Weta Cave, Mt Victoria, Hobbit Hideaway

We had a few things planned for our second day in Wellington. We drove a winding loop around the Wellington harbour. We also decided to get a tour in the Weta Cave. Weta are cochroach-like insects that hide under tree bark. But this "cave" isn't home to animals. Instead it is the location where props, puppets and computer animations are made for TV series and movies.

Weta Cave gained reputation through classics like Thunderbirds. But even more famous now, of course are The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies that were created here. Avatar and Ghost in the Shell were other notable titles. But an almost endless wall of recognizable movie posters that they worked on proved that this really is an influential studio on an international scale.

One of the designers of props gave us a tour of the different materials that are used. It's impressive that props like chain-link armour are all hand-made, link by link. And with the many layers of props (make-up, clothes, armour) that actors had to wear, we got a feel for how physically demanding it can be for an actor, especially in running or fighting scenes. It was also interesting to learn that jewelery and weapons of main characters are real. Jewelery like 'the One Ring', is made of real gold. And swords were actually made by the master sword smith of the Queen of England. Several of each sword were made, and have almost all been sold for tens of thousands of dollars!

We were lucky to meet the director of the studio who came to say hi. Despite all of his success, he was very humble and answered any questions we still had. Our guide had explained the history of the studio. He and his wife started making props for a local movie. They were so focused on detail and hardworking that they quickly caught the attention of bigger producers.

After our tour, we went for a short walk in Victoria park (Mt Victoria), on a hill overlooking the city. We could see the ferries to the South island come in and out. There are many hiking and biking trails here. By pure chance, we ran into Sonny and Anna again (two German girls)! We had met them at Kerosene Creek a week earlier. And on top of that, we realized that we had booked the same ferry as them! It was fun to catch up. Another Lord of the Rings scene was filmed here in the park. When the four hobbits first set out from the Shire, they were pursued by the Black Riders. In Victoria Park, the scene is filmed where Frodo yells, "Get off the road!" and the hobbits hide. We did our best impression.

We camped two nights in the same spot, overlooking the channel between the North and South islands. It was very peaceful compared to the busyness of the city. We met Luc and Leonie here (also Germans), who we crossed paths with several more times on our journey. That evening we heard our first penguins, hiding in the bushes. An older lady (in her 60s) who lived in her van permanently joined us, got out her smart phone and played penguin noises. And the real penguins responded! It was too funny, unreal =DRead more