Hobbiton

July 29 (Day 2 in New Zealand)

I can't remember why we decided to visit Hobbiton this way, but we rented a car from Auckland and drove to Matamata for a night. Driving was an interesting experience! We rented our car in downtown Auckland and then had to make our way out of the city. No quiet roads to practice on first or to get used to the car on. The merges were scary but Geoff got us through ok with only a few screams from the co-pilot. As we got farther out of the city, it became a lot easier, too. The scenery on the way was beautiful.

Matamata is a cool little town. Its an agricultural centre, there are horse stables for the racing industry and of course tourism is a major industry too. We stayed at the Tower Road Motel which was perfect for the four of us. Two perfect rooms, kitchenette and lovely big bathroom.  Our hosts even had an orange tree in their back yard and picked us a few for breakfast. Wasn't expecting that in the winter. The owner Linda drove us back to the I-site to meet the tour bus for Hobbiton.

We booked the dinner evening tour which I highly recommend . It might be a bit expensive but if you're coming here anyway it's well worth it. The set itself is on the Alexander family farm, one of the largest in the area. If you don't take the bus from town there is also a car park at the Shires rest cafe and gift shop. From there guides take you to the actual site. I don't think any of us realized how steep the hills were in this area- was glad someone else was doing the driving that night!

With our tour we start with a daylight walk through the site. Our 2 guides Andy and Ethan were fantastic! Good sense of humour very knowledgeable about the movies and the filming and big fans of the books and movies. Lots of interesting info. When they were scouting for the movies, they had 12 possible locations but nothing perfect. This was the 13th. One of the things that cliched it was the great party tree and the round man-made lake that was already on the property. They still had a lot of work to do to make it what it is now; the NZ army was even involved in making roads and filling in a swamp where the party field is now.

 

Bagend

Before getting here, I don't think any of us realized how large and detailed the site would be. There are duplicate holes of different sizes to force perspective. One scene with about 12 hobbit holes in it is only in the movie for 5 seconds! That's a lot of work for a short time! The oak tree above Bilbo's hole is 90 percent fake with steel reinforcements and oak leaves stitched on. Samantha was the recipient of one of the leaves for being the first to find the hole of the town drunk.Anyway really fun walk around - all the holes show something of the occupations of the hobbits that would live there.

A family Hobbit hole

A smaller Hobbit Hole

After the tour we rest at the Green Dragon Inn with a nice bevy while they put the finishing touches on our feast. Good food, and good company. Nice attention to detail in the inn, especially the dragon carving. After the feast, we get lanterns and go for a walk through Hobbiton again. The holes are all lit up and its really neat. Sorry we forgot to bring the tripod for some better night shots.

Catriona and Ethan (our Aidan Turner look-a-like)

Wow! It's been a crazy day/days! Our Auckland flight didn't leave til 8 at night so we got to spend some more time with our lovely Vancouver tour guides Leslie & Dave.Went for brunch at one of their favorite spots, The Locus. Very cool. They also took us to the Museum of Anthropology,  A beautiful Japanese garden and even a really quick run down a steep path to the beach. We really enjoyed our time with them!

The Flight

We got to the airport nice and early (probably because I was super paranoid about being late for our flight) and had some time to relax a bit before boarding. Really big plane and quite crowded too. The plane's entertainment system was excellent - I don't think we need to bring so many books and things to entertain ourselves on the flight. It was very hard to sleep there however. There wasn't a lot of leg room and the seats felt a bit hard after a while. Geoff, Sam & I managed to sleep a bit but poor Catriona didn't really get any sleep at all. Our flight did get in early- half 4 in the morning- but as we had to wait quite a while for our hotel it didn't help too much. One of the first Kiwi's we met in customs was really nice. We said we were from Manitoba and he asked if we were from Winnipeg. Turns out he was there a while ago. Small world eh?


First day in Auckland

Although we are sleep deprived and wandering around in the dark at first, its been really nice here. It's true that they do make very good coffee here. The people here are very friendly and helpful.We went for a walk to a park to kill some time before the Maritime Museum opened. Love the trees!
Museum was interesting too and we also took the harbour cruise on a sailing ship. Definitely worth the extra money. The ship relies a lot on volunteers who were great. They had lots of interesting stories and information. You can help raise the sails or just sit and watch.  It might be winter here but it feels quite warm so far.

First day away!  Vancouver 

We spend the late afternoon and evening in Queen Elizabeth Park with sister Leslie, Dave, Aunika and her boyfriend John.  Most of us ziplined and spent an all to brief time in the Bloden Conservatory.  We had a great meal at Seasons in the Park.  The view was spectacular, but you can see it in the picture :)

The beginning

Geoff & I wanted to start this blog for 3 reasons

1. To share our experiences travelling in New Zealand with friends & family.
2. To hopefully provide some useful info for other travelers.
3. As a creative outlet.

The word abroad has a couple of different meanings. It can be used to refer to a foreign country or another continent or it can also be used for being out of doors from one place to another.

We hope to keep this going after our long trip as we Starks have other adventures.