Finally, a brief window of bearable weather opportunity opened up on the morning the day that Phil and Rosanne were to leave for their return trip home, a visit to Zealandia, the local nature preserve in the heart of Wellington. Prior to leaving for Zealandia, this was how Phil and I spent much of our downtime due to bad weather - playing on our smartphones. All of Zealandia is enclosed by a great fence designed to keep out wildlife that is not indigenous to New Zealand. They wish to return this preserve to the state it was in before outside settlers began introducing other animals and plants. They estimate it will take 500 years. Quite a project. Away in the distance is the dam that I stood on the top of while taking the previous two pictures to this one. The dam is over 150 years old and is an integral part of the region. Unfortunately, this green algae is deadly to the preserve's lake and fish and scientists are taking steps to minimize it's impact. Fortunately, Phil and Rosanne were able to finish their trip to NZ with a wonderful walk around Zealandia.
1 Comment
Again, while Jody worked, Phil and I visited the birthplace in Wellington of Katherine Mansfield, the great NZ short story writer who is acknowledged as the British author who had the greatest impact in the creation of the British short story. Her stories, BLISS and GARDEN PARTY, are among her best and most well known. She tragically died in 1923 at the age of 35 from consumption. She was one of the original feminists, always at odds with a conformist society and always testing the limits. She was a personal friend of D.H. Lawrence (no surprise) and was even modeled after one of the female characters in Lawrence's novel, WOMEN IN LOVE. This visit was a particular Mecca for Phil as he has been a great lover of Mansfield's stories for years. FYI, Phil and I both attended University of Maryland together in 1969-1971 and were both English Majors. One other of Mansfield's most popular short stories is THE DOLL HOUSE which is somewhat autobiographical in nature and refers to the doll house she had as a child. The doll house was modeled after her own home. In the exhibit is an exact model of the original doll house, complete with a very elaborate interior. I bought this tea towel for Jody as I suspect that she and Mansfield would have had a lot in common.
JoeAnn and Brendan left on April 3 after their three week stay. Three days later Phil and Rosanne, my Best Man and his wife, arrived in Wellington after spending over two weeks touring other parts of NZ, particularly the South Island. Unfortunately, their arrival brought with them an entire week of overcast and rain, the first heavy weather front that we have experienced since arriving. What a shame. We made do by attending many indoor events and had a lot of fun regardless. While Jody worked, we all went Te Papa for an afternoon museum trip.
On Saturday, April 5, Jody and I attended the New Zealand Orchestra and experienced wonderful performances of Tchaikovsky's Sym. #4, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, and Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major. Being a big classic film fan, Korngold's piece was a special treat for me as it incorporated his scored film music from ANOTHER DAWN, ANTHONY ADVERSE, and THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER. A perfect evening.
On Wednesday, April 2, JoeAnn, Brendan, and I visited Te Papa, the Wellington National Museum, while Jody worked. It was the first time I had been there and was quite an experience. To do it justic would require several visits. Wellington Harbor fro the top floor of the museum. A Maori shipping vessel. The Treat of Waitangi which brought peace between the indigenous Maori tribes and the British colonists, but which did not keep the British from taking most of the Maori land. A Maori Temple and JoeAnn. The Beatles in New Zealand.
After three great days in Taupo and traveling around and about, we left the Chelmswood Hotel for our trip home. I insisted that there was only one more place to go on the way home, the Tongariro National Park. I just had to see that strange funnel-shaped mountain up close that we saw while traveling to Taupo and in the distance from our hotel room. Could it be - Mount Doom from LOTR? My excitement builds. On our way, we just had to stop to get this picture. We weren't sure what it was, but it looks like a volcano. Of course, Brendan had to get a nice picture of his Mom when we stopped. I had to take this gorgeous panorama that was so inspiring. We approach and my excitement builds. And there it is, MOUNT DOOM, or actually as it's known, Mount Ngauruhoe in the Tongariro National Park. This is the ACTIVE volcano that reportedly inspired Director Peter Jackson as the model for Mount Doom, home of the evil Sauron, and the end of the quest for the Hobbit, Frodo, who must journey to Mordor and throw The One Ring into the cracks of Mount Doom. And,of course, the only way I can see Mount Doom in my mind's eye. To the right of this iconic volcano is another active volcano, Mount Tongairo. My last view of Mount Doom from the opposite side. Just incredible. Without a doubt, one of my great dreams in visiting NZ fulfilled.
On our way home from the thermal area, we just had to make a quick stop at the famous Huka Falls right outside Taupo. Huka Fals are an incredibly powerful falls that provide much of the energy needs for the region.
