New Zealand - Day 13

November 15, 2010

BEST DAY EVER!

Today we drove to the small town of Matamata to take a tour of the set of Hobbiton! From the pictures we had seen online, it didn't look like much. Most of the landscaping and detail work was removed when they finished filming The Lord of the Rings so all we expected to see was some green mounds with plywood fronts and round holes where the doors and windows were. But James and I at least wanted to be able to say we'd been there.

When we arrived in Matamata we drove directly to The Shire's Rest Cafe and checked in for the tour. To our delight, they informed us that the set is under construction for The Hobbit!! We were allowed to walk around on set and see it in all its glory, but we had to sign a strict confidentiality agreement promising not to post any pictures online or tell anyone about what we saw until after the movies come out. Originally, Derick and Lisa weren't going to join us on the tour because it was fairly pricey and they weren't sure it was worth it to see some plywood. But when we realized it was a bigger deal than that Lisa decided to go too. She was so glad she did because it was AWESOME!

This tour was by far my favorite thing we did in New Zealand. This vacation was inspired by my love of The Lord of the Rings movies, and to be able to visit a working movie set and see the artisans hard at work on a new one - SO exciting! I was really tempted to walk over to one of them and ask if they needed any help. It's been my dream to work on a major motion picture like this and so going on this tour and being in on the secret was like a taste of that dream. I really, REALLY wish I could tell you more and show you the amazing pictures we took but.... I'd also not like to be sued by New Line Cinema. I do have to show you the one shot our tour guide set up that made me look like a hobbit, though, so I blacked out the background so you can't see anything but us.

When we got back to the cafe, James and I bought a copy of the extended version of The Lord of the Rings Location Guide. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it was autographed by the author Ian Brodie, who seems to be an expert on New Zealand tourism. We borrowed the shorter version of this book to help us plan the trip, but I think it will be fun to look back through and recognize all of the places in the films that we visited.

From there we drove north through the center of the Coromandel Peninsula to the small town of Hahei. It's on the east coast, right by some of the most picturesque beaches in New Zealand. The road through the peninsula was pretty crazy though. It was super windy and seemed to go on forever through the wild jungle-covered mountains. It reminded me a lot of pictures I've seen of Hawaii. This is when it hit home that we'd reached the warmer, northern climate.

Our hotel for the next two nights was called The Church, because the front of the property is dominated by an old church turned into a fabulous restaurant. Behind it are several little cottages scattered around a big, vibrant flower garden. The room itself is also beautiful - lots of warm cherry wood, high ceilings with a small, gothic skylight, and a window-seat overlooking the back porch.

This is definitely one of our favorite hotels from the entire trip - which was a double bonus because each couple had a completely separate room instead of sharing one like we had been doing for most of the trip. Sharing hasn't been a problem at all, but it's nice to have a romantic room or ourselves for a couple of nights. That's important on the trip of a lifetime!

There weren't many other options in this tiny town so we decided to eat dinner at the in-house restaurant. I'm glad we did because the food was SO GOOD! The interior of the restaurant is beautiful. It has lots of colorful local artwork on the walls, the tables are beautifully set, in the front is a big fireplace flanked with comfy couches, and the back patio is lit with twinkly lights. I had a pork dish with a honey herb sauce, and a baked apple and sweet potato tart on the side. It was fancy and new but the New Zealand cuisine was all so good that it made me bold enough to stray outside of my comfort zone. Then James and I shared a chocolate and berry upside down cheese cake for dessert. Mmmm...

After dinner we threw on our swim suits, grabbed some towels and a couple of spades and drove out to Hot Water Beach. This beach is unique because there is a pocket of magma close to the surface that naturally heats the water. So if you go during low tide and dig a hole on the beach, it will fill up with warm water so you've got you own natural hottub with a beach-front view!

As we were driving out there it got pretty misty, windy and cold, so we were a little apprehensive about stripping down to our bathing suits in the chilly air. We parked and then walked for 5-7 minutes down the coast to the spot where everyone else was already digging their tubs. We wandered a little up and down the beach, probing the sand for hot spots. But it seemed like that one concentrated area was our best bet for water warm enough. So we bit the bullet, found a spot that was unoccupied, and started digging.

