Hobbiton
Little did we know
when we booked our tour to Hobbiton that our tour guide was one of
the first to take visitors to Hobbiton, with a wealth of knowledge
about the filming of the movies! We had about a 2.5 hour drive from
Auckland to Hobbiton, and our wonderful driver entertained us with
stories there and back again. Hobbiton is set on a serene farm on the
North Island of New Zealand, and it was beautiful as well as
hobbit-y! Following our tour of the hobbit holes, we had a quick stop
at the Green Dragon and then a private lunch in a party tent—I felt
like one of Bilbo’s special guests at his birthday celebration!
Safari of the Scenes
After a few days in
Auckland, we flew to Queenstown on the South Island. Flying into
Queenstown was breathtaking! Mountains, snow, and lakes abounded. It
looks just like Middle Earth—which is why several scenes from Lord
of the Rings were filmed in the area! We took a four wheel drive safari
tour to visit some of the sites, including Argonath (the Pillars of
the Kings), which is the place I have always wanted to see most in
New Zealand. I will admit that I felt close to tears as we drove
along the mountain road looking down at Argonath (technically the
Kawarau River) because I was so in awe. After visiting some mountain
filming locations, we forded the Ford of Bruinen in our Land Rover
(several times!) and got to try our hands at panning for gold in the
Arrow River, which was the location of a gold rush in New Zealand
years ago. None of us came away rich, except perhaps in sand fly
bites.
Milford Sound
Just a half hour
plane ride from Queenstown sits Milford Sound, which is actually a
fjord that was carved out by glaciers. However, if you don’t want
to pay the big bucks for a flight (either a helicopter or a tiny
plane like we use to fly from Ukarumpa), there is only one road in
and one road out...and it’s a four hour drive from Queenstown!
Getting there actually took closer to six hours because we stopped
for tea and pictures a few times. The most exciting part was driving
through a tunnel through one of the mountains of the Southern Alps.
If you look back at the tunnel from the other side, it looks like
just a tiny mouth on the face of a gigantic mountain. Upon arriving
at Milford Sound, we took a two hour boat ride around the fjord.
Apparently it rains about 360 days a year there, but we were there on
one of the rare days without rain, with a beautiful blue sky and
sunshine overhead! (Though that did mean fewer waterfalls.) Twice we
passed seals sleeping on rocks, and as we pulled in close to one of
the bigger waterfalls, a group of dolphins was swimming at the base!
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