We spent the last two days (before today) in Wellington, which is the capital of New Zealand. It was a really lively city, and I couldn't get over the juxtaposition of the super urban and super coastal portions of it. Our hostel was ranked #10 in the country, so that was a random perk. We had a really nice stay, and it felt good to be in one place for two days.
The first day we just kind of explored downtown. We found a pretty cool street fair/market where they had a bunch of ethnic food stands and such. I got a prawn dumpling and a dark chocolate and banana crepe, both delicious. Then we went back to the hostel for some down time. Sasha, John, and Elise decided to take advantage of the Wellington night life, while Sam, Thomas, and I opted for some extra rest. The first night we had this awesome 60 year old Aussie named Harley in our dorm, and we chatted for like two hours. He had awesome stories, and some pretty good advice about things to do/see while I am in Sydney! Also he told us that Aussies don't open their mouths when they talk because it keeps the "mossies" (mosquitoes) out. Hilarious. Old(er) people are the best.
The next day we went to a cool vintage clothing market, where I found a sweater and a New Zealand Pan Am stewardess bag! Both were really cheap and I'm pretty stoked about them. We all found some cool stuff; thrifting is definitely one of our new favorite pastimes. After the market we went to Te Papa, which is the national museum of NZ. It's really, really well done. We spent a lot of time there, and I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting! It incorporated pretty much every aspect of New Zealand: fossils, tectonic activity, Maori history, vegetation, etc. The best part was that we got to see the giant squid!
The largest giant squid ever found--this guy's eyes are the size of soccer balls.
Also, outside the museum we happened to witness a spontaneous pillow fight. I have no idea where these people came from or what the purpose of said fight was, but it was entertaining to watch nonetheless. I especially enjoyed the pink footie pajamas.
Cities.
I didn't take many pics in Welly, but here's a nice one of the waterfront near the museum.
Okay, I'm dying to talk about the next part of the trip, so I'm going to move on. We drove to Rotorua yesterday (yet another stunning drive, shocker) and checked into our hostel (which has a climbing gym attached, how cool is that?). We explored the town a little bit, hit the supermarket, and then came back to get a good night's rest for....our tour of the Shire!!!!!! I cannot even express how excited I was for this day to come. We drove to Matamata, hopped on a bus, and found ourselves in a magical, magical place.
Hobbiton is actually the only movie set in the world that has been left in tact for tourism purposes. The original Lord of the Rings set was built on a temporary basis and destroyed after filming, but they completely rebuilt an identical set (plus a few extra Hobbit holes) for the filming of The Hobbit. There are now 42 complete Hobbit Holes, and they also just finished construction on the Green Dragon, which is a functioning pub! Our tour guide was really friendly and great, and it was SO AMAZING being in the Shire. I was in total shock and awe the whole time.
The first Hobbit Hole! This is seen in The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf first arrives in Hobbiton.
We were lucky with yet another beautiful day--mid sixties and sunny. Perfect for hobbits :)
Band End, aka Bilbo and Frodo's house. I thought I was going to cry (I didn't).
The mill/looking back at Hobbiton
The bridge!
Even Hobbits have to hang their clothes out to dry!
For posterity's sake--I am clearly a tad tall for Hobbiton.
The gang enjoying our free Hobbit cider at the Green Dragon! There is a brewery that makes two types of ale and one of cider specifically to be served at the Green Dragon. You can't buy it anywhere in the world (including there). Pretty cool, and also yummy!
I am still processing that I visited the Shire today. It was seriously one of my dreams come true. I really wanted my family to be there though, because I know my sister and mom would have been pooping their pants right along with me. It was certainly an experience I will never, ever forget.
Tomorrow we leave for our tour of the Waitomo glow worm caves, which is another thing that I cannot wait to do. Two of my top things I wanted to do while in NZ just happen to be back to back. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.
Fun Facts/Updates:
-All six movies (LOTR and The Hobbit trilogy) are filmed in 138 spots all over New Zealand.
-Peter Jackson is a super perfectionist. For example, in the books, Tolkien mentions that hobbits like to eat plums, so Jackson insisted that plum trees be planted throughout the Shire. However, when the trees matured, Jackson decided that he wasn't satisfied with the look of them, so he naturally had them ripped out and replaced with apple trees. When it came time to film, the crew stripped the trees of all their leaves and apples, and later added artificial leaves and plums to the bare trees. Also, although there are sheep in the films, none of them are actually New Zealand sheep. Instead, Jackson had English Suffolk sheep brought in, because they more accurately fit the description in the books (black faces, black feet, which the NZ Romney sheep do not have). I find this hilarious.
-You can have weddings at the Shire. Get ready.
-This week, our rental car is a hideous lime green and purple mini van, which we have appropriately named "Barney." It's awful and I feel like a tool driving it. But it was super cheap so...c'est la vie.
I can't wait to post about the caves tomorrow.
Cheers!
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