Chapter 12: The magical view of Roy's Peak

20/12/19

The magical Roy’s Peak

The weather has improved an iniminitiny bit so today I will go to Roy’s Peak. This is another reason Wanaka is so famous on Instagram because of this second highlight. Instagram peoplezzz can just hike it

in one day and take that picture that results in a gazzilion likes! Because of this, the small car park at the start of the track often cannot handle all those grammers (I have no clue how to spell out people that use Instagram) so the sooner you get there the better.

I arrive well on time and find myself a good spot. Maybe it’s the weather, maybe its not but the amount of instapeoplezzz is disappointingly low. Since the track is only 8 km uphill and 8 km downhill I decide to fill up my backpack completely so my shoulders get adjusted to the weight when doing the Kepler track in a few days. Good plan no? I pay my 2-dollar entrance fee and of I go. It’s cloudy so the color of the surrounding lakes and mountains is rather dull. If you see the pictures just imagine more vibrant colors. Damn, I think I forgot to do my research. The hike is not a track. It’s rather 8 km steep up the hill to reach the top and back down. I feel muscles in my legs that I have not used in a long long time. Great plan Steven to do

this hike with a full backpack. The Asians smiling at me when they overtake me are a good indication that I am not fast. Well nothing I can do at this point but to go up. The hike brings me higher and higher while Wanaka becomes smaller and smaller, a collection of miniature houses in the background. The blue lake widens and snow topped mountain peaks become visible. Once again, the clouds lay a thick layer of white fluffiness on the top of the peaks, hiding their full beauty from me.

Step by step my body temperature increases. Each time the sun glimpses through, summer is back again. Difficult conditions for hiking since the amount of layers that I need to adjust is not trivial. And I am not even mentioning the possibility if sun cream needs to be applied or not. Many questions to be answered; yet no answer is definitive since all of a sudden it starts to rain. Ow dear God, I swiftly put on my raincoat! Soon I enter the grazing fields full of sheep. It

strange to see these white balls of wool grazing along the flanks of Mount Roy. Well, at least I don’t have to hike on my own, a good distraction for my Tinnitus. Step by step the Instagram views become more and more impressive. It is true, in New Zealand this is the best hike with a single constant view!

After a few hours of zig-zagging I finally reach the famous Instagram saddle. Even in this cold and dark weather a queue is present for that famous picture. Well, we do what we have to do for those Instalikes so I decide to queue up. Being up here, with the wind blowing in your face, remains magical. After a few pictures I decide to go for the last 1.5 km. The path becomes more and more adventurous and at the moment I reach the top it begins to snow. AM I GOING TO GET A WHITE CHRISTMAS???? So it is true, in New Zealand, 4 seasons can come in one day. Sun, rain, wind and snow. Today I have witnessed them all. The Australian people hiking in their

shorts are as surprised as me since it is sooooo fucking cold. Well, time to go back down! Same road, same story, yet a different set of unused muscles that are feeling the sensation of anaerobic oxidation. Oh snap, I will feel this hike tomorrow!

After a 5-hour hike, I make it back to Sparky #4. Quick lunch and I am of to my next destination, Queenstown. This is the party city of a gazzilion adrenaline activities and probably as many one night stands. The drive is slightly longer than 2 hours and pretty spectacular downhill all the way to Queenstown. It’s awesome to see the planes landing into the mountain-surrounded airport, like tiny flies happily landing on a picknick table. My hostel is located on a steep hill, which challenges my parking skills tremendously. After checking into the Haka lodge I make a small tour into the city. The place is packed with shops selling bungee jumps, sky dives, speedboat trips and other high energy activities. Topped off with bars and

restaurants, one can imagine why a lot of people like Queenstown soo much. The city feels very much alive. Eventually I make it to the lake where a gazzilion people are enjoying the view over the lake into the mountains.

I sit down onto a ledge looking over the water and put on my headphones. Amber Run with the song 5 am is playing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qge9mS3umFk). This was the last band I watched live in the Botanique (Brussels) before my soundtrauma accident. Since then, I have cancelled the Dermond Kennedy and Micheal Kiwanuka concerts out of fear of making my Tinnitus worse. Then the lyrics hit me: ‘You don’t know what you have got until its gone. You don’t know who to love until you are lost’. Surrounded by the all this beauty and liveliness I just could not put it away from me. The tinnitus, the tremors, the insomnia and the break up. ‘You don’t know what you have got until its gone. No more

silence, no more sleep, no more love.

In this moment it was all too much. Tears started rolling from my cheeks into the sand of Queenstown. I just could not hold it anymore. It is just my soul responding to the heavy hart I am holding. Sometimes life gives you lemons and this once so enthusiastic dude just doesn’t know how to make lemonade anymore! At that moment my life comes to a stop while the world just goes on.

I decide to find some comfort food. The Japanese Iko restaurant provides bento boxes with salmon sashimi. Just what I needed! I sit down at the counter and order my food. One of the Japanese tourists tries to explain the waiter that bento boxes should not be prepared with warm rice! Makes the flavor of the salmon go away! Well I cool down my rice with some local cider to make it more authentic. Hopefully this helps me to sleep since the 3 other tourists in my room are 60 year old Argentinians that will wake up tomorrow at 5 am to do a tour to the Milford Sound.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day,

Tears out,

Steven