The pool started to fill up pretty quickly but the water was only luke warm - definitely not warm enough to sit in. A few minutes later Lisa found a really hot spot down in the wet sand where the tide kept washing up. It was so hot we could see hot water bubbling up through the sand! We were still about an hour ahead of low tide and so we attempted to dig right there so that, when the waves backed off, we'd have the perfect spot. But it was like fighting a losing battle. They boys dug and dug and Lisa lay down in the surf as a human barrier but eventually we had to give up. We got some funny pictures and videos though.

Thankfully, around then some people in the pools next to us left. Those pools were steaming nicely so we worked with a few other kiwis and combined them into one big communal hot tub. We were glad to get our natural spa experience after all. I was a little worried there for a while. But that's definitely a memory worth the work! What an adventure.

New Zealand - Day 12

November 14, 2010

Today was a great day! After leaving our cabin this morning, we drove a short way north to explore the Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Field. They took us on a boat across the lake to the base of the trail head. There, we walked around on a bunch of wooden walkways that took us all over the bubbling, steaming landscape. The ground was streaked with bright green algea and other yellow, orange and white stripes. The whole area smelled of sulfur and was surrounded by a forest of giant ferns. There was also a big cave with bright turquoise water at the bottom and a bubbling mud pool. It wasn't quite as visually stunning as we were expecting but it was still pretty interesting.

Elephant rock. See its face and trunk?

After that we drove north toward our next destination - Waitomo. The landscape on our way up there was awesome. Beautiful green hills and big trees! We felt like we were driving into The Shire - which was very appropriate since we would be sleeping in a hobbit hole that night!

That's right - we were spending the night in the Hobbit Motel at Woodlyn Park.It's a crazy boutique motel run by Billy Black the record-holding sheep shearer. He has not only created a replica of a hobbit hole from Lord of the Rings, but he's also fashioned hotel rooms out of an old train car, boat, and airplane! He also hosts his "Kiwi Culture Show" every afternoon where he gives demonstrations of sheep shearing, wood chopping, and even blows up a log! Quite an eccentric guy... As you can imagine, we were super bummed to have just missed it. Not. ;^)

We honestly had no idea what to expect from this place. But the hobbit hole is beautifully landscaped on the outside with flowers and plants, log patio furniture, grass growing on the roof, and yes - it has the iconic round windows and door! Inside it's pretty plain, but that's fine with me. As I look out the round windows at the bright green hills across the valley, I truly feel like I've stepped out of the 21st Century and into Middle Earth! =^D


Derick and Lisa had reservations to go tubing through the Waitomo Glowworm Caves with the Black Water Rafting Co. at 3:00, so James and I dropped them off at 2:45 and then proceeded to the the Otorohanga Kiwi House to see some real kiwi birds! We felt like this was a must during our trip to New Zealand and were so glad we went! This place was a wildlife park with all kinds of native New Zealand birds. But the big attraction is the big indoor enclosure where you can see the nocturnal kiwis during the daytime. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the dark room, but we still had fun seeing these awkward, fuzzy little birds hobble around on their large feet. One of the managers followed us in and told us a lot about the kiwis, which was an unexpected perk. Their eggs are HUGE - almost as big as an ostrich egg! They balance out the parenting duties though. After the female pops that thing out, the male sits on it till it hatches.

After we got through the kiwi enclosure we walked quickly through the rest of the park. We got some great pictures of the many beautiful and unique birds out there. Normally I don't care much about birds and kind of think they're a waste of perfectly good space in zoos. But somehow the special connection these creatures have to this beloved land has increased their appeal.

