New Zealand - South Island

 

Once we had our fill of Hobbits and local BBQ, it was time to head to the South Island.

 

Riley is ready to go, time to pick up the RV!

So the RV place took over 3 hours...  Not cool, especially since our first drive was supposed to be 5 hours, they were telling us that due to rain and wind expect 8!!!  We left the RV place just before dinner basically, and literally we weren't happy campers.  To top it off, we had an appointment to go to the top of a glacier the next day, which was in jeopardy due to weather.  Anyway, we headed out slowly thru the New Zealand Alps, finally arriving white knuckled and exhausted in Franz Josef at about 2am...

Here is our RV at 7am with the glacier behind it.  GAME ON!!!

In the helicopter on the way up.

One of my favorites.

Trying to avoid snow blindness.

Bucket list item #1:  snowball fight on glacier, check.

At the bottom, while waiting on the ladies coffee run, I saw this class act.

Speaking of class acts, we probably have time for a few head shots.

Decided this is the only one he will need.

Dr. Seuss trees.

Heading out from Franz Josef to Queenstown.

Nice one!

Deer farms were plentiful and many of the menus offered venison, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We opted for a bus tour out to Milford Sound, this one and the next few were on the way.

Oh yeah, sweet delicious glacier water.

Speaking of sweet.

Tucked away in a rain forest path, we encountered a New Zealand pigeon, which was about the size of a chicken!

A kea, the world's only alpine parrot...

While returning the glacier water to the wild, I spotted this gem.  How come it is only in Chinese?!?!?

Bucket list item #2 for Reid:  check.

True

We stopped in Invercargill (at the world's Southernmost Starbucks) and then trekked out to Dunedin.  Lilly and I are posing in order to get 20rmb back on this sweet backpack.  We are in the midst of a petrified forest.  Oh, and yes, Lilly still had the Maori people in mind.

Again, just for the 20rmb...

At McLean Falls.

The Nugget Point lighthouse.  Drizzly and windy, but felt like walking thru a Sherlock Holmes book so still pretty cool.  I guess those are nuggets in the water?

The end of the rainbow!

In Dunedin the next day, hit a farmers market that was awesome.  Not sure about using Nemo to peddle fish tho.  Grabbed some cured meats, cheese, fruit, etc. and had lunch in the park.

Really?!?  Asahi at "The Bund"?  That's just wrong, I expect better than that from every country except mine...

Another Dr. Suess tree.  I think this one was called a Cabbage Tree.

Brad offering scale for the albatross.

Ooooooohhhhhhhh!  Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Today wasn't windy at all, this tree has just had a rough life.

A rare yellow eyed penguin.  Took about 50 pics of him...

Shhhhhh, you'll wake the seal!

Posers.

Penguin bathroom.  Reid and Sydney said it squirted out like toothpaste.  Is it singing?!?

We were about 5 feet from this one.

Went to a nursery after that, another 50 pics...

We don't get many like these in China, it basically just gradually gets dark.

We had a whale watch cancellation the morning of our flight, so we toured Christchurch a bit. The downtown was still recovering from the earthquakes a few years ago.

I'll let you guess what type of whale was on the men's.  Here is a hint:  it's crass and a real type of whale.  Yes, I have a picture.

New Zealand - North Island

For Easter, we decided to head to New Zealand for a whirlwind tour with some great friends!  Below are the shots from the North Island, where we spent a few days.  Basically, we flew into Auckland and drove down to Rotorua, then drove around a bit and back.  South Island blog to follow...

We started with a boat tour of Lake Taupo, formed by a volcano.

Yes, it was a little creepy thinking that this thing could totally blow up any minute...

Next, one of the highlights for Lilly - a Maori village in Rotorua.  Here we are greeted by a Haka, a traditional "challenge dance".  Basically, behave yourselves in our village.

Maori games.  Everyone holds a stick, they yell out "right" or "left" and you have to let go of yours, go in the correct direction, grab the stick before it hits the ground.  Fun for all ages.  Reid has the lime green hood and is basically dropping his stick and watching the one he should be grabbing fall...

Brad hanging over a pit where they cooked a "Hangi" dinner.  Basically a New Zealand luau (sorry Maori people!).  Yes, I am already drawing up plans for one when we repatriate.

Now this is a haka!

This is the chief; the tongue out to end the haka means "we will eat you if necessary".

Months later Lilly stills says how much she likes the Maori people and that they stick their tongues out.

Stopping by the redwoods for some posing.

Why yes, this iconic picture does look familiar from such movies as "The Hobbit"!  Bilbo lives under the tree at the top of the hill, in case you forgot.

Here we are in front of Bilbo's house.  Why yes, that is a kangaroo skin hat.  Thanks, I agree that it is amazing.

OK, so here is the cool part.  The boys are standing in front of a "human" sized hobbit hole.  So, this would be where they filmed approaches from the actors playing humans.

Perfect fit!

This is a "hobbit" sized hole.  So, those actors playing hobbits would be going in and out of this one.  They also had some that were in between sizes to help everything transition during the helicopter approaches.

Brad could never play a hobbit, that's for sure!

What's wrong with this picture?  Answer at the bottom...

Capped the visit to Hobbiton off with a beer in The Green Dragon.  Everything is better in the hat.

Oh my, just cute as a button.  What is she ready for?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I gotta get me one of these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

So those were some of the highlights.  I could have added about 250 pictures of the gorgeous landscape, but I will spare you.  The answer to the riddle:  Riley is picking an APPLE.  There were no apples referenced in the books, only plums.  However, plum trees grow too large.  So, they planted a dwarf apple tree and picked it clean, then taped on plum leaves for the movie.  It recovered just fine.