There and Back Again - A Hobbit Lovers Tale, part 5

Today is a transition day as we move from the North Island to the South Island. We will do that on the InterIsland Ferry system from Wellington. This Ferry is different than the ones we’ve traveled on before. It boasts two movie theaters, and an entire deck devoted to a children’s play area. And at one point we heard a shipboard call to all the people who had brought their pets on board to come to the pet area so they could visit their pets. They have several restaurants and café areas and the food was good, plus they make fancy coffees and are incredibly quick in doing so. Julie had booked a private room for our Fellowship and the chairs were plush and comfy. The trip to the South Island takes 3 ½ hours, so Bob napped and I read and worked on my blog. We had taken all our bags off the coach and transferred them to a baggage truck for the ferry as our coach is not coming with us. We will board a new coach and get a new driver, oddly enough, also named Chris, once we arrive.

When we got to the South Island, it was overcast and raining and that proved to be true for the remainder of the day. We had a 3 hour coach ride to Nelson, NZ, our next stop. The new coach is not quite as nice as the old one—no hookups to charge phones, and our new Chris told us that the coach had been selected because it was a better one for the tortuous roads we would encounter. The main road to Nelson was washed out by flooding a few weeks ago, so we had to go through the mountains. Thick white clouds hung over our drive but it was really dramatic. Mountains and valleys and lots of sheep and loads of grapes. This is Marlborough wine country, and New Zealand’s best white wines come from here.

We did make some stops along the way for bathroom breaks and the most notable was the eel stop. This put me in mind of one of my other favorite movies: The Princess Bride and the screaming eels. They were huge and really pretty creepy. People were throwing bread in at them and they were outdoing the ducks in catching the bread. But we did hear that they love sausages and like to eat them whole!

We arrived at our next hotel, The Tides in Nelson, and had a great dinner in the hotel restaurant. The sun finally came out and the day was pretty nice. The plan for tomorrow is helicopter rides in the mountains to see several more LOTR movie sites. I’m not so sure that will happen because while the sun is shining in Nelson, the nearby mountains look pretty foreboding with thick grey clouds. We are scheduled in the first helicopter group, so breakfast at 6:30, but the copter pilot will call Julie at 7 am and let her know if it is safe to fly.

As the day dawned, it became pretty clear that we would not be going in a helicopter. The mountains were shrouded in thick white clouds and the forecast called for rain. Sure enough as we enjoyed our breakfast, the pilot called Julie and said it wouldn’t be prudent. Bob and I were slightly disappointed, and others more so, but safety first.

We have noticed that there is a tidal stream just in back of our hotel room. One minute there is only a quiet river flowing past and in just a few minutes the stream climbs over the rocks and edges toward our door. Julie tells us that sometimes when the ocean is rough, the seals come up right next to the hotel to bask in the sun. Wouldn’t that be cool!

Although we missed out on the helicopter rides, we were able to go the Jens Hansen Jewelry store. We met Halfdan Hansen, Owner and Creative Director. Halfdan’s father, Jens, was a huge LOTR fan and well known jeweler in Nelson. He received a phone call from the Peter Jackson team, asking if he would make the One Ring for the movies, and he was thrilled. Jens and his sons went on to make over 40 variations on the Movie Ring for the films. The rings had to be scaled for different sizes depending on who was wearing them, and are, of course, for sale in the shop. The Hansens went on to make many of the rings used in the movies including the ‘hero’ rings worn by Gandalf, Aragorn, Elrond and others.

Halfdan took us around the store and showed us many of the rings and other creations they have made. It turned out that one couple on our tour, currently on their honeymoon, had their wedding rings crafted by Hansen Jewelry. I enjoyed the presentation, not least of all because Halfdan really put me in mind of a cleaned-up Captain Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean. He also showed us the lab, which had all sorts of interesting tools and instruments used to create their beautiful designs. One thing they are able to do, thanks to the work of Daniel Reeve, is engrave their creations in elvish. Many of our Fellowship added new designs to their jewelry collections and had favorite quotes from LOTR and The Hobbit engraved in elvish. We may or may not have bought some presents. One of the staff had recently arrived from Ukraine with her young son. Her husband is still there, and we asked after him. She shared that he wasn’t part of the fighting force, as Ukraine wants experienced fighters, but he works to maintain the infrastructure there. We wished her and her family well.

The weather had cleared up somewhat and Nelson is a pretty small town so Bob and I decided to walk through town back to the hotel. We stopped in Burger Culture to share a burger, a few brews, some fries, and Bob had a very snazzy looking milkshake. On our walk back to the hotel, we passed a shop selling suitcases for 50% off. I think we buy a new suitcase every time we travel, as for one reason or another, we never seem to have what we need. On this trip, one of our suitcases has become very hard to move as it is so full that the wheels are being compressed under the weight. Because the prices were so good, we picked up two new suitcases. Now we have four. Stay tuned to see if we can get it all home.

Next day, we packed up and loaded everything on the coach again. This will be a long drive to Christchurch, NZ. We will make several stops along the way for breaks, but the goal is to get us most of the way to our next LOTR adventure, a climb to Edoras, the realm of the Rohirrim. This is the home of King Theoden, his nephew Eomer and neice Eowyn, Nazgûl slayer. While the city built for the films has been dismantled, the climb to the top of Edoras (also known as Mt. Sunday) gives a spectacular view of the Southern Alps. We’re looking forward to that view and the climb, and it will be our chance to use our walking sticks.