We were unsure what to expect when we first arrived here. The majority of people had told us that it was similar to Scotland as it had great scenery and the climate was roughly the same. We had been looking forward to it and were glad of the change from Australia. Luckily for us it was the middle of summer when we arrived and although at first we found it cold, it was still dry and sunny to get out and explore.
We started in Christchurch after our problems with not being booked on the flight despite having a paper ticket, leading to us being upgraded, followed by our hostel being double booked, leading to us having to spend the night with a cool/crazy (still can't decide) elderly Macedonian woman and her Kiwi partner. We instantly felt at home here as the locals were far more welcoming and hospitable than in Oz.
The first night here was spent with a chippy that we discovered was so cheap and heading back to bed to wrap ourselves in blankets due to the cold! Our time in Christchurch was filled with a visit to the botanical gardens and the Canterbury museum where we learned about the indigenous Maori people and the local wildlife, which used to include the huge Moa bird - the tallest bird in the world! We also came across a Scotland shop where we treated ourselves to a warm Scottish jumper!
After a few days in Christchurch we picked up a car which we had rented for 5 weeks. Our intentions were to cover as much as possible and we felt that in the 6 weeks that we had we would be able to see all the main sights. Our first day on the road was spent at the small French town of Kaikoura before we finished the day off at Oamaru. Here we got to view our first live penguin, although it was very far away.
Dunedin was the next big town in our route and we spent a couple of nights here where we climbed the worlds steepest street and explored a couple of the nice beaches in the area. From Dunedin, it was onto the Southern Scenic tourist route which stretches 559km (349 miles) from Dunedin on the East Coast to Milford Sound on the West.
This route was fantastic and there was a constant supply of amazing scenery to keep you occupied whilst driving as well as waterfalls, forests, lakes and viewpoints amongst other things to keep us occupied. Some of the highlights were the seals at Porpoise Bay, penguins at Nugget Point, Slope Point - the Southernmost point on the mainland of New Zealand - Lake Manapouri which was stunning and the cruise at Milford Sound was out of this world!
From Milford Sound it was time to head to the adrenaline capital of the world - Queenstown. We had an amazing time here and managed to spend half of our money here due to the fantastic range of activities on offer. In 2 days we went skydiving from 15,000ft, white water rafting, horse riding and went on the worlds highest arc swing! We also managed to squeeze in a few of the famous Fergburgers that are a must for anyone visiting Queenstown.
Next on the list was Mount Cook National Park where we hoped to see our first proper glacier, however it was mostly covered by rocks and water. We then moved North to Franz Josef Glacier which was great to get up close to before heading to the far North of the South Island. Here lies Abel Tasman National Park which is spectacular and offers many walks and kayaking trips with some great beaches. Also in this area is Nelson where the geographical centre of New Zealand is.
It was then time to get the ferry across to the North Island and Wellington, the capital city, was our first destination. There wasn't a great deal to do here but we did stay right next to the botanic gardens which was nice and we visited the national museum which was especially educational about local marine life and fossils.
Upon leaving Wellington we came across AmeriCarama in Hawrea, an annual car festival celebrating old American cars, before we explored Egmont National park. This was a
preview of Tongariro national Park that we went to the next day and undertook a 20km hike over volcanic terrain as well as climbing up an active volcano which was over 2,200m tall! This mountain was also used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
There was more thermal sights to see and we spent a couple of days in Rotorua exploring hot springs and mud pools where we bumped into a fellow Glaswegian whom we went out for a drink with. we were glad to leave as the sulphur fumes were terrible and it was a relief to head for Matamata where we went on a tour around the set of Lord of the Rings.
Our time was almost up and we thought that we had seen all of the nicest places in New Zealand until we went to the Coromandel region at the top of the North Island. This area was fantastic and had some great beaches, the best of which were Cathedral Cove and Hot Water beach. We were fortunate enough to get some great weather to enjoy them as well.
