We basically just settled in here on Monday. We got some
groceries because Andrea booked us in an apartment. It is a nice apartment with
a full kitchen, laundry, and a nice balcony. On Tuesday we went to see the
Minion movie…complete with our minion made goggles…yes that is for real. It was
an alright movie but I missed Gru. The movie theatre seats were really comfy!
The popcorn and pop tasted like home. It makes me wonder why Canada’s popcorn
and pop taste so weird. But that is a conundrum for another day.
Then on Wednesday we went to Hobbiton. That is where the
hobbit holes were filmed for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. Andrea
and I are Hobbit fans but not Lord of the Rings fans. And by fans I mean we
liked the movies and enjoyed the book not that we have hobbit tattoos. We took
a tour and it was a very enjoyable day. The only thing that could have been better was
the weather. The guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. He told us where
certain scenes had taken place and fun facts about the set. For instance Peter
Jackson (the director) didn’t want to use the sheep which were already there so
they imported a special type of sheep for the shots. Then there was a tree that
is 100% artificial and has tons of spray painted leaves wired onto its
branches. He also did a scene re-enactment, probably should not quite his day
job for acting… It is an interesting set up because it is a private operation
where you have to book a tour and not just drive there yourself. The site was
picked for its secret location and it is secret. I mean you cant see from the
road that is for sure. They still operate a farm on the land as well- the wool
goes to China for carpets and the beef goes to McDonalds. The tour was capped
off with a Ginger Beer (oh how I hate ginger) at the Green Dragon and then a
buffet lunch at a fancy tent.
On Thursday we went looking for street art but apparently I
was going in the wrong direction so we ended up knee deep in souvenirs. The
souvenirs are pricey compared to those of Paddy’s Market. Lots of different
things though. Many Maori crafts. Auckland has a lot of people begging for
money on the streets, people handing out flyers, and people sleeping on the
sidewalk. I am not too keen on that. It wont be surpassing my love of Sydney
anytime soon. Although, New Zealand wins in the fast food arena. First of all
they have free fountain drink refills and they have more choices than just
McDonald’s and KFC. I have discovered Carl’s JR and have fallen in love with
criss cut waffle fries.
On Friday, we went whale watching. Just as some background…it
has been a lifelong dream of mine to go whale watching. I was pretty excited
because New Zealand is supposed to be a really good whale watching spot. It was
a beautiful cruise out to the location and I do mean beautiful. The countryside
here is unlike anything I have seen. We ended up seeing a ton of dolphins but
no whales. It would have been killer to have seen a whale (pause for laughter)
but in the end that didn’t happen. Perhaps this was another time where I had my
sights set higher than they should have been. In my mind I pictured taking a
photo of a humpback whale turning in the air…yep okay so maybe my hopes were a
bit higher than they should have been. It was pretty cool to see so many
dolphins in the water. Plus it was the common dolphin and I have only ever seen
the bottlenose dolphin in captivity. They could have posed better in the water.
On that note if anyone wants to see what the Pacific Ocean looks like let me
know, I have lots of shots of it. At least the weather was beautiful. And the
company was a good one. They do marine research so a lot of the crew were students.
Oh and while we were on the docks we did see a New Zealand fur seal in the harbor
killing a fish. That was cool.
