June 24, Tuesday
Everywhere we went, there was breathtaking
scenery. He gave us plenty of time to take pictures. I also took a lot of videos
of him explaining things. After that, we went back to the van and he took us to
Bennett's Bluff Lookout. It was a little stop at the side of the road. He told
us that the scene from Fellowship of the Ring when they're walking through the
snow was filmed there. The snow was real and they were very cold. He said Peter
Jackson said that the best way to get people to act like it's cold, is to
actually be cold.
Next, we went to Glenorchy. I thought that was
very cool because we just flew over it yesterday. I remember thinking that it
would be hard for the people who live there to get what they need, but after being on today's tour, it doesn't seem too difficult. Apparently,
the population is only 200.
He drove us to a little parking area by a pier.
There's also a red shed there that apparently has been there for 100 years. We
walked out onto the pier but it was a little treacherous because it was all icy
but they had a metal grating (like a chain link fence) to make it so you didn't
slip and fall but there was a spot on the cement that was icy, too, but we did
OK.
He got out some drinks and snacks for us and we
had a little break.
This Orc head scared me this morning when it was early and I got in the tour van, but it's not as scary during the day.
Then we loaded back up in the van and drove to
the general store so we could use the bathrooms.
Beautiful fields along the way
Next, we went to (this is what the tour says:)
"Mt. Aspiring National Park to access this ancient forest and visit the
actual filming locations from Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, X-men Origins
Wolverine, Chronicles of Narnia, and more. View up the Dart and Routeburn
Valleys." The forest was pretty cool. There was a cow roaming around in
the road. Later, we saw a whole group of cows blocking the road. We parked at
the side of the road and then walked into the forest. It's the forest where
they enter and meet Galadriel and stay with the elves. That's where he got out
all the props and costumes and let us get some pictures.
I really wanted to dress up as Gandalf and hold
his staff and the sword and say, "You shall not pass!" So, I did and
got pictures and video so that was fun. We had fun holding Aragon's sword,
Legolas's knives, Gimli's helmet and ax, and Frodo's sword.
After that, we went to Dart Valley and went to
the farm where they filmed Isengard. Apparently, they are the only tour company
who gets to take people there. I guess the tour company owner knows the owner
of the farm and has a deal with him and they give him a royalty, as well.
Apparently, many of the locations were used in
multiple scenes and just disguised in different ways. It was so cool. He told
us a lot of cool stories and I got most of it on video.
Welcome mat inside the tour van
We got awesome pictures in every place. It was a
fantastic day! After our last tour stop, he drove us an hour back to
Queenstown. I almost fell asleep. It was a nice relaxing ride but I tried to
watch the scenery because I knew it was my last chance. He took us back to the
meeting spot. We were trying to
figure out where we could eat lunch. We had a couple of ideas that we looked up
on the way. Everything was super busy. I suggested the place I had found called The Cow and that's
where we ended up going. It's kind of hiding in a little alleyway, just like it
said on the reviews, but it was so cute that we couldn't resist. It was such a
neat place, even from the outside. I was excited that we could sit inside and
not have the doors open. It's like we stepped back in time 200 years when we
walked in there. It's the oldest restaurant in town and was built in the 1970s.
Apparently, the cows used to walk down a path that the restaurant sits on and
it's called Cow Lane.
Emily got a pepperoni pizza which was pretty
fancy and had real sliced tomatoes and onions on it. Michael and I got the
spaghetti bolognese but I got the half serving. We also got a
loaf of garlic bread which is the coolest loaf of garlic bread I've ever seen.
It was super garlicy.
Such a cool restaurant!
We enjoyed our delicious meal and then
headed out.
We thought this gondola ride to the top of the mountain looked so cool but terrifying! If we had more time, we might have tried it.
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Here is another view of the Fountain of Cones across the street.
Michael and Emily sat with the bags in their
little lobby area and I prepared the package with the shoes for Andrew so I
could take it to the post office. I walked over there and it was not too far.
It wasn't much further than the Patagonia place we went to yesterday. I had a hard time finding the post office but a nice lady showed
me exactly where to go. It was hidden away from the road along a pathway. It took a little time because I didn't really know what
I was doing. I had to fill out the customs form on my phone but the lady
was really nice and helped me do it. It was only $42 New Zealand so that was
super cheap, more like $24 US. As I left the
window and started heading out, I saw our two tour driver Tristen standing there.
We both laughed and he said how funny to see you here. I told him about sending
the shoes to Andrew and I thanked him again for the tour.
I couldn't resist
stopping at Cookie Muncher. I had wanted to try it yesterday but it was closed.
They sell edible cookie dough so I got a couple scoops of that in case Emily
wanted to try some and I got a variety of cookies for us to try.
Last view of the shopping area
I got a kick out of the yield signs that say "Give Way" instead of "Yield."
Michael called an Uber and it showed up in
about a minute so that worked out perfectly. We were able to get a big boot
this time. He got us right to the airport and we got a little bit organized and
then we went to check our bags. The lady started fussing about our carry-ons
and saying they look too big and we should weigh them. Apparently, you're only
supposed to have 7 kg total between your carry-on and personal item which was
not clear to me but she fussed about it and made us keep taking things out
until we got it to the number that she was happy with. She also told us that we
shouldn't have just put everything in our backpacks because then the total
weight on the plane wasn't 7 kg or less but she would let it slide. She put an
"Approved" tag on our carry-ons. Then she said she was going to have
to make a note on our booking so that the next time we fly Air New Zealand they
will probably ask us to weigh our carry-on bags. Like it's on our permanent
record or something. It was so insulting and embarrassing. We asked her not to
do that to Emily because it wasn't her fault and she's going to be traveling
Air New Zealand again and she basically said no, too bad because that's the
rule for everyone. She pretended to be nice about it but it was so insulting.
Anyway, we went to security. Emily and I both got stopped for our backpacks.
Apparently, Emily's was for scissors and mine was for a battery. The flight was
delayed a little bit. The guy in front of us was going to miss his
connection and the flight attendant came over and told him that she was going
to ask everyone to remain seated so he could get off. We were pretty impressed
with that and it did seem like it worked out for him so we hope he made his
flight. We walked over to the food court area and got a little something for each
of us at McDonald's. Emily got a Happy Meal, Michael got a Big Mac, and I got a
grilled chicken wrap.
Then we went over to the Relay store and we each chose a couple things for breakfast tomorrow morning to take on our tour. We ordered our Uber. Emily and I looked at the Uber driver with no shoes and bare feet and we looked at each other in shock. We later agreed he kind of looked like a Hobbit with his huge feet. Thankfully, our bags easily fit in his car. We had to listen to the Jimmy Cliff channel the whole way which actually wasn't terrible. We got checked in at the hotel, which was the same hotel we were at before, the Auckland Harbour Suites. We got a little settled and got ready for bed and went to sleep as early as we could since we have to get up so early the next day.
I'm so glad we were able to go to Queenstown! It was a fantastic trip within a trip!
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