Random NZ tidbits

As I wrap up my month in New Zealand, I wanted to share a few pictures that didn’t fit in anywhere else.  Leave comments if you want more info on any of them.

The beer company “Tui” has an awesome ad campaign featuring the tagline “Yeah, right” (in a sarcastic manner).  I particularly liked this joke about privacy; sorry for the bad quality!  “The US is just backing-up our data for us.  Yeah, right.”

Beautiful coastlines (I think this might have been Kaikoura, but not sure).

Beautiful snows:

Beautiful snowy sunsets:

All sorts of birds, some simple like this duck:

Others more rare, like this fearless weka:

Others common, and playful, like this fantail, which I wasted about 60 pictures on (this is the best one I could grab!)

Finally, some are (were?) huge, like the Moa, which has been extinct for less than 200 years; here’s a skeleton:

Trees and creativity:

You had better make sure a vehicle isn’t coming your way before you head down this one-lane bridge.  Especially since the train could be coming from behind you or in front.
 

Holden is a more common name in Aus & NZ – predominantly in the form of an automobile manufacturer, but also in a general sense.  We visited my street, near my bay:

Sometimes it can be cloudy one minute and sunny the next:

Thermal Springs in New Zealand

New Zealand is littered with volcanoes; there are some still moderately active ones, and hiking trails are closed and opened in tune with activity.  The Tongariro Crossing walk that I enjoyed back in 2008 was closed due to thermal activity, but is now reopened recently.  In addition to above-ground visual evidence of thermal activity, there’s plenty of evidence of the hotbed below the top layer (see my recent post about the amazing Hot Water beach).

Started out as a misty morning, but even after the fog cleared, there was water vapor in the air – this time from hot springs!

We were taking a calm jetboat ride down the Waikato River (the return was NOT calm). 
Notice the steam rising from the river!

Plenty of spooky steam vents in the hillsides:

We ended up enjoying Orakei Korako which reminded me of the activity in Yellowstone National Park back in the States.  There were bubbling mud pools, geysers that shot in the air, silica terraces, and all sorts of mineral activity producing different colors (reds from high iron, greens from high copper, I assume?).

After visiting the hot springs, we took a wild jetboat ride back up the river with NZ Riverjet; super fun!
(Full disclosure – this was a very different jetboat ride than I took down in Queenstown in 2008.  That ride was much more ‘intense’ and adrenaline pumping due to the closeness of the sheer rock canyon walls (as my footage showed).  This ride had more wildlife, information about the surrounding plants and birds, and more 360-degree turns.)

Sheep in New Zealand

I hear there used to be 40 or even 60 million sheep in New Zealand, but now the economy has changed and there are fewer.  They’re still as cute as ever, and the merino that they make is just right – warm when needed, and cool the rest of the time.  It’s a tight-packing essential when I travel.

Sometimes there’re lots!

Other times, not so many.

(And you might feel like you’re staring at a default Windows desktop background.)

Cheese

This must be a tough intersection for the logging truck drivers.

An old dairy churner and a cheese press!

We picked up an aged gouda with cumin!
 

Nibbler extraordinairre!

Signs of New Zealand

Typical.  Watch out for a really cute, flightless, defenseless bird.

I love signs, here are some from my recent time in New Zealand!  (You might recall that I posted my favorite signs from my NZ trip 5 years ago, as well: http://www.whereisholden.com/2008/01/signs.html )

I have no idea what this one means, but I understand it means go to the right.  There was no visible obstacle.

Nothing confusing, but I like the styling of this "Keep Out!" sign (from a ferry).

Some signs are made for famers, and a bit confusing for the rest of us:

Rogue windsock ahead - beware!

Caution: Wave Pool Dance Party ahead!

Equal opportunity rocks falling ahead.  (Really, it's for glacier ice (top of photo) and rocks (bottom of photo).)

Electricity signs are always cool.

Sometimes, gates are noteworthy.

From Christchurch:

Cute!

Helpful on lonely roads!

Luckily didn’t come across any of these victims in the wild:
 

  

The Shire

We did a very touristy thing: We visited Hobbiton, otherwise known as the Shire, from Tolkien's writings of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  (More specifically, the extra-length movie(s?) from Peter Jackson.)

It's quite photogenic, though I didn't set a new record for photos in a day (current record: 1077 photos!).  Overall it was a good experience, though definitely very pricey (NZ$75 for a 1.5 hour walking tour and a local beer).  Great for superfans, and for those who like cute spaces.  Mild fans, and those who haven't seen the movies might skip this one in favor of another of New Zealand's amazing experiences.

The tree on top of the hill (on top of Bilbo’s hole) is completely man made.  The one used in the same spot in Lord of the Rings was original to the hill, and real.  But when they came back to this site to shoot The Hobbit movie a few years later, they needed a tree that looked 60 years younger.

 
(the sheep were carted away each day while shooting, as they’re the ‘wrong’ kind of sheep.)

 
The hobbit holes (houses) are all various scales to use with the different characters (humans appear large by the holes, but hobbits feel right at home; use different holes/sets in different shots!).

 

View from on top of a hobbit hole; just a chimney sticking out of the ground.