After jumping out of a plane and hiking to Mt. Doom, we were on a race to the south island. We'd only planned for two and a half weeks to cover the entire country... Which we quickly realized was our first of several strategic errors.(the others being scheduling the camper rental to end two days before we leave, and forgetting those important details like just how many days are in the month of April. There are 30, in case you were wondering. Not 31...)
Anyways, we arrived at windy Wellington on a gorgeous Thursday morning, only to have the weather turn on us by midday. We really couldn't complain since it was only the first rain we'd had in an unnaturally warm fall. So instead of tramping around town we hit the city's famous museum - Te Papa to get our fill of new Zealand culture. The museum is huge, and one of the best we'd ever been to! They have a huge Maori exhibition showcasing the native history. I loved the marine exhibits the best, Te papa is the only museum in the world to feature a collasal squid specimen (freaky) and there were plenty of interactive children's exhibits to keep ewan busy. Oh, And a swinging bridge.
Blah blah blah something about weka cave....nerd.
(that was ewans breakdown of where we went next...!)
Despite having climbed halfway up Mt. Doom and throughout numerous could-be-shires... We still hadn't seen any hobbits. Ewan didn't even know what a hobbit or Gollum was, so I decided we needed to rectify that oversight ASAP.
We trekked about 20 minutes outside Welly to the "Weka Cave," where the LOTR magic was made. Its a studio co-owned by Peter Jackson, specializing in special effects, make up/costumes and props. And it's kind of amazing... You get to see props from the movie (life sized orcs!) miniatures from the movie sets and a short documentary about the studio itself, and their involvement in the LOTR franchise. For instance, we had no idea it took seven years to make the trilogy! Yep... It's nerd heaven.
The next morning we caught the three hour trip on the inter islander ferry across to the south island. Keeping with our crazy pace we landed just in time to see the sunset before racing off to wine country. Best thing about a birthday across several time zones on the other side of the world? You don't only get two days to celebrate... apparently, if your husband forgets to get you a present you also get a full third day of wine tasting in Marlborough region, best known for their white wines. Yessss!
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Location:Wellington, NZ
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