Following the white water rafting, we all had a nice roadside lunch/picnic and traveled on to the Orakei korako Cave and Thermal Park. This was the beginning of the Middle Earth Yang, having left the Middle earth Yin far, far behind. I have always been a fan of Dante Alighieri's poem,The Divine Comedy, particularly the first part, Dante's Inferno (the poet's up front and personal tourist's view of Hell). While walking through this site I could not decide whether I was in Dante's Inferno or LOTR's Mordor. The weather was just overcast enough on this day to lend an eerie pallor to the proceedings, augumented by the incredible smell of sulfur everywhere. Unfortunately, there was too much upward climbing for JoeAnn to handle, so she stayed behind and relaxed in the tourist center while we three explored the site, and what a site it was. Truly Hellish, nightmarish, and fascinating. I have included pictures of some of the signs that describe the photos that follow. The English language version is in the lower left hand corner of the signs. Lunch by Lake Rotoiti. You gotta eat! As we traveled on to Hell, we saw many plums of geothermal activity like this one throughout the region. The tourist center where we start our journey to the park. Where we're going by ferry on the other side of the lake. WELCOME TO HELL! This is what first greeted us as we stepped off the ferry that took us across Lake Ohakuri to the park. We have been sooo impressed with the management of New Zealand's incredible park system. The thermal park has elaborate walkway and designated paths throughout the entire park. I was unprepared for the size of this park. It was clear that the walkway and paths were very necessary to insure that tourists would not stray into areas that could mean almost sure death or, at the very least, serious injury. How surprising particularly for Jody to find a lake bed in the shape of the African continent. Looks like snow, doesn't it? Actually, it's sulfur and other chemicals. One would definitely not want to fall into one of these smoking pits. "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble." This gave a whole new meaning to Hot Tub and "soda fountain." While we were running around elsewhere in the park, JoeAnn got this picture of the geyser erupting from her vantage point across the lake. We missed it. Two hours later, we return from our trek around the park and find JoeAnn waiting amidst the smoking ruins..
Following our trip to Shire, we set out early the next morning to Kaituna Rafting and Kayaking so that both Jody and Brendan could white water raft down drops of 7 meters (would you believe 22 feet?). I chose to have breakfast at a nice local establishment with JoeAnn while Jody and Brendan did their thing. In the 70's I saw the movie Deliverance. Do you remember how it ended? I decided that I've already been to that party in the movies. Following are the pictures from that experience. We all know that Jody is a crazy risk-taker, so no surprise. She and Brendan got pretty wet. JoeAnn and I enjoyed our breakfast. Hmmmm! Stil smilin.'
Following our trip through the Glowworm caves, we stopped for a picnic lunch and headed on to one of my most anticipated attractions, the filming location of The Shire for the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and The Hobbit movies. 'Hobbiton' is located on a sheep farm in the Matamata region and was a relatively short drive from the Glowworm Caves. Most of the original set was taken down upon completion of the LOTR trilogy of movies. When the director, Peter Jackson, began planning the filming of The Hobbit movies, he returned to the original location. The owner of the sheep farm allowed the set to be rebuilt, but this time in a more permanent fashion so that it could become a tourist attraction. It has now become one of the most go-too tourist attractions in all of New Zealand and is somewhat of a Mecca for Tolkien fans. This is one huge set. Everything is real (except for some of the food placed on tables). The only thing missing were actual Hobbits. The flora and fauna are all cared for daily. All of the Hobbit homes are permanent, exterior locations. They have no interiors as interior scenes were shot elsewhere on soundstages. Following are only a fraction of the pictures we took. They speak for themselves. Just a Tolkien Geek's paradise. Even people who are not fans thoroughly enjoy the beauty and creativity of this set. The blue sky, blue water, and green fields were captivating. It was obvious that the set is kept well-irrigated as NZ has been experiencing somewhat of a drought lately. That is why is the hills that are outside of the set are brown while the set itself is gloriously green. Bilbo Baggins' home built right into the hill exactly as it was rebuilt for the latest films. The actual bench that the actor playing Bilbo sits in outside his home when visited by Gandalf the Wizard in The Hobbit. On our way to The Green Dragon for a complimentary 'pint.' We saw an entire group of sheep dutifully walking along in single file. Hilarious! Over the bridge that features so prominently in the film on the way to The Green Dragon on the other side. The Mill. The Green Dragon tavern itself. One of the bars inside The Green Dragon. Drinking with my Mother-In-Law - always a good thing. A real roaring fire. A dozing cat by the fire. Jody spontaneously put on one of the outfits hanging on a coat rack. I so love this tree which figures so prominently in all of the films. In closing, I highly recommend visiting Hobbiton for anyone fortunate enough to visit NZ. A very feel-good experience and a film lovers paradise.
|
Dick StammerArchives
July 2017
Categories |