Day 10 - Sky Tower

Cindy (our Group Representative) all fired up from The Hobbiton Saga coupled with The Shower Curtain Saga called the Tour Company to register our grievances. To compensate us for our collective ill-will, the company arranged a complementary coach ride to send us to a shopping outlet. Mr Beady-Eyes was instructed to make this arrangement. Meanwhile, we walked about 15 minutes from the hotel-with-no-shower-curtain to see the last item on our itinerary. SKY TOWER MAIN OBSERVATION The observation deck at the top gave a nice view of Auckland.

When asked about the coach arrangement, Mr Beady-Eyes said, "Ah yes. I have arranged for a coach to take all of you to a shopping outlet today." "How long will it take the coach to send us there?" asked Cindy. (our Group Representative) "3 hours," replied Mr Beady-Eyes. "3 hours?" cried Cindy. "How much time do we have there?" "30 minutes" said Mr Beady-Eyes. Thus began The Coach Saga.

Florence, another member of the group walked towards Mr Beady-Eyes. He was taking another draw from his handmade ciggie. After about ten minutes, The Coach Saga was unraveled. 

The drive from the hotel-with-no-shower-curtain to the outlet will take 30 minutes. We will be given 3 hours to shop before the coach returns to pick us up and send us back to the hotel-with-no-shower-curtain.

After close to an hour, the Coach Captain arrived at the Sky Tower to pick us up for the drive to the outlets.

Mr Beady-Eyes pulled the young good-looking Maori Coach Captain to one side where some serious whispering was seen. It was impolite to eavesdrop so we watched them from a distance.

We alighted the bus waiting for the conspiracy to unfold. That was probably unkind of us and unmerited but at this point in the trip, we were wondering what else the magician will pull out of his magic hat..

Nothing happened. We reached the outlet without loss of blood.

Yachts by the harbor

Homeless Kiwi. Didn't expect to see these in Auckland.

Three hours later, we waited at the agreed spot for the Coach Manager, each laden with shopping bags and crates of fruits. Once we were seated on board, the compulsory seat belts properly in place, Mr Beady-Eyes, mic in hand began. 

"It is very nice of the company to make this special arrangement with the coach today, to send all of you to the outlet and back. The Coach Manager had taken some time off just to send us there so it will be nice if all of you can give a token of appreciation to the driver for his services today."

Silence. When something is called complementary it is customary to think of it as complementary. None of us were about to give any tokens of appreciation with our arms twisted. I couldn't help thinking about the conspired whispering between Mr Beady-Eyes and the young Maori Coach Captain before we took off from the Sky Tower. Was there a premeditated conspiracy to coerce us into this?

Before we left South Island, there had been a farewell of sorts with Glen, the Coach Captain from Christchurch. Glen had been with us for 7 days, had empathized with us and was most accommodating.  We had presented him with a token of our appreciation in the presence of a sullen Mr Beady-Eyes. His sense of foreboding must have inspired him to arrange this little drama.

We reached the hotel-with-no-shower-curtain without any blood shed.

The rest of the day was spent shopping along Queen Street. I broke my own record on this day. My pedometer registered 13,146 steps! (My daily average is less than a thousand.)

On our way back to the hotel, three rowdy Maori ladies dressed in short, black bustier dresses walked on black stilettos in drunken stupor behind us. It was cold out there and they were throwing cardboard at each other as they guffawed. I couldn't help wondering about the social status of the Maori community.

Inside the washroom of the hotel-with-no-shower-curtain vis-a-vis The Shower Curtain Saga of yesterday, hung a painting with three golden circles. Looking at it, I thought about Tolkien's Lord of The Rings. Sauron made three rings for the elves, seven rings for the dwarves and nine rings for men. Each circle in the picture represented the three types of rings made for the different races. Collectively, they made up the One Ring which bind all three in the force of darkness depicted by the black color in the background of the painting. I wondered if these thoughts went through the artist's mind as he painted this picture.

Painting inside washroom of The Auckland City Hotel

Our trip came to an end on the following day when we were driven to the airport in the morning. With a brief transit in between, we reached home without further incident. The cheese we bought from the Cheese Factory was confiscated by the New Zealand Immigration Officer because they were deemed too dangerous to take on board. I hadn't had the presence of mind to check them in with the rest of the luggage.

The silver fern, cleverly pressed between the pages of a travel magazine checked in with my luggage made it through. The 6 little stones I picked up from Lake Tekapo, The Moeraki Boulders and Lake Pukaki was also checked in with the luggage.

