LOTR

find quote from the films

Kia Ora!

LOTR. Lord of the Rings. This is an attraction for many tourists to NZ. But where to go? XXXX Jackson (a native of Auckland) shot his famous trilogy all over South Island. One can take a LOTR tour in many places. The one that sounded the best to me was the all day tour by Glenorchy Air out of Queenstown. Only $755 per person. So indecisive, we didn't take any of the tours, but we did visit some of the places where scenes were shot.

I have already mentioned Weta Cave (). A visit here when in Wellington is complementary to any LOTR tour and worth the time. It is the creative workshop responsible for the wonderful special effects of the films. ADD PHOTO

One day, KC and I drove out to Lake Mavora, which appeared in the first film. The scenes that were shot here: a) Fellowship arrives at Lawn of Parth Galen on 3 greyboats given by Galadriel; b) in the last scene of the film, Frodo and Sam go across the lake to the slopes of Amon Lhaw to continue the quest alone. There is nothing at the location to suggest any movie crews had ever been here. This is an isolated area quite far off the main thoroughfares and a primitive setting for the campers who take advantage of its beauty to do come hiking and fishing. We were there on a warm sunny day and enjoyed the birds, including the black swan family not far from shore. PHOTO

We drove out to Glenorchy, another area where much filming was done. PHOTO

Anzac Day

Kia Ora!

All of New Zealand seriously celebrates Anzac Day on April 25. KC had the day off. While others gathered for speeches, wreath laying, and saluting the flag beginning with services at dawn, we slackers slept in and later hiked in a gorge that borders the north edge of the city. Anzac Day may be compared to both Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the United States. Those who served in the military are honored on this day. Wreaths are laid on monuments in every town of reasonable size.

Anzac is an acronym for Australian New Zealand Army Corps. This holiday is observed in  the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands and Tonga as well as NZ and Australia. The significance of Anzac Day is acknowledged across the globe, including the United States, wherever New Zealand or Australian expatriates are living. In 2013, John Kerry, US Secretary of State expressed the following on behalf of himself and President Barack Obama:

"Today we stand together to honour the memory of the courageous heroes of Gallipoli and pay tribute to all of the proud men and women who have served in the defense forces of Australia and New Zealand."

Gallipoli is the war that spawned Anzac. Countless displays alert one to the importance of this holiday including the public library.

In New Zealand today, one of the most popular cookies (called biscuits here) are called Anzacs. The recipe was developed sans eggs making the biscuits more durable for the long voyage to the troops at the front in Gallipoli. They are delicious and great dunkers.


Anzac biscuits
 

As in the US, poppies are sold and worn. Museum displays recount military campaigns, and the nurses are never forgotten.




Museum in Waimate

While Anzac veterans of Vietnam, Afghanistan and all campaigns in-between are honored, the futile military campaign in Gallipoli during WW I is particularly remembered. Thousands of New Zealand and Australian troops lost their lives in a long campaign that did not achieve its goal to capture Constantinople and the Dardanelles Strait. Two films, both named Gallipoli, document the bloody sacrifices of the Anzac military. The 1981 fictional film by Peter Weir focuses on an Australian unit and a 2005 film made by Turkish film maker, Tolga Ornek, is a documentary. I am familiar with the Weir film; it is excellent. The Ornek film is on my list of movies for Netflix in the future.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

In April, In Timaru

Kia Ora!

  In April, In Timaru                                                                

 

How can this be April?

Days grow cooler and wetter

my lined pink jacket warm

I walk briskly inspecting gardens

rose petals bear brown edges

lilies collapsed to the earth

asters bloom brightly

wood smoke in the air

trees balding of scabbed red

 and dingy yellow leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mountains wear a recent coat

of snow. Crisp fall apples, cabbages

on supermarket display. Facing

winter, vegetable gardeners harvest

a final burst of tomatoes and zucchini.

 

Under the Southern Cross, life

goes into hibernation as bluebonnets

and redbud burst forth in Texas.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

Timaru Gardens

Kia Ora!

Most homes in Timaru and other New Zealand (NZ) cities where I have lived take pride in their gardens (yards). Recently I strolled around my neighborhood in Timaru and snapped photos of some of the gardens.

Yellow roses on North St.

First, a view of the small garden behind our flat. Every day I go out and select the "rose-of-the-day", a play on words. (Hotel dining rooms in NZ always have a roast-of-the-day on the menu.) Our dinner table is graced with a daily yellow rose, rarely a roast.

