Chapter 24: Lake Tekapo

03/01/2020

I am writing my last chapter during the dark cold morning and evenings on the train between Etterbeek and Mechelen indicating that I have safely returned to Belgium. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. You only have to do this one more time and than New Zealand has been finally written down in words! A small recap since this chapter has been postponed waaaaaay to long. In the previous chapter I have climbed towards the Mueller hut during an adventurous hike comprised out of 2000+ stairs and snow topped

mountain ridges. The stunning view over Mount Cook, the highest mountain of New Zealand, was less enthusiastic due to the haze of the Australian forest fires. This was a clear example of what climate change is doing to this planet and how in the end, we are all a subject to Mother Earth. After destroying my knees on the hike, I said goodbye to my fellow French mountain goats and make my way up North to lake Tekapo…

Stargazing at lake Tekapo

After a 2-hour drive along the scenic route on the SH8 I finally arrive at lake Tekapo. My final destination in New Zealand, the place I marked at the beginning of my journey to watch the cold dark pitched sky filled with a gazzilion shining stars. I planned to enjoy these days the most because after lake Tekapo, I will bring Sparky #04 to

Christchurch and start my return trip to Belgium via Auckland and Bangkok. My final days on the island deserve a listening to ‘final days’ of Michael Kiwanuka (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7egVrhFaFU).

Lake Tekapo. The lake that has been the cover picture of various travel blogs, lonely planets and postcards. The turquoise blue color is mesmerizing yet hard to capture on a photo. The color is a product of the surrounding glaciers, which grind rocks into a fine dust on their journey down towards the lake. This ‘rock flour’ is suspended in water and causes a deep magnificent turquoise blue color to appear (at least when the sun is present to light it up). Additionally, lake Tekapo is located in a ‘Dark Reserve’ where light pollution is limited to the minimum. Selected for its very clear atmosphere, various companies bring people closer to the stars making this a top-scoring

destination for tourists.

Sleeping will be done in my last hostel, a room shared with 5 other people. Coincide; I am surrounded by 5 Germans showing once again how popular New Zealand is for our Eastern neighbors. My goal this evening is to catch a glimpse of the Milky Way and maybe capture it on a photograph although my star photography skills are close to non-existing. Shutter times, Aperture settings, ISO values, focus on infinity, all words I have forgotten prior to going outdoor tonight. Nevertheless, I need some energy so first cooking needs to be done. After 5 weeks I became a routine yet decisions still need to be made (I suck at making those o_O). Hmm, I still have couscous and pasta which all will be left behind in the hostel because I am not planning to cook in Christchurch or Auckland (I don’t have space in my luggage anywayzzz). I go for the latter and put everything else in the FREE box for other people to enjoy. Today the hostel is buzzing

with activity due to the arrival of the Kiwi bus packed with tourists. Instead of renting a car, this Kiwi bus is an option for people to explore New Zealand. For 800 dollar (give or take), you can catch the bus going to all the different touristic locations. At the beginning of my journey I took a different bus to Rotorua and Tauranga but 5 weeks would be waaaaaay to uncomfortable for this 1.96m tall dude. I am sportive, not flexible! Nevertheless, everyday a Kiwi bus stops here at lake Tekapo and you can jump on or off the bus depending on where you want to go!

I prepare my pasta and sit down next to the gathered kiwi crowd. An angry duck trying to get a bite of our food attacks us all. This mutual experience gets us talking. Guess what, more Germans (I still think they are secretly trying to take over the world by populating the most remote countries first…) and some elderly English dudes. Nevertheless, sharing experiences after 5 weeks of travelling is fun. Additional, I find new people to share my Tinnitus story with helping me once again to find some rest with the diagnosis. 3 people of the Kiwibus (Franzie, Daniel and Luke?) are also planning to watch the stars tonight so I join them on this evening expedition. Well, not really a well planned adventure since we don’t really know where to go so

we head of to the edge of the lake Tekapo. Outside, away from the light pollution the stars start to paint the sky. I setup my Sony Alpha 6400 on the Gimball to take long exposure pictures of the night sky. The Gimball was clearly not made for this purpose because I can’t see what I am exactly taking a picture off. Well, than I just point the camera towards the sky and hope for the best!

