It was a wet morning in Queenstown. While we ate breakfast and packed up the car there was a slow and gentle rain falling. However, by the time we checked out and made our way down the hill from the lovely Coronet View Bed and Breakfast the rain had subsided. Our first stop of the day was only about five minutes away. Yesterday, while on the bus to the Queenstown Rafting base station I spied a fabric store. Remembering how to get there we stop this morning to check over their selection. After some tough decisions on what to get we were on the road for Te Anau.
Surprisingly enough, Hayley did not sleep during the car ride. Instead, she stayed awake working to finish up the Middle Earth Magic journal entry. As we rolled into Te Anau she clicked save and was done. Yea! Now we just need to find some internet to post our entries. I think we are almost a week behind in getting them online. The internet has been sparse lately. Once parked in Te Anau we entered the Pop Inn Café for some lunch. To our disappointing surprise, the milkshakes once again were like flavored milk instead of a thick icy consistency. Insert sad faces here.
Across the street from the café we checked in for our day’s scheduled adventure, the Te Anau Glowworm Caves with the company Real Journeys. While awaiting the Luminosa, our catamaran ride across Lake Te Anau to the caves, I also confirmed our pick up at the Antler Lodge for tomorrow’s overnight trip to Doubtful Sound. On board the Luminosa we became aware Lake Te Anau is the largest lake on the South Island and the second largest lake in New Zealand in terms of surface area, second to Lake Taupo on the North Island. Lake Te Anau is also the third deepest in New Zealand. As we disembarked we entered the Cavern House where we got a brief overview of the glowworm life cycle. Unlike the first time we heard the glowworm life cycle back up in the Waitomo Caves, this time we were able to pay attention and have video visuals presented to us to demonstrate what was being said. Breaking into small groups of about ten to twelve people we made our way into the cave. Walking along elevated metal grated passageways the roar of water rushed beneath our feet. Before reaching the Glowworm Grotto we stopped to see some glowworms up close and admire a very powerful underground waterfall. Above the falls our guide boarded us on a small vessel, turned out the lights, then by pre-laid rope pulled us into the grotto. With only the sound of the waterfall behind us we sat in total darkness gazing above at the cavern ceiling. The site was amazingly like laying out under the stars as the glowworm fishing lines were emitting a star like luminance. The slow tranquil drift through the cave reminded us of a being on a ride at Disney World.
Back on the Luminosa we began the ride on the sun deck to obtain unobstructed video and still images. At one point the catamaran splashed into the wake of another boat and sent water spraying up on the sun deck. I felt as if every drop landed on my left side, drenching me and my video camera. No, this was one instance when I was not practicing “safe camera” and did not have my camera condom on. Needing to act quickly, I moved below deck and got the camera dried. On my way underneath I happened to pass some older woman. Behind me, she stopped Hayley and asked her what aftershave I used because she liked it.
Upon our return to dry land we took some photos then perused the shops along the lake front. With nothing exciting to buy we decided to check into tonight’s Bed and Breakfast, the Antler Lodge. Our host, Helen, met us in the driveway and showed us around. When Helen showed us we would be making our own breakfast I thought Hayley was going to go through the roof, not in anger, but rather in delight because she was on cloud nine. It meant we did not have to get up bright and early. Also, we did not have to have breakfast with total strangers and she would get to have her eggs HER way. At the conclusion of our tour, while unpacking the car we heard a siren sound off, reminiscent of a tornado or air raid siren. Funny thing was there was not a cloud in the sky, nor were there any planes. Talking with our host, she explained it sounds off when the fire brigade heads out for an emergency. Helen also told us of when how when she first heard them here in New Zealand it brought back memories of when she used to live in Israel. With the fire brigade heading out, I took a nap in the very comfortable reclining chair, feet resting upon the ottoman. Hayley opted to watch some television.
Rested up it was dinner time. Realizing how much we had been craving Italian last night we opted to do it again, only this time at a restaurant called La Toscana here in Te Anau. I had the ravioli, Hayley a pizza. She did share a slice of the pizza with me. It took me back to the days of living in Hampden and eating A & A Pizza, a taste I had not had in nearly two decades.
Leaving the Italian behind us it was now time for some internet. We located a place called Wash & Surf, a Laundromat with internet. The computers were set up in an adjacent room to the laundry room. They had coin operation boxes, charging a dollar per ten minutes of internet time. We were both satisfied in that we were able to check emails, however, there was no way for me to connect with my laptop and there were no USB ports for a flash drive. Therefore, I was unable to post journal entries or upload photos to FaceBook. With a half hour of internet time to whet the appetite we called it an evening. Having travelled so far south and west, our return to the lodge for the evening at 10pm was still under the remaining light of the setting sun. It was not until after 1015pm it became black outside.
Cheers,
Bob and Hayley
Points to ponder:
· America’s Most Wanted on New Zealand TV
· Appetizers are drinks, entrees are the appetizers, and mains are the entrees
Friday, January 25, 2008
Weather Shotover - 02 January 2008
This was a morning I just did not want to wake up to my alarms. All the fun we have been having I think is catching up to me. Fear not however, I woke up and got Hayley moving too. With our time schedule we mapped out last night we managed to move it along like clockwork. After having our hot breakfast upstairs prepared by our hosts, Neil and his wife, here at the Coronet View Bed & Breakfast we climbed into the car and rolled our way to the parking garage down the road a few blocks.
Once parked we had a short five minute walk to our check-in spot across the street from The Station here in Queenstown. We checked in for our White Water Rafting adventure, boarded a bus for a ten minute ride up to the base camp of Queenstown Rafting. It was here we retrieved our wetsuits, booties, overcoat, helmet and life jackets. Once changed it was back on the bus for a ride I think was close to an hour. It was not the distance that made the ride so long, it was the slow speed of the fully-loaded bus climbing a mountain side and descending down the other side. In addition, the one lane gravel road, known as Skipper’s Canyon Road, did not lend itself to a high rate of speed, even if you were in a faster moving vehicle. The road way was an old mining road built back in the 1850’s during the gold mining days of the Shotover River. There were no guard rails along the route and it made for an adrenalin rush of fear as the bus inched its way to the edges to make the nearly 180 degree turns. Andy, one of the guides, throughout the bus ride gave us a history lesson of Skipper’s Canyon Road and the surrounding area, along with some great and wonderful jokes Hayley and I both thought our dads would love.
Nestled safely at the end of Skipper’s Canyon Road we received our safety briefing and broke up into our rafting groups. Hayley and I joined forces with Chris, Catherine, Glenn, Anna and our guide, Gabi. Gabi was truly awesome. She gave us a history lesson of gold mining along the river as we drifted. She engaged us all in great conversation and remembered everyone’s names. Best of all, she kept us safe, while commanding us when necessary so as we did not flip the raft and no one fell out. We went over rapids known as the Miners’ Revenge, Squeeze, Toilet, Jaws, Pinball, Oh Shit, and Cascade. While passing over Squeeze we managed to take on a bit of water, nearly filling the raft and sinking us, yet we stayed afloat. Then, over Oh Shit we got caught in the surf at the bottom and it took Gabi’s experience to navigate our way out and prevent us from flipping the raft sending us all into the cold water. There were seven rafts that day in our group; five got caught in the surf at Oh Shit. At the conclusion of the rafting we stripped ourselves of the borrowed gear and took a brief shower off of the river muck. Then, before we hopped back on the bus into town we helped ourselves to a cup of soup and some coffee.
Back in Queenstown Hayley and I needed to go back to the car in the garage and get my backpack with our gear for our flight to Milford Sound. Still in our swimwear from rafting, and wanting to get into dry clothes, we each took turns changing in the car. In dry, clean clothes we made our way to The Station where we were to check in for the Milford Sound Fly and Cruise trip. At the check in counter the clerk called ahead to confirm the adventure was still on, but due to the poor weather conditions we would be unable to make the trip. Although the weather in Queenstown was beautiful, Milford Sound was being inundated with rain. This was no surprise to us. When we booked yesterday we were told it was a possibility it might night happen.
With a wide open afternoon and a town to explore we had no worries on how to fill the time. First, we found a café we thought would delight our taste buds, only to be disappointed. Food fact, the milkshakes here seem to be more like flavored milk. The one highlight of the café was Hayley got to hear the theme song to House playing overhead. The funny thing is that I recognized it before she, she was so into her disappointing soup.