Neatly trimmed hedge

Some gardens are surrounded with a neat hedge that provides privacy for the family.

Abandoned and weedy

Of course, there is always the exception that gives credence to the rule. This is a rare sight. One can only wonder about the story behind this abandoned house on a cul de sac off the main thoroughfares.

The rest of the gardens speak for themselves. As we move into winter, the landscape will become less floral.

Fall flowers

Red berries in fall

Features hill country tussock

 

 Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

Privacy for family, beauty for neighbors

Laundry Day

Kia Ora!

For no good reason, Thursday is the day I empty the dirty laundry basket in the bathroom, grab used towels and search the flat for anything that needs laundering. All rental flats in our experience provide private laundry facilities. If there is a garage, the washer and dryer will be there. That is what we have here in Timaru.

Laundry sink and washer

Dryer in corner

Lines are full

In other New Zealand places we have lived, the laundry machines have been in a bathroom or in a closet.  From past experience, Kiwis everywhere (except possibly Takapuna where we lived last time in New Zealand) prefer to hang clothes outside. Indeed, an ingenious set of outdoor clotheslines are part of this flat. Every week I've had these lines full by about 10 AM. By 4 PM, the clothes have dried smelling deliciously fresh.



Lines out of the way


When the lines are not in use, they lower against a lattice screen.
Because the lines as well as the clothespins are limited, towels usually go into the dryer and socks get hung on a rack conveniently left up in the spare (guest) bedroom.


The place for socks
 

Unfortunately the clothespins we bought are poorly made and have a tendency to fall apart with little reason. I've resolved to bring sturdier clothespins back with me from the U.S.A. next time.


Cheers until next time,

Kiwi Traveler

Overnight at Mount Cook

Kia Ora!

A good night's sleep at The Hermitage, $19.00 each for continental breakfast (NZ is rather an expensive place to travel and eat), and we are ready for adventure. There are two glaciers to be explored; we opt for the Tasman glacier since there is time for only one. We must be on our way back to Timaru this day (Sunday).

We drive out to the trail head. I pointed out to KC (Kiwi Consort) that it was perfectly safe now; there are no orcs. (This is a reference to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, in case you missed that.)

No orcs in sight
 

There were two options: a trail to view the glacier and Blue Lake and a trail to a mountain lake jetty. KC and I started up the first trail, but when it appeared to go straight up, KC decided to walk the jetty trail. It appeared to be mostly  flat and for him that was a wise decision. I continued on up and up to see what there was at the top of this mountain. Well, small mountain listed as a 30 minute hike. It took me an hour. I kept telling myself going up hill was easier on the knees than going down. That was not comforting, but I was determined I could do this. About 2/3 of the way up, a split in the trail took one down to Blue Lake and the other went up.

At the overlook for Blue Lake, I stopped to chat with some folks with their cameras and tripods. Don't cha' know, they were from Rochester, Minnesota. "You

Blue (?) Lake
 

The solo climber
 

betcha'!" they said. Together we wondered why Blue Lake was green. They didn't know any of my cousins. However one of the photographers offered to take this picture of me, since I was climbing solo. 

I continued on. A mature woman, much younger than me I'm sure, said "These young people can zip up this trail in 15 minutes, but I'm going to take my time." Then she zipped by me. I plodded on, questioning my sanity all the way. Toward the top, the trail became scree and boulders, to be picked through very carefully.

Dirty glacier
 

When I got to the top, there was a strong wind. Bracing myself, I pulled my camera out to record that I actually made it. So there is the glacier, that very dirty ridge at the bottom of the mountain along the water line. Looking in the other direction, one can see ice bergs floating in the brown water. I do not know why the water is this color.

Ice bergs, not rocks

Now it was time to descend. That I did easily in about 10 minutes. Most of my angst about this tramp was mental! I feared I would find KC impatiently waiting for me. I couldn't find him. About 15 minutes later, he came dragging back from his flat path. "It was at least 4 miles," he said. (It was listed at less than half that.) He was exhausted, and I knew my quads would be feeling this climb for a few days. Returning to the village, we lunched at Alpine Mountain Cafe (cheaper) and returned to Timaru, tired.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

The Mountains Call

Kia Ora!

Aoraki Mount Cook beckoned us west again this weekend. Kiwi Consort (KC) and I ventured as far into the mountains as we could by car, to Mount Cook Village. We took our time getting there stopping at Lake Tekapo for lunch at the Thai restaurant and at Lake Pukaki, just because it is pretty.

The roads were good though traffic got pretty woolly at one point. The shepherd and his dog had things well in hand, and we thought this was good entertainment.



