.
I want to stress this point – that lots of things happen for reasons, and often, we miss out on experiencing the incredible peace that comes with knowing there is a reason for an event. I know it seems odd that this all stemmed from a bike malfunction, but that put me on a new trajectory for my day that turned into any AMAZING day.
I also paused to take a selfie (I was looking good!) and soon after, I encountered a cute mural on a power box.
I continued to descend, and my mapping function announced I had less than 400 m remaining as I turned the corner and looked at this final uphill stair climb.
But, nothing could deter me at this point, so I kept trudging along. At the top of the hill, I turned and saw another painted power box and then ended my outdoor walk exercise as I approached Coffee Culture. I had burned quite a few calories and I was hungry!
The coffee shop itself was housed inside a former Fire station. You can also see my reflection in the windows as I took this shot from across the street.
Arriving inside, I was treated to the view below. The guy I was supposed to meet was still a few minutes out, so I got a hot chocolate and wrote in my journal about my thoughts on the last several days.
And so the adventure takes a pause, as this blog post is already double the length of my previous ones.
But that means you’ve definitely earned a new song. So here you go! It is actually the September 7th song from the ReDefined playlist I posted at the beginning of the month. And it’s oddly appropriate to my misadventures on this day…because even though I had a bike failure, I was still ON MY WAY.
On My Way – Axwell Λ Ingrosso (the same artists who did the song Dreamer)