From the Coromandel region it was only a short drive to Auckland where we stopped off for a couple of nights. We had a walk around the city centre but there wasn't too much that we were interested in doing and it wasn't long before we were heading to Northland. In this region is Waitangi, where the Treaty of waitangi was signed for the Maori's to accept the British colonisation. Located near Waitangi is Russel, the countries first capital. It was then up to 90 mile beach, the furthest North that we travelled.
From looking back on the 6 weeks we have had in New Zealand it is easy to see why this has been our favourite country so far. The scenery is fantastic, the locals are friendly and the amount of activities to take part in is unreal. We were fortunate enough to have great weather to enjoy it all too. Here we got to see so many natural wonders such as volcanoes and glaciers, as well as interesting wildlife like penguins that all contributed to making this an enjoyable experience.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Far Northland
We headed as far North as Paihai and decided to stop at this town to check into a hostel for that night dropping our things off and immediately heading back out to make the most of our short time up here. We decided to spend the day up even further North at the 90 mile beach, which is inaccurately named as its only 90km (approximately 56 miles). This seemed to be New Zealands answer to Fraser Island in Australia as the beach was technically a road and regular road rules apply. We seen many 4x4's rallying along the sand but our car wasn't insured to drive on the beach and I'm pretty sure it would have been nowhere near as fun as the Land Cruiser we had on Fraser anyway. The sea looked so calm up here compared to the rest of the coastline we have seen and the beach was empty for the size of it.
Paihai is right on the doorstep of Waitangi where the treaty of Waitangi was signed for Maoris to accept British colonial rule on the 6th of February 1840. We wrote about this in an earlier post and this day is celebrated each year to commemorate the event. The treaty was signed here due to its closeness to the township of Russell across the bay. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed Russell became the national capital until Maori chief Hone Heke, disgruntled by recently imposed harbour dues and the loss of his authority, attacked the town, burning it to the ground. Hone Heke was finally defeated in 1846 but Russell never recovered and the capital was shifted to Auckland before being moved again to Wellington.
Today Russell is a tiny little town in the Bay of Islands region that can only be accessed by ferry. It has a great vibe to it and reminded us of Luss back in Loch Lomond (unfortunately without the tablet shop!). We spent a few hours having a walk along the shorefront and around the town where we discovered Christ Church, New Zealands oldest church. It was built in 1835 and one of the donors was Charles Darwin who was making his way around New Zealand and Australia at that time. In the church grounds there are several grave sites dedicated to the sailors from HMS Hazard who were killed during Hone Heke's attack. The church walls also have preserved musket holes in the wooden exterior. The church is open to visitors and we were able to take a look inside.
Hundertwasser's Toilets:
One of the weirdest stops we had in New Zealand was in the little town of Kawakawa. This town developed as a coal mining town in the 1870s and 1880s. It was here that the first train was used in the North Island.
The town is most famous however for its bizzare public toilets. These were created by the towns adopted son Friedrich Hundertwasser, an architect and ecologist. He was born in Austria in 1928 and moved to New Zealand in the early 1970's before being granted citizenship in 1986.
His artwork was very unique and he was no stranger to rejection. However the town of Kawakawa commisioned him to design and build the public toilets on the main street. The Kawakawa toilet block, with its ceramic collumns, garden roof and curving, colorful, exuberance, has put the town on the international tourist route. During construction the use of local labour and talent was encouraged by Hundertwasser. Tiles used in the project were made by local school students, bricks came from local buildings, and the windows on the block were constructed using old bottles from the district. This was to be his final work as he passed away in 2000 at the age of 71.
Paihai is right on the doorstep of Waitangi where the treaty of Waitangi was signed for Maoris to accept British colonial rule on the 6th of February 1840. We wrote about this in an earlier post and this day is celebrated each year to commemorate the event. The treaty was signed here due to its closeness to the township of Russell across the bay. After the Treaty of Waitangi was signed Russell became the national capital until Maori chief Hone Heke, disgruntled by recently imposed harbour dues and the loss of his authority, attacked the town, burning it to the ground. Hone Heke was finally defeated in 1846 but Russell never recovered and the capital was shifted to Auckland before being moved again to Wellington.
