Day 3 Hobbiton tour
This morning was the start of my Lord of the rings tours
with the tour of the Hobbit village, which was the set or the Hobbit movies and
that other trilogy Lord of the Rings. The tour guide picked me up at 8.30 in
the morning and he was an awesome Maori bloke. There were two other people in
the bus at this time. An elderly couple from Canada, who were really nice and
had not seen any of the movies. We wont hold that against them at all. The bus
driver told us on the bus that the tour prices had just gone up that day and
that they expected large volumes of people to be coming through before the
movie started at the end of the year. Today they were going to try something
new and it was not until we arrived that we knew what they had planned from
today. They were planning on doing tours in smaller groups leaving every 15
mins. We were would this would work, but they had not enough drivers to get
them all to the Alexander farm.
Turns out our driver
was very knowledgeable of the area. One of the towns he pointed out had
manufactured galvanised steel and that factory had closed down along with
several others as it was cheaper to produce in China. The town used the steel
to create their information centre which is a sheep and a dog head with the shepherd
next to them. He spoke about the logging in NZ as the trees grew really well
and they grew one lot and it would take around 10 years or so to get back to
them and they would be fully grown. The geothermal activity meant you could tap
into it only if you could pay for the free energy. The installation and
material cost around $20,000 and only certain places would get the permit to
hook up. Film crews were reluctant to film in the town as the sulphur played
havoc on their software, which was the same with the traffic lights. One day
they could be working fine the next working at random lights. Every 10 years it
is necessary to replace the bridges as the ground conditions meant the metal
eroded away. In the area where the Hobbiton tours are all the sheep you see are
actually all the ones owned by the farm. So if you see white dogs they are
sheep.
I knew what I was expecting when I entered the staging
ground at Shire’s Rest, where we would be driven to the set location of the
Hobbit Village. Last time I was given an apple, coffee and a scon as part of
the package. This time no such luck and I was after a coffee and got a hot dog
to eat. We were on a time limit waiting for the tour to leave and we were
leaving within 2 mins when my dog came. I scoffed it down to the amusement of
one of the other guys who had not seen anyone eat a hotdog that fast. Well, I
was hungry. The bus was a nice bus called Gandalf. Gandalf took us all the way
to the drop off point where our tour guide started the tour. I found the whole
location had changed since I was there last. What once was holes in the hills
with hobbit holes and white plywood is now fully laid out Hobbit village that
had been extended and beautifully crafted. We were no longer able to go through
into Bagend as it was now not allowed, although I did ask. There was another
set nearby that you could enter and get pics from the open door. The area was
well cared for as the labourers were clearing the long grass and doing what all
workers do. I had heard stories of one guy who had a storm trooper helmet with
him and looked like he was trying to break into Bagend, A 21st
birthday where the party boy never knew where he was going and was dressed as
Chewy with the rest as Hobbits. Another one where all the ladies were dressed
as Arwen and another guy who read LOTR in front of the party tree and heard
nothing as he was listening to his Ipod. I thought about getting a chainsaw and
looking crazy, but did see weed wackers that I could have used as my props.
This might have gotten me into trouble or a laugh. A new addition that my group
was the second lot to walk through was the still been constructed Green Dragon
Inn. This included the bridge and the water mill thingy too that actually
worked. I have no idea if the inn would be a proper working one or just a set.
The tour guide said h would be getting a new script that day. At the end we did
find the old signage that was at the entrance to Hobbiton, now lying against
the hill area. The location is worth going to see and if you want you can feel
the little lambs that are always hungry. Seems there are people out there that
can recite word for word parts of the books.
Once we were dropped off at our accommodation, I sorted out
my photos onto my computer and then went out looking for where the theatre I
wanted to go see the show, Understanding Women. I actually found it after I had
stopped for a quick bite. The bad news was it had closed around 40 mins before,
so I was late. I was just happy to find it. I did see that fuel was around the
$2.00 mark at Pak ‘n pay supermarket. This change of plans meant I wanted to
visit something I was wanting to visit and that was the museum. I arrived into
the museum with a surprise. I was in time for a guided tour with two others
around the museum for an hour. We were in for a treat, especially when the lady
took us into the maori section. She did explain the displays really well too.
Maori could trace their heritage all the way back to the original group who
arrived around 1350AD. Their whole family tree is oral and they teach those who
have the memory skills in this area. Their carvings also tell the story too of
their villages. The tour guide was not maori and her daughter in law was
actually one and the guide actually corrected her on things she made mistakes
on, which both find funny. One of the statues on display was actually housed in
the Auckland museum basement for many years until all things maori went on a
tour with maori guides from various tribes to America. When one was on display
an elderly maori man actually recognised it and asked why he (the statue)had
travelled there. Seems it was very sacred to Rotorua and is also displayed on
the front of the 20c coin. His name eludes me, but I will get his name
eventually. There was a Lady called Guide Hongi who was with Mrs Roosevelt and
that supposedly surprised people in America at the time. What I did not notice,
but the other people had were leaves spread out in the maori rooms. These were
sorted out everyday with rituals.
After the guided tour,
I went on my own to tour the museum. The one tour, which i had been told was
something that had changed was the movie about the buried village and the
terraces being destroyed. What happens was when there was an earthquake the
chairs would shake. I thought they shook a little violently this time around.
Still it was something I had seen last time I was there. The bath house was
about the history convalescence baths that had been setup, but ended up being
expensive as pipes reacted with the soil as they were lead. I did have a tour
down on the basement area where the pipes were and after 10 mins took off,
although I had seen everything as it was getting really warm down there. There
was a display about the Tudor Towers, which was a night club during the 1970s /
1980s. Then it turned into the local museum and was slowly being renovated to
what it is now. Interesting history though, I was wanting a shower and had to
do one load of washing before I ran out of clothes. I might have been able to
hold out for one more day I suppose, but I think it needed to be done
regardless. I did contact an uncle and aunt and we did agree to meet on
Saturday at their place in the morning. I will have to find a way to get out
there and it wont be too much trouble.
Tip
Always claim your bed in the hostel by making it or putting
something on it. You may end up being bedless and stuck on the top bunk.
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