An update

Nathan slept for 14 hours last night. Not surprising. They were getting up at 4:30 to utilize predawn temperatures and colder snow. Then the sun wouldn't be fully gone until late at night- about 10:00. So they had very long days. He said everyone was sleep deprived at the end. It is so good to see him! He looks like a California beach bum, with long fluffy sun-bleached hair, a dark hiker's tan and much muscle definition on his legs. He's got some wonderful pictures to share and stories galore.

Now, I want to tell you about our Sunday adventure. It was fantastic. We rose early at the Mountain Range B&B to get to the tiny Wanaka airport by 8:40. We climbed aboard a small 6-seater Cessna plane. Ben was our laid-back young pilot. We wore life preservers and headsets while riding in the plane. Our route took us from Wanaka, over Lake Wanaka, into the Mount Aspiring alpine peaks, across the Barrier Range and beyond to Milford Sound. Along the way, Ben pointed out a couple of locations where the film crews and actors worked on Lord of the Rings. We landed at the interior end of the sound, hopped onto a cruise boat and enjoyed a 2 hour sight-seeing/wildlife viewing tour. Imagine a tropical rain forest with cliffs, waterfalls, wildflowers, beaches both rocky and sandy, Arctic terns, sea gulls, ducks, fur seals...we had stopped to look for penguins at 2 points, but they are off feeding now. After touring the entire length of the sound and back, we hopped back onto the plane, and took a slightly more Southerly route back to Wanaka. Only twice did we hit turbulence on the plane that made me grab for Robin. He had to pry my fingers out of his arm at one point. I wasn't really scared, just surprised and startled. Turbulence has a new meaning in a 6-seater. It was a cloudy day, but the clouds were high enough for us to fly under. Only a couple of times were we sandwiched in between them. After the flight, I bought a Lord of the Rings Location guide, mainly to see if we were going to be near any locations.

Our drive to Twizel was lovely. I spent it excitedly reading parts of my guide book out loud to Robin while he drove. We passed Lake Tekapo with the famous Church of the Good Shepherd overlooking the gorgeous blue lake and mountains. Then I read about the large flat area right outside of Twizel that was the scene of the largest battlefield scene of the Rings trilogy- and the recommended tour that we could take. I got all excited at the prospect of visiting the movie location.

We arrived at the Heartland Lodge and met our last B&B hosts: Jim and Mary. They are retired school teachers who are enjoying the B&B lifestyle. They called to see about a tour for us, and informed us that a guide would pick us up in 15 minutes. I ran to charge my camera battery at least a little before we had to leave. Sure enough, a van drove up and a bespectacled Vernon
took us for a short drive over to the Fields of Pellanor.

Aside from being probably the most geeky thing I've ever done, it was a hoot. Our guide had been a driver for the movie extras, mostly transporting Orcs from the local neighboring towns to the film sight. He had been at the site while they were filming, and witnessed some of the chaos it took to endure to get the scenes with all the horses charging in lines. He had great tales to tell about the movie and the locals who came out for it. Here's a fun fact: Most of the riders of horses were women. The men were too busy with farming or their other day jobs to just spend weeks on end on site with their horses. Vernon is (or used to be) with the NZ Conservation Department and had lots of interesting things to say about the land use, the hydroelectric power plant in the area and the local flora. It wasn't just dungeons and dragons, folks.

After taking part in some silly pictures complete with costumes, role playing and props, we were returned to our B&B and enjoyed a delicious salmon dinner cooked by Mary. Nathan called us before supper and it was great to hear from him.

Our final day, we rose early (again) to get to Mount Cook Village to do some kayaking in a glacier lake. We drove through pretty heavy rain to get there, and unfortunately, the mountain itself was socked in with clouds and rain. For a few brief moments, it rose as a faint ghostly image as the clouds cleared slightly, then disappeared again. We met our guide at the Old Mountaineer's Cafe. He seemed like a kooky fellow who would have been fun to kayak with, but our trip out was cancelled due to the weather. This allowed us to visit the visitor's center- a museum to New Zealand's mountain climbing history and culture. Sir Edmund Hillary trained on Mount Cook (the highest peak on NZ) and has some pretty deep ties with the people there.

Then it was a dash back to Christchurch, both of us eager to see Nathan. The land flattened out, the green lushness of the land dried up and the traffic increased as we headed back East. No wonder...the West side of the South Island gets 13 meters of rain a year. The East side only 1.5.
13 meters of rain is a lot of dang rain. No wonder the trees have moss skirts!

We met up with Nate finally late Monday night. He brought a couple of his buddies to the hotel to meet us. Then they went back to a party with the rest of the group. We warned him that our flight the next morning made it so we had to get UP at 3:30 a.m. Nate finally rolled into bed at 12:45 with a deep groan. He had not slept on a real mattress for 2 and a half months. Needless to say, yesterday flight was a long butt-melter.

Robin and I are determined to go back to New Zealand someday- maybe in the summer when it's a little bit warmer and see more. Hike more. Sail. Kayak. Camp. Star gaze. Visit more B and Bs. But for now- eyes are on Christmas and reuniting with the whole family. What a blessing.