Following lunch it was my turn to be happy. We skipped right along to Starbucks for dessert, me with my triple venti three pump peppermint mocha non-fat with whip and Hayley with her tall hot chocolate in a grande cup filled the rest of the way with whipped cream. With our slice of Americana in hand we ventured around town browsing through many shops. One shop we visited was www.LordoftheRingsnz.com, where they had numerous LOTR things on sale, in addition to numerous artifacts and artwork of and from the movies on display on loan from private collectors. It was like Hayley had gone to Middle Earth Heaven. We got to see an armored headwear collection for the different armies, Aragorn’s sword and Arwen’s dress, among many other things. Another shop we visited had an art gallery located on the second floor. Admiring the art work we found three artists that tickled our fancy, Joshua Robins, Susan Waderman and a third I now forget. Unfortunately I would have to win Powerball to afford some of the pieces. There was one piece in the gallery, not by one of our three favorites, that was selling for $37000. Following a few more stops in some additional stores and the melting of my credit card, we made our way back to the car with bags in hand so we could return to the Bed and Breakfast.
Relaxing back at the Coronet View we took a few pictures of some beautiful lenticular clouds hovering over the mountain peaks in the Queenstown area. Some of the clouds were taking on a stereotypical UFO shape, very cool to see. Fleeing these alien spaceships we made our way back into town to dine at Fatz Cat Italian Ristorante. Here we unearthed our hidden cravings. With all the food troubles we had been having, it was great to forget them, if only for a moment, while we waltzed our way through our plates of spaghetti.
As the evening has come to a close, Hayley has been doing laundry and I have been trying to keep up with the journals.
Cheers to all,
Bobby & Hayley
Once parked we had a short five minute walk to our check-in spot across the street from The Station here in Queenstown. We checked in for our White Water Rafting adventure, boarded a bus for a ten minute ride up to the base camp of Queenstown Rafting. It was here we retrieved our wetsuits, booties, overcoat, helmet and life jackets. Once changed it was back on the bus for a ride I think was close to an hour. It was not the distance that made the ride so long, it was the slow speed of the fully-loaded bus climbing a mountain side and descending down the other side. In addition, the one lane gravel road, known as Skipper’s Canyon Road, did not lend itself to a high rate of speed, even if you were in a faster moving vehicle. The road way was an old mining road built back in the 1850’s during the gold mining days of the Shotover River. There were no guard rails along the route and it made for an adrenalin rush of fear as the bus inched its way to the edges to make the nearly 180 degree turns. Andy, one of the guides, throughout the bus ride gave us a history lesson of Skipper’s Canyon Road and the surrounding area, along with some great and wonderful jokes Hayley and I both thought our dads would love.
Nestled safely at the end of Skipper’s Canyon Road we received our safety briefing and broke up into our rafting groups. Hayley and I joined forces with Chris, Catherine, Glenn, Anna and our guide, Gabi. Gabi was truly awesome. She gave us a history lesson of gold mining along the river as we drifted. She engaged us all in great conversation and remembered everyone’s names. Best of all, she kept us safe, while commanding us when necessary so as we did not flip the raft and no one fell out. We went over rapids known as the Miners’ Revenge, Squeeze, Toilet, Jaws, Pinball, Oh Shit, and Cascade. While passing over Squeeze we managed to take on a bit of water, nearly filling the raft and sinking us, yet we stayed afloat. Then, over Oh Shit we got caught in the surf at the bottom and it took Gabi’s experience to navigate our way out and prevent us from flipping the raft sending us all into the cold water. There were seven rafts that day in our group; five got caught in the surf at Oh Shit. At the conclusion of the rafting we stripped ourselves of the borrowed gear and took a brief shower off of the river muck. Then, before we hopped back on the bus into town we helped ourselves to a cup of soup and some coffee.
Back in Queenstown Hayley and I needed to go back to the car in the garage and get my backpack with our gear for our flight to Milford Sound. Still in our swimwear from rafting, and wanting to get into dry clothes, we each took turns changing in the car. In dry, clean clothes we made our way to The Station where we were to check in for the Milford Sound Fly and Cruise trip. At the check in counter the clerk called ahead to confirm the adventure was still on, but due to the poor weather conditions we would be unable to make the trip. Although the weather in Queenstown was beautiful, Milford Sound was being inundated with rain. This was no surprise to us. When we booked yesterday we were told it was a possibility it might night happen.
With a wide open afternoon and a town to explore we had no worries on how to fill the time. First, we found a café we thought would delight our taste buds, only to be disappointed. Food fact, the milkshakes here seem to be more like flavored milk. The one highlight of the café was Hayley got to hear the theme song to House playing overhead. The funny thing is that I recognized it before she, she was so into her disappointing soup.
Following lunch it was my turn to be happy. We skipped right along to Starbucks for dessert, me with my triple venti three pump peppermint mocha non-fat with whip and Hayley with her tall hot chocolate in a grande cup filled the rest of the way with whipped cream. With our slice of Americana in hand we ventured around town browsing through many shops. One shop we visited was www.LordoftheRingsnz.com, where they had numerous LOTR things on sale, in addition to numerous artifacts and artwork of and from the movies on display on loan from private collectors. It was like Hayley had gone to Middle Earth Heaven. We got to see an armored headwear collection for the different armies, Aragorn’s sword and Arwen’s dress, among many other things. Another shop we visited had an art gallery located on the second floor. Admiring the art work we found three artists that tickled our fancy, Joshua Robins, Susan Waderman and a third I now forget. Unfortunately I would have to win Powerball to afford some of the pieces. There was one piece in the gallery, not by one of our three favorites, that was selling for $37000. Following a few more stops in some additional stores and the melting of my credit card, we made our way back to the car with bags in hand so we could return to the Bed and Breakfast.
Relaxing back at the Coronet View we took a few pictures of some beautiful lenticular clouds hovering over the mountain peaks in the Queenstown area. Some of the clouds were taking on a stereotypical UFO shape, very cool to see. Fleeing these alien spaceships we made our way back into town to dine at Fatz Cat Italian Ristorante. Here we unearthed our hidden cravings. With all the food troubles we had been having, it was great to forget them, if only for a moment, while we waltzed our way through our plates of spaghetti.
As the evening has come to a close, Hayley has been doing laundry and I have been trying to keep up with the journals.
Cheers to all,
Bobby & Hayley
Heavy Misses – 01 January 2008
Following a good night’s rest we arose and had the best breakfast of the year. Of course, it at the time was the only breakfast of the year, however, certainly our best breakfast since being in New Zealand. Bed and Breakfast with cooked to order fresh food is a true delight, and made Hayley a happy camper with the bacon cooked crispy and in the style to her liking.
Upon packing our bags and loading the car we were off to Glenorchy so Hayley could do the Ride of the Rings. Making our way on the Cardona Valley Road (SH 89) we floated along the Cardona River until we climbed our way through the Crown Range Road, peaking at Mt. Scott then ever so gradually scaling our way back down into Arrow Junction. The slow serpent of roadway down the mountain side was reminiscent to me of the turns on Lombard Street in San Francisco, only on a much bigger scale and more beautiful – from what I could see in the few glimpses I managed while steering and breaking. Finally reaching SH6 at the bottom we made our way through Queenstown and continued onward for Glenorchy.
As we waved goodbye to Queenstown, Hayley’s seat went back, ear plugs went in and she dreamt her way off to sleep. Meanwhile, I continued to plug forward, stopping to take a few pictures periodically of the Thomson and Humboldt Mountains, along the upper reaches of Lake Wakatipu.
Descending down into Glenorchy gradually Hayley came back alive. We arrived at Dart Stables, home to “The Ride of the Rings.” We were a bit early for our 130pm gathering so we ventured into town, what little one it is, and stopped for a bite to eat at the Glenorchy Café. What a surprise that was since Hayley was able to get real lemonade, well sort of. This was lemonade, only it had carbonation, but nonetheless it was lemonade, not Sprite. With satisfied tummies we returned to Dart Stables only to find out we were early. I had misread the information in our itinerary. Our 130pm time slot was for us to be picked up back in Queenstown, we did not need to be here at Dart Stables until 215pm. It was okay however. We managed to get Hayley checked in, purchase a t-shirt and then relax a bit before she was to ride off. As a bonus, we were able to have stopping power along the way to and from Glenorchy for our “5 Minute Photo Stops.” While waiting and conversing with Stephanie, the woman that checked Hayley in, we found out she was from New Jersey. I asked her what got her to move to New Zealand. She told us she was touring South America then came to New Zealand. While here she ran out of money and got a job. Six months later she is still in country and loving it. A LOTRs side note is her nickname is “The Hobbit” because she looks like one when riding on a horse.
The rest of the Ring Riders arrived, checked in and they all, Hayley included, boarded a bus to Paradise where they would collect their horses. Hayley will fill in the details of the Ring adventure. As for me, I did not make the trip because in the health interest of the horses there is a maximum weight limit and I exceeded it. No worries here though. I made a trip down to the waterfront, walked out on some exposed land in the lake and was able to capture some beautiful images of the surrounding mountains along the water. Afterward, I took a forty minute tramp out to the lagoon and snagged some more gorgeous pictures of the mountains. Returning from my walk, I returned to the Glenorchy centre of town and refueled the car, grabbed a cool liquid beverage and made my way back to Dart Stables to wait upon my Princess’s return. While waiting I downloaded last night’s fireworks and today’s adventure photos into the computer.
