Day 3: A Hobbit Village

Thursday, March 12

We checked out of our fancy hotel in Auckland and made our way to Hobbiton, Middle Earth (aka Matamata, New Zealand).   

What?   You didn't know this place was real?  

Well, it is, and it's as charming and beautiful as it looks!

The stunning location  was discovered by a location scout in a helicopter and somehow the film producers talked the owners of the working sheep farm into giving up a portion of their bucolic little paradise to build a hobbit village.    The knolls, the pond, and the  rustic trees provided a perfect backdrop for the hobbit homes and it's not hard to see why Peter Jackson (producer of LOTR and Hobbit trilogies) ultimately picked this location over other potential sites.    

The hobbit houses were made in 60-100% scale, so that people could be made to look taller or shorter based on which size of house they were standing next to.   For instance Gandalf would be filmed next to a 60% scale house, so it would look like he was towering over it.   Hobbits and dwarves were filmed next to the 90-100% scale houses to make it look like it was just the right size for them.  Interestingly all the outdoor shots were done on-site there in Hobbiton, but all of the indoor filming of hobbit houses was done in the studio in Wellington.

This hobbit house was  built to 60% scale…making us look like giants! 

This house, however, was at 90% scale, which made Cami look just about the perfect hobbit size!  

For the Lord of the Rings movies, the hobbit village was created using temporary  materials, which meant that they didn't last long past the filming.  After the smashing success of the LOTR movies, they decided that for the Hobbit series,  they would use materials which could potentially last about 50-years.   The farm owners and Peter Jackson now have a lucrative partnership going that keeps this location hopping with tourists from all over the world.

Even if you weren't a huge fan, it's not hard to be enchanted by Peter Jackson's attention to detail in the creation of the individual hobbit homes.   There are curtains and knickknacks in the windows…

flowers and gardens blooming…

…and props in the yard to show what the livelihood of the hobbit was that "lived" in that house...

Outside a beekeeper hobbit's home

They even artificially aged everything to make it look even more realistic.   The moss on the fence is actually a mixture of paint, glue, and sawdust...

We were interested to learn that all hobbit extras used in the films were hired from the surrounding community, and had to be 5'4" or under, with naturally curly hair, and couldn't have too straight of teeth.  Ellie was tickled to know that she would have qualified on 2/3 of the stipulations.  :)   

All in all, even though the tour was canned and touristy, it was still completely delightful to see the charming scenes from a well-loved movie come to life.   Ellie enjoyed trying on hobbit clothing at  Green Dragon Inn and everyone was happy to have the opportunity to "meet" Gandalf the Gray!

To me, this visit to Hobbiton encapsulated a lot of what New Zealand is all about…beauty, ingenuity, and charm.   It's one of the locations that we visited on our trip, that I would actually go back and happily visit again someday.   If nothing else, just to take in the loveliness of the surroundings! 

 After that, we drove an hour or so  to our new place of habitation ( a house on Lake Tarawera) and Glen and the girls prepared  coconut crusted mahimahi for dinner.   Glen, Adam, and Spence had caught the mahimahi just the day before and it was surprisingly delicious, especially considering we rarely eat seafood because of Glen's allergy to a lot of it!

The new house was beautifully situated overlooking the stunning Lake Tarawera and we liked having the room to spread out.   The only couple of things that left a little to be desired, was the fact that  the wifi only worked in a 5-foot radius around the router and the water pump wasn't working at all for the first 12-hours we were there, which meant we had no water to flush toilets, to brush teeth, to drink, or to wash dishes.   It was a long, thirsty first night there, but thankfully it was fixed first thing in the morning and it proved to be a great homebase for the 2nd leg of our New Zealand adventures.

Stay tuned for more!   

New Zealand: Volcanoes, Sharks, and Cyclones...Oh My!

On Wednesday morning (which was actually Tuesday around lunchtime for most of you), we woke up to this lovely sunrise over Auckland.    We oohed and ahed over it and marveled at the sun's daily journey around the world.  

Shortly after that bit of gorgeousness to start the day,  we split off into two groups--the boys on an exciting ocean fishing voyage and the girls  volcano hiking adventure.  

Glen and the boys took the car and only got a little lost (arriving over an hour late to their charter), while us girls walked to the harbor and caught a ferry to Rangitoto Island! 