The frozen lobster tasted great while the paua shell and costume jewelry were remnants of a memorable trip

The kumara (sweet potato) does not speak of its own sweetness .....Maori proverb

Day 9 - Hobbiton

PARADISE VALLEY SPRINGS Ms Olivia, our guide at the Paradise Valley Springs showed us the flora and fauna of the place.  I asked her about the silver fern. She was at once, on the look out for the fern, and after she spotted one, she plucked some and gave it to me.

California Redwood Planted in 1976

The silver fern (ponga) or Cyathea dealbata is New Zealand's national emblem. While the top of the frond is dark green, the underside is silver. Maori once used the underside of the fronds as a marker for tracks regularly used at night, the silver underside highlighting the tracks. I took them home with me, with some effort, pressed them flat between the pages of a magazine and laminated them to make bookmarks.

silver fern

Red pig

You get an alpaca when you cross breed a llama and a sheep.

AGRODOME SHEEP SHEARING SHOW

The sheep were led out one by one and tied to a short pole. At the top of the pole is a little bowl containing food.

Dog show. We spent about half an hour watching a young dog chase some sheep all around the paddock.

Lunch : Salmon

Beef

Once lunch was tucked into our belly, we were merrily on our way to Hobbiton. (the highlight of my New Zealand experience.) For those who don't know, Hobbiton is the name of the movie-set used in Peter Jackson's movie "THE HOBBITS" (written by JRR Tolkien) The movie is based on a book of the same name and is a prequel to the Lord of The Ring Trilogy. Hobbiton is The Shire, home of the hobbits and it is located in the district of Matamata.

We cruised through a landscape dotted with odd-looking mounds. Unbeknownst to us, this was the volcanic ash deposition zone. The most recent volcanic event, the eruption of Mt Ruapehu in 1995 forced millions of tonnes of volcanic ash into the atmosphere to eventually settle over an area covering hundreds of square kilometers. Some volcanic ash settled within the Matamata-Piako District. This explained the odd-looking mounds we saw.

Ticket Office & Pick-up point for Hobbiton Movie Set Coach

Finally we reached the Waikato region and The Shire. (Hobbiton)

The First Hobbiton Gift Shop was located next to the Ticket Office where we picked up our tickets. The pick-up point for the Hobbiton Movie Set Coach was located outside the gift shop. While waiting for the tickets to be collected, some of us wandered into the gift shop. Mr Beady-Eyes herded us outside because "the Hobbiton Coach is arriving any time soon". This did not happen until ten to fifteen minutes later but he assured us that ample time will be given for us to pick up any Hobbiton souvenir we wanted.

Tickets in hand, we hopped onto the Hobbiton Movie Set Coach with Sarah, the Hobbiton Guide. Hobbiton is located within the Alexander family sheep farm, with the Kaimai Ranges towering in the distance. It is a 12 acre set, with Hobbit Holes, the Mill and the famous Green Dragon Inn. I'll let my pictures do the talking.

Sam Gamgee's Hobbit Hole

Bag's End (Bilbo Baggin's Hobbit Hole)

That's a fake tree above Bag's End. It was planted there at great cost after the original tree died.

There were in total something like forty over hobbit holes sprawled across Hobbiton. (We didn't count.) The hobbit holes were mere facade. Push open the door and you will see nothing but total darkness. (See picture on right.)

Interior of Hobbit Hole

The Green Dragon Inn

Complementary Drinks were given.

Traditional ale served. (Apple cider and non-alcoholic ginger beer.)

And here's the One Ring. (though there are a lot more in the gift shop)

We passed the Mill and the stone bridge. The view was astounding. The tour ended at The Green Dragon Inn where we were given complementary drinks. Traditional ales in the same mug Frodo and the hobbits held in their hands were served. Soon we were sipping apple cider, ginger beer, munching pies and washing up in the hobbit toilets.

Although the pictures were great to look at, Hobbiton should be experienced first hand. There is nothing quite like walking along those tiny paths, touching the doors of the hobbit holes and envisioning the world which Tolkien built.

Next, we were off to The Second Hobbiton Gift Shop. Mr Beady-Eyes was in his element. Unlike the other shops he took us to, Mr Beady-Eyes will not earn any commission in gift shops like this. What ensued was The Hobbiton Saga.


While we were at the First Gift shop located next to the Ticket Office, Mr Beady-Eyes had told us that ample time will be given for us to shop for the Hobbiton memorabilia. That was before we boarded the Hobbiton Coach for the Tour.

