DAY 2:
On our second day in Auckland, we woke up bright and early.
Dad drive to muriwai beach at the Waitakere ranges.
As you can see, the wind was very windy and the beach was quite interesting because the sand was all black!
We walked all the way to the top and saw a wide expanse of birds -- known as garnets perched on top of the rock face. They're apparently territorial birds who are very loyal to each other.
my hair was so nice back then :')
some person paragliding. Looks like fun but I would never dare to do it haha.
We passed by an ice cream cum fruit stall on our way back!
Got the boysenberry (pic) and mixed berries ice cream and it was DELECTABLE. Super creamy, and you can really taste the distinct berry flavours.
also got some tomatoes-- still attached to the vine!
Lunch at the elevator cafe -- apparently the 'highest cafe in the waitakere ranges'. Not sure if this claim was true, but the view certainly was good!
two types of ginger beer: a signature lime and chill on the left, and a normal ginger one on the right. both tasted pretty much the same to me.
foreground: pulled pork sandwich
background: fish & chips
Both sets were huge and came with generous portions of freshly fried potato wedges— one of the best i’ve tasted in a while. The potato was soft and fluffy and the skin of the potato tasted crispy and was lightly salted.
because nice photos deserve more shots :)
Dessert was apple crumble and a mango muffin with buttercream frosting drizzled with caramel sauce.
After our yummy but high-calorie lunch, we headed to the Arataki visitor centre, and went on a 2 hour walking trail.
Didn't manage to take pictures of the hike itself but it was downhill all the way for the most part, which meant that the return journey was uphill. Most exercise done in a while....
went to some Auckland Fish Market to get food.
rather underwhelming fish market, I very much prefer the fish markets here in Singapore with its hustle and bustle.
Super cheap Charlie's juice...
AND REALLY GOOD SMOKED MUSSELS. The BBQ seasoning was on point.
Also got a 5 buck egg focaccia sandwich which is way better than any subway sandwich???
DAY 3:
We left our inn and headed for our first stop- HOBBITON!!!
pit stop meal along the way: piping hot and fluffy fries, fried chicken (unpictured) and PIES.
steak & kidney pie
seafood pie: too salty and creamy for my liking, a strange texture for a pie filling!
outside of the pitstop
FINALLY - found it after stopping halfway to ask for directions.
the weather was on and off, sunny like the previous pic one moment and dark like this the next.
The rolling hills and picturesque surroundings as well as the multitude of grazing sheep gave the set a sense of otherworldliness. We set off for the 12.40pm tour. (^ bus departure for the tour)
* this is where the spamming of pictures with captions when necessary begins*
EXCITEMENT BUILDING AS WE WALKED IN.
first glimpse of a hobbit house! everyone around us was also visibly excited about this and everyone hastily whipped out their cameras.
no difference from in the movies.
weather here still a tad gloomy..
everything was so quaint and lovely :-)
Tour guides (One of them pictured here) really knew their stuff, right down to exact scenes such as when Frodo appeared and even what he said in the scene etc…
the weather started looking up sometime in the journey, thankfully.
Everything looked exactly the same as in the films, and the amount of detail paid to each of the 44 hobbit holes was astonishing. You can tell what were the occupations of the hobbits who ‘live’ in the holes from the decorations (ranging from cheese maker to florist and baker etc -- a honey maker is pictured above ^)
However the guide shared that these seemingly perfect looking holes were only facades—there was not much behind the holes.
They even had mini hobbit-sized clothes blowing in the wind!
Green Dragon in the background.
AND BAG END!!!!!!! the place where it all began... with Bilbo and Frodo and all. It was the biggest hobbit hole in the Shire apparently????
cheese and pickles
shot this romantic shot for the parents
scene of a carnival!
At the end of the whole tour, we headed to the green dragon for some complimentary drinks. We all got ginger beers, served in earthy looking ceramic mugs. The dark atmosphere of the pub completed the feels :-)
dad and his dream profession LOL.
last of the hobbit holes before leaving the actual set :'(
When we reached our next destination, we went to the Countdown supermarket and bought a heck load of groceries.
le spread
masterchef broski
What a meal! We had cheesy egg salad, roast chicken, tomato + mushroom soup, THE WORKS.
even made the leftover chicken into a soup.
We then headed out to a nearby lake to soak in the setting sun!
FLYING FOX! remembered playing one of these all those years back in Queenstown.
presenting you the movie: BLACK SWAN 2.0
