Australia/New Zealand & Fiji Trip - Part 9

On January 19th, we disembarked our cruise ship and traveled to Auckland where we visited the famous Waitomo Caves.  The drive each way was approximately three hours, so we enjoyed seeing the countryside and had a short photo stop to see the LDS Temple outside of Auckland.

Hamilton New Zealand LDS Temple

(Narene and Sam) 

 Another view of the temple.

Our first port in New Zealand was in Dunedin on the South Island;
Auckland and Hamilton are on the North Island.

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  Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

We descended stairs down to the boat that

took us through the caves to see

above us what looked like tiny lights that were glow worms in the 

Waitomo Glowworm Caves.
 (three photos below)

 ". . . the legend of
Waitomo Caves began with the creation of limestone
at the bottom of the ocean.  Now these limestone formations
stand as one of New Zealand's most inspiring natural wonders."

 More photos taken on the three-hour drive between Auckland

and the Waitomo Caves:

 

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The next photos were taken in the 
Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Collections concentrate on New Zealand history, especially the history 
of the Auckland Region, natural history, as well as military history.
 

The ceiling in the war memorial room.

Interesting to find two Ireland names included in 
the war memorial room.

Aotea Moa - became extinct 200 years ago.
(Narene)

Kiwi

Emu

Of the seventeen species of penguin,

six live and breed in New Zealand.

(Sam)

Kiwi Birds


 


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Grave and memorial near Bastion Point,
Auckland, New Zealand.
The area has significance in New Zealand history
for its role in 1970s Maori protests against forced land alienation
by non-Maori New Zealanders.  

This is also the sight of the Savage Memorial, 
which commemorates Michael Joseph Savage, 
New Zealand's first Labor Prime Minister. 
There are formal gardens around the memorial itself, 
with the rest of the area given over to rolling lawns.
Right by the edge of the point as it looks over Tamaki Drive and Mission Bay are 
old gun placements, remnants from the war (the guns themselves are long gone).
The houses that back onto Bastion Point are some of Auckland's most exclusive property,
but most of the land here that isn't built on
is ancient Maori land and well protected against further development.  
 

 The tour typically allows some time in each location for some shopping.
 Here we are standing by a replica of an
Aotea Moa.
(Sam and Narene) 


We stayed overnight in the Crowne Plaza Auckland Hotel.
The next morning, we had a brief city tour on our way to the Auckland Airport to catch our flight to Fiji on Fiji Airlines, where we arrived about 4:00 p.m.

My next blog entry will find us in Fiji.
   

Australia/New Zealand & Fiji Trip - Part 8

On our 15th day (January 18th), our cruise ship docked in Tauranga from where we drove to the location where the movies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies were filmed.  We were told that Peter Jackson, the film director, saw this countryside and realized it was the perfect setting for scenes in his films.  The location is a farming area located near the rural town of Matamata.  

For the production of The Lord of the Rings, temporary movie sets were used and then dissembled.  When Peter Jackson came back to do the Hobbit films, the property owners agreed to the use of their land if the props would be built to remain after the filming ended.  The New Zealand government approved of leaving the Hobbit holes built on location as tourist attractions, since they were designed to blend seamlessly into the environment.

Neither Sam nor I had seen these movies before, but we really enjoyed this tour. 

I have chosen the following photos to share from the many we took at Hobbiton.

  "Hello" from Hobbiton.

  

 Our photo tour begins!

 The door appears to welcome guests,

but there is nothing behind these doors.

These appealing entrances to the homes of Hobbits

were seen as we walked along the paths

of these rolling hills.

The landscaping was beautiful, too.

 Our guide told us that some of the doors were

taller than others, and the actors were staged

in front of doors strategically to make them appear as little people.

Notice the details in the yards that were

included to appear that the homes were

inhabited, even having smoke coming out of the chimneys

and clothes hanging on the outdoor clotheslines.

 

Completing our tour and heading to the

headquarters where we were given a

glass of fresh apple juice.

The headquarters and gift shop.

We left the area with happy memories

and a lot of pictures.

It rained before and after we left Hobbiton, so we felt blessed that
we were able to enjoy this special area staying dry and feeling a little cooler.
We didn't get blue skies for our photos, but otherwise picture taking was good.   

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The next two photos were taken from our bus as we drove to Roturua for the

Agrodome Farm Show.

 There were 19 breeds of sheep.

 

Not only was he an experienced sheep shearer,

but he had an entertaining show providing

some interesting facts and some humor.

Sheep dog herding geese.

Dogs trained to run across the backs of the sheep

from the bottom row to the top.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The "Yield" signs in New Zealand
were "Give Way" signs.  

The next day we were in Auckland where we visited the famous Waitomo Caves

and had a photo stop to see the LDS Temple outside of Auckland.

Photos will be in my next blog entry.