There And Back Again

Here is a message from Raewyn, (our new NZ friend), she helps run the tour-giving us helpful travel tips.  

General Information that might be helpful for your planning:

You will need your Passport for I.D.
Your  driver’s licence with photo is also a handy I.D.

Money-wise:  we’d recommend having a credit card like Visa or
Mastercard,  that you can use for getting cash from ATMs  and or paying for meals and shopping, etc., etc.  The ATMs are everywhere and make life simple !  Check with your Credit Card Company before you come to ensure that your card  is readily accepted in New Zealand.
Travellers’ cheques seem to be unnecessary – hotels can only cash small amounts at a time usually  and it’s not always convenient to find a Bank. ( Also, Banks close at 4-30 p.m. )

Travel Insurance: book it from home before your tour. Cover things like loss of baggage, tickets, sickness or health needs / emergencies  – the usual things. If you are covered you won’t need it !!!  If you don’t, you’re tempting fate. (Just common sense cover.)

What to bring, clothing-wise  ~  you will need light casual clothing – 
dress for comfort.  It’s Springtime Down Under in October.  We
recommend bringing “layers” ~ a sweater to put on if it’s cool and take off again if it gets hot. Have something tidy/casual for dinner at a couple of the restaurants along the way.  Bring Nike-type sports shoes for walking/climbing activities.  A warm jacket and a shower proof parka !  Slacks are ideal for the ladies – no need for skirts unless you prefer them.  Pack a swim suit if you think you might like a soak
in the Polynesian Spa Pools in Rotorua.  Oh yes – remember to pack a
pair of shorts for crossing the streams at Edoras ( or tracksuit-type
pants that you can roll up above the knees).

Meals ~ hotel cooked breakfasts are included for 10 days. For the final 2 mornings breakfast is not included, giving you the opportunity to try out Queenstown’s Cafes prior to doing your optional activities.  For lunch (apart from the Hobbiton Lunch which is included), we stop at selected Cafes or Bakeries. Depending on your appetite, lunch will cost around $8 to $15.   Dinner is your main meal of the day and in the evening.  Main Courses range between $15 and $30. Desserts from $6 and $12. Coffee / Tea $3-50. Two dinners are included in your tour costs – one at Twizel ( a Buffet style) because you have no alternative eating place there; the other is our Farewell Dinner in Queenstown at the Skyline Restaurant (includes the Gondola costs to get up there.)
Optional activities ~  costs vary according to content and length, etc.
of course.
Just some examples:  The Zorb is $49,   Luxmore Jetboat is $75 ,  
Maori Cultural meal & concert is $85 ,   Nomad Safari Half Day Tours
range from $110 to $150,  and the Helicopters  are from $295 to $320.
And you can always shop till you drop !!! (Window shopping is fun too 
and our Flat White coffee @ $3-50 is a treat.)
Laundry:  Every hotel has laundry facilities,  so don’t over-pack.  Try
and keep to one case each and a back-pack type bag for daily use,  for water bottle, purse/ wallet, camera, etc.
Airlines say keep your luggage to 20 kg and a carry-on bag  up to 7 kg.
Tipping is not widely practised in N.Z.  There may be times when you
feel you’d like to tip someone for exceptional service and you are
welcome to do so, but it is not expected and there is no set $ %.

Questions are always welcome. As you think of things, send me an email.

Cheers,
Raewyn.

Vic & Raewyn James,
Red Carpet Tours.
Email
Web site
Ph:  +64 9 410 6561  Mobile: 021 964 398
Fax: +64 9 410 6591
P.O. Box 100-680 N.S.M.C.,
Auckland, N.Z.
  =

