To the Interislander Ferry and Picton (and the start of an unexpected adventure)

We got up bright and early the next day to make it to the Interislander Ferry that crosses Cook Strait to the South Island. It’s huge, and even though we’d been on it before, it’s always very impressive. We’d even worked out a routine. As soon as we were allowed to leave our cars, we made a beeline to the our preferred seating area (comfy reclining chairs on Deck 7, with a great view out large windows facing the bow of the ship and, mercifully, no TV), and the kids went to check out what movies were showing. Once we got under way, Lucy spent lots of time outside on the observation decks trying to somehow capture it all in photos and fix the breathtaking views in her mind so she could relive it all when she was back again in the prairie!

We arrived in Picton (on the South Island) at lunchtime, so we found our way downtown to a pleasant café where we could sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. There was a nice view of the bay and the ferry landing, and after lunch Lucy and Emily jumped up to go take a quick photo of the WW I memorial in front of the water. Just as in Europe, WW I memorials are everywhere. Curiously, it seems that WW I still occupies a bigger place in the psyches of New Zealanders than WW II, which came very close to their own shores (many of the war memorials have what looks like little addendum inscriptions to the fallen from WW II placed somewhere on the memorials). Apparently, many, many Kiwis fought and died for the Queen in WW I. (I just looked this up, and as a percent of population, twice as many New Zealanders (1.5%) died in WW I as in WW II, so I guess that explains it).

As we ran off to take that photo, Lucy didn’t realize she had left her purse (containing the entire family’s passports) on the back of the café chair. As you might expect, this is only the beginning of the story….

Bungee Jumping and Weta Studios

No, we didn’t bungee jump – but we did stop on the way to Wellington to watch two young women bungee jump together, and that was enough of a thrill! (They were bungee jumping over a gorge where more LoTR scenes were shot, so we got a 2-for-1 deal by taking the short detour!) You can barely see the two women hanging by their ankles and being lowered down to the boat in the river. Apparently, they enjoyed it. Go figure.

When we got to Wellington, our first stop was at Weta Studios, the special effects studio that was responsible for Lord of the Rings, the Narnia movies, lots of Avatar, and many other movies. You can’t tour the studio since they have all sorts of proprietary/secret projects going on, but they have a little museum/shop/theater, and that was fun. It was inspiring to see how a couple of artists were able to build a fun, creative and successful business that supports many other artists and creative people doing fun, original work. A nice inspiration for those of us starting a new business!

On to Mordor

After the much-anticipated Zorb experience, the next stop was the Tongariro Crossing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongariro_Alpine_Crossing) – an all-day strenuous hike across the volcanic Tongariro pass in the North Island (it’s one of the most dramatic hikes in NZ and a World Heritage site). Because of the altitude, December is the earliest that they recommend attempting this crossing, and alas, the weather gods did not smile on us. On the day we planned to do the crossing winds were gusting up to 70 km/hour at the pass, and no buses were running to the trailhead. So we decided to go see the Whakapapa Ski area (which served as Mordor in the Lord of the Rings movie) and then go hiking at lower altitudes. It was really chilly and windy at Whakapapa (in Maori, “wh” is pronounced “f”, so you’ll want to enunciate that word very carefully), and we were quite happy we hadn’t attempted the Crossing! The weather suited the place, though, and it really did look rather evil (the volcanic black rock also added to the sinister feeling). Ben helped us identify exact locations for various scenes. You could almost see the Orcs coming up the hill.

It was relief to descend to lower altitudes and spend the rest of the day hiking in beautiful, warm weather on the Taranaki Falls track. Ben especially enjoyed this hike because it did look very “Lord of the Rings” (LoTR from here on). We even had time after that hike to drive to another LoTR location, which included another dramatic waterfall – Mangawhero Falls. (We were greatly helped in our LoTR location quest by a location book that we bought early in our NZ stay.)

The next day, the weather was better, and some of the hikers who stayed with us at the lodge decided to extend their stay in order to make the hike that day. (One of the hikers was from Germany and had tried to make the Crossing 17 years before, only to be stymied by bad weather. We felt happy for him that he was finally able to do it!) However, we were on a tight schedule and had to leave in time to make the ferry to the South Island, so we couldn’t stay another day (and to tell the truth, it still looked awfully cold and windy!). We did resolve that if our knees hold out, we’ll try to return to make the Crossing sometime in the next 17 years! Next time, we’ll make our attempt in February, when the weather is warmer.

New Year's Resolution

Finish the blog.

In less than six months.

(fingers crossed)

(what was my flickr password?)

Remember, click on the picture to go the photo album on flickr.