It's been quite a while! I haven't really been in a place where I could use internet for long enough to blog. But McDonald's has free wifi, so here I am. I've been traveling with Amalia Smith since her friend had an emergency and left to go back to the states. As it turns out it was a real life saver as far as expenses go, since she has a car and a tent and stuff. Being a vegetarian, she introduced me to soy milk. It's not the first time I've had soy milk, but... I sure have had a lot of soy milk... just sayin'...
So after I left National Park we decided to head up north again to see some stuff. Namely HOBBITON. Hobbiton is in Matamata, which is the coolest little town ever. Not only does it look like the Shire, but the people there are oddly hobbit-like too. Never in a hurry, and they take from slow. (I wish now more than ever that that movie Tressa and I made still existed...) Anyway, I took so many pictures. The sad part about this is that I can't post them or I'll get sued. This is why: We were fortunate enough to be there while it's still an actual movie set, getting ready for The Hobbit. Because it's under production, any photos we took are not allowed to be posted on the internet because of copyright issues.
I expected it to look sort of half finished, but when we got there, all the hobbit holes were painted again, the gardens were being maintained, (real apple and pear trees) the stone pathways were there, the Green Dragon was rebuilt, and the coolest part was the tree on top of the Baggins' home. It had only been there a week since we arrived! Manually constructed to look like an old tree. They imported 250,000 leaves from trees native to Taiwan and manually wired them on the branches. This is where I wish I could show you the picture I took. I was sort of in a state of nirvana as I walked around the place. And whenever the guide asked a question, I said the answer before he finished. It was the perfect day to be a lord of the rings nerd. And what better way to finish the tour, than feeding a Hobbiton sheep.
They told us that they actually flew over English sheep to be more true to the film, much to the chagrin of the local sheep farmers. Which is hilarious because that made me think of sheep on a plane. But it's enough that these sheep live on the farm for me. Way more authentic, in my opinion.
So we went to a branch in a small town close to Taupo called Waiouru. I noticed a piano but they didn't use it for the first song, so I offered to play for the following songs. Everyone looked at me as though I had been sent from heaven, and the chorister literally danced in place with a HUGE smile on her face. So that's how we became friends with every single person in that branch! Afterwards the branch president, Jason Fellingham, invited us over for dinner and to stay the night. At dinner he was talking about this trip he had organized for the school he teaches at and how he needed another couple adults to supervise since a couple had backed out. Then he lit up and said "Hey... you guys are just kind of traveling around, yeah?" and we said we were, and that we'd be happy to come with him. So we went to a camp with a bunch of 14 year olds and a had a fantastic time! It was sort of a team building camp. Learning to trust each other and that kind of thing. We were kind of just known as The Americans to the kids, but by the end I was being called Captain America, which was just fine. Here's a picture of me playing ninja with the last remaining competitor who was actually super good!
Ninja at Green Pastures
We stopped in Taupo on our way to Matamata. It's a really awesome town. The lake which is of veritable size is heated by volcanic activity. And as it turns out, there are tons of places like that. Luckily Amalia already knows some of the local secret places and we stopped at this totally boss hot spring waterfall place near Rainbow Mountain between Rotorua and Taupo. She's got a picture but I don't, so maybe I'll post that picture next time. In regards to the picture at the beginning, I mentioned that that foresty mound in the middle of the lake looked JUST like a Lionturtle. She's a huge Avatar: The Last Airbender fan so she freaked out in a way that told me she agreed.
Amalia also said that someone told her at the beginning of her travels that if you see a brown sign pointing to some attraction, whether it be a cave, a waterfall, a lookout point, or something like that, she should take the detour. So we saw a brown sign pointing to Wairere falls. Within ten minutes of parking, we were hiking through a jungle on a path that led to a fantastic view of an enormous waterfall. It really is so funny how everything in New Zealand is pretty awesome. So we've taken a lot of detours, and each one has been something spectacular that in Utah you'd have to drive a million hours and miles to see.
Wairere Falls
Jaron, I know that tickets are super expensive, but I think this time of year is the most expensive time to buy them as well. So maybe check for around August? It's definitely worth it! That goes for all of you!
Just to give you an idea of what's next, I think we're going to head down to Wellington today. I'm going to try and meet with that music guy, and Amalia has a family friend she wanted to see, so we might be around there for a little while. Also, for some reason I haven't been able to open my hotmail account here. So if you have stuff to say, please write to my gmail account.
The road goes ever on!
