Hobbittown - FInally

Even though my bus would not arrive until 8:15, I was awake at 6:00am. I have been getting up about 2 hours before departure time for different tours. I just do not want to be late. I know that sounds funny coming from one who is late for most things. To all of you, I apologize!

Off we go!

The ride to Hobbittown was about an hour through rolling hills and countryside filled with cows and sheep. The towns are far apart and there is little development. Imagine just a small village in Kennett Square and nothing in between there and West Chester. The bus pulls in to the souvenir shop and ticket location first. That is unlike US theme parks that lead you right in to the souvenir shop right after you exit the attraction. There are the usual trinkets from the movie and some collectibles. Nothing that really moves me to spend $40 on a tshirt or otherwise.

The guide on our tour was very good. He told us many behind the scene stories of Peter Jackson and
the filming locations. Then we turned the corner and there it was, The Shire. WOW I felt like I just walked in to the move! They actually tore down the set after filming LOTR series. But after filming The Hobbit, Peter Jackson made a deal with the farm owner to keep the set as a tourist attraction. What a great deal, at about $100 per head they are making a ton of money and keeping a really intricate village intact.

We walked around 45 hobbit houses, the garden, the festival field where the fireworks shot off in the

Is anyone home?

movie. Everything is neatly in place and the flower garden at each home was well designed. Remember Hobbits are very short, so many of the plants were dwarf varieties. It was about 10:00 when we arrived and were to have a 1 hour tour and then a drink in the Green Dragon Inn.

One story of the detail of Jackson's crew involved planting a small tree at the top of the hill, but Jackson didn't like the way it looked, so he had his special effects crew create exactly what he needed. Over 200,000 leaves were created in China for the tree and before the first day of filming, Jackson didn't like the green, so a crew had to hand spray paint each one to the right color. I will point out that tree in the photo caption.

Our small group was about 25 people from all over the world. The guide made sure we had adequate time to take photos at proper locations. People were very respectful of each other taking shots of the scene. We really didn't have any wander around time which can be good or bad. The tour groups were spaced apart enough that you could take photos with few or no people in the scene. The day was overcast and threatening rain, but it never came. There were umbrellas in several locations around the Shire to use if we wanted to.

The most startling view was the first entrance to the Shire. When Gandolf comes into the Shire with Frodo on the cart they come around a stone wall path then enter the Shire itself and that is how we arrived. When you come around the corner and see those little doors and paths and gardens, it is breathtaking. You just want to run around like a little kid and play.

The second view that took my breath away was our walk to the Green Dragon Inn. We walked through some woods and over a hill. Cresting the hill the Inn comes into view that takes you across the stone bridge with the wheel house. Again, you feel like you are right in the scene of the film.

The inside of the Green Dragon was recreated for the tourists. The interior scenes of the Inn as well as the Hobbit homes were filmed on a sound stage in what is known here as Wellywood, Wellington's version of Hollywood. Most of the outside scenes from LOTR and Hobbit were filmed throughout New Zealand. The country even declared "no fly" zones when they were filming to keep the paparazzi away. One pilot ignored the ruling and lost his pilot license for life.  Peter Jackson is practically a god here!

In the Green Dragon we were given a choice of drink, Dark Ale, Light Ale, Cider, or Ginger Beer. I had the light ale and it was quite good. On an empty stomach, not such a good idea as I got light headed quickly - what a kick.

I really wanted to take some HDR photos like Trey Ratclif taught me how to do the first week here,
but I forgot my tripod. When I crossed the bridge to the Green Dragon I rested the camera on the stone wall and gave it a try. Then I got brave and did some hand-held versions. You will see the results on the next page.

It was a fun experience that I would say not to miss if you visit the North Island. As I said before I am not a huge LOTR or Hobbit fan, but appreciate great film making and this was worth it in my opinion. Even if it was expensive.

Upon return I dropped off my camera stuff and grabbed the laptop and headed for an outdoor cafe to sit and review my photos. On first import my laptop says FULL! Oh no. So I spent 30 minutes deleting old stuff and duplicates I did not need. Now it is getting cold and I need to head back and get warmed up. After all, it is autumn here.