We couldn't stay long because we wanted to get back and take a short walking tour of the Waitomo Glowworm Caves before they closed. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the caves so I borrowed these images off of the internet. And honestly, I didn't mind so much because it was awesome! Our guide was a Maori woman, and she took us down lots of stairs into the limestone caves - pointing out formations and things as we went along. The caves were much more beautiful than I expected, with exquisite white stalactites and stalagmites clinging to the soaring roof. The largest chamber, appropriately named The Cathedral, is an incredible acoustic space. Apparently they have an annual concert in there, as well as weddings and special events. To demonstrate, our guide turned out all the lights and sang us a Maori folk song. She actually had a really good voice, and the way the ancient words reverberated off of the walls sent chills down my spine.

After looking through the caves, we descended into the lowest chamber and climbed into a big rowboat. Then the lights went out and we floated along soundlessly on an underground lake, staring up in awe at the thousands of blue twinkly lights overhead. It was pitch black in there except for the glow of the glowworms, so we almost felt like we were under the night sky. What an incredible experience! Definitely one of the coolest things we've done so far on this trip!

This is what they look like up close.
Tons of little ropes of glowing mucus!

After we picked up Derick and Lisa we went out to dinner at one of the few restaurants in this small town. It was called Huhu and served more great local cuisine. Lisa and I both had the asparagus and zucchini soup - incredible! Definitely a great way to end the day.

New Zealand - Day 11

November 13, 2010

Today was our second longest day of driving. Thankfully from here on out our time in the car each day should be much shorter. We gladly left Wellington behind and drove North into the central part of the North Island. On the way we stopped at an Icebreaker outlet so Derick could look for a new jacket. It's really awesome stuff, actually. They take real merino wool from sheep in New Zealand and weave it into super fine knitwear that feels as soft as cotton but it's as warm as wool. It's very high quality material, and very tempting. But even with the sale prices we couldn't really afford anything.

The coolest part of the drive was passing by Mt. Ruapehu and its sister peak. These active volcanoes are a part of the crazy geothermal features of the island and served as the backdrop for the dark land of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings. The mountains were big, snow-capped and very craggy. Definitely an epic landscape worth taking pictures of.

Finally, we arrived in Lake Taupo (apparently pronounced toe-paw but everyone there pronounces it taw-poe.) We checked into the Kinloch Pioneer Cabin in the hills outside of town. It's a beautiful little cabin with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and living area over-looking the green expanse on the North East end of Lake Taupo.

Our hostess greeted us when we arrived and invited us into her beautiful, country house to chat about the area. She was very friendly and had great advice about what to do in the area. She also told us a little bit about the attractions we were planning to see over the next couple of days. She was a great resource! That's one of the things we loved about this trip - talking to the locals and getting their opinion on what's the best to see and do and eat. Fabulous!

Upon her recommendation we decided to skip the Craters of the Moon geothermal field that we were originally going to see that afternoon. She said most people come back feeling pretty disappointed. So instead we drove out to see Huka Falls - a powerful, crystal blue waterfall. It was pretty impressive.

If we'd been brave enough we could have taken a jet boat right up to the falls. It looked dangerous but exhilerating as they zoomed really fast past the rocks and spun around a few times in the surf near the base of the falls. It's probably really fun but I'm fairly certain I'd have gotten motion sick.

A ways up the road we stumbled upon this cute little shop called The Honey Hive. They had real bees inside the shop that you could see as they made their honey. They also sold all kinds of honey products - mead, beer, soaps and lotions, even honey ice cream - delicious!

After that we drove into town to pick up a few essentials at the grocery store, check our email at an internet cafe, and then we ate dinner at the Lotus Thai Restaurant our hostess recommended. It was really nice inside and the service and food were great. We enjoyed taking a break from the typical Kiwi fare of steak, lamb and seafood. While we were there Derick and Lisa shared some more stories about their honeymoon in Thailand.

After dinner we were all pretty tired so we went back to the cabin and did a puzzle while watching tv. I think Derick was a little disappointed in our lack of desire to go out and explore the local night life in most cities, but since our days were packed it felt pretty nice to relax at night. It was important that we didn't completely wear ourselves out on this trip. A hard feat but I think we managed to balance pretty well.

