Then we hit the road for a bit of a hair-raising ride in the dark with lots of rain. After buying beer (there are important things in life!), we found the campervan park. Ick. Not our favorite place to stay, for sure. Hot water, but not much cleanliness in the shower, and the bathrooms were unisex because of renovations. Pretty funny.
We got up early and headed into Matamta for the Hobbiton tour. The Hobbiton set was built on a local sheep farm. The contract specified that everything would be returned to its original state once filming was done, but rain prevented that for awhile and the film asked for an extension, which was grantd. The restoration was never completed because by the time the weather was more conducive, people had been searching for the location and the owners of the farm (3 brothers) smelled a revenue opportunity. They opened a tour company and the remaining sets were left in situ, of which one is Bag End.
It's an absolutely lovely spot. None of the same colors and plants, of course, but still they've done a nice job of labeling things, and our guide Theresa was charming and enthusiastic. We were in a group with a couple from Pueblo, for pete's sake, and a girl from Marseille, France, named Méroé, who was SO absolutely delighted to be on a set of the movie. She got these faraway looks on her face, so happy to have some experience of the movies. She was traveling with her mother who had not seen the movies (what IS it with some parents, anyway ;>), so was clueless about her daughter exclaiming, "Here is where Mordor was! I want to go to Hobbiton!" and so forth. We got her email address and will send her our pictures of Edoras, and I gave her our blog address.
The tour really was enjoyable. I wasn't sure, but it turned out to be just grand, and we, once again, couldn't have asked for better weather. The pictures are very pretty. Including several of BD, who had a great time. She liked being in the window of Bag End. One of the guys on the tour held her from behind so she didn't fall down. As I said earlier, other people have really gotten into the idea of having BD participate, it's been very fun.
Of course we did the touristy thing and bought a few Hobbiton souvenirs. Including SobeRing Thoughts, the beer the film company commissioned at the Harrison brewery in Nelson. The thought was good--they figured that the Hobbits would be happier with the long hours of filming, and look happier, if they actually gave them real beer. But of course, couldn't be full strength or pretty soon no one would care what was going on . So they had a 1% brand brewed up, which the tour company now sells.
It is absolutely dreadful, just not worth the water it took to make it! I took a sip and stopped. And to add insult to injury, the label is glued on with industrial-strength glue and can't be removed to take home. Drat! But I got pictures, anyway.
We stopped by a wonderful computer store, Hurricane Computers, after the tour, to see if the netbook can be fixed. No joy--hard drive is gone, couldn't even get my journal off of it. Sigh. We still have our pictures on our camera cards, but all the work I've done in Picasa, labeling pictures and journaling, is gone. Have to start over when I get home. I grieved for it over a couple of (good) beers, I've found I really like blogging with pictures. Sigh. Netbooks are great, but don't drop them. I think a Mac or other more robust notebook might have survived.
Went to lunch in a grand small place, a bar on the main street of Matamata. We've had absolutely splendid food, in the most unpreposessing places. Absolutely fabulous! Today it was seafood chowder for me, lamb sandwich for Nancy, lovely white "pizza" for Terry. All were tasty, hot and cooked perfectly. And this is not uncommon! Literally, any little place you go has great food.
Then back on the road, heading for Auckland and a campervan park near the airport. Tomorrow is packing, which will be interesting.... we've picked up quite a few "memories". Then we fly to Sydney for a couple of days.
Here's Tarquin and BD in the cafe we stopped for coffee in. Patient cat, wonderful date scones, lovely woman named Maria who was very taken with BD and the embroidery I'd done on her blouse. 
Nancy, Maria, Terry. Terry and I each bought a lovely bone carving from a local artist--named Bones! Maria took our addresses so that he could send us a picture and explanation of what we'd bought. We were glad we stopped.
And here we are in Napier, on the Marine Parade, with Hawkes Bay in the background. Manhandling Ralph around a busy sea-side town was an interesting challenge, but we survived. We are currently in our most expensive campervan park (54NZD), but the bathrooms are splendid!
Wanted to go to The Grail Winery, because we liked the name and the tasting room is in a pub. But the pub didn't open until 2:00, which was a half hour or so away, and we wanted to fill the time.
Having learned of Matariki at Stonehenge, we of course had to visit a winery called the same thing. Trevor, the fellow who served us our tastings, told us they'd named it that because the rising of Matariki means the new year, new beginnings, and that's what the winery was for them.
Just a lovely spot. We heard more birds in the few hours we were there than we have anywhere else, including in the US. Just amazing, the number and frequency of birdsong. Beautiful.
We didn't make it far out of Wellington, but we'd done a lot so we stopped a little early. At a lovely park-like camper park in Pahiatua.
After leaving Stonehenge, we saw the sun coming through the clouds and managed to get some decent pictures.
The seven-pointed structure in the foreground is the Pleiades. To the Maori the time of year when Matariki can first be seen rising, which this year is May 20, is the end of the year.
Winter Solstice stone through one of the openings. All the openings and placements were first planned and modeled by computer.
Then on to an absolutely magical place, Stonehenge Aotearoa. It's an adaptation (their word) of Stonehenge in England. Not a replica, but a working model of the heavens, incorporating navigation from the Polynesians, starlore from the Maori and the Celts, and knowledge from the Egyptians, Indus Valley and a couple of other cultures I can't remember at the moment. Just a fabulous thing, built out of concrete and stone and oriented on the sun, moon and stars.
One in particular was NOT happy that we were in the way. I got out of Ralph to try to help shoe the cattle in the right direction. This girl eventually went, but not before letting me know that she was NOT happy.
On the road again, making pretty good time until we were slowed down by some escaped cattle! Pretty funny for us, though of course the poor owners were not nearly so enchanted. These cattle were really enjoying the forbidden fruit of the roadside grasses. You see one of the owners in the background turning the girls back. They had to go around our van, of course, and some of them weren't too happy about that.
The last night in Wellington we went to the new Star Trek movie, and just loved it! It was a good way to get away from the hustle of Wellington. Very busy city, that!
I loved this one! So much of tattooing seems SO very serious to me, but this cracked me up.
Then we went to the National Tattoo Museum in Wellington. Whether or not it's an official museum I have no idea, but it was interesting. Lots of people have had lots of tattoos over the years, and have had their pictures taken. This was my 2nd favorite, a very typical NZ symbol of the unfurling fern, representing new beginnings. One of the Maori names for it is the Koru. Very graceful and beautiful.
There's a room filled entirely with figures that Weta has sold but which are no longer available. Heaven for LOTR fans, I'll tell you!
Used in the LOTR movies, and every bit as impressive up close as it is on screen. Typical of Weta detail. They strive to make works of art and they do.
We just happened to be there when John Howe was doing a signing. We didn't have him sign anything -- the line was too long and it's a teeny place--but still it was wonderful to be there at that time. He took a lot of time with each person in line too, as lovely a person as Alan Lee when the Smial hosted him in Denver.
We went to Weta! Something of little interest to anyone but LOTR fans, probably, but it was really cool.
