There And Back Again

Hello There,,,

            The Fellowship is no more.  The Ring has been destroyed, and all thats left is the journey home. We are spending a couple of days relaxing in Queenstown, getting our strength back for the long journey back.  Last night we had a farewell Dinner and our Most Gracious Hosts Vic and Raewyn gave out awards.  I recieved the Gandalf Award for successfully leading 2 Hobbits through Middle Earth. Tom receieved the Gimli Award for recognising Brett Beattie as the true Gimli and a true Hero.  Timmy received the Ring Bearer Award, for carrying the One Ring all through Middle Earth. It was a very nice ending to a Fantastic Journey. This Trip has been the trip of our lives!!! It could not have been more perfect. It has been everything I dreamed it could be and more.  The country is absolutely beautiful, The people are friendly and kind and sincere, not to mention truely honorable.  I’ve met some people whom I hope will become life -long friends. I have many stories and countless pictures to share, when I get home in the next couple of days I will post all of them,, Namarie  Max

Hello There,,

       Today is the last day of our Fellowship. We went to see Amon Hen by ouselves today, becuase no one else wanted to ride Horses for an hour and 1/2. But we did. It was just the three of us and our Guide PER, who was very nice and funny. Tommy rode his first Horse. He handled Oscar like he was born to it. Oscar was the only horse in our ride who appeared in the movie, Timmy had Ginger and I rode Seth, a very bossy and frisky Stallion, at one point mine and Tommys horse took off for greener pastures and we had to wrangle them back and wrestle back control,me with one hand because I was still holding a camera with the other hand. Per said I looked like an American Cowboy, A natural.  It was a little scary, But Tom also handled his horse like a pro.  Timmy couldn’t get his horse to walk, it was a very lazy horse, He just wanted to sit in the sun.  The trip lasted about 4 1/2 hrs but that included the 3 hr drive to and from our Hotel, along mountainous side roads, very beautul.  Tonight , we have our last Dinner with the rest of our Fellowship atop the mountain in the Skitower Restaurant, The only way up there is by Ski Gondola,,, See everyone soon  Namarie Max

Hello There,,

         Today we went to the place where the Rohirram and the refugees from Edoras, ran into the Wargs of Isengard.  Its up on a hill called Deer heights and it overlooks Queenstown, spectacular views, we took many, many pictures, Tomorrow we go horseback riding, and the Twins are guarenteed Horses that were in the movie, Vic arranged it,, How exciting,, its an 1 1/2 hr ride to places that took place in the movie, I can’t wait,,, Queenstown is so beautful, I think its the most beautiful town/city that I have ever been to.  No kidding,, it’s nestled between 2 mtn ranges and by a beautiful lake,, and its warm here., we don’t need 3 layers of clothes,,, soon we will be leaving and heading home, I’m sad, I want to live here,, forever, I know I’ll definitely be coming back, probably next year, New Zealand is now my favorite place in the world,,,,,, Max

Check out my pics,,, we have been all over the countryside-tramping to every LOTR site we can, too many things to tell here yet,I will as soon as I can, but right now its expensive to be on the internet, I’ve already paid 77 dollars for 2 hrs,,, yikes,,, what i wouldn’t do for LOTR.. 