New Zealand - Day 10

November 12, 2010

Today I finally got to complete my pilgrimage to Weta Workshops - the company that brought The Lord of the Rings and Narnia to life!!! We were going to go to a ropes course first, but that didn't work out so we made it to the studios earlier than expected - something that disappointed the others but I couldn't wait to go so I was really excited!

I call this a pilgrimage because it's all of the creativity that happens behind these doors that inspired me to go into filmmaking in the first place. It's like a journey to where the dream began. Tourists can't go into the workshop itself because they are working on upcoming movies and so they created a small museum/gift shop called The Weta Cave for geeks like me. It was pretty small but I still had a lot of fun.

Right when we walked through the door we were greeted by a huge statue of Lurtz - the head of the Uruk Hai (goblins from LOTR). On either side of him were many swords from the movies. Across from that was a fill size statue of gollum and full suits of armor. In the back corner was a mini museum with a full display of miniatures from the design process as well as props from their other projects. They also had several books and fan merchandise to choose from.

James and Lurtz

Soon after we arrived they ushered us into a little screening room that was decked-out with armor and weapons and showed us 20 minute video that summed up the history of the studios, gave us a glimpse of everything they've done, and outlined all of their different departments. They do all kinds of things from art direction/design to forging weapons and armor to digital special effects to children's television!

I got a little emotional because it was so inspiring and reminded me once again why I love these movies so much. James was more than worth the sacrifice of that dream but visiting this place was definitely a bittersweet highlight of our trip.

At least I didn't have to leave empty-handed. Since my birthday was right around the corner, James bought me an early gift. It's a big, beautiful book called The Crafting of Narnia that describes their process in designing all of the sets, creatures, weapons and costumes for the movie. It's filled with pictures and sketches of all of their designs along with commentary from the artisans. The book is also extra special because it's autographed by the authors and visionaries behind it. =^D

After we were finished at Weta, we ate a quick lunch at the hotel then walked out to explore Cuba Street - the bohemian heart of the city. We figured this would make Lisa happy since "bohemian" is a good way to describe her style. They had a lot of shops and restaurants but we didn't think it was very exciting or bohemian. =^/

Feeling a bit deflated, we decided to grab some coffee. Thankfully we found a great cafe right around the corner from the hotel. They had the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted. I wish I could remember the name of the place... bit we were so tired and out of it that that part of the afternoon was kind of a blur. Consequently, a nap was in order.

When we woke up, it was nearly 5:00, but our dinner reservations at the brewery weren't until 7 and we were at a complete loss for what to do in the meantime. Finally, we decided to walk in that direction and check out the nearby Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Unfortunately it closed at 6:00 but we figured we could at least see a little bit.

As soon as we walked through the doors we immediately regretted not going earlier because it was AWESOME! A huge museum with all kinds of beautiful, interactive exhibits for free! We rushed through it and saw as much as we could, but we didn't have enough time to really read and invest in this learning opportunity. I really enjoyed seeing a massive skeleton of a blue whale, as well as all of the carved wood and jade Maori artifacts. I think we're definitely going to have to put this museum on the list of things to do if we get to go back to New Zealand some day (which we really want to!!!)

The Maori language is still used a lot there which is interesting.

After they gently but firmly kicked us out of the museum, we decided to go ahead over to Mac's Brewery and see if they had room for us early. Thankfully, they did. It was a cool place - The front of the building had big glass windows looking out on the wharf, the ceiling was covered with all different types of chandeliers, and the glasses, coasters and menus were covered with all kinds of silly phrases. Very fun and creative place!

The boys each got some beer, Lisa got a cider, and I got their sour apple soda. I usually like tart and sour things but wooow that was sour. It was so good but I couldn't drink very much at one tome.

The back label of my soda. Note where it reads:

"It will make your eyes squint like a gunfighter

and your mouth pucker like a cat's bum." hahaha - SO true!

Cheers, mate!

After dinner we tried to see a movie but there really wasn't anything playing we were interested in so we headed back to the hotel to relax, do laundry, etc. I think we're all anxious to get out of this city and move on with our vacation.