Not edited just yet.

More photos coming......of the Shire.....

More Edited Photos

This cottage belongs to a friend of Trey's. It looks like someone transplanted it right from the Cotswolds. This and the chair are my 2 favorite photos so far. Actually the chair was at the lower left of this photo overlooking Lake Hayes.

I just wanted to try something in B&W and this seemed like a good choice. What do you think?

Yellow Tree in QT

This is "Grassy Valley" overlooking QT at 6:45am. Every 10 minutes the sun would change and so would the light in the valley. The Remarkables are to the left.

Late morning we turned and shot towards the sun and I'm not sure how I like this either. I do like the green way out in the valley and the light across the tops of the distant mountains.

Monday in Dunedin

Dunedin is named after Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a 4 hour bus ride across the South Island with several stops. The first stop was at a small side of the road fruit stand that had public rest rooms, fruit, nuts and dried fruit selections. I picked an apple, and it was delicious and juicy. We made 2 other stops for rest rooms as well. The bad news here is that my internet was not working, so therefore Google maps was not available and I didn’t know how to find my hotel. Fortunately I took a screen shot of the reservation and street name. I asked the fellow next to me on the bus and he could no get my internet working either – I am going to be lost without it. But he did know where the street was and pointed me to Cumberland St. Except I walked 10 blocks dragging my small suitcase and my 20lb backpack of camera goodies.

I passed some cool places like the University of Ontago, a museum that has a butterfly exhibit and aviary. Many places were closed because of ANZAC Day holiday. You may have seen this remembrance on tv involving honoring soldiers from New Zealand, Australia at Gallipoli. It is much like our Veteran’s Day. I turned around and walked back toward the bus stop and could see the hotel a block from my original point. I did get lots of steps registered on my FitBit however.

Across the street is a factory tour. View the photos and see if you can guess where I am.

If you didn't guess Cadbury, then look closely at these 2 cars. These two antique cars were actually used by the company to deliver chocolate at the turn of the century. The products produced here are for New Zealand and Australia consumption. Of course I had to purchase my favorite, Cadbury fingers!

Now I am starving since I didn’t really eat breakfast except for 2 granola bars and an apple. I found several restaurants open at the Octogon (center of town) and take a chance on Angus sliders with pear chutney with a side of local beer. Nice choice and I am delighted and full.

It has rained all day, I want to get everything ready for the nature adventure tomorrow. So back to the room and plan. I had to pay for internet usage and my phone is wonky. Not sure what is going on there. I really depend on it for directions.

This hotel actually has better tv than Rees in Queenstown.

Wildlife adventures tomorrow in Dunedin!

Arrowtown Evenng

On Wednesday we ventured to an old town called Arrowtown. Trey led us around to some nice spots and I must say it was nice to do some shots that were not landscape.

This photo was edited with Lightroom, Photomatix and Photoshop. It is actually a combination of three images that were merges and cleaned up. For example, there was a logo on the black car that I erased, in front of the car there were 3 more parked there that I erased. The leaves on the ground and the trees are a combination of two images that were edited to enhance the colors. This is basically what I learned to do during this week with Trey Ratcliff in Queenstown. Totally worth it!

Following this shoot, Trey rented the cinema to share his images on a very large screen. I would love to see some of mine on a screen that large!! Of course there was more wine!

Sunday Funday

It is 7:30 am NZ time and my Funyak/speedboad cruise is cancelled because of the pouring rain. I am secretly glad because I am exhausted and at the moment disorganized for the rest of the journey. This will give me time to repack and plan ahead. Going to edit some more photos today. I need to delete some stuff from my computer as I have filled it up!

The shuttle was going to town at 11:00 so I decided to go and do some Christmas shopping. Good luck for some family members - I found your gift today!! Not telling who. Let me just say that wool may not be in your stocking as scarves are from $45 - $109.Since 4 of you live in Florida it is senseless to get you wool anyway!  Sweaters, capes and hats are much more. The funny thing is that the Merlino wool is blended with possum. Seriously? It looks creepy, but all I can think of is a possum patrol picking up road kill for sweater making material...yuck. The scarves are actually quite smooth like cashmere.

