I woke up early Saturday morning and left the slumbering kids with Daddy to go check out the Nelson market. I managed to find the only souvenir I really had my heart set on--some New Zealand wool! It was fun to wander through and see all the wares.
With yarn in tow, I headed back to pick up the rest of the crew for our next adventure. When I was researching Lord of the Rings filming sites, one of the only ones I really wanted to visit happens to be in the middle of the backcountry of Kahurangi National Park. Peter Jackson actually only knew about the site because the owner of one of the local helicopter companies (Reid Helicopters) took him out there, thinking it would look great on film. We decided to add just a little bit more once-in-a-lifetime flair to our vacation and take a ride to see it ourselves.
The business has been in the Reid family for 3 generations now. Toby Reid, on the right, is married to another helicopter pilot, Rachel, and they're expecting their 2nd child. Oliver is their first, and he was VERY unhappy when he realized he was not going on the helicopter with us.
Vivi was mostly excited about the voice activated microphone on her headset. We'd be flying along, listening to the pilots talking back and forth, and then all of a sudden hear a sweet little "ee-i-ee-i-o!" Rafe fell asleep in about 2 minutes.
The flight was stunning. On our way to the national park we flew over all the beautiful farms outside of Nelson.
They actually do a lot of tree farming for lumber in New Zealand (on a 25 year harvest cycle, according to our pilot), and it was fascinating to see it from the air, especially on the border of the national park where you could see a distinct line between the planted trees and the natural foliage.
Helicopters are by far the easiest way to get to the middle of nowhere! Here we are passing the Dragon Teeth range.
We landed like a feather at the site and piled out to look around.
And then proceeded to reenact!
Sword fighting with Hobbits is a good way to pass the time.
But you best be careful . . .
. . . because they only fight when provoked.
It was nice to have a breather . . .
. . . and enjoy the view.
But what's that Legolas sees?
Ah yes, it's just our helicopter.
Better safe than sorry though, so we better HIDE!
A man and a few Hobbits do fit quite nicely under there.
And here come the crows, so we'll all vanish just in time.
It was a pretty close call.
Obviously, we had just a little bit of fun on our helicopter ride. Rafe managed to stay awake for the way back and we had quite a job keeping him from grabbing all the instruments and sending us plummeting to our deaths.
We spent the rest of the day driving to the Punakaiki Beach Camp, listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was a beautiful drive, and an even better destination! We hurried and put our stuff in the cabin and then headed to the beach.
The kids had a good time watching the waves
And playing with the sand.
But then an especially big wave knocked Vivi over and the beach quickly lost its charm for her. We went back to the cabin to get into some warm clothes.
We had lots of space. Drew and I even had our own room! Did I mention we went to bed with the kids every night? It's very easy to get up with the children at the crack of dawn when you go to bed with them as soon as the sun's down. Well, it is in the fall anyway.
After we got Vivi dry, we ate dinner at the tavern down the road. They had some fun decorations outside.
And a visitors map that they restarted in MARCH. This many people came here in 2 months! We stole a pin from Europe and stuck it in Japan.
Mapular Recap of the driving:
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