Today Russell is a tiny little town in the Bay of Islands region that can only be accessed by ferry. It has a great vibe to it and reminded us of Luss back in Loch Lomond (unfortunately without the tablet shop!). We spent a few hours having a walk along the shorefront and around the town where we discovered Christ Church, New Zealands oldest church. It was built in 1835 and one of the donors was Charles Darwin who was making his way around New Zealand and Australia at that time. In the church grounds there are several grave sites dedicated to the sailors from HMS Hazard who were killed during Hone Heke's attack. The church walls also have preserved musket holes in the wooden exterior. The church is open to visitors and we were able to take a look inside.
Hundertwasser's Toilets:
One of the weirdest stops we had in New Zealand was in the little town of Kawakawa. This town developed as a coal mining town in the 1870s and 1880s. It was here that the first train was used in the North Island.
The town is most famous however for its bizzare public toilets. These were created by the towns adopted son Friedrich Hundertwasser, an architect and ecologist. He was born in Austria in 1928 and moved to New Zealand in the early 1970's before being granted citizenship in 1986.
His artwork was very unique and he was no stranger to rejection. However the town of Kawakawa commisioned him to design and build the public toilets on the main street. The Kawakawa toilet block, with its ceramic collumns, garden roof and curving, colorful, exuberance, has put the town on the international tourist route. During construction the use of local labour and talent was encouraged by Hundertwasser. Tiles used in the project were made by local school students, bricks came from local buildings, and the windows on the block were constructed using old bottles from the district. This was to be his final work as he passed away in 2000 at the age of 71.
Auckland
Auckland is New Zealand's largest city by far with a population of around 1.3 million. Auckland sprawls across the Tamaki Isthmus. It is called 'The City of Sails' after its large collection of yachts. It is a maritime city, which looks to the sea in all directions: the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf to the East, the Manukau Harbour and the Tasman Sea to the West. It is estimated that there are between 80,000 and 90,000 leisure boats in Auckland. This means about one in four households in Auckland city has a seacraft of some kind and there are 102 beaches within an hours drive. Even the airport is by the water, bordering the Manukau Harbour. It takes its name from the Maori language and means solitary bird.
Auckland was chosen as New Zealand's capital by Governor William Hobson in 1840. The settlement soon became a trading center, growing around the Waitemata Harbour, but it lost its capital status to Wellington in 1865. Today it extends 40km(25miles) north to south and its suburbs sprawl west to the Waitakere Range and east to Waiheke Island.
Basking in a mild, maritime climate and blessed with beaches, accessible islands and regional parks, Auckland has attracted thousands of overseas migrants. The city is sometimes derided by those from other parts of the country, who view it and its inhabitants as brazen, hedonistic and uncultured. Aucklanders are bemused rather than offended by this judgement, after all most residents have moved to the city from elsewhere in New Zealand.
Auckland is the worlds largest Polynesian city with 20% of its people being Maori, Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islanders. Recent migration from south and east Asia, Eastern Europe and South Africa have added extra culture elements to the vibrant cosmopolitian city.
We spent 2 nights here, and only one afternoon wandering around the city center as it's quite small and compact. One of the main attractions here is the sky tower which you can bungy jump off of. We walked past it and it was strange to see the bungy lines running down the side of it. Unfortunately no one was jumping so we decided to walk on as we were getting strange looks for standing, staring, and pointing at the tower. The CBD only seems to consist of 4 grid like streets 2 of which are the main shopping precinct. As it was a nice day we decided to walk alongside the harbour before calling it a day and heading back to the hostel. The hostel we were staying in couldn't have been in a better location as it was just outside the CBD so we were able to have free on street parking and still be close enough to walk into city center within 5 minutes. As we had only 4 nights left in New Zealand we decided to head up to Northland for 2 nights so that we would have the opportunity to experience that area before leaving New Zealand, so we then left Auckland and headed further North.
Auckland was chosen as New Zealand's capital by Governor William Hobson in 1840. The settlement soon became a trading center, growing around the Waitemata Harbour, but it lost its capital status to Wellington in 1865. Today it extends 40km(25miles) north to south and its suburbs sprawl west to the Waitakere Range and east to Waiheke Island.