For lunch I found a recommended place along the waterfront called Ivy & Lola's Kitched. This is pork with coleslaw and fresh pita. Delicious.

Whoops, wrong turn!!!!


The name of a restaurant.



















After an afternoon in the lobby with Heidi and Lisa we decide to go out to dinner in town. We end up at Madam Woo's Malaysian Street Food. I think Heidi fell asleep.

This is a photo of our chicken satay. In addition to this we had a Jasmine rice, port ribs and perick chicken with toasted cocoanut roti cani style. That means chicken with jalapano and red peppers, onions peanut sauce served in a soft pancake that was like "a party in my mouth".  All of this was only $52 which I think was pretty good for 2 people. No lamb tonight.

Now I really have to pack for tomorrow morning. I am leaving QT for Dunedin which is about 4 hours on the bus to the East. I am looking forward to my penguin encounter and seeing the albatross colony. Since I will return to the Reese in 2 days, they are keeping my large suitcase in storage so I don't have to haul it around Dunedin.

More adventures tomorrow! Thanks for all the comments you have sent me on my Facebook page. I appreciate each of you who are following my journey.

Saturday Evening in QT

Seems like this day will not end. I got a message from three of my travel friends to join them for dinner. How nice that Curtis has a car and we don't have to be on a bus again! Since Curtis lives here now (originally from Texas and is Trey's trip coordinator) he knew all the right places to go in the evening. The town is packed and we slip in to a parking spot across from a Hostel. Never been to one and it was quite crowded and noisy. This is an adventure location so I can see why so many people are in this place.

Our first stop was The Cow and old sheep shearing shed made of some local slate like building materials.  We shared a table with 2 people from Denmark and had fantastic garlic bread, a mess of veggies on a pizza in this quaint building. I was a cross between the bar in the Indiana Jones movie with Karen Black that burnt to the ground at the start of the movie and small English Pub. Jackie Evans you would have fit in just right here! It was so dark I didn't really know what I was eating on the pizza. No matter,it was great.

Sorry these are a bit dark and smuggy but the light was low and these are from my iPhone. Smooth wine, pizza and delicious garlic bread. I could see the chef paint garlic butter with chopped garlic over the top then sprinkle with parsley. I will do this at home for sure.

This beer bottle looked huge! It was only 17 ounces but seemed so much larger. This location was the Eichart Hotel, which is the oldest and most expensive hotel in QT. Located right on the lake it only has 10 elegantly designed rooms for rent.

We returned back to the Reese Hotel around 10:00, which was early for this week!

A Few Edited Photos

Cute bridge at Queenstown Gardens

Fields of Brandemoor

In the nature area at Glenorchy

Star Photo with windy skies blowing the clouds.

Last Day Dinner

Trey and his wife Tina and 3 children hosted this group for a special finale dinner. He has a separate little cottage as his work studio about 30 yards away from his home. It is landscaped perfectly. The lane down to his home is so narrow and tree covered that our bus is having a bit of struggle getting to the end.

His home has huge glass windows and doors to take full advantage of the view of the Remarkables (mountains) and the valley. The dinner is catered and we are greeted by Tina and a glass of champagne. There are conversations all over and outside as well. He has heat lams on the deck to keep us warm, but honestly the temperature is perfectly cool. The servers stroll  about with appetizers like salmon, macaroons with goat cheese and outstanding scallops.

Dessert is a plate of delicious with small cheesecake bites and raspberry sorbet to compliment. There were several small speeches to compliment the chef and Trey and Tina.

Overall I would say this was an expensive adventure, but so worth it. I saw some breathtaking scenery, met some people I would like to visit again and learned from a world master, Trey Ratcliff. I learned so much about lighting, composition and of course the biggest take away was learning his technique to create HDR photos. I have only completed a few, but I will post them.