Auckland sits over a geologic hot spot and is dotted with over 50 volcanic cones within a few miles.   Most of them only ever erupt once and geologists anticipate that any future volcanic activity in the area will likely not originate from an existing volcano, but will be a new one that just pops up wherever the next hot spot happens to be.   

Last erupting about 600-years ago, Rangitoto Volcano is the newest of all the volcanoes near Auckland.  The entire island was formed when a crack in the seabed opened up and lava started flowing upward, and eventually erupting into a full blown volcano.  

Hardened lava is  the bedrock here and every plant that grows is popping out of solid rock.  

It was a challenging uphill hike that took us over an hour...

but it was well worth the view we got from the top when we did arrive! 

We had a lot of complaining going on during the upwards part of the hike, but everyone was all smiles once we got to the top.  

We enjoyed the views from every angle...

…then hiked on a little further to walk through a lava cave.


Lava caves (aka lava tubes) are formed when the lava flows and part of it cools and forms a hard crust as it is exposed to the air, while lava still flows freely underneath.  The cave here on Rangitoto are almost like a tunnel and we decided to walk all the way through one of them.    It was dark and very rough going, but there was a little natural "skylight" that let in just enough light to make it through without getting injured.

 Afterwards, we slipped and slid our way down the volcano and back to the ferry.   It was definitely a New Zealand adventure we won't soon forget! 

Meanwhile out on the ocean, the boys were having a heyday!   They caught loads of fish between them!

...including this albacore tuna that Adam caught ...

and this 6-1/2 foot mako shark that Spencer reeled in!   

Yes, that's real.  And yes, these pictures completely freak me out.    

And I'm trying not to freak out yet, but there is potentially very large cyclone heading this way this weekend.  Cyclone Pam is expected to become a category 5 storm tomorrow and if it hits New Zealand, will be the largest storm in recorded history to ever hit NZ.   But if the track changes it may stay east and miss us completely.    

We can do sharks and volcanoes, but gigantic cyclones are one New Zealand adventure we could do without! 

  

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New Zealand: Day 1

Day 1 of Spencer's Make-a-Wish trip to New Zealand:

Sunday afternoon we were picked up IN A LIMO to take us to the airport!!!!   

This completely delighted every member of our family and they couldn't wait to get in, press all the buttons, and try out the drink bar!   

It was so exciting, in fact, that Glen left his computer bag on the limo.    The computer bag that contained all the details of our trip, including the phone number for the limo company.    After a good deal of scrambling and making desperate phone calls to people who might be able to help us, we finally  got his bag back…about 45-minutes later.  Good thing we had arrived to the airport nice and early!   

Eventually we made it to the gate and  got settled in for the long haul ride to NZ.  

First a 6-hour flight to Los Angeles, then a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to Auckland!   

We arrived about 6:00am on Tuesday local time and couldn't wait to get out and explore, but first we had to make it through customs and baggage claim.   Good thing the Auckland airport has plenty of island flair that kept us excited while we waited in the long lines.    Here was some Maori decor...

And of course there were some Lord of the Rings teasers as well.   This statue of Gimli  even had a sign in front of it that declared that it was on loan from Middle Earth!

We drove straight from the airport to Piha Beach, which in our estimation is a little slice of heaven right on earth!  

We hiked to the top of the Sleeping Lion Rock, which had originally been a Maori fishing settlement.  There wasn't a lot to see there...

except some of the most stunning views in the universe! 

The waves and rocks make the beach too rough for swimming, but the soft black sands were perfect for taking off our shoes and wading just a bit!  

 After exploring there for a while we drove a couple of miles and took a hike to Kitekite Waterfall.   Between the exotic foliage, the loudness of the insects, and the swooping birds, we felt like we were walking through a tropical jungle to get there.     The walk was slightly challenging (especially for our jet-lagged bodies), but the waterfall was stunning and provided a perfect backdrop for some New Zealand family photos! 

By the time we left there everyone was STARVING, like only a teenager who is late eating their lunch, but who's body thinks it's already dinnertime can feel.  We stopped at first place that we saw, which happened to be this little hole-in-the-wall,  Piha Cafe.   We gobbled down the hearty, but healthy fare and hoped that the rest of New Zealand food will prove as delicious as this!

