Lake Taupo, Mt Raupehu, Whakapapa Ski Fields, February 20 - 23, 2023

 Photos say it all . . . 

Lake Taupo: the largest lake in New Zealand; a caldera created by a super-volcano with continuous thermal vents, considered an active volcano and is monitored by GNS Science; has a history of massive eruptions, the largest 25,600 years ago ejecting 1,170 cubic kilometers of material which resulted in the surrounding land to collapse creating the caldera which filled with water creating the lake.  Max length is 29 miles, max width 21 miles, max depth is 610 feet with an average depth of 360 feet. Total shoreline is 120 miles.

Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings.

This is the exact filming site of a scene from Lord of Rings. Don't ask me which scene, I’m not the most passionate fan. Just know, we had to get in line to get this photo. Location is about 200 yards from the base of the gondola, Skywalker Express, at the Whakapapa Ski Fields (pronounced fakapapa, which in Kiwi sounds like ‘fuc*-a-papa'). 

Funny! This is at the top of the Skywalker Express (gondola), and there are ski lifts reaching above this point. Not as risky as the sign says. 

Hobbiton, Matamata, New Zealand, February 19, 2023

 

I’m a lukewarm Lord of the Rings Fan at best, but Hobbiton - the Shire -  was absolutely beautiful! Just like the feeling of the Shire in the LOTR movies, visiting the movie set brought a tranquil escape from reality, a blissful world without worry or stress. We were there about four hours and when it was over, I wished I could stay, wished it was a real world. 

The Hobbiton movie set is located on a working family farm, the Alexander Family Farm, which is a livestock ranch with thousands of sheep and Angus beef. The area around the movie set and Matamata is stunning: green rolling hills, sheep on the steep hills,  cows grazing, their bells sounding off in the distance. The Hobbit homes are all facades, none had interior rooms other than a shallow, closet-like openings showing shelving with ‘Hobbit’ notions. A month after we were there the movie set shut down, after the summer season of 2023, and several of the hobbit homes were bulldozed and rebuilt to be actual Hobbit homes, completes with bedrooms, kitchens, dining areas. 

The day were were there was sunny, calm and bright. Three days earlier, February 16, Cyclone Gabrielle lashed the North Island, dumping heavy rain with hammering winds. We saw very little damage today, with just a few mud puddles here and there, otherwise not much evidence of the cyclone.  

The pictures say it all, my words can’t add anything . . .

Most of this is a movie set, but that is a real Monarch Butterfly.

You’re not in Utah anymore! The tour ended with a mug of cider at the Hobbit Pub, The Green Dragon, courtesy of the tour. I’m still chuckling thinking of the eight-year-olds on the tour getting buzzed on that 5% cider. It was delicious! And I didn’t get buzzed from the cider, I did from the scenery. Back in Bountiful, Davis County School District is banning books such as Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird and Huckleberry Finn, yet in New Zealand they don’t worry a bit about kids drinking cider with a bit of a kick. Even with that, the kids in New Zealand still have much lower rates of drug abuse and violent crimes than do the youth in Bountiful Utah. I can only conclude that Utah is totally F**ked! Relax, respect and trust will help kids succeed much more than creating a world of paranoia and hiding from the truth of history, as told in great books. I truly fear for my Grandkids, much, much, much more due to the local politics than any other influences in their lives.