Upon Hayley’s return we made our way back to Queenstown and checked into the Coronet View Bed & Breakfast. Following the unloading of the car I made a call to our adventure vendor on January 3 to confirm our reservation on the Te Anau Glowworm Caves tour. Amy on the other end confirmed our spots and assured us that the ground and transports taken will be more solid than those we used up in Waitomo. While still on the phone with Amy I was also able to check our status on the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise the following day. Bonus information we received is that for the Doubtful Sound trip we will be picked up at our bed and breakfast in the morning. Woohoo!!!
With confirmations in ear it was time for dinner so we headed into the center of town. While driving around looking for a parking spot I took the liberty to scout out additional parking locales for tomorrow morning. Also, while doing this my eyes lit right up when I spotted a Starbucks. I had not seen one since Auckland last year. Can you tell I have been missing a good caffeine kick? Once the car was finally parked, on our way to finding a restaurant we happened upon the spot we need to check in at for tomorrow’s adventures. While Hayley looked through the gift shop I confirmed at the counter we were set for our white water rafting trip and our skydive. All set for the 815am meeting to white water raft the Shotover River. One potential issue with the skydive, weight. I had to walk down the road five shops and weigh in to see if I was under the max. Yup, you guessed it. Although it was only by five kilograms, I was overweight. Once again, yet another honeymoon event I was unable to do due to my love for some good food. I broke the news to Hayley that I would not be able to jump. After a brief discussion, she decided not to make the jump either. In the absence of the skydive we rescheduled our afternoon to fly and cruise Milford Sound instead. With tomorrow’s plans now in order we located the Beefeater Steakhouse, recommended by our B & B hosts. Here we dined on what Hayley considered her best meal yet, a filet mignon. She was doing the “Snoopy” Dance as those taste buds came alive.
Following dinner we retired for the evening to the confines of our B&B room where I now sit typing. It is nearly bed time now and I need to get my backpack ready for tomorrow’s excursions.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
Upon packing our bags and loading the car we were off to Glenorchy so Hayley could do the Ride of the Rings. Making our way on the Cardona Valley Road (SH 89) we floated along the Cardona River until we climbed our way through the Crown Range Road, peaking at Mt. Scott then ever so gradually scaling our way back down into Arrow Junction. The slow serpent of roadway down the mountain side was reminiscent to me of the turns on Lombard Street in San Francisco, only on a much bigger scale and more beautiful – from what I could see in the few glimpses I managed while steering and breaking. Finally reaching SH6 at the bottom we made our way through Queenstown and continued onward for Glenorchy.
As we waved goodbye to Queenstown, Hayley’s seat went back, ear plugs went in and she dreamt her way off to sleep. Meanwhile, I continued to plug forward, stopping to take a few pictures periodically of the Thomson and Humboldt Mountains, along the upper reaches of Lake Wakatipu.
Descending down into Glenorchy gradually Hayley came back alive. We arrived at Dart Stables, home to “The Ride of the Rings.” We were a bit early for our 130pm gathering so we ventured into town, what little one it is, and stopped for a bite to eat at the Glenorchy Café. What a surprise that was since Hayley was able to get real lemonade, well sort of. This was lemonade, only it had carbonation, but nonetheless it was lemonade, not Sprite. With satisfied tummies we returned to Dart Stables only to find out we were early. I had misread the information in our itinerary. Our 130pm time slot was for us to be picked up back in Queenstown, we did not need to be here at Dart Stables until 215pm. It was okay however. We managed to get Hayley checked in, purchase a t-shirt and then relax a bit before she was to ride off. As a bonus, we were able to have stopping power along the way to and from Glenorchy for our “5 Minute Photo Stops.” While waiting and conversing with Stephanie, the woman that checked Hayley in, we found out she was from New Jersey. I asked her what got her to move to New Zealand. She told us she was touring South America then came to New Zealand. While here she ran out of money and got a job. Six months later she is still in country and loving it. A LOTRs side note is her nickname is “The Hobbit” because she looks like one when riding on a horse.
The rest of the Ring Riders arrived, checked in and they all, Hayley included, boarded a bus to Paradise where they would collect their horses. Hayley will fill in the details of the Ring adventure. As for me, I did not make the trip because in the health interest of the horses there is a maximum weight limit and I exceeded it. No worries here though. I made a trip down to the waterfront, walked out on some exposed land in the lake and was able to capture some beautiful images of the surrounding mountains along the water. Afterward, I took a forty minute tramp out to the lagoon and snagged some more gorgeous pictures of the mountains. Returning from my walk, I returned to the Glenorchy centre of town and refueled the car, grabbed a cool liquid beverage and made my way back to Dart Stables to wait upon my Princess’s return. While waiting I downloaded last night’s fireworks and today’s adventure photos into the computer.
Upon Hayley’s return we made our way back to Queenstown and checked into the Coronet View Bed & Breakfast. Following the unloading of the car I made a call to our adventure vendor on January 3 to confirm our reservation on the Te Anau Glowworm Caves tour. Amy on the other end confirmed our spots and assured us that the ground and transports taken will be more solid than those we used up in Waitomo. While still on the phone with Amy I was also able to check our status on the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise the following day. Bonus information we received is that for the Doubtful Sound trip we will be picked up at our bed and breakfast in the morning. Woohoo!!!
With confirmations in ear it was time for dinner so we headed into the center of town. While driving around looking for a parking spot I took the liberty to scout out additional parking locales for tomorrow morning. Also, while doing this my eyes lit right up when I spotted a Starbucks. I had not seen one since Auckland last year. Can you tell I have been missing a good caffeine kick? Once the car was finally parked, on our way to finding a restaurant we happened upon the spot we need to check in at for tomorrow’s adventures. While Hayley looked through the gift shop I confirmed at the counter we were set for our white water rafting trip and our skydive. All set for the 815am meeting to white water raft the Shotover River. One potential issue with the skydive, weight. I had to walk down the road five shops and weigh in to see if I was under the max. Yup, you guessed it. Although it was only by five kilograms, I was overweight. Once again, yet another honeymoon event I was unable to do due to my love for some good food. I broke the news to Hayley that I would not be able to jump. After a brief discussion, she decided not to make the jump either. In the absence of the skydive we rescheduled our afternoon to fly and cruise Milford Sound instead. With tomorrow’s plans now in order we located the Beefeater Steakhouse, recommended by our B & B hosts. Here we dined on what Hayley considered her best meal yet, a filet mignon. She was doing the “Snoopy” Dance as those taste buds came alive.
Following dinner we retired for the evening to the confines of our B&B room where I now sit typing. It is nearly bed time now and I need to get my backpack ready for tomorrow’s excursions.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
Reflecting Fox – 31 December 2007
Aw, the last day of the year. Wow what a year it has been. Quitting my job, moving out to Oklahoma, getting married, completely starting a new life it feels. This honeymoon has been a tremendous way to finish off a truly wonderful year.
Beginning the final day of the year, we arose at 530am, with the car packed and on the road by 615am. Ten minutes later we were parked at the Lake Matheson car park and by foot making our way to Reflection Island. Our arrival at the island was met with cloud covered peaks, which does not make for “The Shot” we went out to obtain. No worries were in our minds, as we had nearly an hour available to us to burn off the obstructions. We shared the island with two women that actually arrived at the island prior to us. We passed the time with a little bit of chit-chat and a few glimmers of hope in the clouds. Only minutes before our absolute cut-off time did the clouds part. After the peaks poked through and reflected into our optical image makers of choice Hayley and I trekked back to have breakfast at the Lake Matheson Café.
Following breakfast we returned to the hotel to check out then walked across the parking lot and checked-in for the Fox Glacier Heli-hike. At 9am, we boarded a bus to travel down the road to the helipad where we unloaded, got boots for the rest of the group, went over ground rules, broke into groups then boarded our choppers. After a few flybys of the glacier we touched down on Victoria’s Flat, obtained our walking sticks and donned our crampons. We hiked around the glacier, into caves and tunnels, over crevasses, cracks and streams. Our tour guide from Argentina, Pablo, was a bit difficult to understand – it was evident English was not his first language. He often got ahead and did not wait much for the back of the pack. At one point while hurrying to catch up, Hayley fell face first, cutting her hand on the glacier. It was a minor skin abrasion and cleaned up easily. With a plan in place for Hayley to flight in the front of the helicopter on the ride back to take photos there was one small problem. The guy loading us into the helicopter was the only one unaware of it and filled the front with others before Hayley. Therefore our helicopter flight photos are not the best they could have been. Now please do not take the negativity of this paragraph as a bad thing. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and truly appreciate the time we spent on the glacier. We look forward to doing it again.