Here, on the edge of the lake, we settled down and let the darkness sink in. With every minute passing, the skyline becomes brighter and brighter and more falling stars become visible. We think we can see the Southern Cross and a glimpse of the Milky Way but our astrology knowledge on the Southern hemisphere is rather poor. I enjoy the star painted night sky. The many galaxies that are out there, waiting to be discovered, have always fascinated me. Their appearance in the sky make me feel like a small tiny human on this big blue dot, just floating in space. I take a couple of long exposure images without

being able to see what I am taking a picture of. Fingers crossed it is somewhat descent! At 1.00 am in the night, the sky is shining brightly, ready to finalize my New Zealand Journey!

Time to go back to bed. I say goodbye to my Kiwi bus people, but we will be reunited soon in Christchurch, which will be the next stop for the Kiwi bus. I enter my room in the middle of the night, 5 Germans sleeping. Carefully I hoist myself into my bed bunk, hoping to get a good night rest. I wake up rather late after my nightly escapade. All of the Germans in my dorm room left the hostel early, breaking my precious sleep. The sun is already up and the Kiwi bus people already left towards Christchurch. Everything is rather empty but their absence will be filled up in the afternoon when a new Kiwi bus of people will be arriving. During my final day I will visit lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. The village of Tekapo is small so the walk to the Church is not that long. After the last few days of hazy

views, the sun is able to shine brightly today. Finally I can start applying layers of sunscreen, the feeling of vacation restored! I make my way to the Church, a place of worship for God. Well, the plan of this divinity has not been good for me in 2019 so I didn’t come here to pray. I take a few pictures of the Church and make my way to the shore of lake Tekapo. The view is spectacular with a central turquoise lake surrounded by snow-topped mountains. I sit down on the rocks flanking the edge of the lake. A moment of silence. I absorb the beauty of my surroundings and listen. Unable to hear the silence (fuck you Tinnitus), I switch on my Spotify list. Since the 17th of June I haven’t listened to Ben Howard. Almost 7 months without the song I used to play every evening in the tent I shared with Pierre in Canada, 5 years ago. End of The Affair, my song in bad days, my song in good days (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4yh2NZ0kJw). A perfect place to start listening again, to continue with my life after Tinnitus, after insomnia, after the break-up. Its here, surrounded by

all this beauty where I try to leave it all behind.

I have had 5 wonderful years. Falling in love, going on an adventure, not knowing what will come. Meeting new people, experience different cultures, getting kissed softly. Sharing laughter and tears, moving in together. Thank you. Now it’s time to move on.

Lake Tekapo was my last stop in the beautiful outdoor nature of New Zealand. I wake up early to drive back towards Christchurch where I have to drop of Sparky #04 at 02:00 pm! Exactly 157 000 km on ‘den teller’ indicates that I have spent 3300 km in this car. My first dabble into the roadtrip pool was Canada but the very first real one was Spain. Going from West to East, in a white Skoda, not knowing what to do properly. The first time trying to figure out how to switch on the lights felts very similar to finding the windscreen wipers of

Sparky#04.

My first time on a New Zealand highway driving with fear,
On the left hand side with non-European dashboard gear.

Into my first Southern hemisphere electrified thunderstorm,
Followed by a golden sunset and sleeping in gazillion dorms.

My first crack in the window was multiplied by two,
Yet I managed to fix my crack in the ‘wieldop’ using superglue!

My replacement travelbuddy that doesn’t knew any good jokes,
Nevertheless driving 3300 km from North to South was stoked!

My podcast partner in good, mediocre and bad times,
You have been a great New Zealand partner in crime!

Thank you Sparky#04 for going on this great adventure,
I know it was forced upon you but I still recommend you in a 5 star review!