Now that we were at the end of the Tour, he did not point out The Second Gift Shop or told us that this was the last opportunity for us to pick up any Hobbiton memorabilia. (We discovered the gift shop by accident. It was tucked away at a corner behind the Green Dragon Inn.)

While we were browsing the merchandise in this gift shop, he sent repeated reminders that the Coach will arrive soon and that we were short of time. This was not true. When the coach did not arrive, we returned to the gift shop for we had not bought what we wanted. He sent more reminders that the coach is arriving. This confusion resulted in an irate collective "us" running in and out of the gift shop several times. An interrogation by some of the group outside the gift shop followed. It was soon established that the coach arriving soon was our own coach and when we boarded this coach, we will leave immediately for Auckland. We will not return to the First Gift Shop.

When asked why he had not been forthright about the matter, Mr Beady-Eyes remarked that he did not want any more complaints lodged against him. This resulted in several hot exchanges between the unhappy faces, leaving behind a most distasteful memory of the Tour Manager and the company he represented. Now, I'm an amiable person (if I had to say so myself) but the unpleasantness of the above experience breached my congeniality.

MICHAEL JOSEPH SAVAGE MEMORIAL After the awkwardness of The Hobbiton Saga, the coach was silent. Mr Beady-Eyes, holding a mic in his hand, face looking forward in his front seat, prattled to himself. None of us were in the mood to listen to him ramble about the Memorial we were visiting. Soon, we reached an open space where the Memorial was built. It was windy. It was cold. We clustered together in little groups around the memorial counting out the number of grievances we have against the Tour Manager. The handmade ciggie was grasped between his fingers as he looked at us. He knew. We knew that he knew. We were at the tail-end of our journey and he could do nothing to make our trip more miserable.

We paid a premium for better accommodation and better food without the customary sponsored shopping stops. This being the last dinner arranged by the Tour Company, we had an opulent meal. However, the various issues we had with the Tour Manager had marred what could have been a splendid end to a marvelous trip. Over dinner, we were still mulling over the abomination that was Mr Beady-Eyes. It was late when we arrived at the hotel.

We knew what was coming. The Room-Key Saga. 

He collected the keys, called us to gather around him before beginning the lecture about leaving our luggage all over the lobby, thereby blocking the way. This was true for we have had an exhausting day and wasn't quite in the mood to arrange our collective luggage neatly in an orderly manner.

If we thought that was the end of it, we were mistaken. Before handing out the keys (an important task, mind you) he started The Shower Curtain Saga.

"This is a 4 star hotel, with excellent facility and service. Now, I would like to remind all of you, please pay attention, and don't forget. Be careful when you are in the toilet. When you soak or shower in the bath tub, the shower curtain must be inside the tub. Remember. Inside. Not outside." Mr Beady-Eyes began importantly.

"Ya, ya, ya! We know. Can we have the keys?" someone said.

"So remember please. The shower curtain goes inside the bath tub, not outside. There are some people who did not know that. They left the shower curtain outside the tub."

"Okay. Okay. We won't."

"Yes. Yes. Its terrible when the shower curtain is outside the tub because when you shower, the water from the shower hits the curtain and dripped down to the toilet floor."

"I think all of us know that. There's no need to repeat this so many times."

"Oh, its my job to talk about this. Its my job to tell you these things. If the water kept dripping onto the floor, it will flood the room and ruin the carpet."

"Oh, come on! All of us have traveled before. It isn't as if this is our first trip abroad."

"But I still need to tell you. To prevent any mishaps. Its my job to do so. Remember please. The shower curtain must be inside the tub and not outside."

We were tired from a whole day's sight-seeing. We have covered many places, walked many steps, exchanged many angry words with this man. We were simply exhausted by now. The group now stared daggers at him.

He peered from the top of his spectacles at the room key uppermost in his palm, peered from the top of his spectacles at the piece of paper in his hands, his gaze running down the paper to find the name he wanted. Then he peered from the top of his spectacles at the room key uppermost in his palm before returning to the paper to read out the names. This ritual went on until all room keys were distributed. Only then did he tell us what time to meet tomorrow for the last item on the itinerary.

As each of us entered our respective rooms, the first thing to check out was the shower curtain in the wash room ,to see what all the conundrum was about. The wash room was not carpeted. There were no bath tubs. No shower curtain.

The kumara (sweet potato) does not speak of its own sweetness .....Maori proverb