Vineyards

This is, hands down, my favorite view on the island.  This shot doesn't do it justice because apparently the iPhone isn't into panoramic, but you get the idea.  Its four vineyards that meet in a valley about a fourth mile from Tim's.

Happy Birthday Mama.

Zorbin'

Finally, my dream of traveling like a hamster and being the villain from The Prisoner is realized.

Fun with Sheep!

As mentioned, Hobbiton is also a sheep farm.  So half of the tour was exploring the film sets, and the other half was watching sheep shearing in a creepy shed where no one could hear you scream.

I bring this up because think of the potential for the compound tour once we have a gimmick.  Jimmy could lead a class in wood carving.  Uncle Chuck could show the proper way to set up barricades on the ditch following a hurricane.  Mum can lead seminars on laptops now that she has one.  And Annie could just be her adorable self.

Dad said I would only blog once then forget....

....turns out, I could keep it up for about a month.  Anyway its storming here so I'm going to finally update.  Leigh Anne was here about three weeks ago and we kicked off her visit by going straight to Hobbiton, formally known as Matamata before Peter Jackson got his hairy little hands on it.

Jackson found the land by way of a helicopter ride.  Before becoming Bag End, it was a prosperous sheep farm.  He rented the land and lived in the main house for over 13 months, having all the dailies sent there from Wellington.  When the shoot was over, New Line packed up all of the sets; however due to a wicked rainstorm they left some behind thinking it was too damaged to ever be used again.

That's when the sheep farmer's middle son, an accountant, realized he had the makings of a tourist trap.

Its a pretty surreal tour.  A bus takes you from town out to the farm and around the land.  The tour guide was freakishly knowledgeable, not only about the films but also about the family.  

"That branch is where Frodo eats an apple in the first five minutes of the first film."

"To the right you will see Ed and his daughters, herding the sheep .  Ed married his school sweetheart five years ago."

"Who wants to reenact the Hobbit dance?"

"Over there is a possum."

Apparently New Line sends out spies every once in a while to check up on the farm and make sure they are not playing movie clips or selling paraphernalia.  Because we were American, the tour guide paid us extra special attention.

Anyway the whole tour gave me some great ideas about the Compound Tour we could have.  All we need is a hook.  

I move to Rooooockferry

Oh, and I saw Duffy last night.  It made me miss dancing with Annie in the kitchen real bad.

(sorry for the picture quality.  i think we've finally spotted the iphone's camera weaknesses.)

Garden Party

This past weekend I covered a Garden Party at Fenton Estates, one of the vineyards on the island.  It was a fundraiser for the WESTPAC rescue helicopter trust, and a truly classy affair.  I got to meet the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who spoke at the event.  It was the first time he had been to Waiheke since being elected (he too was brought in to the fold in November, however to much less fanfare as old Obama).  It's kind of funny to think about: America went liberal, while New Zealand, a pretty hippy dippy place, elected a right wing guy.

It was amazing how not a big deal it all was.  There was minimal security, I wasn't frisked or anything, and I only made out three or four bodyguards.  I'm used to seeing political figures with press cores, he had maybe three reporters following him.  

I ended up sitting next to him for a bit and we talked about his new job and how I was liking New Zealand.  It was all pretty surreal, but then again that could have been the open bar.  Anyway here are some pictures of the party as well as of the amazing view the estate had (because WASPS everywhere, even in foreign countries, have the best views).

Hans Holbein the Younger paints cattle

During my travels, I came across a town park.  What made this park special were its two huge painted portraits of cattle.  I have no idea what that was about, still don't, but I like the idea of these two cows getting immortalized.  Maybe their the Adam and Eve and the town is populated by cow people, which I will leave to you all's imaginations of what that would look like.