Basking in a mild, maritime climate and blessed with beaches, accessible islands and regional parks, Auckland has attracted thousands of overseas migrants. The city is sometimes derided by those from other parts of the country, who view it and its inhabitants as brazen, hedonistic and uncultured. Aucklanders are bemused rather than offended by this judgement, after all most residents have moved to the city from elsewhere in New Zealand.
Auckland is the worlds largest Polynesian city with 20% of its people being Maori, Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islanders. Recent migration from south and east Asia, Eastern Europe and South Africa have added extra culture elements to the vibrant cosmopolitian city.
We spent 2 nights here, and only one afternoon wandering around the city center as it's quite small and compact. One of the main attractions here is the sky tower which you can bungy jump off of. We walked past it and it was strange to see the bungy lines running down the side of it. Unfortunately no one was jumping so we decided to walk on as we were getting strange looks for standing, staring, and pointing at the tower. The CBD only seems to consist of 4 grid like streets 2 of which are the main shopping precinct. As it was a nice day we decided to walk alongside the harbour before calling it a day and heading back to the hostel. The hostel we were staying in couldn't have been in a better location as it was just outside the CBD so we were able to have free on street parking and still be close enough to walk into city center within 5 minutes. As we had only 4 nights left in New Zealand we decided to head up to Northland for 2 nights so that we would have the opportunity to experience that area before leaving New Zealand, so we then left Auckland and headed further North.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Coromandel Region
The Coromandel Region is supposedly one of the nicest areas in the whole country. With 400km of coastline, the Coromandel is the perfect place for a beach holiday. This is where Kiwis go on holiday and it is easily accessible from the largest city, Auckland. There are many great places to visit and the first place we spent a night was Thames.
Thames is 120km SE of Auckland and is the peninsulas oldest town. Thames has evolved from a gold mining hotbed in the 1920s to a center for local agriculture. Apparently locals have the saying that when the gold ran out, "Thames went to sleep awaiting the kiss of a golden prince - and instead it awoke to the warm breath of a cow!" The main street used to be lined with nearly 100 hotels (bars). Only 5 of these hotels still remain as everyone dissapeared as soon as the gold did.
Some of the highlights for us from the region included :
Hot Water Beach which is a strange beach as a warm spring seeps beneath the beach. At low tide you can access this part of the beach and by scooping a shallow hole in the sand, you can create a pool of warm water. The deeper you dig, the hotter the water becomes. The water temperature can reach 65C.
Hahei Beach is one of the main beaches in the region and was a good place to lie and soak up the sun. Whilst here there was a wedding taking place at the far end of the beach. After a few minutes we could hear bagpipes being played horribly out of tune. There was a tractor that was driving along the beach with the culprit on the back killing the pipes wearing a kilt.
Cathedral Cove is a spectacular rock formation of white cliffs and a naturally archway beside a sandy bay. To get here you have to walk on a track along the coast line that offers good views of Mercury Bay.
Thames is 120km SE of Auckland and is the peninsulas oldest town. Thames has evolved from a gold mining hotbed in the 1920s to a center for local agriculture. Apparently locals have the saying that when the gold ran out, "Thames went to sleep awaiting the kiss of a golden prince - and instead it awoke to the warm breath of a cow!" The main street used to be lined with nearly 100 hotels (bars). Only 5 of these hotels still remain as everyone dissapeared as soon as the gold did.
Some of the highlights for us from the region included :
Hot Water Beach which is a strange beach as a warm spring seeps beneath the beach. At low tide you can access this part of the beach and by scooping a shallow hole in the sand, you can create a pool of warm water. The deeper you dig, the hotter the water becomes. The water temperature can reach 65C.
Hahei Beach is one of the main beaches in the region and was a good place to lie and soak up the sun. Whilst here there was a wedding taking place at the far end of the beach. After a few minutes we could hear bagpipes being played horribly out of tune. There was a tractor that was driving along the beach with the culprit on the back killing the pipes wearing a kilt.