Day 4 - Long morning at Glenorchy

Leave Rees Hotel at 6:45 and on to Glenorchy for some shooting at a nature area with ponds and lots of black swans.  I discovered this morning that the swans can hear you coming and move away quietly. They must not like their picture taken!   Photos are coming as I need to edit them first.

The nature area is quite swampy but has a walkway over the wetlands. On the wooden walkway there is chickenwire nailed down to keep you from slipping on the wet boards. Grand idea! This is not a place I would think about stopping to take some photos, as the trees are all yellow and it is very overcast and misty. But some of the beautiful photos from this group are amazing.

Back to the hotel for some post processing photos again and lunch. Our dinner was at an old abandoned ghost mining town where there is a winery. The owner of the Wild Earth Winery and his two assistants serve us another great meal. In between the meal and the drive home, we go outside for some drunken star photos. Here is my first attempt:

This was taken on a very dark night with no lights around. I sort of like the lit trees however. This was one of the highlight dinners. Trey met this man a week ago at his TED Talk and they became friends and offered to prepare dinner for us at his winery. The first wine was the Reserve that cost $2000 a bottle and it was smooth. The following wine was excellent as well. All 20 of us sat at a farmer's table in a little tasting room and were treated like royalty. Our entree (appetizer in US) was what looked like a beef boat. It included sliced filet and lamb with some fingerling potatoes and vegetables to share.

All of my wino friends would absolutely love the selections each meal. Most of what I m having is Pinot Noir although there is some great white wine here as well. No one gets out of control or ignorant. It is a jolly group of wine drinkers.

Day 1 - Evening

After some introductions in the hotel lobby, Trey and Curtis led us on a short hike to the lake for some startup photos. I needed to set my camera on bracketing three photos +1 0 and -1 for editing tomorrow. The walk down led us to a path that encircles the lake and leads into Queenstown. While we were on the trail several runners and cyclists passed our group. It was quite busy for dusk.

Dinner was held in the Rees Hotel and was outstanding. This menu was delicious. Since lamb is so central to New Zealand I was expecting to have it at at least one meal while here. So we begin with delicious lamb shoulder. The pumpkin soup had chopped truffles in it and delicious.

Pumplin soup with truffles.

We are off to a great start, nice people, nice hotel and nice food and wine. Up early and meet in the lobby at 6:30am.

 

Lamb shoulder, mashed 

flavored potatoes and carrots

Scones and cream

Day 3 Evening

We headed for Arrowtown for an evening shoot. It was dusk and getting darker as we were in a valley and the sun was already down.  Trey lead us to a tiny church which had a magnificent backdrop of yellow and green trees on the mountain. We walked 3 block into town which was a walk back in time. There were old fashioned buildings from the gold rush days here. If the sidewalk was wooden, it would have appeared to be a movie set from a western.

Stopping at a small park, we set up tripods to photograph the park, a cool light and the bonus was an antique car parked at the curb. We had fun taking photos in the darkish light and moved on to the cinema. Trey had rented the cinema for us and about 20 of his friends and family to show off and tell some stories of his favorite photos. They looked grand on the 20 x 20 screen, as would any photo from the group in the room.

The theatre had a bar and we were treated to unlimited wine, beer and soda. I had Chocolate Box

Pinot. Of course I thought there would be a hint of chocolate, but no luck. However the wine was delicious. Trey entertained questions from the audience and we walked a few blocks to a dinner location. We are sat at two large tables sharing photo and travel stories along with a few glasses of a different wine. This is quite a diverse group from all over the world, US, England, South Africa, Brazil, Canada and New Zealand. Most of the folks in this group believe it or not have been involved in IT support or a tech business. And we all get along so well. Each day on the bus people just sit anywhere and have conversations with new folks.

Curtis, who helps to organize Trey's trips, has succeeded again for a fantastic place to have dinner called the Rumbler. So far each of the places, including our hotel uses fresh local vegetables, and meat for the meal. We have had lamb, beef filet tips, free range chicken, local squash and more. All prepared in an excellent gourmet manner. There was too much wine, and laughter, but it was a great evening. 

We are bonding as a group. Our youngest member, Delaney aged 16 from Chicago, has created a private FB page so we can see each other's photos. I hope to follow many of these folks in their hobby.

