Creepy Dollapalooza!

After visiting Hobbiton yesterday, I thought I'd stay local and hit the Auckland Museum. I wanted to continue my search for knowledge and local insight, while also keeping an eye out for the "required" creepy doll that seems to be hiding out in every museum that I've visited on this trip.

Was there culture? Sure...



Were there Maori artifacts? Absolutely...





Were there creepy dolls? Oh....



MY....



GOD!





I think that someone contacted the museum a few weeks before I got here and the staff quickly stocked up on every disturbing item they could find in the area. It started almost immediately in the second room I entered. I noticed this sign on the wall..



On every floor...in almost every section....







I call these two "Pleasant dreams, kids"....





This kid has no eye coloring....



I almost walked by this one, had I not noticed the illuminated figure inside the doorway...





Even in the "Volcano Room", there was the display of the unfortunate victim (not a doll, but still unpleasant)...



Auckland Museum WINS, creepy hands down!

I had seen enough unsettling "toys for tots" to last me for a while. How any child, with dolls like that, ever got a moments sleep back then is beyond me! No wonder they had a shorter lifespans...the nightmares must never have stopped.

So, I made my way back to the main entrance. On the way out...I noticed three Maori kids, dressed in ceremonial costume, standing near the entrance waiting to lead people to a presentation of Maori culture (with dancing and stuff). I asked them if I could get their picture and they said "sure, mate". The Maori guys always pose with "savage" facial expressions (all of the brochures seem to have them do it too). I took the picture, thanked them, and headed out the door.

When I got outside, I sat down to look through my pictures and, when I saw the one that I had just taken of the Maori kids, this is how it came out...




I noticed that the girl's eyes looked really weird...so, I zoomed in to see what the issue was...



WTF is up with her eyes?!

She's not even made of plastic or porcelain...

I think I'm done with museums for a while.

And, it's likely that sleeping will be a thing of the past as well.

A trip to Hobbiton

As many of you know, they filmed the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy entirely in New Zealand. It was another reason I was very excited about visiting this country, to see some of the scenery (although almost anywhere you go here, it looks like a location from the movie).



There are also MANY "Lord of the Rings" tours in each of the major cities around New Zealand. There are tours by bus, train, boat, plane and helicopter. The two things that they all have in common is that they are generally expensive (the more modes of transport and time you invest) and that none of them have any on the sets still intact...so, as I mentioned in the past, you're just seeing lovely scenery and told "This is where blah, blah, blah happened or was built.".

Well...except for ONE. The Hobbiton tour....



And it was supposed to be torn down when filming ended, like all the others.

There were 37 Hobbit holes/homes created (among other Hobbiton town sets built on this location) and 20 of them had already been torn down after filming ended. However, on the day that the rest of them were supposed to be demolished, New Zealand got hit with several days of rain and the crew asked the studio if they could come back in six months to do the rest, because the ground was too wet, unstable for them to use their machinery. Fortunately, for fans of the movie (and the sheep farmer that owns this land), they still remain.



After filming had stopped, the owner started noticing random groups of people who would stop by to ask permission to see the area where the movie had been shot. As surprise visits to his farm started to become a regular thing, he decided to keep the remaining hobbit holes and spent two years negotiating with New Line Cinema to turn the area into a tourist spot. A deal was worked out and 5 years later, people still arrive several times a day, 7 days a week, and are given the grand tour.

Although he owns 1,250 acres of land to work his 12,000 sheep and 300 cattle, it has been said that he makes more money per year on just the tour, than his already very successful farm. I believe it.

When you are driven back about a mile into the land, where the set is located, you can see why Peter Jackson chose this location...it looks untouched by people and beautiful no matter which direction you look.





Although New Zealand is still in the middle of a 12 year drought, it is still pretty green and lovely to stroll around.





The only hobbit hole that you can actually enter is the one, in the movie, where Bilbo Baggins and Frodo lived at the top of the hill. As you can see from the "before" shot above, they are much more....barren now (they weren't allowed to recreate the copyrighted gardens/set-front designs). But, since Peter Jackson needed shots looking out from that one, they built an inside room with space for the camera equipment and small crew to shoot out. So, of course, this is where everyone gets their picture taken (generally peeking out the door or window).

The view from inside out...is pretty nice and it does kind of give you the feeling that you could be in another world.