Cathedral Cove is a spectacular rock formation of white cliffs and a naturally archway beside a sandy bay. To get here you have to walk on a track along the coast line that offers good views of Mercury Bay.
Matamata aka Hobbiton
Matamata is a rural town nestled at the base of the scenic Kaimai Ranges. It is well known for its thoroughbred industry, dairy farming and heritage. More recently, it has gained fame from being home to one of the key sites in The Lord of The Rings Trilogy - The Shire, aka Hobbiton, home to the Hobbits. When you first enter town there is a welcome sign that says 'Welcome to Hobbiton' and has a statue of Gollum.
In September 1998 Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema discovered the Alexander family farm during an aerial search for suitable film sites for the films. The fantastic views and rolling country side of the Alexander Farm closely resembled Peter Jacksons perception of what Middle-earth looked like as described by author, J.R.R Tolkien.
The large established pine tree, later re-named the party tree, was already perfectly placed in front of the lake. The surrounding rolling farmland was untouched by 20th century clutter such as roads, buildings or power lines. The farm was perfect.
Site construction started in March 1999. Initially this involved heavy earthmoving machinery provided by the New Zealand Army. Total site construction took nine months. Throughout construction and filming all activity on the site was kept under strict security due to commercial restraints by the movie company.
Filming commenced in December 1999 and continued for three months. At its peak 400 people were working on site, including director Peter Jackson, and actors Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sir Ian Holm (Bilbo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry).
When Peter Jackson spotted the Alexander Farm during an aerial search of the North Island for the best possible locations to film The Lord of The Rings film trilogy, he immediately thought it was perfect for Hobbiton. Nevertheless, a lot of work was still needed to be completed before it was up to the director’s high standards. Some of the measures that had to be taken included a big Oak tree being cut down and brought in from near Matamata. Each branch was numbered and chopped then transported and bolted together in one of the fields. Artificial leaves were imported from Taiwan and individually wired onto the dead tree. 37 Hobbit holes were created, the mill, the pub and double arch bridge were built out of scaffolding, ply and polystyrene, glued and painted. In addition, hedges and trees were brought in and gardens were planted and nurtured throughout the winter.
There are only 17 of the actual 37 hobbit holes left. This is due to New Line Cinema's policy to never leave a movie set behind. Every movie they have ever produced has always been returned to its natural state. The company were in the process of dismantling this site when torrential rain forced them to temporarily stop. When locals had heard that there were still parts of the movie set left the Alexander farm was inundated with visitors. This gave them the idea to look into starting a tour. They first had to get permission from New Line Cinema who eventually allowed them to do it as long as they agreed to keep everything the way it was and they were not allowed to enhance the movie set that was still left. Therefore when on the movie set you need to have a good imagination to visualise the shire as it was in the film as it just looks very plain and ordinary compared to how it was in the movie. The hobbit holes are not actually holes, they are just plywood attached to the side of the hill. Only one of the holes can you go in, as this is the only hole that they were required to shoot a scene in. The rest of the scenes inside the Hobbit holes were shot in the studio in Wellington. They used all kinds of effects. For instance, they had 3 different size rooms in height built in the studio to accomodate the height they wanted the actor to portray. So when Gandolf would go in he would appear large in size as he was in a smaller room than what Bilbo was filmed in. Bilbo was filmed in a larger room to make him appear the correct Hobbit size. In some scenes they used a 10 year old boy to play the role of Bilbo. An example of this was when Gandolf and Bilbo hugged at the entrance of Bilbos Hobbit hole.
Auditions for the part of Hobbits were held in the local school and people from all over the world applied. 16 locals were selected and had to sign contracts preventing them from telling anyone anything and revealing their identity until after the release of the 3rd film. All staff were also forbidden from taking any props from the set or any photograpy. Each day they were searched on entering and exiting the set. One local managed to take a picture and was caught. His camera was confiscated and he was sacked on the spot.
The set is being returned to its original look as the film Hobbiton will be getting filmed there and is expected to be out next year.
