Serenaded to Michael Buble

As usual, I have a bit of catching up to do. Better late than never though right?

Late Friday afternoon I received word from Luis, a friend from Freedom Church, that he was ready for my help. He was moving from one house to another and since I have time on my hands, I had offered to help. Two carloads later, we had moved all his belongings and got his room setup. Hunger followed this endeavor so we filled our bellies with a steak dinner and then watched a movie with some of his flat mates, also friends from Freedom. An enjoyable day.

Saturday and Sunday blend together. Although autumn is coming, the weather has been lovely which means I spent time outside. One afternoon, I made homemade bread and cinnamon rolls. Although the end result was great, I started around noonish which meant I was stuck inside the rest of the afternoon as they finished. The weekend ended by going to church Sunday evening.

Upon finishing work on Monday, I thought it would be a great idea to go on an afternoon hike. I had seen a boardwalk and was keen on checking it out; a nice leisurely stroll. Let’s just say, it was a good idea gone bad. I had just made it to the beginning of the trail before I saw a trail branching off up Queenstown Hill. Obviously, I had to take it. Maybe I would come across a hidden gem. The path was not in great condition and it was quite steep. I carried on. Along part of the trail, I spotted a bone lying slightly beneath the dirt. Curiosity got the best of me and I proceeded to use a rock to dig up the rest of the bones. Maybe it would be a body and I would be a part of a great mystery! Yet when I came across the jaw bone, I knew this was not the case. It appeared to be a sheep. When I had made it approximately 2/3 of the way up the hill, the path came to an end. A rock climbing guide was there so I asked if I kept going would it meet up with the main Queenstown Hill track. I wasn’t too keen on going down the same way I had come.  She replied by saying that it would take about 30 minutes but because there wasn’t a trail, it would be walking all through bush. After weighing my options, I risked continuing up the hill. Bad idea. Bad idea. The bush was dense with pine trees and a thorny plant called gorse. Wearing shorts and a tank top, I was not dressed for the occasion, after all, I was planning on just a leisurely stroll. With each step, I questioned whether or not I had made the right choice. It didn’t take long to realized that I had in fact, made a bad decision. At one point, as I was free climbing up the face of a rock equipped with some rock climbing rails, I heard the baaing of a sheep as though it were say, “I’m scared for you Ella!” After a bad 40ish minutes of bush walking, I made it to the main trail. Never has seeing a trail felt so good. As a result of walking through gorse, my arms and legs looked as though I had gotten in a fight with a cat. Of all the hikes I have been on in New Zealand that was by far the worst. Never again! When I arrived back at the hostel, I had a little time to rejuvenate before Raquel picked me up and we went to youth group.

The path I intended to go on

Yet another angle of Queenstown

Gorse. The cause of my agony.

The following day, I had the intentions of walking along the lake towards Frankton, a neighboring town. I didn’t make it far. I made it to the gardens before I stopped because it was absolutely beautiful and the weather was great. I laid on a bench and read, journaled, and slept. A great way to spend an afternoon if you ask me. Not much else can be said of Tuesday.

After work on Wednesday, I was able to skype with my dear friend Ashley. Skyping with friends and family back home is always a highlight of my day. I had a very laid back afternoon before going to Bible study in Arrowtown.

(Even though, I have days in which there isn’t anything significant to write about, I write about them anyway because it helps me keep track of things)

Thursday began like most days; waking up, sitting in the lounge eating my breakfast, enjoying the mountains outside the window, brushing my teeth, and then work. The afternoon was quite normal as well, attempting to skype with my family and sitting in town. When I sit in town, it is usually in the afternoon when the weather is nice and the sun is out. Thanks to daylight savings time, the sun goes down an hour sooner. I am not fond of this. When 4:30 rolled around and the sun was down (but there was still light), I didn’t want to be sitting around the hostel so I went into town. I changed up my location and chose a bench on the main street to sit and watch people (normally I sit by the lake). I know it sounds creepy. But hey, it got me part of my dinner. Because I was sitting there so long, I was offered two free samples of fish. It’s the simple things in life. Then things got interesting. Along came a young man and sat down on the same bench as myself. Before long, he began a conversation that would last quite some time. He was an interesting fellow by the name of Will. Over the course of the conversation, he basically told me his life story. At the young age of 20, were he to continue his lucrative business and been caught, could have done 20+ years in prison. That’s right; I was face to face with a drug dealer. Or maybe I should say, former drug dealer. He claims that over the past 6 months he has been cutting off ties to those in the business and this 2 week trip to New Zealand was another way of getting away. He realized that he values his life too much. Hopefully, this is the end of his drug dealing days. He really was a kind guy with a big heart and a passion for making people happy. This was evident when he gave me a ticket for a free dinner and gondola ride that was valid for 2 days. He was also musically talented and proceeded to serenade me with Michael Buble’s “Everything.” He was indeed talented. Although quite unexpected, it was a great evening. When I arrived back at the hostel it was close to 8:15pm. I chatted with some people at the hostel for a bit before making the quick decision to use the ticket for the dinner and gondola that night since I had plans for Friday evening. I quickly made my way to where the gondola went up the mountain in hopes that it wasn’t too late. When I arrived, the ticket man politely told me that the ticket wasn’t valid. (I don’t think Will intentionally gave me the ticket knowing it wouldn’t work). The man was kind enough to allow me to ride the gondola for free; allowing me to have a great view of Queenstown at night.

Queenstown at night