aquila_dominus (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} aquila_dominus) wrote,@ 2007-12-30 01:40:00 |
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New Zealand Days 1 & 2
Disregard any posting date this may actually have, it was written 5:45pm on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 New Zealand time. That's 11:45pm on the 28th for those of you in the Eastern Time Zone and 10:45pm on the 28th for those of you in the Central Time Zone and the rest of you can figure it out for yourselves ;-)
Departure from LA, 8:00pm Wed Dec 26, 2007. Arrival Auckland, NZ, 5:50am Fri Dec 28, 2007
The flight was... long. Air New Zealand is a wonderful carrier but there is only so nice you can make a 12+ hour flight for those flying in economy class. It was interesting having the reddish glow of dawn chasing us for the last hour and a half of the flight. Customs was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be but I had to wait nearly 30 minutes to get the car and I'm a 'fastrack' customer. We left the airport in our now standard configuration: Me, behind the wheel of the car on the right hand side;cluegirl, in the passenger seat on the left side of the car with the job of keeping me on the correct side of the road; Oldersis, in the back seat with the maps as the navigator. To give you an idea of how the flight can effect someone, Clue got in on the right side of the car and did not notice the steering wheel. So anyway, we set forth to go the the Auckland Botanic Gardens and wait till we could check in to the hotel.
The gardens are wonderful and there will be only a few photos to show them off as I was... not really there. We had breakfast at the caffe and then took the 'Nature Trail' walk. I really would like to be able to visit the gardens again sometime when I can be more coherent, but I do not expect that to be this trip, which is a shame. In our state of mind, we just were not able to do the gardens justice and certainly not as a photographer. We stayed at the gardens until noon and then went to see if we could check in to the hotel early.
This was harder than we thought it would be as we couldn't actually find the hotel itself. Took a few wrong turns, that sort of thing and then stopped for directions. We found the hotel and while not a bad place I did not feel 'right' there. The main inhabitants were long term stay Islanders and we white folk rather stood out. Once we got to the room we took a two hour nap to try and bring ourselves into the world of the living. It mostly worked. We then walked down to the Bar & Baa where we ordered dinner. Clue the King Prawns, Oldersis the lamb and myself the whiskey fillet. While Oldersis and I had a bottle of local wine (my first for a sweet Sauvignon Blanc) Clue ordered an 'Illusion'. It came in a full shaker and excepting the ice it was entirely alcohol. We then walked back to the hotel where we just unwound for a while. Bedtime came at 9:30 or so local.
Saturday, Dec 29, 2007
We all awoke in the morning, before 7:30 and started the prep to head out. We went to a local bakery/breakfast place and had a good meal to start the day. We left the hotel itself at 9:00am to get to Matamata in time for the noon Hobbiton tour. The drive was lovely, though there were not enough places to step out and get shots of the fantastic scenery. Finding the location was fairly easy, we then bought tickets and went to buy towels for the tubing tomorrow. Then was the trip. If you come to New Zealand; make plans for the Hobbiton tour. It is well worth the price of admission. The place is serene, the tour informational and my photos of the site will not do it justice. Lots of photos on this part of the trip. We got to stand in Bag End, we got to touch the party tree, which is amazing, we got to cross the party field and we got to see a place of magic. I learned a great many things, including the fact that the scourging of the Shire was actually filmed... 5 times, but they never came up with footage they could accept. Just an outstanding place. LOTS of photos here, not sure when I'll get them posted however.
After the tour was the drive to Waitamo for our stay in the Hobbit Hotel. This place is awesome. Again, there are photos. This place has as rooms: The last Allied plane to fly out of Vietnam (2 rooms, one in the nose; one in the tail), it has a boat... not sure of the story on that one or how many rooms, it has a 1950s rail car converted into two rooms and lastly, it has 2 Hobbit Holes. As we pulled into the drive, Clue looked up and said "There's a horse on our roof... no, wait... I think it's a donkey." Sure enough, there is a donkey (Stormy) that grazes on the roof... along with a pig and several sheep. Very lord of the ringsish :-). Clue was also the first of us into the room and met us at the front door... bouncing. The second bedroom is full of bunk beds, which she just found way too cool. I have pics and they will go up when I get the chance. Tonight we are indulging in a Merlot from New Zealand and later will be heading out for dinner someplace local.
Tomorrow we will start the adventure with tubing through the caves here Waitamo and then heading to Rotorua to check out the cool stuff there.
