As Time Goes By: Northern Exposure

Finally, the photos are up! Here's starting with North Island first. Our trip to New Zealand started on the morning of twenty-fourth October. We took our own local carrier, thus went to the new Terminal Three to board the plane. The new terminal does not look that different from the other terminals I have seen, except the exterior is more “cyber” looking. I must say, our local carrier really lives up to its reputation – the seats are so comfortable that I actually emerge out of a ten-hour flight with nary a sore back, unlike most other airlines I have taken!

We went from the East part (Auckland, Waitomo) to the central part (Rotorua, Taupo) down to the Southern part (Wellington) of the island. It was almost midnight local time (New Zealand is five hours ahead with daylight savings, which means I have been sleeping at seven in the evening and waking up at two in the morning) when we reached Auckland International Airport. It was raining when we reached the airport. It was raining when we left and it was raining when we reached. The weather was a cool ten degrees. Luckily I brought along my coat or else I would definitely freeze!

After collecting our luggages, we took a van to Auckland City Youth Hostel. I have no qualms staying in budget accommodation, but that was a real letdown, as I have mentioned. In any case, there was no time to do anything else so we just slept. Needless to say, I could hardly sleep well on the first night!

Auckland City Youth Hostel

The next morning (Saturday), we took a walk around Auckland City Centre. There were posters and banners showing “The Phantom of the Opera” playing at one of the theatres. What a pity! :-( We walked towards the city centre where there is a shopping mall, and we bought breakfast at the food court, at an outlet called Hollywood. That is one of the outlets that opens early on a Saturday. I ate scrambled eggs with bacon and tea.

The old and the new

Auckland Theatre

Auckland Weekend Market

An old church in Auckland

After breakfast, we went to the Auckland Sky Tower, supposedly the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. There are conference centres, restaurants, halls, observation lounges on top of the Sky Tower. We went up to the Observation Deck where we had a three hundred and sixty degree bird’s eye view of the whole of Auckland in general.

There is even a glass panel where we could look down and step on it! The glass panel is supposed to be thirty-eight millimetres thick, and can hold a person’s weight, but I kept thinking I would fall so did not dare to step on it! We went to the topmost floor where the Sky Deck is after that, to have a sharper view of the city.

Auckland Sky Tower

View of Auckland City from the Observation Deck

Looking down from the glass panelling

View from the Sky Deck (five floors above the Observation Deck)

Auckland is the most industrialised place in New Zealand, so most of the buildings I saw are skyscrapers and commercial buildings like banks. It kind of reminds me of a business district, which in any case, it is in its own right. We went back to the hostel to collect the car after that.

Our car was a bluish Toyota Camry, which we collected at the car rentals in Auckland, drove down to Wellington, deposited at the Picton Ferry Terminal to South Island, then crossed over to South Island in a ferry where another car was waiting for us.

Our car in North Island

After we got the car, we drove out of Auckland City into an old village called Parnell, on the outskirts of Auckland. We initially thought of going to the Ewelme Cottage – the oldest house in Auckland, but it was a bit out of the way, so we just explored the Parnell Rose Garden (with a very Victorian style tea house next to it) and proceeded to the Stardome Observatory, which was another letdown as the show that afternoon was for kids! In any case, the place is like our own Omni Theatre back home, so we gave it a miss in the end.

One of the roses in Parnell Rose Garden

A cosy tea house on the grounds of Parnell Rose Garden

After that, we left Auckland and went on to Waikato. We managed to check in to Kiwi Paka Youth Hostel next to Waitomo Caves early, so we decided to proceed on to the tour at Waitomo Caves to see the Glowworms. Aparently, “Wai” stands for “water” in the Maori language, and “Tomo” stands for hole. So “Waitomo” means “a hole in the water”.

We were not allowed to take any photos inside the cave, but the cave itself is full of limestone stalactites and stalagmites. It was so dark that I could hardly see anything in front of me! Now I know how come some people said they could not even see their hands in front of them in a very dark environment!

History went that a Maori and an Englishman took a raft and drifted into the cave from the outside. There, they discovered the presence of a luminous green light and followed the light, discovering the inner parts of the caves filled with the same green light. Hence the glowworms were found and the Maori and his descendants took over the ownership and management of the cave since then.

The guide brought us onto a boat to see the glowworms, native to New Zealand. The worms are highly sensitive to light and they can only thrive on very dark and quiet environments. The worms are very small and they huddle in groups, giving out a tinge of greenish light (hence “glowworms”). Once there is some light, the worms just automatically “disappear”! Nature is amazing indeed!

