April 14, 2004

On location: Film: Lord of the Rings. Nick and Todd under the Hobbit party tree in the shire.

Journal and photo by Todd Borgie

Did we take a wrong turn? Is this Hawaii?

New Zealand is great! We arrived last week and have been driving around the whole north Island. We arrived last Friday (because of the international date line, we lost last Thursday), and have been driving ever since. We rented a car as soon as we got in at 5:00 a.m. and began our drive. It was the start of the Easter holiday, so, apparently, everyone is traveling. In New Zealand both Good Friday and the Monday after Easter are national holidays, so a lot of people, especially students, are traveling.

New Zealand is full of natural beauty. It seems like everywhere I go the place just makes me happy. Whether it is a seaside stroll, a country drive, or a cruise through the winding mountains, the scenery is striking.

This island has come about as a result of volcanic and seismic activity. I felt like we were back in California with the number of earthquakes we felt while staying there. At first when they would rumble through, I would question my judgment, “That can’t be an earthquake, it must just be a big truck,” I would think. But there were no big trucks, just small earthquakes.

We also had a chance to bathe in the thermal mud baths. We felt like we were six years old again, covered in warm mud. As I mentioned, there is volcanic activity around here, and as a result, there are a lot of hot springs, and in many places the air smells like sulfer.

While driving through this country, we just managed to visit the North Island. It’s obvious why they would film the Lord of the Rings trilogy here. I guess to compare it to a place in the U.S., I would have to say this place looks the most like Hawaii, Polynesian influence and all (the New Zealand natives, the Maori, are Polynesian in origin). The native carvings and artwork all make it seem like we are in Hawaii. The only difference is the size. In the course of a week, we drove more than 2000 km, encircling the North Island (most people say we haven’t seen New Zealand unless we have been to the south island, but we will save that for another day). Since we were able to drive 2000 km-encircling part of the North Island, you can see that New Zealand is considerably larger than Hawaii. The reason it looks similar to me is the fact that the mountains are rough and jagged as opposed to the smooth hills of the Midwest. These hills and mountains reminded me more of the type you would see on the US West Coast; however, unlike the mountains of the West Coast, these mountainous hills were covered in lush-green grass, and many areas did not have any trees.

New Zealand has sort of a Midwest feeling to it. Life seems slower, lots of farming, and the sheep and wool industry here are huge. New Zealand is one of the largest exporters of wool in the world.

While cruising around New Zealand it struck me that I didn’t know where Zealand was. For every new place, there is generally an old place: New Mexico – Mexico; New York – York; New Jersey – Jersey, was there a Zealand? One of the Kiwis (slang for New Zealander, named for a unique bird there) told me there was an island in Europe called Zealand. Sure enough, there is an island in Denmark that is called Zealand. In fact, this island is where Copenhagen is situated.

It was great being in New Zealand because Nick, Chanda and I officially took time off, for the most part, from Drive Around the World stuff. On most days we were carefree and never had any specific place to be. I don’t think any of us expected to drive around so much; we were just captivated by the scenery. We had a lot of fun, especially Nick, looking at all the different Lord of the Rings stuff; in fact, he was able to connect with people from Weta Studies (the studios that did most of the work on Lord of the Rings), and they are allowing us to conduct an interview with someone at the studios. That will be soon to come.

I will definitely be back to New Zealand; after all, I have to make it to the more scenic South Island. Until then, New Zealand will have a fond place in my memory.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.