With feet on stable ground we changed into dry comfortable clothes, dined on delicious pancakes with bacon, bananas and maple syrup. While waiting on the food to cook I called to confirm Hayley’s Ride of the Rings for tomorrow. Afterward we refueled the car then hit the road. Our first stop was only about five kilometers away to get a full-on straight shot of the Fox Glacier. Then it was back on the road for a couple shots at Knight’s Point along the Tasman before our turn inland.
With Hayley asleep I crossed the Haast Pass, and then into the Southern Alps. The early morning wake up and the hours spent upon the glacier were catching up to me. I had to pull off the road and take a twenty minute power nap before we could continue our way towards Wanaka. Following a brief photo stop at the Cameron Flat we made our way along Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.
Finally arriving at Te Wanaka Lodge we unloaded the car after a tour of the lodge by the receptionist. With exhaustion looming we set out on foot to find sustenance. We were referred to a pizza and pasta place that sounded great, but on arrival we found a sign stating they were closed due to technical difficulties. After visiting another pizza shop and it too was closed we settled for some bar food as everything else was closed or by reservation only due to it being New Year’s Eve.
Hunger subdued we made our way back to the lodge. I downloaded the day’s photos, while Hayley got watching Pretty Woman on the tele. At the conclusion of the movie we had just under a half hour to the end of 2007. With the lack of New Year’s coverage on the tube we got changed and made our way down to the lake front to welcome in 2008. With fireworks over the lake and a kiss, 2008 was underway.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Cheers,
Bob and Hayley
Beginning the final day of the year, we arose at 530am, with the car packed and on the road by 615am. Ten minutes later we were parked at the Lake Matheson car park and by foot making our way to Reflection Island. Our arrival at the island was met with cloud covered peaks, which does not make for “The Shot” we went out to obtain. No worries were in our minds, as we had nearly an hour available to us to burn off the obstructions. We shared the island with two women that actually arrived at the island prior to us. We passed the time with a little bit of chit-chat and a few glimmers of hope in the clouds. Only minutes before our absolute cut-off time did the clouds part. After the peaks poked through and reflected into our optical image makers of choice Hayley and I trekked back to have breakfast at the Lake Matheson Café.
Following breakfast we returned to the hotel to check out then walked across the parking lot and checked-in for the Fox Glacier Heli-hike. At 9am, we boarded a bus to travel down the road to the helipad where we unloaded, got boots for the rest of the group, went over ground rules, broke into groups then boarded our choppers. After a few flybys of the glacier we touched down on Victoria’s Flat, obtained our walking sticks and donned our crampons. We hiked around the glacier, into caves and tunnels, over crevasses, cracks and streams. Our tour guide from Argentina, Pablo, was a bit difficult to understand – it was evident English was not his first language. He often got ahead and did not wait much for the back of the pack. At one point while hurrying to catch up, Hayley fell face first, cutting her hand on the glacier. It was a minor skin abrasion and cleaned up easily. With a plan in place for Hayley to flight in the front of the helicopter on the ride back to take photos there was one small problem. The guy loading us into the helicopter was the only one unaware of it and filled the front with others before Hayley. Therefore our helicopter flight photos are not the best they could have been. Now please do not take the negativity of this paragraph as a bad thing. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and truly appreciate the time we spent on the glacier. We look forward to doing it again.
With feet on stable ground we changed into dry comfortable clothes, dined on delicious pancakes with bacon, bananas and maple syrup. While waiting on the food to cook I called to confirm Hayley’s Ride of the Rings for tomorrow. Afterward we refueled the car then hit the road. Our first stop was only about five kilometers away to get a full-on straight shot of the Fox Glacier. Then it was back on the road for a couple shots at Knight’s Point along the Tasman before our turn inland.
With Hayley asleep I crossed the Haast Pass, and then into the Southern Alps. The early morning wake up and the hours spent upon the glacier were catching up to me. I had to pull off the road and take a twenty minute power nap before we could continue our way towards Wanaka. Following a brief photo stop at the Cameron Flat we made our way along Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.
Finally arriving at Te Wanaka Lodge we unloaded the car after a tour of the lodge by the receptionist. With exhaustion looming we set out on foot to find sustenance. We were referred to a pizza and pasta place that sounded great, but on arrival we found a sign stating they were closed due to technical difficulties. After visiting another pizza shop and it too was closed we settled for some bar food as everything else was closed or by reservation only due to it being New Year’s Eve.
Hunger subdued we made our way back to the lodge. I downloaded the day’s photos, while Hayley got watching Pretty Woman on the tele. At the conclusion of the movie we had just under a half hour to the end of 2007. With the lack of New Year’s coverage on the tube we got changed and made our way down to the lake front to welcome in 2008. With fireworks over the lake and a kiss, 2008 was underway.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Cheers,
Bob and Hayley
Glacial Pancakes – 30 December 2007
Today got underway with us having breakfast with our hosts and their other guests. The cereal and toast were not enough; therefore we packed up and went for additional breakfast at the Wild Coast Café. Without any Lord of the Rings events on tap today, yet wanting to keep it in our minds, one might call it second breakfast in honor of Merry and Pippen.
After second breakfast we switched from Lord of the Rings to BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs. Across the road from the cafe was the Pancake Rock and Blowhole entrance. This actually was our third stop on the Walking with Dinosaurs tour (Orakei Korako and the rainforest on the other side of the swing bridge near the Rivendell film location we visited in Wellington were the first two). At the conclusion of our trek we visited the Visitor Centre and Crafts buildings to shop for postcards and anything else that may scream “BUY ME!” Only the postcards jumped into Hayley’s hands.
More than an hour later than expected we hit the road for the Fox Glacier Village. We made a brief refueling stop in Greymouth where I utilized a four cent per litre discount coupon given to us by Diane, our host at the Nikau Palms. She gets them when grocery shopping, yet does not drive enough to use them. Therefore she passes them on to her guests.
Hayley as usual took a nap, while I weaved our way up, down and around the winding coast of the South Island. With Hayley fast asleep she missed two awe-inspiring sites. With the sky overcast, mountain tops were not visible. At least until a hole in the clouds opened up to reveal snow capped peaks. I do not know which ones they were, however they were breathtaking. Just as soon as the peaks appeared they vanished. The opening was only there for a brief moment like that of a hole in the offensive line during a running play in football. About a half hour later down the road another brief clearing of the lower cloud cover dissipated to reveal yet another snowcapped peak. This one I was able to identify as Mt. Adam.
As I was crawling through a town at 50 kilometers per hour Hayley woke enough to ask for a pee break just as we were passing the 100 sign heading out of town. She managed to open her eyes in time to see the 100 and then told me to never mind as she realized we were leaving the town. I let her go back to sleep and woke her up as the Franz Josef Glacier came into view. Just as she opened her eyes, it disappeared. When we got into the Franz Josef Glacier Village we made a toilet break. Feeling we should buy something from the store we stopped at, we each had a yummy chocolate-covered vanilla raspberry ice cream bar.
With relieved bladders we decided we had the time for a glacial detour. Instead of following State Highway Six we made a left turn onto a dirt road for a scenic ten minute drive to the car park for the Franz Josef Glacier. While on the drive up to the car park Hayley’s camera batteries kicked the bucket. I remembered she had another set of rechargeable batteries and suggested she swap them out. This allowed her to take an additional four photos before they died. With all of Hayley’s batteries down for the count my camera was the only way for us to capture the essence of the Franz Josef Glacier. Satisfied with the images we had gathered we forged onward to the Fox Glacier Village. The final stretch run to our destination, sixteen kilometers of winding road up, down and around, was a dreadful one, as the clouds above grew dark enough to begin dumping rain down upon us. Wanting to just get off the road, the rain made our slow drive even slower. Needless to say, it SUCKED!!!
Having checked into the resort hotel and made our way to the room it is easy to say we were disappointed. It sounded better than it looked. By far this was our least favorite. We received less than expected customer service at check-in and with our follow-up questions, the room was small, the shower curtain stuck to you while showering, there was no place to put anything in the bathroom, there was no place to sit in the room or put your luggage for that matter. The one upside was a guest laundry room.
Following the unloading of the car it was time for food. Since we did not have a lunch we were hungry. We found a place that served up a buffet-like meal that was not all you could eat but did a pretty good job of filling us up. It included what I would say was the second best dessert here in NZ, a pavlova. It was sugar and egg white whipped up then baked, placed on a bed of raspberry sauce then topped with slices of an orange and kiwi fruit, perhaps actually the third best since I had the crème bruelle twice back in Wellington.