The boat ride took us into the darkest part of the caves. We had to be very quiet, so quiet that one could literally hear a pin dropping! It was so dark and so quiet, all I could focus on was the luminous green of the worms. Luckily it was a group tour, otherwise I would have freaked out instantly if it was just me alone!

Entrance to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves

The river entrance of Waitomo Caves

Waitomo River

We went back to our hostel after the tour and had dinner in the communal kitchen. Next morning (Sunday), after a hearty breakfast at the hostel’s cafe, we set off for the town of Rotorua – the geothermal area of New Zealand. New Zealand is actually a volcanic area, thus the presence of geothermal power, especially in the central part of North Island like Rotorua.

Entrance to the Waitomo Kiwi Paka Youth Hostel

Waitomo Kiwi Paka Youth Hostel

Communal Kitchen

Kiwi Paka Cafe where we had breakfast

My breakfast of French Toast and Bacon

En route, we passed by Woodlyn Park, just down the mountain from the Waitomo Caves. The motels there are unique because they were constructed from old airplanes and ships. I took pictures of the Hobbit Motel, Ship Motel and Airplane Motel. It was here that I fell as I was in a hurry to get back to the car since rain was coming that when going down the slope, my legs gave way and I fell, grazing my right knee in the process!

Woodlyn Park Ship Motel

Hobbit Motel

Airplane Motel

It was a long drive to Rotorua (at least three hours!) that we took a rest at Tirau, at a souvenir and gift shop in the shape of a dog, before proceeding on our way. We managed to reach Rotorua after twelve noon and checked into the Rotorua Hot Rock Motel. After a quick lunch, our first stop was to the Tarawera Buried Village.

Rest stop in Tirau

Lake Tarawera

Legend goes that the village was a thriving Maori settlement. An entrepreneur Englishman went to set up a hotel, so some English tourists would often visit the area, as the area was on fertile volcanic soil, and the tourists would go to see the terraces that used to be there. Then one night the volcano (Mount Tarawera), thought to be extinct, suddenly erupted, covering almost everything. People escaped by running into the chief’s house and the Englishman who owned the hotel set up a rescue team to clear away all the debris.

Now the terraces were all gone. As well as most of the houses on the site. There were some traces of old houses still around, but essentially it was a walk around the site of the buried village and reading up on the history behind it. The view from the top was spectacular though.

Entrance of Tarawera Buried Village

An old water well used in the village

The half buried blacksmith's house

What used to be a Maori house

A bridge in the grounds of the village

These trees were brought in by the European settlers and have survived for two centuries

This used to be the site of the hotel that collapsed when the volcano erupted

How sparkling the water is!

A Maori war canoe

Waikerai Waterfall (part of Mount Tarawera)

I was so tempted to do a Tarzan!

Top of the hill where the terraces used to be

After the tour, we went back to the motel where there was supposed to be a hot pool, but we mistook the hot swimming pool for the hot pool instead. After paddling for a while, I decided to shower and wait for the bus to take us to the Tamaki Maori Village for a cultural show and dinner.

Our bus guide is a Maori by the name of Nutter. At least that was what he asked us to call him since his name is so long that none of us could pronounce it! He is a real comedian, he knows how to speak several languages, as well as joking with us all the way there and all the way back!

The Maori show was a culture show on the Maori way of life, in terms of food, gender roles, choosing between heading the tribe or following the white men. Dinner was served at eight thirty local time. The dinner was a sumptuous buffet consisting of potatoes, turnips, carrots, chicken and stuffing, with coffee, tea or hot chocolate. There was even a bar counter serving Kiwi Punch, but I did not manage to taste that.

Rotorua Hot Rock Inn

Sun setting outside my room window

Tamaki Maori Village - start of Culture Show

Dictating the tale of how Maori warrioirs fought

Making Maori beddings

How to cook potatoes - the Maori way

A Maori Medicine Man

My own Maori warrior!

Performers in a row

Buffet Hangi dinner

My dinner of potatoes, carrots, roast chicken and stuffing

After dinner, we went outside the cafe where a lady was telling us how the Hangi dinner was made. Apparently, hot stones had to be put over a raging open fire. Men are the ones who had to cook, since they had to arrange the stones, cook their hunts and ensured everything was ready to be eaten. That night the temperature fell to below ten degree Celsius, so one could only imagine how cold I felt, even with my coat on! By the time the humourous guide dropped us back at our motel, we were all so shagged that we slept immediately!

