Bilbo's house

Sam's house

under the party tree looking over to the lake, mill and pub

by Bilbo's house

Saturday 24th March. Up at 6am to catch the 6.40 bus to New Lynn followed by another bus to Britomart. I had booked a day tour to Hobbiton with Red Carpet Tours and was very excited. I was picked up by Vic who runs the tour company with his wife Raewyn. Vic and Raewyn are die hard LOTR fans and specialise in 12 day tours going everywhere in New Zealand where LOTR was filmed and even staying in the hotels the actors stayed in. There were only 3 of us on the tour as we picked up two girls on holiday from Peru and Australia too. Hobbiton is in Matamata which is just over a two hour drive away from Auckland. It was an interesting drive through some really remote rural countryside. As we were going up the lane to the Hobbiton farm Vic put on the Shire music which was hilarious. We arrived and looked around the shop and then went to the Shire’s rest cafe for tea and coffee. The actual film set is a kilometre away from the cafe and shop so we left Vic in the cafe and departed for the actual Hobbiton tour on a full bus. When we arrived on set we got off the bus and were able to walk around while the Hobbiton guide told us facts. It was so beautiful with white butterflies and flowers everywhere. It was a lot smaller than I imagined and the camera angles obviously make it look a lot bigger. There were about 45 hobbit holes. They had no rooms behind the doors except Sam’s and Bilbo’s hobbit holes which had small rooms behind them so the actors could go inside and close the doors. We saw the green dragon pub, the mill, the party tree where Bilbo gives his birthday speech, the party field where the hobbits celebrate Bilbo’s birthday, the lake, Bilbo and Sam’s house. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go right up to the pub and mill but we were able to take photos from across the lake. Vic later told us that they’re going to make the green dragon pub on the set into an actual pub. Our guide told us that Hobbiton was originally going to be dismantled but a storm prevented them from doing so and after the storm they decided not to bother. We were also told funny stories about people who came to Hobbiton dressed as elves, hobbits and wizards. One 7ft man apparently came dressed as a hobbit and refused to leave stating that it was his home. Going around the set took about an hour and a half but I wished we had longer. After the tour we got back on the bus and had lunch with Vic in the shire’s rest as part of the red carpet package. He told us that they had finished filming for the new Hobbit film in November and the cast were now down in the South Island. Vic was so knowledgeable and I’d love to come back to NZ and do their 12 day tour which looks amazing. I didn’t want to leave Hobbiton but I had a great day which I will remember for a long time.

Browns Bay beach

Auckland

Rangitoto island

Saturday 17th March. Met up with a connection of Jacqui’s; Dawn, Mike and Becky. Dawn is Jacqui’s friend’s daughter and moved to New Zealand from England when she was 21. They live up in Albany on the North Shore which I hadn’t visited. They took me to lunch at a nice pub in Browns Bay where they were serving green beers from Stoke in honour of St Patrick’s Day. We then walked along the beach where we had a great view of Rangitoto Island. When I said I hadn’t properly seen the wharf front in the centre of Auckland they decided to take me down to what’s known as the Viaduct where there are lots of nice restaurants along the water front. It was very busy as there was an around the world yacht race taking place and lots of Irish out celebrating. Apparently it was here that a lot of the rugby world cup games took place. We then went back to their gorgeous house. The area they live in looks more English than other areas I’ve been to as it was very rural like at home. After a nice chat and snoop around their house, Dawn dropped me back to Titirangi. I had a really nice day with Dawn and her family but it had left me craving cake so I went up into the village to get some only to find they didn’t sell it!

one of the stalls

cook island dancers

cook island dancers

Tuvalu stage

Saturday 10th March. Went with Toby to meet Tanya and Sylvie in Mount Eden after they had been to Sylvie’s cricket game, dropped off Mirabai and friends at the mall on the way. We had lunch at a place called Circus Circus where I had my favourite; waffles with bacon and banana. After this Toby took Sylvie on to another cricket game while Tanya and I went to the pasifika festival. The annual festival is at Western Springs park where there is a big lake and around the lake were ‘villages’ representing the pacific islands. At each island village there was a stage where there was dancing or singing, food and stalls. It was a great cultural experience for me to see places like Samoa, Tahiti and Fiji represented. Tanya and I sat and watched some dancing at the Cook Islands village and we were the only non-Pacificas! The stalls were all bright and colourful with women wearing bold flower hats and multi-colours. There was big jewellery on sale and I bought a shell necklace. We also bought flowers for our hair and really enjoyed the chilled island atmosphere. I really wanted to see what the Fiji village was like having really wanted to go to Fiji. When we got there some children were dancing in a competition and were really going for it which was great to watch. Everyone was eating water melons which huge servings of ice cream. Before leaving we bought some pasifika food for dinner which consisted of chop suey, taro (a type of vegetable), potato salad, rice and fish. Sadly when we all tried it later we found it either too dry or too buttery. Nevertheless we had a great day and it will be a highlight of my time in Auckland.

Friday 24th Feb. Organised a puppy play date for Snowy with Robyn and her five Yorkshire terriers. Sylvie and I went over to her house which has amazing views of the city and beach. The dogs were gorgeous and very excited to see us. Snowy was like a new kid at school being shy at first but he soon got very confident eating all their food! Robyn showed us how she has a little puppy ladder up to her bed which the dogs can go up. We then went to Titirangi beach with them all. Her car has no back seats but a massive sackish thing filled with a pillow for the dogs which they love. It was great going to the beach with them as there were dogs everywhere! Robyns female dog was coming on heat and Snowy took quite a liking to her, following her wherever she went. Unfortunately we had to get back for tea but it was so nice to meet them all and we had a great time.

Tuesday 21st Feb. Tanya dropped me at the Auckland museum on her way to work. Its in a really great location on a hill overlooking Auckland. There was a big section on Maori culture so I spent lots of time looking at that. There were unusual larger exhibits like a life size Maori temple and a war boat. There was even a video on Maori rugby, I hadn't realised the Maori's have their own NZ rugby team. After looking at the Maori section I looked around other parts of the museum looking at NZ birds, old fashions, volcanoes and stuffed animals. I then went to a Maori show which was the highlight of the day. They showed us Maori games, songs, fighting techniques, dancing. They showed us how the Maori's often move their wrists around when singing or dancing as to them it represents life. However the best part was the haka where even the woman joined in! They told us that movements like the bulging of the eyes and protrusion of the tongue signal strength and intimidation. I then went down to a kind of flower house just next to the museum which was really pretty. I ended up having some spare time before my bus came so got my favourite cookies and cream ice cream and read in the gardens.

Sunday 19th Feb. Went to Cornwallis beach which is one of the more popular beaches in the area that a lot of the Pacific community go to. Very nice beach with a  good view of the harbour. New Zealand beaches have more of a raw beauty than the golden sand beaches in Sydney. Read my book while Toby and Sylvie went to take Snowy in the water. Toby then did a bbq in the evening which was really nice on such a hot day.

Cornwallis beach

Monday 20th Feb. Had my first session with year 2 at Titirangi primary today. Usually we would have gone swimming but today they had a whole school assembly. It was different for me to see such a large primary school altogether with there being over 500 pupils. They all sang the New Zealand anthem which left me a bit stuck! Then they sang another song in Maori and introduced certain pupils to the school like library monitors, zebra crossing monitors and bush walk monitors. We then went back to class and the children did some finishing work followed by maths games. The children don't wear a uniform but in the usually hot weather this is understandable. I've also noticed most of them walk around with no shoes on, the other day when I was at the school they were running around the playground in the rain with no shoes on!