As we pulled out of the restaurant we spied the location for tomorrow’s heli-hike. Wanting to be sure it was the proper place and to confirm they still had us down for 9am we parked the car and went in. With confirmation of our check-in time we browsed the gift shop (pre-shopping to save time tomorrow) where I bought a few t-shirts, a book of 1001 things to see in NZ, and a letter opener. After the credit card melted I swapped sides of the street to get disposable batteries for Hayley’s camera so she may take pictures while the rechargeable ones get there overnight dose of juice.
With full bellies settling it was time to walk off the meal and do some scouting for the next morning’s prized photo shoot. We made our way to the car park at Lake Matheson and hiked the half hour to Reflection Island to time out our travels. Due to the cloud cover of the evening Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman were not visible. In the morning we plan to rise with the sun before breakfast and make the trek again in order to get shots of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman reflecting off the mirror-like lake. It is one of the most famous and photographed images in the World, and we want to take it ourselves. Surprisingly, Hayley is all for getting up early to make the shot happen. Sure we could do it tomorrow after our heli-hike of the Fox Glacier, but the lighting is best in the early morning when the sun is shining on the mountains from the east as we gaze upon them from the north.
After returning to the car we made our way back to the hotel. Hayley did a load of jeans in the laundry, we took turns showering, we channel surfed our grand total of TWO channels on television (there were actually three, but the third had the same thing on as one of the TWO), and I wrote up a journal. When the dryer stopped spinning and the dry clothes were back in our room it was time for bed.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
After second breakfast we switched from Lord of the Rings to BBC’s Walking with Dinosaurs. Across the road from the cafe was the Pancake Rock and Blowhole entrance. This actually was our third stop on the Walking with Dinosaurs tour (Orakei Korako and the rainforest on the other side of the swing bridge near the Rivendell film location we visited in Wellington were the first two). At the conclusion of our trek we visited the Visitor Centre and Crafts buildings to shop for postcards and anything else that may scream “BUY ME!” Only the postcards jumped into Hayley’s hands.
More than an hour later than expected we hit the road for the Fox Glacier Village. We made a brief refueling stop in Greymouth where I utilized a four cent per litre discount coupon given to us by Diane, our host at the Nikau Palms. She gets them when grocery shopping, yet does not drive enough to use them. Therefore she passes them on to her guests.
Hayley as usual took a nap, while I weaved our way up, down and around the winding coast of the South Island. With Hayley fast asleep she missed two awe-inspiring sites. With the sky overcast, mountain tops were not visible. At least until a hole in the clouds opened up to reveal snow capped peaks. I do not know which ones they were, however they were breathtaking. Just as soon as the peaks appeared they vanished. The opening was only there for a brief moment like that of a hole in the offensive line during a running play in football. About a half hour later down the road another brief clearing of the lower cloud cover dissipated to reveal yet another snowcapped peak. This one I was able to identify as Mt. Adam.
As I was crawling through a town at 50 kilometers per hour Hayley woke enough to ask for a pee break just as we were passing the 100 sign heading out of town. She managed to open her eyes in time to see the 100 and then told me to never mind as she realized we were leaving the town. I let her go back to sleep and woke her up as the Franz Josef Glacier came into view. Just as she opened her eyes, it disappeared. When we got into the Franz Josef Glacier Village we made a toilet break. Feeling we should buy something from the store we stopped at, we each had a yummy chocolate-covered vanilla raspberry ice cream bar.
With relieved bladders we decided we had the time for a glacial detour. Instead of following State Highway Six we made a left turn onto a dirt road for a scenic ten minute drive to the car park for the Franz Josef Glacier. While on the drive up to the car park Hayley’s camera batteries kicked the bucket. I remembered she had another set of rechargeable batteries and suggested she swap them out. This allowed her to take an additional four photos before they died. With all of Hayley’s batteries down for the count my camera was the only way for us to capture the essence of the Franz Josef Glacier. Satisfied with the images we had gathered we forged onward to the Fox Glacier Village. The final stretch run to our destination, sixteen kilometers of winding road up, down and around, was a dreadful one, as the clouds above grew dark enough to begin dumping rain down upon us. Wanting to just get off the road, the rain made our slow drive even slower. Needless to say, it SUCKED!!!
Having checked into the resort hotel and made our way to the room it is easy to say we were disappointed. It sounded better than it looked. By far this was our least favorite. We received less than expected customer service at check-in and with our follow-up questions, the room was small, the shower curtain stuck to you while showering, there was no place to put anything in the bathroom, there was no place to sit in the room or put your luggage for that matter. The one upside was a guest laundry room.
Following the unloading of the car it was time for food. Since we did not have a lunch we were hungry. We found a place that served up a buffet-like meal that was not all you could eat but did a pretty good job of filling us up. It included what I would say was the second best dessert here in NZ, a pavlova. It was sugar and egg white whipped up then baked, placed on a bed of raspberry sauce then topped with slices of an orange and kiwi fruit, perhaps actually the third best since I had the crème bruelle twice back in Wellington.
As we pulled out of the restaurant we spied the location for tomorrow’s heli-hike. Wanting to be sure it was the proper place and to confirm they still had us down for 9am we parked the car and went in. With confirmation of our check-in time we browsed the gift shop (pre-shopping to save time tomorrow) where I bought a few t-shirts, a book of 1001 things to see in NZ, and a letter opener. After the credit card melted I swapped sides of the street to get disposable batteries for Hayley’s camera so she may take pictures while the rechargeable ones get there overnight dose of juice.
With full bellies settling it was time to walk off the meal and do some scouting for the next morning’s prized photo shoot. We made our way to the car park at Lake Matheson and hiked the half hour to Reflection Island to time out our travels. Due to the cloud cover of the evening Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman were not visible. In the morning we plan to rise with the sun before breakfast and make the trek again in order to get shots of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman reflecting off the mirror-like lake. It is one of the most famous and photographed images in the World, and we want to take it ourselves. Surprisingly, Hayley is all for getting up early to make the shot happen. Sure we could do it tomorrow after our heli-hike of the Fox Glacier, but the lighting is best in the early morning when the sun is shining on the mountains from the east as we gaze upon them from the north.
After returning to the car we made our way back to the hotel. Hayley did a load of jeans in the laundry, we took turns showering, we channel surfed our grand total of TWO channels on television (there were actually three, but the third had the same thing on as one of the TWO), and I wrote up a journal. When the dryer stopped spinning and the dry clothes were back in our room it was time for bed.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
Interislander – 29 December 2007
Good morning to all! I am checking in while on the Interislander Ferry, as we cross Cook Strait on our way to the South Island today. To make up for me being a slave-driver this morning and cracking the whip to get us out of the Bed & Breakfast and on our way, once aboard the Ferry I splurged to upgrade us so we could rest comfortably on the three hour journey across the water. We are in the Kaitaki Plus Lounge where there is complimentary food and beverage, free internet access (wired and wireless), couches to relax on, and best of all—no kids making noise.
This morning was a bit rushed. After waking and getting the car packed up we had breakfast upstairs with our host Diane. Hayley signed the guest book for us and then we made our way down the hillside. After pulling a u-turn we were in the backed up traffic getting to the Ferry. Having left the B&B later then I really wanted, didn’t want to be rude to our host and skip breakfast; I did not leave us much time to get to the Ferry Terminal. After numerous thumpings of my leg on the car floorboard we made it to the Rental Car Return Car Park. We got the last spot in the caged area. After unloading the car and trekking our way along the long, uneven parking surface we made our way to a long line waiting to check in. Surprisingly, it moved rather quickly. At the counter we tagged our bags and said goodbye to them until we got to the other side, then with boarding passes in hand made our way up the gangway and on board the Kaitaki Ferry.
Hayley was impressed with the Ferry. She claims it way exceeded her expectations. After walking through the Food Court, Recliner Lounge, and the Sun Deck there really appeared to be no safe and comfortable place to sit. It was also quite noisy with all the kids running around. Upon entering the Ferry I took note of the Kaitaki Plus Lounge and now decided to enquire the cost for an upgrade to enter. With a reasonable financial transaction we were inside to where we now relax. Hayley has been on the ship’s computer checking her emails, while I have been on my laptop taking the time to upload photos from the past three days to my FaceBook account. You may log in and check them out if you have a FaceBook account.
I look out the window now and see that we are approaching land again. I will sign off for now and hope to continue once we arrive at tonight’s lodging location, the Kally House. It is near the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole along the Tasman Coast.
