Wednesday-Thursday Isengard, Rivendell and Himatangi Beach

Now on the north island, we wanted to slow the pace down. Our first night was at a campground next to where Isengard was filmed. Before heading to the park, we had to master this log next to where we parked. 

This park is where Gandolf and Saruman were first walking in Fellowship of the Ring. At this park we found a crazy big swing and great flying fox. 

 

After Isengard we headed over to Rivendell.

After the counsel met in Elron's house and sent out the fellowship of the ring, Frodo asked Gandalf whether it was right or left. Here is where they were exiting as he asked the question.

 

Heading just a couple hours up from Rivendell, we spent a couple days at Himatangi Beach with Nicki's friends the Spurgeon's. This was a nice 2 day's to unwind and enjoy a slow pace with their two little pup's Chloe and Noah. 

The beaches on the western shore of the north island are so long. Unlike the south island and the short waves, these waves extended a huge distance. You can walk out 200 meters and still only be up to your waste. I went out with Rosie and Thad for a bit, but when they started to dunk under the water, I came back. It was pretty cold.

So many parks in NZ have some type of spinning device. This was a new one we came back to many times. You would never see these in the states. 

We are about to eat our burgers and chips from the corner shop.

Sunday-Tuesday Wanaka to Picton

Sunday we were in Wanaka. This is a small town on a huge lake in the south island. There was a little church we attended and joined in singing praise to God with believers in NZ. After meeting a man there, he was surprise to meet our Thaddeus and was quick to introduce to his 11 year old son Thaddeus!

Another attraction in Wanaka is Puzzle World. This would be similar to Mystery Spot in CA. After an hour with their indoor exhibits, we spent 1.5 hours navigating their outdoor maze. It starts out easy, but was tricking to find the corners.

These chain links are carved out of one stone.

This is a lake just south of Queenstown.

Wanaka is still a long way on the south island, so Sunday we needed to drive 4-5 hours. After driving 3 hours we took a break at this beach. The remarkable nature of beaches on the western shore is the steepness of the shore. The water would come up so quickly. It was supposed to be a fast stop, but it was so much fun we stayed until sunset.

Monday there was a stop we hoped to be a fast stop. Three hours later we finally left. It was called Shanty town.

We made it out Shantytown by 2:00pm in time for lunch at McDonalds. We then took a small detour to look at some pancake rocks. These were very impressive. Again the short stop turned into 2 hours later. This all meant we got on the road late and made it to our campground in Nelson by 8:15pm. This put us only 2 hours from Picton, where we needed to catch the ferry to the north Island.

On Tuesday at 2:15pm we boarded the ferry and said goodbye to our fun adventure on the south island.

 

Thursday Milford Sound, Friday Mavora Lake (Orc Mound and the breaking of the Fellowship), and Saturday Wanaka

 After visiting the bottom of the world, Thursday morning we left Invercargill toward Milford Sound. Everyone says that we have to go there, there is even a picture of Milford Sound on the side of our campervan. But it is not until you go there do understand. The drive through the mountains was stunning. 

The trees growing on these steep mountainsides is like nothing I have seen my entire life. To help try to capture the drive in and out, we tried to record in timelapse the 40 minute drive out. We started were we camped in Milton Sound and ended as we entered back into normal farm land.

This next couple pictures is Orc Mound. This is where Aragon, Legolas and Gimli are trying to rescue Merry and Pippin. They find the bodies of the Orc's piled and burned and then track Merry and Pippin into Fangorn forest. We found this location on the drive up to Mavora Lake.

Arriving on north Mavora Lake this is where the GPS showed where the scene was. It was shot around 20 years ago, so the trees looked a little different, but I think this was the right spot. This is where the fellowship of the ring was broken. Aragon, Legolas and Gimli went to pursue Merry and Pippin stolen by the Orc's. Frodo and Sam continued on the journey to Mordor.

Saturday we drove through Queenstown (so many tourists!) and made our way up to Wanaka. We literally drove over a mountain, switchbacks and all to get there.