Stones used to make the Hangi meal

The fourth day (Monday), our first stop was the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a natural geyser (pronounced “guy-zer”) park. Highlight of the park is the Lady Knox Geyser, which will spout every day at ten thirty in the morning. The geyser spouted out of a small hole of a small volcano-like structure. Apparently, years ago when a prisoner was washing clothes, he accidentally dropped a bar of soap onto the water on that site, and the water started foaming and spouting, hence the geyser was discovered!

Before the geyser spouted out, a guide introduced the history of the geyser and he dropped in a bar of soap to trigger the chemical effect. I could see the mouth of the “volcano” bubbling and foaming, finally spouting out the water like a water fountain! The park surrounding it was just as magnificent, with natural sulphur caves (which kind of reminded me of the “Hell Valley” in Hokkaido) as well as natural geothermal waters that can turn all colours of the rainbow!

Entrance of Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

Lady Knox Geyser

Guide introducing the geyser

Dropping in a bar of soap to activate the geyser

The geyser started bubbling

Starting to spout

Steaming

Ejaculated

At the peak

Dying down

A Sulphur Cave

Rainbow Crater

Oyster Pool

Look, I'm steaming!

Devil's Bath - An Emerald Green Pool

After the geyser tour, we went on to Huka Falls, in between Rotorua and Taupo. Just off Huka Falls Road is the Huka Prawn Farm, where we had a big lunch of prawns with garlic butter, fries with tomato sauce and garlic pita bread! We did not manage to visit the prawn hatchery but the meal was good!

A strange cloud formation in the sky!

Huka Prawn Park

The mascot - Shawn the Prawn

Lunch of Prawn Platter

With fries

Chocolate Mud Cake for dessert

The Prawn Hatchery

We went on to Huka Falls after that, but that is just a small scenic lookout overlooking the falls. The water is white water, gushing out, making a pretty spectacular sight, but that is nothing in compared to other bigger waterfalls around. We even stopped by Craters of the Moon, but that is similar to the geyser park we went earlier on, so we gave that a miss. After that, we went to a Geothermal Power Plant, which is the first in the world, followed by Iceland. So one can say we truly had a natural geothermal day!

Part of Huka Falls

Outside "Craters of the Moon"

The world's first Geothermal Power Station

The highlight of the day was bungy jumping at Taupo Bungy! The jump is over part of Lake Taupo at a scenic area. but I guess if one is hanging upside down at a height of forty-seven metres, one will have no time or mood to admire the scenery! My brothers went for the jump but I pulled out at the last minute after I saw how high it is!

Taupo Bungy

Scenic area of the jump

We checked into Taupo Downunder Backpacker's Inn after that. We had a home-cooked dinner then went for a walk around Lake Taupo. Luckily our lodgings is just up the street from the lake itself! Lake Taupo is actually New Zealand's largest lake, and the town of Taupo is situated right in the middle of the lake.

Sun setting over Lake Taupo

Lake Taupo at dusk

Taupo Downunder Backpacker's Inn

We set off for Wellington the next morning (our fourth day). Along the way, we passed by the snow-capped mountains of Mount Tongariro National Park. The snow-capped mountains are really a sight to behold! What one reads from books and watch from shows are true indeed!

Snow-capped peaks of Mount Tongariro National Park

En route, we passed by the university town of Palmerston North, where Massey University is situated. The campus is not as medieval as that of Oxford or Cambridge, but still, it is a modern quaint looking campus. We stopped there for lunch at the University Cafe, where there was a buffet meal.

Massey University

The cafe of Massey University

My lunch of pasta and vegetables

We reached Wellington around the afternoon. Wellington was cold! There was a strong wind blowing and the temperature was around twelve degree celsius. Our first stop in Wellington was the Parliamentary Buildings, including the "Beehive" and Parliamentary Library.

Streets of Wellington

A cute looking car!

Victoria University of Wellington

Structures behind the Parliamentary Buildings

The "Beehive", otherwise known as the Executive Wing, where the Prime Minister works

The Parliament House

The Parliamentary Library

The Cenotaph outside the Parliamentary Buildings

I find this sign really cute! Found outside a Wellington cafe

We checked into the Wellington City Youth Hostel after that. We had to wake up early for a Lord of the Rings location tour the next morning (yeah!), so we rested early after doing the laundry. The washing machines have a washer and a dryer together, how convenient! Note to self : I must have a dryer in my place next time, together with a dishwasher and an oven!