Of course the mountains were spectacular. I am totally captured by the beauty of this mountain. A heavy cloud cover began creeping over the ridge that loomed over our hotel.

There are three levels of accommodation in Mount Cook Village. Backpacker dormitory, Alpine Village, and the
Hermitage. Making all reservations via computer we went top class at the Hermitage. After we checked in, KC treated me to a drink at the bar. I asked the bartender what he did best and ended up with this. Lots of fruit juice. He didn't know I'm not that kind of girl.
Next time I will be more assertive.

We started our weekend with a short 30 minute tramp. Up a hill and back down; we should have expected that. But it was nothing compared to what we did the second day. More on that later.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

Exploring Geraldine

Kia Ora!

A short 20-minute drive from Timaru is the town of  Geraldine. Consulting the newspaper, we decided to see Life of Pi  at the Geraldine Theatre. We were about to find out that the Geraldine Theatre falls into the category of local color.

The theatre has a prominent location as one enters the central business district, next to the library and close to shops. The appearance bespeaks of another and perhaps better era. With only one screen, the theatre does not open until it is time to show the movie. So off we went to explore what else Geraldine had to offer.

We walked into a small arcade designed to entice the business of tourists heading for the high country. We bought ice cream to eat and cheese to take home from the cheese shop.

Next door was a shop specializing in delicious jams and preserves. We bought some of that.

Finally the theatre opened for business. A musty smell greeted us as we entered and purchased our tickets. The bare counter with a few sweets offered for sale could hardly be called a box office.

"You can sit upstairs or downstairs," said the ticket taker/projectionist/owner. "Just grab a rug and take the seat or sofa of your choice."

A rug? Sofas? We peered in at the cold, cavernous and empty downstairs
auditorium. Indeed, red blankets were piled to one side of the door and the back seats were a row of sofas. The heaters in the theatre are so noisy, one could not hear the sound if they ran during the projection. Hence, the blankets. We
headed upstairs to the balcony on the theory that hot air rises and we wanted to be warm. We grabbed our blankets from the pile by the door, chose our sofa, cuddled together, and the couple next to us became our best friends for the next two hours. The movie was just fine also.

Cheers,

Kiwi Traveler

The Red Zone

Kia Ora!

On Easter Sunday, 31 March 2013, we observed a spiritual morning at Cathedral Square in Christchurch. Perhaps it should have been on Good Friday as it was a time of grieving for me. I have visited Christchurch several times, finding the center of the city a delightful place to wander and explore. This morning was a time to mourn what is no longer there or still exists, though damaged and unrepaired. Two earthquakes struck this city in 2010. Details about the quakes will follow in another post.  

Traffic light has no traffic

Cathedral in back, police under tree

Much of the central business district (CBD) is blocked off and called The Red Zone. Pedestrians are allowed on some streets that are blocked to traffic. Other streets and the square itself are blocked to pedestrians also.

Towerless cathedral

Cardboard cathedral

The dominating presence in the square for me has always been the Christchurch Cathedral. I wandered through it, went to Evensong there, congratulated members of the Boys' Choir on a fine job. Now it stands empty with no repairs made in two years, true for much of the city. The bell tower collapsed, taking with it a large section of the front of the building. The back appears to have had less damage and I hope the beautiful-sounding pipe organ remains viable. Plans to repair the cathedral seem locked in some sort of disagreement about what and how it should be done. In the meantime, construction is underway for a replacement to be used for about twenty years. It is located in a nearby square and is being constructed of cardboard. I kid you not!

The hotel stood here

In 2008, I stayed for a three-day visit at an older hotel auspiciously situated very few blocks from the square on a tram line and within an easy walk of a group of buildings that were once a university, now converted to a center for artists' studios, shops, and restaurants. The Art Center  is still there, broken but under reconstruction. 



Artists' studios-1 of the buildings



Containers and facade

Scaffolding a common site

Look closely at this untouched photo of a stack of containers, such as used for shipping. Behind them is the facade of an old building that no longer exists. It was a famous theatre. The container stack is supporting the facade, which will become the face of a new theatre in the future.

The delay in reconstructing much of the inner city appears to be partly money and mostly political. Yesterday's newspaper featured a story about a multimillionaire from the city who withdrew his offer of a substantial amount of money to be used for reconstruction because it was not being used. He decided it could be earning money elsewhere and he put it where it is profitably invested: in oil and gas in Houston, Texas.

Prayerfully,

Kiwi Traveler