Jen’s Travelogue- Scenic New Zealand Part #3 -Why Milford Sound and Hobbiton Movie Set Tours are Awesome!
One of the best memories of my New Zealand trip is going on a tour of Hobbiton and Milford Sound. I’ll show you why.
Milford Sound
I'll start with Milford Sound. Milford Sound is located at the southland of New Zealand whereby we have to drive around 2 hours from Te Anau ( the city we stopped by) to Milford Sound and pass through a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. The drive, however, was pretty rough at the time because it was snowing and raining.
We arrived at Milford Sound around 2pm where we already missed the boat which departs at 2PM sharp. We then make it to the next scheduled time. The next cruise, however, set to be shorter than the normal time because the road to go back is scheduled to close at 4.30pm. The cruise normally took around 2 hours but it was shortened to 1.45min to allow us to get out from the road or risking to overnight in Milford Sound which we can’t (because of our schedule). Because of the road closure planning, the cruise only had less than 10 people in it. It was a blessing in disguise as we had a lot of spaces in the ferry and get to know other people better.
Driving from Te Anau (pronounced: 'te ana') for 2 hours was a super scenic drive. Just look at the satellite image above how the un-touched natural terrains along our way.
Piopiotahi they called it when the melted glacier creating sheer-sided valley
Less people, cool party
I want to show you one of New Zealand's wildlife. Let's get closer!
Taraaaaaaaaaa! This is the Southern fur seals (or also known as Antarctic fur seals). They are sleeping and can do this 24/7 ( I wish to have that ability hmm..)
Cuter than me! Go back to sleep ZZZZzzzzz
Source NZ
Beautiful isn't it?
Now I want to show you guys the majestic waterfall I have ever witnessed!..
Stirling Falls
At staggering 1302 metres in height, this waterfall is 3 times higher than Niagra Falls.
Stirling Falls is the second largest permanent waterfall in the fiord and is fed by glaciers situated in the mountains behind. Named after Captain Stirling when he brought the HMS Cleo into Milford Sound during the 1870’s. The Lion - More formally known as Mt Kimberley, rises to a height of 1302 metres.Source
This is me and my buddies getting showered by this waterfall as our ferry take us closer. It was truly volunteered LOL
I still can feel the chill of the water. This tour was unforgettable.
Hobbiton
Way to the North side of New Zealand at Matamata is a place that no person visiting New Zealand should pass- The original set of Lord of the Rings. This is not your normal studio set, this is a farm with the size of 12,000 acres belongs to a person that collaborated with Peter Jackson ( Lord of the Ring’s director) that has been preserved for tourism purposes.
Hobbiton movie set tour get you on the bus from its main building to the set which then you will take the guided tour on foot. Since this is a real farm, visitors were advice not to wander around as they can get lost. This tour takes you to view most memorable Hobbit village with lots of Hobbit holes. Overall, this experience has been a world class and to my liking. I still can’t believed the efforts of film makers took to create a wonderful scenes and even some details that took a lot of manpowers for a fraction second of time in the movie -as carefully explained by the tour guide.
Try finding me!
We were told not to expect the same interior as in the movie. This is because this movie set is for exterior filming only. The interior scenes was shot at other location.
The tour ends at a mini cafe where you can enjoy free drink. I can’t get enough of this Soutfarthing Ginger Beer. It is goooood!
My visit to both of this tours are so memorable to me. I make the most of my time and New Zealand and keeps telling people to visit this country once in their lifetime.
That is it for now, there‘s one more story I will share about my trip in New Zealand and I promise that it is the best story ever!
Thank you for reading!
I have other posts you might enjoy:
Movie Review: Kingsman- The Golden Circle
Jen’s Travelogue: New Zealand Part 2
Stevia: The Never Ending Debate
Jen’s Travelogue: New Zealand Part 1
Keep calm and go travel!
Wow Wow Wow! Love to do this trip once too and visit Hobbiton :)
Followed you :) We do travel vlogs on YouTube and would like to make some connections on Steemit! Please follow us back so we can be friends :) Looking forward for your posts
Hi! Nice to meet you @shinidanitv ! Followed you too! I will follow everyone that has interest in travel.
Yeeey :) travel is love ;)
Upvoted! wierd that i never saw your posts before, i am on steemit a lot, nice to meet you, love travel minded people. will keep an eye out for your posts!
Blog about travels to, travelled for four years and also work on a cruise ship, we went there as well! indeed very nice.
Would love to see more of New Zealand.
keep your blogs comming
Hi @heyitshaas . Thanks for stopping by!. What a great experience to work at a cruise. It must have been fun stopping at a lot of countries right? Which other countries you went? Tell Steemians about it.
Will check your post. Nice to meet ya!
Thanks for your response went to a lot of places,
https://steemit.com/travel/@heyitshaas/living-on-the-oceans-for-8-months-the-real-story-part-2
https://steemit.com/travel/@heyitshaas/living-on-the-oceans-for-8-months-the-real-story-part-3-best-pictures
will follow
That looks amazing. I know my kids would love a Hobbitown tour!! So cool! Thanks for sharing. The waterfall and seals also looks really awesome! I would love to see seals in real life. I can imagine that the water is freezing cold. #theunmentionables
Thank you for reading my article @apanamamama . The Hobbiton tour will be fun for children. ahhhhh that waterfall really cold, I still can remember how it feel.
heya u hobbit ! did u find my precious ?
Found it! I think its yours heheheh
lol !
Great post Jen! New Zealand is one of ''Have to'' destinations. We're glad you enjoyed your trip.
Thanks @extremeromance ! Thanks for stopping by! You are right! Once in the lifetime I think people should visit New Zealand. I definitely will come back!
I want to go! 😔
Don’t think about it, just go hehe
I LOVE this , always wanted to live in one of the Hobbit houses from the movie, is too bad they don't make a village of them, lol..would so be there....travel and steem on :)
Kids can live in them, they are tiny like kids. If you have grown to full size, I believe you can't live there LOL.
It was an awesome tour by the way.
Make it a 'one day' promise to yourself and you will be there. ^_~
Love your photos and your travel journey. I've been to New Zealand. Went to see the penguins also
In Milford Sound we supposed to see some penguin;. But they were to shy hahah..
thanks for stopping by!
You've received a FULL upvote from #TheUnmentionables - a SteemIt community full of members who like to kick ass, take names, and occasionally do it wearing (or forgetting to wear) our unmentionables...
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tq @unmentionable !!! i'm happy