The following morning (our fifth day), we went for a location tour. The first stop was at Mount Victoria. One can see the view of Wellington City from Mount Victoria. It is also near to the Weta Cave and Peter Jackson's studio at the same time.

View of Wellington City from Mount Victoria

Mount Victoria was the place where when the Hobbits Frodo and Sam escaped from the Shire, they bumped into Merry and Pipin, and they rolled down the hill slope. That was one of the earlier scenes in “The Fellowship of the Ring”. This is the exact slope which they rolled down.

After that, they wandered around for a while, and they were trying to escape from the Night Rider. So they hid under a tree. This is the spot where they hid, but the tree is no longer there as that was just special effects.

Then the other Hobbits discovered mushrooms and started picking. Frodo had an epiphany and looked far into the distance. In the movie, he was supposed to have seen his destination in the far distance, but in actual fact, the direction where Elijah Wood was looking would have been Wellington City.

This is the Frodo tree

Posing at the Frodo tree

We then went to the slope where the Hobbits were running away from the Night Rider. Apparently, Peter Jackson made the actors run up and down the slope about fifteen times before he got the sweaty effect and made it seem like they were running for a long time away from “persecution”. We also went onto the exact spot on the slope where the silhouette of the Night Rider was taken!

This was where the Night Rider was

By the way, the reason Sean Astin became the "fat" Hobbit Sam Wise Gamgee was because when he alighted from the plane at Wellington, Peter Jackson saw that he was not round enough, so they brought him to every fast food chain in the city, especially KFC, so within five weeks he managed to balloon up enough to fit the role. Thus, when the other "Hobbits" were busy running, Sean Astin could get a break as Peter Jackson did not want him losing all the weight he put on! So if you have seen the movie closely, only three Hobbits were running away from the Night Rider, not four!

Our second stop was at Kaitoke Regional Park, a temperate evergreen rainforest in the Upper Wellington area. This was the site of Rivendell (recognise the river? This was where Arwen rescued Frodo and chanted in Elvish!). We took a trip over the rope bridge (a very narrow bridge!) and had a walk round the woods, before going back to the van and having our morning tea of coffee, tea, muffins and soft drinks.

This place looks familiar?

This was where Arwen rescued Frodo

Then the guide took us around the part of the woods where Rivendell and the Elf houses were set up. Now this part of the woods have officially been named as “Rivendell”! We could even play with an Elvish sword and put on Elvish ears!

With Elvin ears and sword

Next, we went on to a park called Hartcourt Park. This was the site of Isengard Gardens and tower. Recognise these row of bushes? It was through them that the Grey and White Wizards (Gandalf and Saruman) were walking together, discussing about the fate of Frodo and the Ring.

Most of the sets were photo imposed. For instance, beyond the park, the Southern Alps could be seen in Isengard, but the Southern Alps are only found in South Island, not North Island, so the mountains were imposed onto the background during the editing of the film. The first tree was put to the left of the tower and the second tree was imposed on the right, but both trees are actually far away from each other!

We also learned some trivial stuff about the actors, where they went to put on a tattoo of the Fellowship together in some sensitive areas, the favourite cafes of the “Hobbits”, as well as Viggo Mortensen’s hotel – the Duxton Hotel in Wellington City.

The story goes that Viggo Mortensen was the third choice for Aragorn. The first choice was Daniel Day-Lewis, but he was too old and had too many projects that he could not take the time to go to New Zealand for two years. Then there was someone else but after the screen test, the producers felt he did not make a good “Aragorn”.

Then someone stumbled onto some footage which Viggo Mortensen filmed, and decided he should be the one. Thus, Peter Jackson phoned him and offered him the role, but he turned it down initially as he felt being in a “fantasy” show would not help his career and he did not want to be away from his family for so long.

Then when he put down the phone, he told his son and his son, who happened to be studying “The Hobbit” in school then and knew what a big role Aragorn would be, told him to take it. So, he called back Peter Jackson and accepted the role, and went on the next plane to New Zealand. Good thing that he did, as the role definitely boosted his career!

There was an incident when Viggo Mortensen was training his swordsplay. He came out from the gym around seven in the morning, waving his sword around, and frightening a few people in the process. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by the police for being a threat to public safety, and he had to call Peter Jackson to bail him out. But there was no harm done as by the time one of the producers went to get him, he was already on good terms with the police officers and busy taking pictures with all of them! :-p

Our next destination was Dry Creek Quarry, where Helm’s Deep and part of Minas Tirith were situated. Unfortunately, because the quarry had been closed to the public, we were not allowed to go in and take a look. It was hard to imagine the entire place being on a quarry, but after seeing the various parts of the quarry from the outside, one can imagine how that happened.

