Sunday 22 December 2013

NZ - HOBBITON

today is pretty much about Hobbiton….we head into Maramata which is the nearest town to the movie set and wander around a bit and have a bite to eat….the area has a large agricultural influence but the movie has also made a noticeable mark….sheep and cattle raising are huge everywhere in NZ, here is no exception…after browsing a bit we head out to the movie set for the tour…..Cathy has just recently learned about hobbits and the Lord of the Ring and Hobbit trilogies but the rest of us are long term fans….not real fans like the folks that show up in hobbit or LOTR clothing or the guy that took 3000 pictures or the lady who was so moved that she went to the gift shop and paid $800 for “the gold ring” then headed to Mount Ruapehu where Mordor was modelled (computer rendering for the most part) and threw the ring out of the helicopter….now those are real fans…we just really love the story!!…..the tour is really a lot of fun and ends with a hobbit pint in the Green Dragon which was built for just that….during peak season, 3000 people a day tour the set…..Peter Jackson and the owners of the farm are partners in this venture…takes residuals to another level I’d say……we return to Rotorua and prepare a dinner….no Lembas bread available but as always, Kiwi wine makes even scrambled eggs taste incredible……a little music jam with our Kiribati friends and we all fall into a most hobbit like sleep…… tomorrow we head back to the coast to visit the Gisborne area.....this is wine growing - especially chardonnays, pinot gris and viognier......we'll need all the sleep we can get!..

Cathy takes her first kayak trip ever up the Waiketi River to Lake Rotorua....I learned in a tub!



honestly officer, we all drive on the right side of the road in Canada!!.....



really Dad, take a picture of me...this is what Gollum would like if he was peering out the window above me....go on! take a picture!!....why is that car honking at me??...



posing with our very own NZ spring lamb outside the Matamata information centre....



the girls go into a hobbit house for the first timer ever.......



give a hobbit a fish and he eats for a day, teach a hobbit to fish and he wears a lamb for a hat!



3 little maids and an NZ spring lamb in a Gandalf chair.....



me and the lamb take a break.....



Australian hobbit.....



Texas hobbit....



Canadian hobbit.....



hobbit house...



those Australian girls are hard workers........



Cathy does her impersonation of a hobbit impersonating a gopher......awesome!



the famous tree of Bag End.....




Bilbo's house.......




the trunk and branches were cut elsewhere in Maramata and brought to the set, the leaves were brought in from Taiwan and sewn to the tree then painted, the bark was made from bark castings of another tree and manually attached.....



so this week on House Hunters International, a couple of Canucks try their hand at finding their dream hobbit house....



our very excellent tour guide Frances standing underneath the famous party tree seen in Bilbo's birthday scene...



The Green Dragon across the lake in the distance behind the Hobbit children's teeter totters......



children teeter tottering under the party tree....did I mention that it was a party tree?



why do I have to sit here with you? I want to play on the teeter totter......



with any luck, there is some left......



no luck required......we hoist a mug in honour of the great J.R. Tolkien (he sure came a long way since his role in Dallas).....



the entranceway to the Green Dragon lit by, what else, a grey dragon!!



that new patio addition has really increased business......festive lanterns on the lawn and a cask of the good stuff......



NZ spring lamb gets right into the act.....



some fellow sheep in the background.....



this is a message to every one of you lambs out there....don't give up, some day you can find your &$$ being used to wipe up the back of a tour bus......you just have to believe....I know I do!!



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