The movie set was a working sheep and beef farm. During filming the stock was herded into fields out the way. As it is still a working farm at the end of the Lord of the Rings tour we were taken into a shed where we got to watch a 6 month old lamb having its first hair cut. You can see a video of this here. After this we were then given the chance to feed 3 month old lambs.
In September 1998 Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema discovered the Alexander family farm during an aerial search for suitable film sites for the films. The fantastic views and rolling country side of the Alexander Farm closely resembled Peter Jacksons perception of what Middle-earth looked like as described by author, J.R.R Tolkien.
The large established pine tree, later re-named the party tree, was already perfectly placed in front of the lake. The surrounding rolling farmland was untouched by 20th century clutter such as roads, buildings or power lines. The farm was perfect.
Site construction started in March 1999. Initially this involved heavy earthmoving machinery provided by the New Zealand Army. Total site construction took nine months. Throughout construction and filming all activity on the site was kept under strict security due to commercial restraints by the movie company.
Filming commenced in December 1999 and continued for three months. At its peak 400 people were working on site, including director Peter Jackson, and actors Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo), Sir Ian Holm (Bilbo), Sean Astin (Sam), Billy Boyd (Pippin) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry).
When Peter Jackson spotted the Alexander Farm during an aerial search of the North Island for the best possible locations to film The Lord of The Rings film trilogy, he immediately thought it was perfect for Hobbiton. Nevertheless, a lot of work was still needed to be completed before it was up to the director’s high standards. Some of the measures that had to be taken included a big Oak tree being cut down and brought in from near Matamata. Each branch was numbered and chopped then transported and bolted together in one of the fields. Artificial leaves were imported from Taiwan and individually wired onto the dead tree. 37 Hobbit holes were created, the mill, the pub and double arch bridge were built out of scaffolding, ply and polystyrene, glued and painted. In addition, hedges and trees were brought in and gardens were planted and nurtured throughout the winter.
There are only 17 of the actual 37 hobbit holes left. This is due to New Line Cinema's policy to never leave a movie set behind. Every movie they have ever produced has always been returned to its natural state. The company were in the process of dismantling this site when torrential rain forced them to temporarily stop. When locals had heard that there were still parts of the movie set left the Alexander farm was inundated with visitors. This gave them the idea to look into starting a tour. They first had to get permission from New Line Cinema who eventually allowed them to do it as long as they agreed to keep everything the way it was and they were not allowed to enhance the movie set that was still left. Therefore when on the movie set you need to have a good imagination to visualise the shire as it was in the film as it just looks very plain and ordinary compared to how it was in the movie. The hobbit holes are not actually holes, they are just plywood attached to the side of the hill. Only one of the holes can you go in, as this is the only hole that they were required to shoot a scene in. The rest of the scenes inside the Hobbit holes were shot in the studio in Wellington. They used all kinds of effects. For instance, they had 3 different size rooms in height built in the studio to accomodate the height they wanted the actor to portray. So when Gandolf would go in he would appear large in size as he was in a smaller room than what Bilbo was filmed in. Bilbo was filmed in a larger room to make him appear the correct Hobbit size. In some scenes they used a 10 year old boy to play the role of Bilbo. An example of this was when Gandolf and Bilbo hugged at the entrance of Bilbos Hobbit hole.
Auditions for the part of Hobbits were held in the local school and people from all over the world applied. 16 locals were selected and had to sign contracts preventing them from telling anyone anything and revealing their identity until after the release of the 3rd film. All staff were also forbidden from taking any props from the set or any photograpy. Each day they were searched on entering and exiting the set. One local managed to take a picture and was caught. His camera was confiscated and he was sacked on the spot.
The set is being returned to its original look as the film Hobbiton will be getting filmed there and is expected to be out next year.
The movie set was a working sheep and beef farm. During filming the stock was herded into fields out the way. As it is still a working farm at the end of the Lord of the Rings tour we were taken into a shed where we got to watch a 6 month old lamb having its first hair cut. You can see a video of this here. After this we were then given the chance to feed 3 month old lambs.
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