Rimutaka Hills - Following the Yellow Brick Road

Driving the Wine Trail to Martinborough takes you through the winding Rimutaka Hills.  I am not an experience driver in mountain ranges, particularly with heavy commercial trucks passing me left and right and tail gating me.  This is the only road in the upper hut to travel to Martinborough.  I looked for alternate routes and there are not any.  I had the pleasure of traveling over the Rimutaka Hills twice.  It gave me courage and you have no where to go except to follow the 'yellow brick road.' 

"The yellow brick road,
a journey into the unknown.
Courage, brains, and a heart.

All we need to do is tap the ruby slippers
to reveal who we truly are. "

Silencing Frogs at Frog Pond - Tales from The Shire

 

 

Frog Pond has a lot of frogs and they can be very noisy.  Shots for Lord of the Rings were interrupted due to the noisy frogs.. When filming for the Hobbit was about to commence, the frogs were all relocated. I didn't see that many frogs but it was a hot summer's day which reminds me of an Aesop's fable "The Frogs' Complaint Against the Sun" that explains why we only have one sun.

 

"ONCE UPON A TIME, when the Sun announced his intention to take a wife, the Frogs lifted up their voices in clamor to the sky. Jupiter, disturbed by the noise of their croaking, inquired the cause of their complaint. One of them said, "The Sun, now while he is single, parches up the marsh, and compels us to die miserably in our arid homes. What will be our future condition if he should beget other suns?"

Even though there are over 40 hobbit holes, tourist are only allowed to open one door, but as you would expect there is only dirt and some supporting timbers behind. Every hobbit yard was designed in detail with flower gardens, gates, mail boxes, tools, pottery, wood, and benches.  The doors are an array of different rainbow colors. The hobbit hole doors vary in size according to which actor has to be in the shot, so for example the actor who plays Samwise Gamgee is quite big, so his door was big.  Samwise Gamgee’s hobbit hole is the one with the yellow door.  Peter Jackson was meticulous with the set. Every day he got people to walk up to washing lines to tread a pathway in the long grass, so it looks Like hobbits have been using it. Each log on the piles had to be in the same place, so the set was constantly checked against photos so it looked the same.

The oak tree on top of Bag Ends is fake with thousands of leaves that had to be attached.  At least the leaves don't fall all over Bilbo Baggins Hobbit Hole!

Rivendell, Elves and A Swinging Bridge, Kaitoke Regional Park

I hiked the trail at Kaitoke Regional Park where Rivendell was filmed for Lord
of the Rings. There were no elves to be seen among the primeval rainforest, Mirkwood elfish trees, Loudwater River and its swing bridge.  Giant spiders were not visible either but probably hidden in the tree tops spying on me. The river was low and very dry so it was too hot for elves and spiders.
During the Quest for the Lonely Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield and Company stopped off at Rivendell. Rivendell, also known as Imladris, was an Elven outpost in Middle-earth. It is also referred to as "The Last Homely House East of the Sea".  Rivendell was located at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Loudwater but well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Misty Mountains.  In Lord of the Rings, Arwen carrying Frodo on her horse, outruns the Black Riders to reach Rivendell.  She called upon the river for protection like elves can do and the river Loudwater became galloping horses charging after the Black Riders.

LOTR Rivendell forest, Loudmouth River and water falls.

Pungarehu Loop Surf

Summer time in New Zealand and surf highway 45 is the route to travel.  Surprising there were not that many people on the beach and it was a beautiful sunny day.  Unlike Florida where the beaches are crowded from tourist and vacationers from all the world. People flock to Florida's white sandy beaches.  Pungarehu Loop's beach is dark sand with a lot of shrubs and vegetation.  This was very quiet and basically we had the beach to ourselves.

Martinborough - Splashes of Watercolor and Wine

 

 

 

I drove the New Zealand Wine Trail to Martinborough.  It is located in the Wairarapa region and is a wine village with over 25 boutique vineyards, most within walking distance of the town square. The vineyards are notably famous for making Pinot noir. What was most striking and picturesque was the hills to the east and west as you entered the village. In both directions it was a panorama painting with splashes of warm watercolor mountains and valleys.

PL Fallin Spirit of Middle-Earth Gallery

A few of my favorite landscape photographs from North Island, New Zealand.  I did a dry brush technique to give them a oil painting effect.

Middle Earth's Rolling Hills of Piopio

 

 

 

After visiting the limestone cliffs, we decided to explore the road ahead and experience what most visitors do not see.  The road turned into a dirt and gravel road that had figure eight curves, creeks, and rain to add to the excitement.  Several times I thought I should turn around and return the way we came but the wannabe mountain women in me wanted to see where the road would end.  Our GPS was not working, mountains and remote country usually will not have towers.  No Starbuck's coffee to sip on to steady my nerves as the car went up steep hills. Pasture land was a welcome relief and these pictures were taken from a farm house.  When the car approach the breath taking scenery of the rolling hills, I parked the car and trespass on a farm. I walked to the edge of the property and took several of these pictures. I sincerely hope they did not mind.  They probably do not see too many visitors on the road.  It was a 100% Pure New Zealand adventure!