Disregard any posting date this may actually have, it was written 5:45pm on Saturday, Dec 29, 2007 New Zealand time. That's 11:45pm on the 28th for those of you in the Eastern Time Zone and 10:45pm on the 28th for those of you in the Central Time Zone and the rest of you can figure it out for yourselves ;-)
Departure from LA, 8:00pm Wed Dec 26, 2007. Arrival Auckland, NZ, 5:50am Fri Dec 28, 2007
The flight was... long. Air New Zealand is a wonderful carrier but there is only so nice you can make a 12+ hour flight for those flying in economy class. It was interesting having the reddish glow of dawn chasing us for the last hour and a half of the flight. Customs was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be but I had to wait nearly 30 minutes to get the car and I'm a 'fastrack' customer. We left the airport in our now standard configuration: Me, behind the wheel of the car on the right hand side;
cluegirl, in the passenger seat on the left side of the car with the job of keeping me on the correct side of the road; Oldersis, in the back seat with the maps as the navigator. To give you an idea of how the flight can effect someone, Clue got in on the right side of the car and did not notice the steering wheel. So anyway, we set forth to go the the Auckland Botanic Gardens and wait till we could check in to the hotel.The gardens are wonderful and there will be only a few photos to show them off as I was... not really there. We had breakfast at the caffe and then took the 'Nature Trail' walk. I really would like to be able to visit the gardens again sometime when I can be more coherent, but I do not expect that to be this trip, which is a shame. In our state of mind, we just were not able to do the gardens justice and certainly not as a photographer. We stayed at the gardens until noon and then went to see if we could check in to the hotel early.
This was harder than we thought it would be as we couldn't actually find the hotel itself. Took a few wrong turns, that sort of thing and then stopped for directions. We found the hotel and while not a bad place I did not feel 'right' there. The main inhabitants were long term stay Islanders and we white folk rather stood out. Once we got to the room we took a two hour nap to try and bring ourselves into the world of the living. It mostly worked. We then walked down to the Bar & Baa where we ordered dinner. Clue the King Prawns, Oldersis the lamb and myself the whiskey fillet. While Oldersis and I had a bottle of local wine (my first for a sweet Sauvignon Blanc) Clue ordered an 'Illusion'. It came in a full shaker and excepting the ice it was entirely alcohol. We then walked back to the hotel where we just unwound for a while. Bedtime came at 9:30 or so local.
Saturday, Dec 29, 2007
We all awoke in the morning, before 7:30 and started the prep to head out. We went to a local bakery/breakfast place and had a good meal to start the day. We left the hotel itself at 9:00am to get to Matamata in time for the noon Hobbiton tour. The drive was lovely, though there were not enough places to step out and get shots of the fantastic scenery. Finding the location was fairly easy, we then bought tickets and went to buy towels for the tubing tomorrow. Then was the trip. If you come to New Zealand; make plans for the Hobbiton tour. It is well worth the price of admission. The place is serene, the tour informational and my photos of the site will not do it justice. Lots of photos on this part of the trip. We got to stand in Bag End, we got to touch the party tree, which is amazing, we got to cross the party field and we got to see a place of magic. I learned a great many things, including the fact that the scourging of the Shire was actually filmed... 5 times, but they never came up with footage they could accept. Just an outstanding place. LOTS of photos here, not sure when I'll get them posted however.
After the tour was the drive to Waitamo for our stay in the Hobbit Hotel. This place is awesome. Again, there are photos. This place has as rooms: The last Allied plane to fly out of Vietnam (2 rooms, one in the nose; one in the tail), it has a boat... not sure of the story on that one or how many rooms, it has a 1950s rail car converted into two rooms and lastly, it has 2 Hobbit Holes. As we pulled into the drive, Clue looked up and said "There's a horse on our roof... no, wait... I think it's a donkey." Sure enough, there is a donkey (Stormy) that grazes on the roof... along with a pig and several sheep. Very lord of the ringsish :-). Clue was also the first of us into the room and met us at the front door... bouncing. The second bedroom is full of bunk beds, which she just found way too cool. I have pics and they will go up when I get the chance. Tonight we are indulging in a Merlot from New Zealand and later will be heading out for dinner someplace local.
Tomorrow we will start the adventure with tubing through the caves here Waitamo and then heading to Rotorua to check out the cool stuff there.