Everything from Hobbits to Jazz Music

---

Dear Self,
Please get back into the habit of documenting and anthologizing everything! I’m so far behind now that I can’t even remember everything that I wanted to write about. Okay let’s see, where to start…

There was the Hamilton Zoo:

A great place to go right after our hike because I got to see some of the native birds we saw and heard on our hike but close up and I got to read the little informational blurbs about them. Fern and I both had some North Island Kaka land on our shoulders and nibble at our ears! They were such friendly and charismatic birds! We also fed the giraffes which made me think of Berit because she loves giraffes.

Then there was the trip to Auckland to see Sarge:

Another camp friend! It was wonderful to see her and it felt like no time had passed at all since we were all together sitting on the swimming docks at good ol’ Camp Bonnie Brae. We enjoyed a lovely day at the viaducts and reminisced about our camping days together. At night we went to see The Social Network and both Fern and Sarge caught a glimpse of Keisha Castle-Hughes, the star from the movie “Whale Rider” as we were leaving the theater. I wasn’t paying attention to the other people leaving the theater so I missed her all together and Sarge and Fern wouldn’t go back to find her with me.

Then there was the Aquarium:

We saw the cutest penguins ever and crawled into a replica shark jaw of the biggest shark that ever lived! The prehistoric Megalodon! We also learned a lot about historical New Zealand conquests to the South Pole which was very interesting. I can’t even imagine how cold that must have been!

And then there was HOBBITON!

Yes! We went to the set of where the Shire was filmed for the Lord of the Rings movies! It’s under construction for the new movie now and looks fabulous! It really is a working farm too so sheep were wondering all over the place. The tour guide joked about how we could bring home their droppings as free souvenirs if we so desired. Other tourists on our guided tour included a couple of other Americans. Boy, do we know how to represent! One woman was such a fanatic fan that she spent the whole time clutching a small Samwise the Brave figurine by her side as she huffed and puffed her way over the hobbit hills. You can bet she nailed every obscure trivia question they through at us too. We all took heaps of pictures but I’m forbidden to post any of them by penalty of death by Peter Jackson himself. They keep everything very secure and the attention to detail is mind-blowing. Peter Jackson is neurotic when it comes to detail. The tree behind Bilbo Baggins house was moved there from a neighboring farm and had to be cut into pieces to get there. Since it was dead when they bolted it back together Jackson had fake leaves flown in from another country and individually stapled to the branches so it would look right blowing in the breeze. That tree is shown on scream for a few seconds.

And then there was the Beach, Famer’s Markets, and the Jazz Festival:

We spent another weekend at the Coromandel with Fern’s dad. They were having their annual jazz music festival in town so our long exploratory walks were met with lively music and great people watching opportunities. That weekend we also hit up several local outdoor markets and indulged in some marvelous local blueberry ice cream. We also checked back up on the Dotterel nesting grounds on the beach and I’m happy to report that the wee feathered population is coming along just swimmingly… or should I say flying-ly?

Okay, well those are all the highlights I can remember right now. Time to post the more recent stuff!

---