You can see the "Party Tree" (the area where they shot off the fireworks and had their festival at the opening of the first movie) and the lake behind it. That tree and lake is what ended up making this location THE one.



Since the book described, in great detail, this large tree by the lake in Hobbiton, Peter Jackson was determined to find a location that would be true to that. They had 3 different locations already chosen to use as parts of Hobbiton, but when the location crew found this lake and tree...then noticed the rolling hills behind them....the other sites were scrapped and it was all filmed here.





Oh....and as you probably noticed, there are a lot of sheep around (it being a working sheep farm and all).



They are kept out of the hobbit holes (well, unless someone leaves a gate open or they find a hole in the fence), but are given free access to the rest of the area. So, with 12,000 sheep around...it also means that you're gonna step in a lot of...



You can't avoid it and you're warned about it as you step off the bus at the beginning of the tour...but they have special brushes up by the entrance/exit and after a few minutes, you're all ready to board the bus and head back to the Shire's Rest for your lunch (included in the price, thankfully), a hand-washing and a last chance to buy some souvenirs before hopping back on the bus for home.





To be honest, I almost didn't take take this excursion (it was between this and a 5 hour bus ride up north to a beach area that is supposed to be nice), but in the end...I'm really glad I did.

Because, no matter how often I try to downplay to others and, especially, myself about how much of a Sci-Fi/Fantasy geek I really am...



It was really frickin' cool to be there!

People in glass towers

I decided to spend the day wandering around the city...trying to get an idea where everything is and how to get there. I walked down by the waterfront and checked out the many boats and other water-central stuff.





Nothing too exciting or out of the norm, but it's always nice to chillax around water regions. There is also this cool brick building down by the water that I enjoy for some reason. It kind of reminds me of a building that would be in London or Torrence.



Then, I decided to go up into the Sky Tower. Geez...it's a wee bit up in the air...





They even have these open glass floor areas that, although it says it's as solid as the concrete floor in the rest of the place, it's still creepy and a bit unsettling to walk on them and look straight down to the ground.

Dear Lord in heaven above....



I tended to stay away from those....gave my knees the wibbly-wobblies.

But, the 360 degree view of the city is amazing and you can pretty much see everything for a bazillion miles around.









I also saw someone bungie jump off of the tower above us and caught it on video. Now, if I can just figure out how to get it to upload to YouTube (tried twice...not working so much), I'll post it.

If not....just imagine looking at one of those incredible views and suddenly a body, in an ill-fitting jumpsuit, comes flying down from above and then, just as quickly, it disappears from view...screaming to the ground far below.

Now add some soiled undies to that image....

Yeah...that pretty much covers it.

A room with a view

I got into Auckland this afternoon without much trouble (which is always nice). The hour flight was easy, smooth and we landed without a hitch. And, as much as I enjoyed staying at the Cambridge Hotel in Wellington, my view here doesn't suck.



And I'm right across the street from the famous Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. It's also a place where the crazy kids bungie jump from, so I'll have a good view if any of them have an unfortunate mishap. Could make for some colorful photos...





I'm on the 14th floor (top of the building), with a view of the city on two sides (and a slight view of the water in the distance). Enjoyable. The sun was just starting to set, so I got some nice shots before night set in.





Plus, the room is, by far, the largest one I've had so far...it even has a little kitchenette (like I'm gonna use that for anything).



Then, Ling (a gal that lives here in the city and is a friend of my friend Trebor), came by and gave me a little walking tour of the area (after we had some nice tapas and beverages at one of her favorite coffee places). She's beautiful, very smart, a lot of fun and seems to know all kinds of cool, hidden places around the city. That should come in handy.



She also gave me this great picture book called "New Zealand Horizons" and it's got some of the most beautiful photos of the country that I've seen so far. What's not to love about someone who gives you presents and a tour of a new city?

I think more cities should take a lesson...

After a Starbucks break, she headed home and I walked around the city a bit. It's like being in a cleaner, active downtown LA...but without all of the drug addicts and homeless people (I mean, without the "charm" of downtown LA).

As I got back to the hotel, I looked up at the Sky Tower and thought about how nice it's gonna be to wake up each morning to the sound of screaming people as they jump off the building to an uncertain future...



Maybe it's more like LA than I thought....