THE SHIRE - AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - DAY 14
Last to bed, and the first to wake, we hit the road by bus all the way to the Lord Of The Rings Set. It’s an overpriced adult Disneyland, but for me, it’s REALLY cool to see and learn all of the facts about when Peter Jackson was filming. On the tour, they talked about base camp, loading trucks, scouting, forced perspective, and I knew it all, thanks to my job.
When Peter gained the rights to make the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, he commissioned the NZ army to make a road, and help with construction for the hobbit houses on the farm. He even put the soldiers in the film as orcs in the orc army. Pretty cool! We walked through the entire set of The Shire, and took photos of every door. They burned down the set for real as part of filming, and reconstructed it for tourists like us. At the most famous Hobbit hole, (Bilbo Baggins'), they had a custom tree with hand painted leaves. It turns out, Peter Jackson had gotten very sick right before shooting the film, and over time, the leaves ruined from the weather and changed color. When he was better and fit for fighting, he made the Art Department re-paint every single leaf by hand to get the shot right. With a franchise like Lord Of The Rings, you’ll have no problem with budget as a Director. Must be nice! The girls and I were even able to sneak and film an intro to our travel video that I’ll be putting together. WHICH MEANS I SHOT IN THE SHIRE- THE SAME SET THAT PETER JACKSON SHOT ON FOR LORD OF THE RINGS. I love this the most.
We wrap up the tour with a free beer at the end that is brewed on the property. So basically, authentically brewed Shire beer that you can't get anywhere else. The tour ends, and we head back on the bus for another 3hr ride back to AUK. My eyes trace the outlines of the landscape as we pass pine trees and palm trees.
As it’s our last day together traveling, and we decide on lamb and potatoes for our last supper. We eat at Pedro's House of Lamb. New Zealand, and this restaurant is known for it. Between the three of us, we split an entire lamb shoulder with pancake potatoes, garlic, rosemary and gravy. It’s $15NZD / person.
My other half being Armenian, you know me and lamb...I went into a feeding frenzy. It was so good, I nearly blacked out, and came to when my stomach was stretched beyond my waistline, and I was breathing heavily. I think the girls even were surprised at how much I ate, and how quickly. Without the girls, I'm certain I could've eaten the entire thing myself...It's designed to feed three people.
We hit the grocery store adjacent to us for ice cream, and that’s Ashley’s queue to call an uber and head to her hotel. She’s being moved to Alabama for work, and with her travel connections, she has a nearly 30hr. commute home.
We all hug. Rachel tears up, and we stand and wave sadly as she gets in her uber and drives off. Who knows when we’ll see each other next. Seeing each other 10 years later, it was like no time had passed. I’m sure it will be that way again the next time we meet up, or possibly travel together again.
Rachel and I head back for the hostel for a pit stop. We wander the street we’re staying on. The city is alive on a Friday night. There are drag queens roaming about, hipster kids, adults, everyone- Everyone is out. We pass a coffee shop, turned studio. Some people standing outside see my curios face poking around the windows. They say it’s a free event with free beer and encourage us to go inside. It was a very LA scene- Hipster, creative kids in a studio with a DJ. There are photographers, and videographers. Rachel and I can’t really figure out what the event is... We THINK it’s a student presentation of their work for graphic design. We go through all of the look books, and a few popular magazines talking about Kanye’s influence with Virgil, (the new head designer for Louis Vuitton), and Julian, Kanye’s personal VHS filmmaker. I look at the 22-year-Old, Julian’s work, and am immediately disheartened. I remember what I’m returning to in LA, with the “artists” and the egos. A lot of people's photography is nothing special in my opinion but somehow it sells. I become quiet and upset because I don’t know how to compete in a world when I’m not selling what the world is buying. On top of my existential crisis, this isn’t Rachel’s scene. Truthfully, it's not my scene either. Regardless as to whether a party like this were happening in LA, NYC, or on the other side of the world in New Zealand, I just don't feel like I fit in much. I'm most comfortable when I'm in my dark, dimly lit room, creating alone, or creating with my closest friends. It's an introvert's life for me. We hurry to finish our free beers, and carry on.
Our aim at the end of the night is to see a stand up show. This was Rachel’s idea...I thought it was totally random, but what a fun thing to do! I of course agreed. It’s still early, so we explore the main theatre in the city. Apparently, Aukland just had its writers festival and its comedy fest.
We check out the writers’ fest in the city’s main theatre, where they have a plethora of books set out to buy. I think I won’t get anything, but then I see a book that has dark satire. The review is that, “”It’s funny. Like “'The Office' funny”. I flip through, and it really sticks with me. I decide to buy, while Rachel purchases a book on the first Antarctica expedition, and another book containing a series of poems. We’re hoping to read these on our long journeys home.
The main event is about to start. We head to this cool, little comedy spot with three stages, and a bar. We get tickets for a comedian, James “something”. I can’t remember his name because his guest, Reese Darby, stole the show. James was great, but Reese was excellent. It turns out, Kiwis are just as big into dark comedy as most of Europe! I'M ELATED!! I absolutely love this! We crack up until we're teary eyed and our throats are soar from screaming laughter; a great way to end the most incredible trip.
We get back to the hostel. Solemn, we know the goodbye is coming. Rachel and I pack in silence, and barely look at each other. When everything is finished, we give each other a sad look. We get up to hug, and thank each other for an AMAZING trip. We hope we can do it again. I’m sure we will. We promised.
...Early to wake up tomorrow for me, heading back to Sydney as step 1 of getting back home. Rachel will leave tomorrow evening on a long ride home.
See you guys soon! Love you!
-eM
