There and Back Again: The Beginning of the Journey
Four score and seven years ago—no wait, that’s far too long. A mere four years ago, my sister and I boarded a plane to New Zealand, to Middle Earth, to fulfill a lifelong passion.
Our father raised us right from childhood, reading us The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, so that we grew up with a love of Tolkien. We had the privilege of waiting in line for hours in the theatre at the opening of each of the Peter Jackson films, wearing our cloaks and trading trivia. And then, fifteen years after the release of the first movie, we ourselves went to the place where it all came to life: New Zealand.
In this blog series, I’ll share our experience exploring the spectacular countryside of New Zealand, the incredible insights and inside stories from the filming of The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, and photos of the stunning sights. Come with me on a journey to Middle Earth!
Day 1: Journey to New Zealand
On November 13, 2016, my sister and I began our journey across the world to Middle Earth, but unlike the elves sailing to Valinor, we took a plane. While we didn’t see any film sites on the first day, we paid tribute to Lord of the Rings (LotR) in several ways. Upon our arrival in Auckland’s airport, this dwarven guardian greeted us.
Living Like Hobbits
We also took a hobbit-like approach to meals, eating breakfast on the plane, second breakfast of chocolate-filled pretzels from a street stand, then elevensies with pumpkin-feta tarts and banana-chocolate muffins, before moving on to lunch (pizza), afternoon tea (cheese stuffed pretzels—what can I say, the pretzel place was really good), and dinner (at Da Vinci’s Italian restaurant). I confess I made no record in my journal of supper. Six out of seven meals isn’t bad, though! (I promise I won’t detail everything we ate through this whole series!)
Our tour included a visit to Albert Park, named for Queen Victoria’s husband. The park was to contain trees from all over the British Empire. We encountered several with vast root systems and countless branching trunks with hollows between them—definitely the kind that could swallow unsuspecting hobbits!
A huge tree in Albert Park, Auckland, New Zealand—hobbits beware! 
My sister, DanaClaire, in the clutches of a tree worthy of the Old Forest of the Shire!
The Kiwis—New Zealanders—often encounter tourists such as my sister and me coming to visit LotR land. I wore my fellowship leaf pin on my jacket, and our guide recognized it straight away. The next day, however, we would strike out on our own adventure in search of Weathertop. Join me in the next post to hear our journey of how we stumbled into an entirely different fantasy world en route!
Journey to Middle Earth Series:
Day 1: Living Like Hobbits (Auckland)
Day 2: To Middle Earth and Beyond! (Port Waikato & Hot Water Beach)
Day 3-4: Hobbiton (Matamata)
Day 5: Geothermal Wonderland (Rotorua)
Day 6: The Forests and Rivers of Middle Earth (North Island)
Day 7: Weta Workshop & the Forests of Middle Earth (Wellington)
Day 8: Paths of the Dead (Putangirua Pinnacles)
Day 9: Flight of Fantasy (Wellington & Christchurch)
Day 10: Edoras, Capital of Rohan (Mount Sunday)
Day 11: Lake Pukaki (Laketown)
Days 12-14 part 1: Queenstown (Isengard, Lothlorien, Ithilien, and more!)
Days 12-14 part 2: Queenstown (Argonath, Dimrill Dale, Rohan, and more!)
I’m rather late commenting on these New Zealand posts … but I love them! I’d love to visit New Zealand someday and see all of this. It seems as close as we can actually come to visiting Middle Earth. 😉 Those trees are amazing!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the virtual tour with me! It was definitely the dream trip of a lifetime! I do think that New Zealand is the only place that could tempt me away from Colorado.