We are now on dry land. Following our disembarkation from the Kaitaki we made our way to baggage claim and proceeded to wait for nearly a half hour for our luggage to come up. It was no surprise to me, considering the Kaitaki capacity is 1750. That my friend is a lot of luggage to unload. With all bags in hand we rolled our way over to the car hire line. A short wait later I was at the counter to get the rental, however I was unable to obtain a GPS system. All the GPS systems had been rented out. I made a visit to all the other car hires at the Picton Terminal and had no luck in a GPS acquisition. I broke the news to Hayley we were going to have to do the South Island old school, utilizing paper atlases and maps on the itinerary. With that news we gathered our belongings and the car and headed south on State Highway 1.
With Hayley getting more acclimated with the atlas she discovered Blenhiem was the last big town for nearly two hours. This became our first stop, just twenty minutes down the road from Picton. Here we dined on the wonderfully delightful food of an American business world re-known as KFC. About forty five minutes later we were back on the road cruising through the vineyards in the Wairua River Valley. Once passing through Renwick I was pretty comfortable with the directions for some time. Therefore I turned off my human GPS named Hayley and let her put her seat back and take a nap.
Nearing the Tasman Sea almost two hours later I brought Hayley back to life so she would not miss the gorgeous scenery. Once we were on the Tasman coast we delighted ourselves in numerous photo stops. These stops took longer than planned, thus we opted to bypass the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki today and push forward to Barrytown to check into our Bed and Breakfast for the night, The Kally House.
Upon our arrival at the Kally House our host greeted us and gave us the complete tour of the place. A tour was very welcomed, as the place was enormous and simply magnificent. At the conclusion of the tour our host called ahead and made dinner reservations for us at Darcy’s Buffalo Bar & Grill down the road about one kilometer. After settling in, Hayley ventured into the flower gardens along the driveway and took flower photos, while I looked at the next day’s itinerary. Shortly before 730pm we were off to Darcy’s for the best steak we had had here in NZ.
After a return to the Kally House to get sweatshirts we walked to the beach to view the sunset. The walk was a much longer walk than anticipated and the sky was too cloudy for a gorgeous sunset, yet it was still decent nonetheless. We soaked it in and enjoyed our romantic evening. Back in our room we changed into our house clothes and relaxed on the couch. It was not long after we found some zzz’s for the night.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
This morning was a bit rushed. After waking and getting the car packed up we had breakfast upstairs with our host Diane. Hayley signed the guest book for us and then we made our way down the hillside. After pulling a u-turn we were in the backed up traffic getting to the Ferry. Having left the B&B later then I really wanted, didn’t want to be rude to our host and skip breakfast; I did not leave us much time to get to the Ferry Terminal. After numerous thumpings of my leg on the car floorboard we made it to the Rental Car Return Car Park. We got the last spot in the caged area. After unloading the car and trekking our way along the long, uneven parking surface we made our way to a long line waiting to check in. Surprisingly, it moved rather quickly. At the counter we tagged our bags and said goodbye to them until we got to the other side, then with boarding passes in hand made our way up the gangway and on board the Kaitaki Ferry.
Hayley was impressed with the Ferry. She claims it way exceeded her expectations. After walking through the Food Court, Recliner Lounge, and the Sun Deck there really appeared to be no safe and comfortable place to sit. It was also quite noisy with all the kids running around. Upon entering the Ferry I took note of the Kaitaki Plus Lounge and now decided to enquire the cost for an upgrade to enter. With a reasonable financial transaction we were inside to where we now relax. Hayley has been on the ship’s computer checking her emails, while I have been on my laptop taking the time to upload photos from the past three days to my FaceBook account. You may log in and check them out if you have a FaceBook account.
I look out the window now and see that we are approaching land again. I will sign off for now and hope to continue once we arrive at tonight’s lodging location, the Kally House. It is near the Pancake Rocks and Blowhole along the Tasman Coast.
We are now on dry land. Following our disembarkation from the Kaitaki we made our way to baggage claim and proceeded to wait for nearly a half hour for our luggage to come up. It was no surprise to me, considering the Kaitaki capacity is 1750. That my friend is a lot of luggage to unload. With all bags in hand we rolled our way over to the car hire line. A short wait later I was at the counter to get the rental, however I was unable to obtain a GPS system. All the GPS systems had been rented out. I made a visit to all the other car hires at the Picton Terminal and had no luck in a GPS acquisition. I broke the news to Hayley we were going to have to do the South Island old school, utilizing paper atlases and maps on the itinerary. With that news we gathered our belongings and the car and headed south on State Highway 1.
With Hayley getting more acclimated with the atlas she discovered Blenhiem was the last big town for nearly two hours. This became our first stop, just twenty minutes down the road from Picton. Here we dined on the wonderfully delightful food of an American business world re-known as KFC. About forty five minutes later we were back on the road cruising through the vineyards in the Wairua River Valley. Once passing through Renwick I was pretty comfortable with the directions for some time. Therefore I turned off my human GPS named Hayley and let her put her seat back and take a nap.
Nearing the Tasman Sea almost two hours later I brought Hayley back to life so she would not miss the gorgeous scenery. Once we were on the Tasman coast we delighted ourselves in numerous photo stops. These stops took longer than planned, thus we opted to bypass the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki today and push forward to Barrytown to check into our Bed and Breakfast for the night, The Kally House.
Upon our arrival at the Kally House our host greeted us and gave us the complete tour of the place. A tour was very welcomed, as the place was enormous and simply magnificent. At the conclusion of the tour our host called ahead and made dinner reservations for us at Darcy’s Buffalo Bar & Grill down the road about one kilometer. After settling in, Hayley ventured into the flower gardens along the driveway and took flower photos, while I looked at the next day’s itinerary. Shortly before 730pm we were off to Darcy’s for the best steak we had had here in NZ.
After a return to the Kally House to get sweatshirts we walked to the beach to view the sunset. The walk was a much longer walk than anticipated and the sky was too cloudy for a gorgeous sunset, yet it was still decent nonetheless. We soaked it in and enjoyed our romantic evening. Back in our room we changed into our house clothes and relaxed on the couch. It was not long after we found some zzz’s for the night.
Cheers,
Bob & Hayley
Middle Earth Magic - 28 December 2007
Our day began with a delicious breakfast here at the B & B, which included scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, a roasted tomato, and a variety of cereal choices. I came to find that most cereals in New Zealand do closely resemble American brand cereals. I found a cereal that seemed to be as close as possible to our Raisin Bran, and I was content to eat that along with my hot breakfast.
At about a quarter after 9, our tour van arrived to pick us up and we departed for our tour of Middle Earth filming locations with 4 other people. We met a couple from Sweden who were also on holiday (the woman didn’t care much for LOTR, but her husband was a big fan). We also met a very interesting couple from Maryland who liked the movies but were truly fans of Tolkien’s books. The guy was a physics professor and his wife was a linguistics professor. They were very intellectual, so it was fun to get into a conversation with him about the state of the environment and environmental ethics. (I know my dad would enjoy shooting the breeze with him.) Finally, we met our awesome tour guide, Todd, who is a professional actor, part-time tour guide and a ton of fun. He acted in a couple episodes of Xena, he acted in Kind Kong (another Peter Jackson film), and he played two roles in LOTR – a courier to Lord Denothol (you can see him over Faramir’s shoulder in the scene where Denothol admits he would prefer Faramir to have died and Boramir to have lived) and Warrior #1 who rode atop the elephant that Legolas single-handedly brought down (because Legolas is awesome like that!).
We began our journey by driving to the summit of Mt. Victoria, where we could get the lay of the land. It was quite windy, wet, and dreary at first! Todd gave us a little history of the city of Wellington, most of which I don’t remember, honestly. I do recall that Wellington is much like San Francisco. The houses are built in a similar style because the roads are just as steep and hilly. Wellington also gets earthquakes all the time, usually small ones, since the city lies on 3 major fault lines and several smaller ones. Todd also pointed out the rugby stadium where Peter Jackson got about 35,000 people to make Orc sounds, stamp their feet, and chant ‘Death! Death!’. He would later use the recorded sounds for some of the battle scenes in the trilogy. This was a very cool factoid, but being the huge fan that I am and having watched all the DVD extras/documentaries included with the films, I already knew about that. Yeah, I know, I’m a dork, but it was great to be on a small, more personal tour of Middle Earth with other LOTR dorks like me! Bobby and I would both have an awesome time by the end of the day and this would definitely turn out to be a very enjoyable, worthwhile tour that we highly recommend to others.
