From Whakatane to the Shire

Rob and I made our way down to Whakatane to stay will Kel's mum and shaggy black dog, Cindy. On our way we stopped at the Avaganda Vineyard to pick up some Feijoa sparkling wine, a favorite down here. New Zealand tends to have screw-top wine bottles since they have no cork industry, unlike Europe, which does. American wines are embracing plastic corks but time will tell if they go the screw-top way as well. Regardless, I think Feijoa wine is tasty. I have also discovered a new favorite soda (fizzy drink), called L & P - Lemon and Paeroa - "World Famous in New Zealand." End of that tangent. In Whakatane we were treated to Kels mum cooking lamb, potato, carrots in lemon and kumara (sweet potato), finished off with the classic Kiwi dessert (pudding), pavlova. Pavlova is a meringue topped with whipped-cream and fruit (most notably kiwis, of course). Aussies and Kiwis still fight over which country created this. Tasty, nonetheless! The next day we paid a visit to the Whakatane shore. The miles and miles of beach shore in New Zealand, which you have entirely to your lonesome, is really amazing. We spent some time photographing the waves and shoreline and made a visit to the statue of Wairaka. According to Maori legend, one of their canoes came to shore and the men went to scout out the land leaving women and supplies in the vessel. All of a sudden, the canoe was washed out to sea. As it was forbidden for women to paddle, all seemed lost. Just then Wairaka, a young Maori girl, said “Ka Whakatāne au i ahau” (“I will make myself a man”) and saved them all from destruction by rowing the boat ashore. You can see her image in the picture. In the background you can see Whale Island which proved to be an impressive presence out in the ocean. As you look out to sea you will occasionally find such an island. Since most island and mountains (often volcanoes) have Maori names, it becomes easy to lose track of which is which. Many names are actually pronounced different than spelled. For instance, since many places are called "faka"-this and "faka"-that, it became a lot of "faka"-ing places to put on English speaking maps. So, "F" was substituted with "Wh." Now you know that when you see a "Wh" on a Kiwi map it is correct to pronounce it as "F." Not a big Whaking-deal. Sorry, had to.
After some fish and chips it was down to Taupo, then Tuarangi for some fly fishing. Fortunately for Rob and I, all that we had to rent was waders as his friend Brent kitted us up with fly rods, reels and other necessities for fly fishing. The first late afternoon was unproductive for everyone, even Andrea an Italian fishing dynamo from Venice. But it was fun to be out in the river, fly casting and getting comfortable. The next day was as windy as the day before but also mixed with more rain. Most quit early and this helped Rob and I to decide on heading back to Rotorua for a Maori experience. That night we took a tourist bus to the Tamiki Maori village and got to see the traditional Maori greeting ritual, some of what many of you have seen before, with the antagonistic gestures of Maori, complete with yells, wide-eyes and tongue protrusion. Keep in mind, the first white people to attempt a landing in New Zealand were beaten to death by the Maori. Those remaining Dutchmen thought twice about returning. After watching many performances and songs (which included the haka, of course) we were treated to a nice feast.

The next day we visited some of the geothermal activity of this region- hot springs, mudpots and steamy fumeroles and left for Mata Mata. It was here that Peter Jackson selected a sheep farm resembling Tolkien's description of the Shire in Lord of the Rings for use in his movie. We did indeed feel like geeks boarding the Hobbiton tour bus, but oh it was so entirely worth it! After riding the dirt road flanked by thousands of sheep our tour guide introduced us to the movie set. Many lush green hills, ornamented with different species of trees. Unfortunately, New Line Cinema (who owned the rights to the film) said that all sets had to be removed and that even the planting of Hobbit gardens was prohibited. So, in their place were white Hobbit-hole facades. But the locations were all the same as were the natural elements such as hills, lakes, trees, etc. It was magical to see the Party Tree which featured prominent in the films and walk the same stone steps to Bag-End as were there in the movie. I had to place the One Ring on the stairs for a shot. Just had to. Believe me, we were quite conservative compared to what some people have done. But heck, the books and movies have made so many people immensely happy. Why would one find fault in that?

I send you all the warmest of Hobbit tidings and look forward to the time we speak again. "The Road Goes Ever On..."