After dinner I had a hankering for some chocolate and low and behold it was on the menu. It stated chocolate tureen. I was imagining a large soup tureen filled with a chocolate fudgy sauce! So I asked the waiter if it could serve more than one. Yes you can share it, he replied. When it arrived I was disappointed in the size, but NOT in the flavor!

We took the bus back to our hotel and arrived at 10:30pm. I went to sleep right away.

More tomorrow.

Day 3 - Rolling hills

Lake Hayes

More details later. I am exhausted from editing this photo!!


The early morning of 6am took us to an area where the price of the land is $1 Million per plot. No house can see the other as there are so many rolling hills in the shadow of the mountain. This area is over run by rabbits and the rabbit holes are quite dangerous while walking around the hills. Walking with this brace on my foot was so helpful for today. I would have turned or broken my ankle several times as it is so lumpy in the grasses. The photo below is from Bredemere it must mean home of rabbits although out of 20 people only 3 rabbits were spotted.

Day 2 - Morning walk in the drizzle

Up early at 5:00am and meet in the lobby at 6:30. Breakfast later consists of a small buffet with various cereals, fruit, pancakes, eggs and the best bacon I have ever had. But for now we head to the shoreline downtown for early morning sunrise shots. There is no sun, only clouds, however, they are beautiful and low, so the mountain shows above the cloud cover.

Walking along the beach, Trey instructs us on different techniques to photograph the scene. His theory is to have three points of interest, foreground, midrange and distant focal point. The best way to shoot HDR is to use a tripod, set bracketing (look it up or watch a YouTube video) on the camera and use a remote to trigger the camera. The first shot is underexposed, mid is correct exposure and over exposed. In Lightroom, the images are adjusted for exposure, saturation and more. Export the 3 images to Photomatix and upon the import, the 3 are merged. Now export the image to Photoshop for some final editing, including the tool to delete things in the photo that you do not want like people, light poles etc

Walk around lake, Queenstown Gardens, take the bus back for lunch. The Queenstown Garden gets a lot of props for being a "do not miss" location, but with Longwood Gardens in our backyard, I get so disappointed when visiting other gardens. Longwood is still the best. The photo with the bridge and gazebo are from this garden.

Trey does some instruction at 10am to share his technique for HDR (high dynamic range) photos. Basically I am lost and confused, so I sit with Trey for some 1 on 1 instruction. Then back to lunch at 12:30. We sure eat a lot of great food.

More instruction from 1:30-4:00. We get all of our gear to go out for evening photos, but it is raining so hard, we decide to go to a local pub called Sherwood and use their wifi and edit photos. Great wifi that could handle 20 people with laptops and phones and some iPads. When the weather breaks, we head outside to take a few photos. No sunset as it is too cloudy.

Upon our return form dinner, most head to their rooms to rest up for our early start at 6:30am. The tv stations here are comical. Letterman is on at noon and the evening is not great except for the comedy channel which has reruns of USA old comedy shows like M.A.S.H.

Sleep by 10:30!
More tomorrow.

Day 1 - Arrival, Finally April 20, 2015

This was a very long journey. I left my home at 6:30am for a 9:30 flight on SouthWest Air with a stopover in Denver the arrival at LAX was 2:30PST. Not too bad of a trip so far. The longest delay was a 9 hour layover in LAX before getting ready to depart at 11:15pm for Auckland.
The International terminal was not where I was directed but rather two additional terminals away. No matter, I needed a long walk anyway.

Smooth moving through checkin, customs and then through to the interior of the International location. One thing I notice is the uniforms of the different airlines flight attendants, Turkey, China, and New Zealand had the most beautiful dresses for the ladies. There was a mall, much like other airports, and many different seating areas with electric ports for charging devices. I managed to read a book while waiting and it made the time go much faster.

I was getting sleepy when it was finally time to board our flight. Previously I upgraded my economy seat to Premium Economy by way of a "bid". It is a unique way NZ allows people to upgrade. The original upgrade cost would be $1300 for both ways to upgrade, but my bid of $350 was accepted for the LAX to AUK leg of this trip. I have a bit for my return trip entered, but I will not know until 7 days before departure.