After our visit to Mt. Victoria we drove back down the road to Buckland Forest, where we saw lots and lots of really creepy-looking pine trees. (They’re worse that the creepy trees at El Dorado Lake!) The leaves on this type of pine don’t appear until very close to the top, so the trees kind of look black and creepy and dead (even though they’re alive of course). Todd pointed out where the hobbits had rolled down the hill after getting caught on the neighbor’s farm and where they fell onto the road below where they discovered mushrooms. Soon, Frodo yelled to “Get off the road!” (This was where Jackson used a Hitchcock camera technique). Todd showed where they then hid from the Ring Wraiths. The tree they hid under was digitally created, since it had to fit all 4 hobbits. However, the two hero trees immediately behind the road were real, and I soon recognized them after Todd showed us a picture of the movie scene. Finally, on our way back to the van, Todd pointed out a spot where Aragorn and Theoden stood and watched the Rohan army.
After a lengthy drive we arrived at Harcourt Park where we enjoyed our choice of morning tea or coffee and yummy biscuits. Since I don’t drink either one, Todd graciously offered some hot chocolate which I was happy to drink (even thought it was disappointing). We then walked along a trail where Todd pointed out the Gardens of Isengard (where Gandalf and Saruman walked together discussing the fate of the world). He showed us where they filmed the scenes of the Orcs Felling the Trees. Only two trees were actually cut down, because Jackson used different angles and different extras to make it seem like different trees in each shot. Todd also gave us a quick story that he called ‘Ode to a Leaf Wrangler’ : Jackson didn’t like that the leaves of the trees were too small according to how Tolkein had described them, so the poor tree wrangler had to wire on thousands of leaves onto the two trees they used for the shots. Unfortunately, several of these wired-on leaves would fall off each time the trees were fell, requiring them to be reattached and requiring many hours of labor. Finally, Todd pointed out where Gandalf rode on Shadowfax to see Saruman (a lush green field in the same park).
Todd also said that Jackson was the best director he’d ever worked with. He apparently really helped Todd as an actor to get oriented and to visualize what would be done with special effects. Also, Todd said that he’s extremely down to earth and friendly (a Kiwi trait) and “would talk to the lowliest extra and the biggest star in exactly the same tone of voice”. Jackson also had a strong personality, as Todd recounted in a great little story: A few weeks before Return of the King was due to be released in theaters, New Line Cinema still hadn’t received their final copy of it from Jackson. Naturally, they were frantically wondering where it was. Jackson called them and said that he wanted to change the contract, because he felt that Weta Workshop had really created some of the characters of the movies and deserved rights to these characters. New Line kind of chuckled and said “That’s not how we do things in Hollywood, Peter”. Jackson simply replied with, “Well, welcome to Jacksonville.” and hung up the phone. Of course, he would later get the concession he wanted.
Once we finished up at the park we snaked our way up to the summit of another mountain along state highway 2. The speed limit is 100 km/hr in some spots and 10 km/hr in other spots – it was a fun ride! We snaked our way back down from the summit, eventually arriving at Fernside Farm, a private sheep farm. This was the site of Lothlorien and the famous White Bridge over a beautiful lake. The shore of this lake is where Galadrien waved goodbye to the fellowship as they continued on their journey.
The White Bridge is the only remaining “prop” since it was there to begin with. The bridge is quite different from the one seen in the movie, though. It was embellished quite a bit for the filming, to look much more magical and beautiful. In fact, Jackson had both sides of the bridge beautified even though only one side would be used for filming – he wanted the actors to really feel like they were in Lothlorien, not just on another movie set.
This lake was also used in the opening scenes of Return of the King, where Smeagol and Deagol were fishing. Deagol would find the ring, Smeagol would fight and kill him for it, and Smeagol would begin his descent into Gollum. We got to stand on the piece of land where Smeagol strangled Deagol – this was soooo cool!!
Next, we drove to a nearby town and had lunch at Lady Featherston Café. I had a yummy ham sandwich that was absolutely huge. I also got some yummy hot cocoa – New Zealanders don’t mess around with their cocoa and I like that! Bobby enjoyed a flat white and we all just sat and chatted while we ate until it was time to head off to Rivendell.
I think Bobby and I had some high expectations for what we would see at Rivendell, but it was actually a little disappointing. The forest where it was filmed didn’t closely resemble the Rivendell seen in the movies and we had to really stretch our imaginations to envision the sets that used to be there. Nonetheless, it was still a very beautiful forest and had a pretty river running through it. This river was actually where they filmed Aragorn washing ashore after he’d taken a nasty fall off a cliff and was assumed dead.
When we first arrived at the area, we could choose from two pathways to explore. We began by going to the right and crossing the swingbridge over the river, which I wasn’t so crazy about. Bobby seemed to enjoy it though, so I took a cute photo of him crossing the bridge where he looks kind of like Indiana Jones (especially with his bucket hat on with the sides snapped up). Once safely across, we explored a forest of native trees and ferns which helped inspire the design of TreeBeard and the Ents. It was easy to see the resemblance here, since many of the trees had a flaky bark and a deep root system like the Ents did. After crossing the swingbridge again and heading over to the pathway on the left, we explored “Rivendell proper”. This included, most prominently, the set for Frodo’s bedroom where he recovered from being stabbed by a Black Rider on Weathertop. Of course, since the set was no longer there (it was just a small field with greenery and trees around) we just had to take Todd’s word for it. We walked around this area for a little while, where Todd also pointed out the spot where the council of Rivendell met and the fellowship was formed. It was fun listening to him explain the logistics of this scene – the hobbits and the dwarves had to look shorter than everyone else, so they had to actually cut a hole in the floor of the set for John Rhys-Davis (who played Gimli) to stand in! Of course they also did some tricks with the camera and with actor doubles.
Finally, before we left, Todd showed us a picture of the scene where Frodo walks outside his room and looks out at the beautiful and magical Rivendell around him. The room was a set created by Weta Workshop, the beautiful Elvin-looking village in the background is actually a painting, and the numerous waterfalls in the far background was actually a photograph from Milford Sound (here in the southwest area of the South Island). However, the 60-foot tall waterfall in the foreground was actually created onsite. It was quite expensive, since the water had to be trucked in and trucked back out, but it was worthwhile since the waterfall was featured in several shots.
After wrapping up at Rivendell, we made the drive back into town and dropped off the Swedish couple, who had to return their rental car before 5pm. Next we made a quick stop in the town of Miramar, where we drove past Weta Workshop (aka Campground Studios). Of course we couldn’t go inside, but we did see some cool sound stages and green screens just outside the building. We also passed an old theatre that Jackson had bought when the trilogy was finished. He hopes to fix it up and turn it into an LOTR museum one day, but this could only happen if the Tolkien family allows it.
After dropping off the other couple, Todd dropped us off at the B & B. We thanked him for a great day and a great tour and just settled down in our room for a bit. Though it is a little small, it’s a very cozy room with a great big window showing off the gorgeous view of Wellington. The TV only had a couple channels, as is standard in NZ hotels, but I got to watch Home Improvement and The Nanny before we left for dinner.
We actually went back to the same Bistro we had dinner at last night. We toyed with the idea of going downtown to The Green Parrot, which was Viggo Mortenson’s favorite steak joint, but we just lacked the energy to drive down there, find parking, etc. So, we went back to the Bistro right down the road and had delicious meals again. I had the salmon again while Bobby opted for the chicken breast. This time though, I got the scallops for an appetizer – excuse me, entrée – instead of the “chowder” I had gotten the previous night (which was actually a bisque). Halfway through the meal it occurred to Bobby that he could get the delicious crème brulee dessert again! This time we both got the crème brulee and it really was pretty fantastic.
The night ended with packing, Bobby working out our schedule for the next day, and some computer time before bed.
Hope you all enjoyed this super-long journal! Thanks for reading and we’ll catch you later!
Love, Hayley and Bobby
At about a quarter after 9, our tour van arrived to pick us up and we departed for our tour of Middle Earth filming locations with 4 other people. We met a couple from Sweden who were also on holiday (the woman didn’t care much for LOTR, but her husband was a big fan). We also met a very interesting couple from Maryland who liked the movies but were truly fans of Tolkien’s books. The guy was a physics professor and his wife was a linguistics professor. They were very intellectual, so it was fun to get into a conversation with him about the state of the environment and environmental ethics. (I know my dad would enjoy shooting the breeze with him.) Finally, we met our awesome tour guide, Todd, who is a professional actor, part-time tour guide and a ton of fun. He acted in a couple episodes of Xena, he acted in Kind Kong (another Peter Jackson film), and he played two roles in LOTR – a courier to Lord Denothol (you can see him over Faramir’s shoulder in the scene where Denothol admits he would prefer Faramir to have died and Boramir to have lived) and Warrior #1 who rode atop the elephant that Legolas single-handedly brought down (because Legolas is awesome like that!).