Afterward we checked into our hotel, which was absolutely amazing.   We have a corner suite, with a kitchen, three bedrooms….

... and a stunning view of Auckland!  

It was an amazing first day of our dream journey and we can't wait to keep exploring this beautiful land! 

Spencer's Make-A-Wish Trip!

In case you haven't figured it out by now, Spencer's wish was to go to New Zealand!!!! 

At the time they asked what his wish was (when he was cooped up in the hospital room for months on end), I think that his train of thought was "How far away can I possibly get from this hospital room?" and he picked the furthest place in the world that his brain could think of.   Sitting down with the volunteers and perusing New Zealand websites was something that brought Spencer so much hope and excitement in those dark days, but it seemed totally surreal to us that it  would ever happen.  We had the leukemia to get through first, then waiting on pins and needles praying he wouldn't be among the 50% of patients with his type of leukemia that relapsed in that first year, then the patience waiting for the Make-a-Wish volunteers to coordinate a HUGE trip for a family of seven.  As such, we didn't hear a word from them for about 2-1/2 years and we honestly had begun to believe that this trip would ever happen.

Now it's almost three years later and it's finally happening.  We picked up Spencer from JMU last night, who is now officially on spring break, and tomorrow we are taking off for the trip-of-a-lifetime!!!!  

We have a busy day packing and getting ready to go, so for your enjoyment here are some random facts about Make-A-Wish and about New Zealand:

• New Zealand is nearly 9000 miles away from home, 18-hours ahead on the clock (which will feel like 6), and is Spencer's dream destination!  

• Lying at over 1000 miles away from Australia, NZ is considered the most isolated of major land masses of the world and is not considered a part of any continent.  Technically it is considered part of Oceania, which also includes many of the other islands of the Pacific.  

• It was the last of the major land masses to be inhabited by humans.  Scientists believe that even the Maori arrived less than 1000 years ago.   

• There are NO native mammals on NZ, except bats….not even rats and mice.  There are plenty of mammals now, but none that were native when humans arrived.   

• Without the mammals as enemies, the birds in NZ thrived and created a vibrant and varied population of birds that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.  

• Lying at about 41º South, Wellington, NZ is the southernmost capital in the entire world.   

• Timezone wise New Zealand and Hawaii are 23-hours apart, but it only feels like 1-hour.  For instance, if it's 2:00pm on Saturday in Wellington, New Zealand, it's 3:00pm on Friday in Honolulu.  So it only feels like it's an hour difference, but in actuality it's on two different days. 

• Make-a-Wish grants thousands of wishes each year to children between the ages of 2-1/2 - 18 who have faced life-threatening illnesses.   It is NOT a requirement that the child be terminally ill, rather it is meant to be a way to give them hope and something to look forward to while they are facing the darkness and uncertainty of their lives being turned upside-down during their sickness.   

• As of 8:00am on Saturday, we still have ZERO idea what we'll be doing on this trip, other than we are leaving tomorrow.  Make-a-Wish has kept all the details a total surprise from us and will only be revealed to us later today (about 24-hours before we leave)!  

We are SO excited!   

Ice, Ice, Baby…and a Frog!

We walked out of church yesterday, the first time we've had church in 3 weeks, and found our car completely encased in ice.   I rolled down the window in an effort to start getting rid of some of the ice and had to laugh when this happened….

Thankfully the roads weren't actually all that bad and we arrived home safe and sound.   The sidewalks and driveways, however, were another story and proved to be the most precipitous part of our trip.    School was cancelled yet again, and it was easy to see why when we woke to this sight in front of our house….

Even the snow was encased in a shimmery layer of ice...

Cami had fun demonstrating the slipperiness of conditions for all you dear readers.  

So we decided to hunker down and do what any crazy homeschooling family does on a snow day...

Dissect earthworms and frogs.   

The kids have been literally BEGGING me (especially Cami) to do it for weeks, and I finally relented today.  I was happy to have kids old enough to be independent about it, so I could just be the supervisor printing off diagrams and showing them videos about how to do it.  

They still have some more school work to get done, then we are all going to sit down and do a little "homework" getting ready for Spencer's Make-a-Wish trip that is only one week away!!!!!!

Any more guesses?   

We are so excited!   

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