The flight staff gave us warm face wash cloth and it felt great to clean my face at 3am EST! I ate the first course of cheese and crackers, a serving of sliced ham with a bit of jam and fresh mozzerella. It was very good. There was a menu for ordering dinner, but I was too tired to eat, so I slept.  In my row of 3 seats, I was the only passenger, so I spread out my stuff. The seat armrest did not move, so I couldn't go too far. The seats were comfortable with foot rests and a nice recline.

Arrived in Auckland at 7:30am and by the time I walked to get my luggage, and found the domestic terminal I had only 45 minutes until the next and final flight for me left for Queenstown. I met another person on my trip, Lisa from New York and we chatted and shared a shuttle to the Hotel.

This is an exclusive hotel, Reese Hotel, for this area. We each have our own room and this photo is the view from my room. Taken with my iPhone and edited with SnapSeed app.
As we learn different techniques, apps, and ideas, I will try to post them here for my photography loving friends!

Prepare to Travel

Planning for today began back in November 2014. I saw an interesting post on Trey Ratcliff's blog, Stuck in Customs about a photography trip he was running to New Zealand. Interesting destination and I thought why not?  I was following his blog for about 3 years and watched a YouTube video he created that made me think that he might be the right person from which to learn the art of photography. 

I did some research about kiwis and Hobbits and the land of "the Rings". Although New Zealand is a small country it is composed of 2 large islands, North and South, aptly named and hundreds of smaller islands around them. The geography is diverse from beautiful beaches, to mountain ranges and even some hot springs. I didn't want to miss anything. That meant that my journey would extend beyond the 5 day photo workshop in Queenstown. My mother was worried about me in a strange land for so long. But there is a little difference in language and I've always been independent. 

The deposit of $1000 was sent over Thanksgiving weekend. I was asked many times who I was going with and decided to go it alone since many of my friends were still working. Some others who are also retired already had obligations for April so this adventure is mine. It seemed so far away, geographically and in time. 

At this point I purchased travel insurance for my whole journey. As I was going to spend over $9000 for 3 weeks in NZ I wanted to be covered for trip cancellation, illness, dental issues and I added identity protection all for around $450. The next week I developed a severe back issue with leg pain. After 4 months of physical therapy and many tests and doctor visits there is a disagreement about the cause and treatment. In February I got a shot in the back and the pain disappeard, but I am left with pain and sensitivity in my left leg making progress with therapy and a leg brace! Not letting that stop me. 

I use my iPhone for so many things so I created a new note for New Zealand to begin making lists, but also made a spreadsheet on my MacAir of trips, tours and costs. There were so many tour companies to explore and after a month of comparison I liked what TravelScene.com had to offer. I did not want to rent a car and drive on the wrong side of the road. That was a disaster in England. That cost me a new tire, a broken mirror and the rental company said we scratched the Mercedes, but we did not do that!

I got a gift card for Christmas so off to buy some travel books about NZ, but they were to expensive so I settled on doing my research online. I tried to learn about the public transportation, planes, trains, and automobiles and just called the travel agent with a list of places I wanted to visit and she took charge. Within 3 weeks she created an awesome tour of North and South Islands. You know how it goes, I found a tiny town on the East side of South Island called Dunedin that was a no miss location. 

It was described as little Scotland and since all four of my grandparents came to the U.S. From there, I had to go for several days. As it turned out there is quite a bit to do and I'll tell you about it when I get there. 

In March the final payment of $3999 was due for the photo seminar. Now I was committed - no refunds. 

Today  I am writing this on the first leg of a journey that was not even on my bucket list! I am a bit worried about making my connection in Denver as I only have 50 minutes between flights. The Southwest attendant assured me I could get from gate 30 to 33 without any problem. We will see.

I will have a long layover in LAX of 9 hours, so I'll explore and recharge devices and myself to leave at 11:30PM for Auckland, NZ. 

More later,

Flying solo!