Leaving Sparky#04 behind is Christchurch went remarkable fast. A quick scan from the local GO rental employee and 5 minutes later I am dropped off at the airport so I can make my way back to the city

of Christchurch. Strange since I know I have two window cracks and a manual fixed ‘wieldop’. Later I receive they final review and the two window cracks are noticed, fixed, but not charged! Hooraaaay, I must have been a good driver for Sparky#04! I find the bus and head into town. Christchurch is a broken town, still recovering from the Earthquake in 2011. A lot off pubs have been rebuild. Here, I meet the people from the Kiwibus and we go out to a local bar for one last time. Here, the first time during all my time in New Zealand I was not asked my ID to enter the bar while the others were. A 5-week beard apparently makes me look older (over 25 at least) so that’s a pluss. A few drinks later and losing twice to Franzie when playing pool (I should decreasing my skill level of potting the black ball when other colors are still present on the table) I head back towards my hostel to take some rest before flying out to Auckland. The next day in the airport I finally manage to squeeze my hand luggage into the perfect size! Yeeey, I should have no problems flying back to Belgium in this

configuration (guess what, it was not, but hey that’s for later). First I enjoy my final two nights in Auckland. It was here where my adventure started, with stress of forgetting my Belgium driver license. Since I have seen the city already I decide to continue writing my blog, eat some good food, hunt for souvernirs for the people back home and get my beard trimmed nicely. The feeling from the latter was rather nice but the price tag of 40 dollar was a little too much. Especially when I manage to leave my sunglasses behind. I only found out the next day and did not have time to pass by the barber, so I will go home empty handed. Well not completely empty handed because I have a brand new expensive all-black competition shirt, a mug decorated with kiwi birds and a small ugly kiwi bird to start my ugly animals collection!

Time to go back to Belgium, Mechelen. Very happy with my squeezed out hand luggage bag I try to check in. The first time ever in my life I

am asked to weigh my hand luggage. Since I was only allowed 7 kg, I had packed 5 kg too many (Duh, its packed with all my electronics like a laptop, charger, powerbank and camera equipment). Luckily I have still 5 kg left in my large luggage so I drop everything what I don’t need in there. Damn, those 30 kg weigh heavy and it was the limit of what I could take on the plane. I manage to take 1 final picture but got stopped by a police officer (I did not see the gigantic sign saying I am not allowed to take pictures) and hop on the Bangkok airways airplane. The flights were not comfortable so I only got a couple of ours of sleep in my 31-hour trajectory. On top off that my luggage was not present when arriving in the airport so I had to file a complaint for the first time in my life. Wow, New Zealand was a lot of first timers! In the end it got stuck in Bangkok in the oversized luggage (duh, what do you expect from a 30 kg luggage bag). Once reunited with the bag, I noticed a large hole in the raincover. Damn, after 5 years we finally have to say goodbye. Canada, Spain, Brazil,

France, Myanmar were good times. But New Zealand was too big for you my dear rain cover.

Thank you everyone still reading this blog. After 24 Chapters my New Zealand adventure has come to an end. We made it! A journey with ups and downs, off the beating track and into the cities. Surrounded by beautiful nature and loneliness, New Zealand is the place to visit when you want to be challenged yet amazed! Thanks from the bottom of my hart to all the people still reading. I am grateful to be surround by many lovely and caring dudes and dudettes, supporting me through all my challenges in life. One final time I can write it, Fuck you Tinnitus, Fuck you insomnia and Fuck you tremors. New Zealand made it pretty clear. There is a Steven before and after the accident of the 5th of November. I don’t know how, but I need to move on and accept my new ‘me’. A little less enthusiasm replaced by the constant noise of an airplane buzzing in my head. Nevertheless, whether it will be a house, a baby or a new relationship, you guys deserve it! Enjoy 2020! (I already lost my wallet in Belgium so 2020 is trying to challenge 2019. Well, that is still nothing compared what I have been through, but you can feel it. 2020 is out there to get me!)

Until my next trip (Costa Rica, Patagonia or Cambodja),

See you laterz,

Steven