RED CARPET TOURS
SAMPLE 12 DAY LOTR ITINERARY ~ 2006

The following is a sample itinerary only, representing a typical
monthly tour.
Details may vary from month to month according to availability of key people, places and acommodation.  Final itineraries are confirmed and emailed 4 weeks prior.
ARRIVAL DAY  1:
We meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel – as 
pre-arranged.
Your hotel is The Spencer on Byron   We gather informally this evening to meet each other and prepare for our early start tomorrow.
DAY 2 :
Be ready to depart at 08.00 ~ Auckland to Rotorua via Hobbiton. Prepare to be enchanted by Hobbiton – a very special site to visit. Have us take your photo beneath the Party tree and outside Bag End. We will have lunch at Hobbiton in ‘The Shire’s Rest’, on the farm.
In Rotorua later this afternoon, we’ll show you some geothermal
activity and suggest optional activities ~ such as a relaxing soak in hot mineral
Polynesian
Spa Pools and /or in the evening a chance to experience a traditional
Maori concert and meal (Hangi).
Overnight – Lake Plaza Hotel, Rotorua.
DAY 3 :
From Rotorua to Ohakune, via the Wai-o-tapu bubbling mud pools and Huka Falls to Lake Taupo, where we stop for ‘Second Breakfast’ on our way to  Mt. Ruapehu and the sites of Mordor, Emyn Muil and Mt Doom. See the spot where Sam and Frodo were lost amid volcanic lava flows and where they first met Gollum.  Later we’ll visit Gollum’s fishing pool, where Andy
Serkis was careful not to plunge over the waterfall !
Overnight – The Powderhorn Chateau or The Bayview Chateau Tongariro ~ where the Stars stayed.  (You can request a Star’s room.)
DAY 4 :
Ohakune to Wellington via the River Anduin.  First up there’s an
optional extra activity at Gravity Canyon for the mad and daring  ~ 
great viewing for the  rest of us !
After lunch, a visit to the site where the Elves are leaving Rivendell
for the West  and Arwen has her vision of Aragorn and their son.
Next, the  Black Rider’s Ranch  ~ we meet him in person and enjoy his hospitality. He trained the horses , taught the actors to ride and also had several ket roles in the trilogy.
Then, on to Wellington City – just in time to see  the ”Get off the
road!” site.
Tonight we suggest dining at “The Green Parrot”- a favourite of Viggo’s.
Tonight and tomorrow night in Wellington, staying at The Duxton Hotel.
DAY 5 :
We are joined at breakfast by the Calligrapher & Map Maker, Daniel
Reeve. He’ll show samples of his exquisite work ~ and some are for
sale.
Next, a “Wellywood!” city tour past Stone Street Studios,  Weta
Workshop & the Chocolate Fish Cafe – second breakfast – a favourite Hobbit eating  place.
Your afternoon is free to explore Wellington.
You may choose to visit Te Papa Museum – open till 9 p.m. ( LOTR 
souvenirs. )
Dinner tonight ?  Perhaps “Strawberry Fare” – just up from the Embassy Theatre where the ROTK Premiere was held.
DAY 6 :
Today we call in at the Elven Cloak factory  and see how the cloaks are made ~ opportunities for purchasing and photographs.  Then it’s over the hills  to the beautiful tranquility of the Leaving Lothlorien  site~   and where Smeagol  strangled Deagol  !!
We take a side trip to the wine district of Martinborough for lunch.
On our return to Wellington we’ll take time for a visit to Rivendell
(Kaitoke Park) and the gardens of Isengard.
This evening  we fly (45 minutes) to Christchurch. Copthorne Central
Hotel.
(A special guest who starred in the movie, joins us for dinner tonight.)
DAY 7:
Your South Island adventure begins. It’s time to head for the site and magnificence that is Edoras.  We’ll buy a picnic lunch today, as we are
going to a remote area. Bring shorts and sturdy footwear. We have three
streams to cross on our way to the summit !
Later we’ll view beautiful, mountain fed, Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, plus N.Z’s highest Mountain – Mt. Cook,  over 12,000 ft  high.
Overnight at Twizel’s  McKenzie Country Inn.
DAY 8 :
We depart at around 9-00 a.m. for the Pelennor Fields . This area once rang to the thunderous sound of 300 horses on the charge.
Moving on, we check out the site of The Great Chase and then on to
scenic Lake Wanaka for lunch.
After lunch we’ll take time out for you to try your archery skills – do
we have a budding Legolas amongst us ?
If Ian Brodie, author of the LOTR Guide Book,  is available we may be able to say hello while we’re in the locality. He manages The Warbirds Museum at the small airport across from the Archery.
Overnight – Cromwell. The Golden Gate Lodge. This is a great place to study the night sky – have you seen the Southern Cross ?
DAY 9 :
We head out to Alexandra this morning, to where the Rohan village was burned.
Can you find the canyon where the leaf brooch was dropped ? ( Dwarves are ‘dangerous over short distances’ here !)
After lunch at The Old Bakery Cafe in Ophir, ( population 50 ! ), we
visit the locations of Amon Hen and Ithilien. The remainder of the
afternoon is free to enjoy Queenstown.
Overnight – Queenstown. The Novotel Gardens Hotel.
DAY 10 :
We’ll take a picnic lunch and an overnight bag today as we head to the  Mavora Lakes where there are 4 LOTR sites  * the Orc funeral pyre,  *Fangorn Forest, * the log which concealed Merry & Pippin before Frodo left the fellowship, * and where Sam and Frodo paddled away on the next stage of their journey.
Later you may like to take the jet boat down the River Anduin or take a helicopter ride to Peter Jackson’sfavourite location.
Tonight you may choose to eat where the stars did – Redcliffs Cafe.
Over night in Te Anau.  The Luxmore Hotel.
DAY 11:
You have the option today of joining a coach & cruise trip to Milford
Sound and catching up with the group in Queenstown later in the day.  
Your Guide can advise you about this.
Today our group will travel to Queenstown,  via Arrowtown ~ a charming old settlement, historically significant in the gold rush days of the 1860s.  It’s also the location where Isildur was attacked by Orcs at Gladden Fields.
This afternoon and tomorrow you are free to pursue optional activities:
+There is time today to take the Heliworks flight to the Ford of
Bruinen.
+Or the trip up Deer Park Heights  ?
*Accommodation in Queenstown again for the next two nights.
DAY 12 : The last day of our “Fellowship”.
Devote today to further optional activities and last minute shopping. 
How about
+A 4 wheel drive tour to the Pillars of Argonath with Nomad Safaris ?
+Dart River Stables – Horse trekking  ?
+A jet boat ride or bungy jump  ?
Your Guide will discuss options with you and assist or advise with
bookings.
Tonight we’ll ride the Skyline Gondola up for our farewell dinner at
the Skyline Restaurant ( included in tour costs).
DEPARTURE DAY:
Alas ~  your journey through Middle-earth with Red  Carpet Tours, is at an end.
We thank you for travelling with us  …..  there and back again…..
Haere ra  ~ Good-bye from us all at Red Carpet Tours.

Hello There,,

 Today I went and applied for my passport at the post office, For anyone who hasn’t applie and would like to someday. it cost $97 dollars, I had to bring in my birth certificate and a picture id. They keep your birth certificate and you get it back with your passport 6-8 wks later. Very painless process. Now all thats left is to save a little more money and to start packing,,,,!!!!!!! Namarie Max