We began our journey by driving to the summit of Mt. Victoria, where we could get the lay of the land. It was quite windy, wet, and dreary at first! Todd gave us a little history of the city of Wellington, most of which I don’t remember, honestly. I do recall that Wellington is much like San Francisco. The houses are built in a similar style because the roads are just as steep and hilly. Wellington also gets earthquakes all the time, usually small ones, since the city lies on 3 major fault lines and several smaller ones. Todd also pointed out the rugby stadium where Peter Jackson got about 35,000 people to make Orc sounds, stamp their feet, and chant ‘Death! Death!’. He would later use the recorded sounds for some of the battle scenes in the trilogy. This was a very cool factoid, but being the huge fan that I am and having watched all the DVD extras/documentaries included with the films, I already knew about that. Yeah, I know, I’m a dork, but it was great to be on a small, more personal tour of Middle Earth with other LOTR dorks like me! Bobby and I would both have an awesome time by the end of the day and this would definitely turn out to be a very enjoyable, worthwhile tour that we highly recommend to others.
After our visit to Mt. Victoria we drove back down the road to Buckland Forest, where we saw lots and lots of really creepy-looking pine trees. (They’re worse that the creepy trees at El Dorado Lake!) The leaves on this type of pine don’t appear until very close to the top, so the trees kind of look black and creepy and dead (even though they’re alive of course). Todd pointed out where the hobbits had rolled down the hill after getting caught on the neighbor’s farm and where they fell onto the road below where they discovered mushrooms. Soon, Frodo yelled to “Get off the road!” (This was where Jackson used a Hitchcock camera technique). Todd showed where they then hid from the Ring Wraiths. The tree they hid under was digitally created, since it had to fit all 4 hobbits. However, the two hero trees immediately behind the road were real, and I soon recognized them after Todd showed us a picture of the movie scene. Finally, on our way back to the van, Todd pointed out a spot where Aragorn and Theoden stood and watched the Rohan army.
After a lengthy drive we arrived at Harcourt Park where we enjoyed our choice of morning tea or coffee and yummy biscuits. Since I don’t drink either one, Todd graciously offered some hot chocolate which I was happy to drink (even thought it was disappointing). We then walked along a trail where Todd pointed out the Gardens of Isengard (where Gandalf and Saruman walked together discussing the fate of the world). He showed us where they filmed the scenes of the Orcs Felling the Trees. Only two trees were actually cut down, because Jackson used different angles and different extras to make it seem like different trees in each shot. Todd also gave us a quick story that he called ‘Ode to a Leaf Wrangler’ : Jackson didn’t like that the leaves of the trees were too small according to how Tolkein had described them, so the poor tree wrangler had to wire on thousands of leaves onto the two trees they used for the shots. Unfortunately, several of these wired-on leaves would fall off each time the trees were fell, requiring them to be reattached and requiring many hours of labor. Finally, Todd pointed out where Gandalf rode on Shadowfax to see Saruman (a lush green field in the same park).
Todd also said that Jackson was the best director he’d ever worked with. He apparently really helped Todd as an actor to get oriented and to visualize what would be done with special effects. Also, Todd said that he’s extremely down to earth and friendly (a Kiwi trait) and “would talk to the lowliest extra and the biggest star in exactly the same tone of voice”. Jackson also had a strong personality, as Todd recounted in a great little story: A few weeks before Return of the King was due to be released in theaters, New Line Cinema still hadn’t received their final copy of it from Jackson. Naturally, they were frantically wondering where it was. Jackson called them and said that he wanted to change the contract, because he felt that Weta Workshop had really created some of the characters of the movies and deserved rights to these characters. New Line kind of chuckled and said “That’s not how we do things in Hollywood, Peter”. Jackson simply replied with, “Well, welcome to Jacksonville.” and hung up the phone. Of course, he would later get the concession he wanted.
Once we finished up at the park we snaked our way up to the summit of another mountain along state highway 2. The speed limit is 100 km/hr in some spots and 10 km/hr in other spots – it was a fun ride! We snaked our way back down from the summit, eventually arriving at Fernside Farm, a private sheep farm. This was the site of Lothlorien and the famous White Bridge over a beautiful lake. The shore of this lake is where Galadrien waved goodbye to the fellowship as they continued on their journey.
The White Bridge is the only remaining “prop” since it was there to begin with. The bridge is quite different from the one seen in the movie, though. It was embellished quite a bit for the filming, to look much more magical and beautiful. In fact, Jackson had both sides of the bridge beautified even though only one side would be used for filming – he wanted the actors to really feel like they were in Lothlorien, not just on another movie set.
This lake was also used in the opening scenes of Return of the King, where Smeagol and Deagol were fishing. Deagol would find the ring, Smeagol would fight and kill him for it, and Smeagol would begin his descent into Gollum. We got to stand on the piece of land where Smeagol strangled Deagol – this was soooo cool!!
Next, we drove to a nearby town and had lunch at Lady Featherston Café. I had a yummy ham sandwich that was absolutely huge. I also got some yummy hot cocoa – New Zealanders don’t mess around with their cocoa and I like that! Bobby enjoyed a flat white and we all just sat and chatted while we ate until it was time to head off to Rivendell.
I think Bobby and I had some high expectations for what we would see at Rivendell, but it was actually a little disappointing. The forest where it was filmed didn’t closely resemble the Rivendell seen in the movies and we had to really stretch our imaginations to envision the sets that used to be there. Nonetheless, it was still a very beautiful forest and had a pretty river running through it. This river was actually where they filmed Aragorn washing ashore after he’d taken a nasty fall off a cliff and was assumed dead.
When we first arrived at the area, we could choose from two pathways to explore. We began by going to the right and crossing the swingbridge over the river, which I wasn’t so crazy about. Bobby seemed to enjoy it though, so I took a cute photo of him crossing the bridge where he looks kind of like Indiana Jones (especially with his bucket hat on with the sides snapped up). Once safely across, we explored a forest of native trees and ferns which helped inspire the design of TreeBeard and the Ents. It was easy to see the resemblance here, since many of the trees had a flaky bark and a deep root system like the Ents did. After crossing the swingbridge again and heading over to the pathway on the left, we explored “Rivendell proper”. This included, most prominently, the set for Frodo’s bedroom where he recovered from being stabbed by a Black Rider on Weathertop. Of course, since the set was no longer there (it was just a small field with greenery and trees around) we just had to take Todd’s word for it. We walked around this area for a little while, where Todd also pointed out the spot where the council of Rivendell met and the fellowship was formed. It was fun listening to him explain the logistics of this scene – the hobbits and the dwarves had to look shorter than everyone else, so they had to actually cut a hole in the floor of the set for John Rhys-Davis (who played Gimli) to stand in! Of course they also did some tricks with the camera and with actor doubles.
Finally, before we left, Todd showed us a picture of the scene where Frodo walks outside his room and looks out at the beautiful and magical Rivendell around him. The room was a set created by Weta Workshop, the beautiful Elvin-looking village in the background is actually a painting, and the numerous waterfalls in the far background was actually a photograph from Milford Sound (here in the southwest area of the South Island). However, the 60-foot tall waterfall in the foreground was actually created onsite. It was quite expensive, since the water had to be trucked in and trucked back out, but it was worthwhile since the waterfall was featured in several shots.
After wrapping up at Rivendell, we made the drive back into town and dropped off the Swedish couple, who had to return their rental car before 5pm. Next we made a quick stop in the town of Miramar, where we drove past Weta Workshop (aka Campground Studios). Of course we couldn’t go inside, but we did see some cool sound stages and green screens just outside the building. We also passed an old theatre that Jackson had bought when the trilogy was finished. He hopes to fix it up and turn it into an LOTR museum one day, but this could only happen if the Tolkien family allows it.
After dropping off the other couple, Todd dropped us off at the B & B. We thanked him for a great day and a great tour and just settled down in our room for a bit. Though it is a little small, it’s a very cozy room with a great big window showing off the gorgeous view of Wellington. The TV only had a couple channels, as is standard in NZ hotels, but I got to watch Home Improvement and The Nanny before we left for dinner.
We actually went back to the same Bistro we had dinner at last night. We toyed with the idea of going downtown to The Green Parrot, which was Viggo Mortenson’s favorite steak joint, but we just lacked the energy to drive down there, find parking, etc. So, we went back to the Bistro right down the road and had delicious meals again. I had the salmon again while Bobby opted for the chicken breast. This time though, I got the scallops for an appetizer – excuse me, entrée – instead of the “chowder” I had gotten the previous night (which was actually a bisque). Halfway through the meal it occurred to Bobby that he could get the delicious crème brulee dessert again! This time we both got the crème brulee and it really was pretty fantastic.
The night ended with packing, Bobby working out our schedule for the next day, and some computer time before bed.
Hope you all enjoyed this super-long journal! Thanks for reading and we’ll catch you later!
Love, Hayley and Bobby
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