Dry Creek Quarry - location for Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith

Duxton Hotel - where Viggo Mortenssen stayed during the filming

Embassy Theatre - where Return of the King was premiered

We went back to Wellington after that. The guide wanted to take us to the Wellington Stadium but that day the Stadium was closed. At Wellington Stadium, during one of the cricket matches, fans were shouting so loudly that Peter Jackson actually went in and announced that he was filming a movie, and wanted to use their voices, so he told them what to say and recorded their voices. These voices became the sound effects of the orcs battle in banging down the door!

Thus concluded our North Island Lord of the Rings adventure! Most of the scenes were filmed in South Island since that place is more picturesque. Although we did not go on an official “Lord of the Rings” tour in South Island, we managed to visit some of the places that were in the films!

After the tour, the driver dropped us at the Wellington Museum of New Zealand (otherwise known as Te Papa Museum). Although it is a history and nature museum, the building is rather modern in design. At least one will not be able to tell it is a museum at first glance! Definitely not like the New York’s Museum of Natural History!

Te Papa Museum

We had lunch at the cafe. The servings are really big! One thing about New Zealand is that the meals are rather costly if you dine out. I ordered a fish lasagne and that already cost NZ$17.50! Plus hot chocolate that cost NZ$3.00! Perhaps one may not realise it if only one or two persons are dining, but to a whole family of five, that is quite a sum, especially since we are on a budget!

My lunch of Fish Gratin and Hot Chocolate

There was a museum tour on the various wings, namely the history wing, Maori Culture Wing and Evolution Wing. We got to see history of earthquakes, as well as some geographical knowledge on how earthquakes and volcanoes are formed. We also got to know some extinct animals that used to be native to New Zealand, like the giant Moa for instance (although I heard it is not exactly extinct). Apparently the Moa was the biggest bird in the world, even bigger than the ostrich!

We ended the museum tour with a three-dimensional ride under the sea and into the sky! Initially we were supposed to go to the Katherine Mansfield’s birthplace, which consists of her house and works, but a pity we stayed at the museum too long and by the time we were done, Katherine Mansfield’s birthplace has closed for the day. What a pity! :-(

This was part of an actual skeleton of a whale

Silver Fern - trademark of New Zealand

This is just a statue - looks real, isn't it?

I cannot believe I found this in the museum!

Earthquake House

Three-dimensional ride

In the end, we went on to a suburb called Brooklyn. There is a Wind Turbine on top of the mountain, so we had to take a long winding road up the mountain to see the Wind Turbine, The view on top of the mountain is astounding! One can see the entire Wellington City, as well as the suburbs, the houses on the hills and the harbour right on top! Not to mention the very strong wind that makes me afraid I would get blown away!

Yes, that's my shadow :-p

A church on a hill

Wellington Wind Turbine

View of Wellington City from the top of Brooklyn

Another cute car!

We went for dinner after that. Initially we thought of going to a traditional Maori restaurant for a meal, but when we arrived at the venue, we discovered that the restaurant had closed down for some reason. So we settled for another restaurant nearby – the Genghis Khan Mongolian Buffet. I could not believe we actually ate Mongolian buffet in New Zealand!

What we did was to go to the buffet line, fill our bowls with raw meal (lamb, beef, chicken), vegetables and noodles, add in seasoning (sesame oil, soya sauce, ginger, garlic, chilli oil, etc), then pass it to a chef at the barbecue oven and he would cook the whole thing for us. Pretty yummy, actually. Thank goodness I have watched “Jewel In The Palace” so I know how to mix the right seasoning!

Cream Soup

Mongolian Bread

My buffet of noodles, vegetables, beef, chicken, pork and the various seasonings

Since it would be our last night in North Island, we walked around the city centre after dinner. It was rather cold out. I think the temperature was about ten degree Celsius or less. All I know was the wind was so chilly it was cutting on my face like knives! My hands had to be in my pocket all the time as my fingers were frozen!

Wellington City Youth Hostel

The next day, we had to wake up early and go to the Wellington Ferry Terminal in order to check in and board the ferry to South Island. Hence, that concludes my North Island adventure. Off to South Island next!