Hello from Middle -Earth,
sorry everyone for not writing sooner, but internet is very far between and when I can get it, its too expensive. Anyway, on to better things. We met the caligrapher and map maker on the films, Daniel Reeve. He designed all the artwork , books and maps and designed all the writing in the movies. Everytime you see writing, a map or a book, it was done in his hand. He created writing styles for all the characters, and can write anything you want in those hands. He kindly wrote special messages for all of us in any hand or language we wanted, i’ll try and post pics of them, plus he designed , a drum roll please , my TATTOO, yes thats right , I got a tatto the day we met Daniel and he was kind enough to design it,, I went to the same place and had the same artist who did the fellowship from the movies, it hurt like HELL!
The next day, we visited the Elven Cloak factory, yes I bought a cloak, everyone was very jealous, but its a limited edition, so much so, that they insisted on taking my name and address for their books.
Following that day we met Gimli, not John Davies, but technically his stunt double, but we call him the REAL Gimlin because he was in make up 189 days, while Davies was only in make up 30 days. If you watch the film, you can tell the difference. He was absolutely charming, Raewyn insisted he sit between the Twins all through Dinner, they were so excited. He was shy and quiet, but I think he enjoyed talking to me, with all my wild stories of crime in Chicago. We kind of dominated the evening, I think.
Edoras was rainy and freezing but Gandalf the White and Aragorn of Gondor, made it to the top, I’ll post pics when I can. AND today was Pelennor Fields, with spectacular views. We also met the Author of the LOTR guidebooks, but I’m running out of time again, and it really is too expensive to stay online much longer, check out the link to some of the pics i’ve downloading so far, Namarie Max

I wanted to say a few more words about Chris rutten. Him and his wife Donna, were incredibly gracious to us, They opened there beautful home to us. Donna brought out their own photos albums to show us, and we had tea and cookies in her kitchen, It was a very surreal experience, almost like enjoying an afternoon with some old kiwi friends, chatting about lord of the rings. Chris was in every movie. He played The Witch King, Aragorns body and riding dble, a gondorian soldier and part of the Rohirrim. The Horse picture above was his horse Chief, He asked if I wanted a ride, but modestly reared its head and I passed. Hahahaha .  There living room and kitchen have beautiful views of the Tasman Sea and Skull Island, the island in King Kong. He told me on a clear day you could see all Mt Ruapuha, The mtn we visited the day before.

Hello There From Middle Earth,
Today was a day for firsts, for us and for the tour operators, we went to a spot where the fellowship paddled down the river Anduin. Its at a place called Gravity Canyon. Its the spot where were everyone either Bungi jumps or does the flying fox. Neither of which I or the Twins participated in, It was too damn high, my spirit was willing but my legs wouldn’t walk up the side of the canyon. anyway, while a couple of people from our fellowship went up the mt, to try the flying fox, 3 cars pulled with a group of about 15 american men. While they were chatting with a few of us about the canyon. Vic our tour operator, whom we call Tom Bomabadil and his beautiful Raewyn {Goldberry} noticed a familiar face in the crowd, Andrew Adamson the Director of The shrek movies and of Narnia. What an incredible coincidence, they were scouting film locations for the next movie , Prince Caspian. I didn’t hesitate to push the Twins in his direction for a picture. he was very cordial, he was also with a man who was in the visual dept for the two towers but he was too shy for a pic,
Everyone was delighted-I was once again reminded of my favorite quote ” Not Idley do the Leaves of Lorein Fall. Had I got up the nerve to go flying down the mountain, we would have missed the Director.
We also were priveledge to meet the Witch king. what a nice man. him and his wife invited us into their home, she made us cookies, how can you beat that.
. You can see Skull Island from his living room.
So much is happening and I’m litterally snapping pics constantly, I’m trying to upload just a few, until we get home
for now Namarie Max

Some hobbiton pics, Max

Hello There,

       We continued our journey today. It was fantastic, we were in Emyn Muil. Where Sam and Frodo sat and eat some lembus bread. We took many spectaular photos, we hope you get to see them. The best part of it was getting to the exact location, it was very hard because it was freezing. There was lots of snow. Everyone had to wait for us because we were taking pictures with our cloaks. We look awesome with the wind blowing and the amazing view. The snow was about a foot high. We don’t know how Sam and Frodo stayed alive. Then later we went to Gollum’s fishing pool, were he was trying to get a fish but couldn’t and we also got to take amazing photos that we hope you can see them. The are fantastic!We look amazing with the wind blowing our beautiful hair, execpt my hair, my hair is too short. Even though it was freezing cold we still had one of the best times of our lives. The journey awaits us till tomorrow morning. Namarie Timmy

ps Gandalf’s room is amazing!