Ithilien, Amon Hen, MintTea, & Doing The Luge (& no, that's not a dance)

The day's plan was to find the locations at 12 Mile Delta & Closeburn.

As usual, the sun was shining, so I donned a bikini & headed off down the shores of Lake Wakatipu. I shot past Closeburn, where the Amon Hen scenes & some of the fight scenes from the end of the Fellowship were shot, but found 12 Mile OK.

As it was early I went for a swim . . . . . . . . . . .

Bloody hell. This has to be the 2nd coldest lake I've been in.
Except for the glacier lake at Tignes (where I lasted < a min.), it took me quite a while to pluck up courage to go under. Once in, it was great, but due to the river pouring into the lake - well you'd expect that at a delta ;-), it took me quite a while to get back into shore again. I was swimming away, & going nowhere.
Thank god for upper-body strength, as the legs don't exactly work properly these days (well 1 of them, anyway).

So, sudoku & sunbathing to dry off seemed like a cunning plan, & like the cat I am, I fell asleep in the sun. Good job I'd remembered the sun block this time!

Eventually & went location hunting again, & with the help of Brodie's book found the place where Gollum got disgusted with Sam's cooking. I seemed to be getting a dab hand at spotting the shot from the mountain backdrop.

Then I went on a mini-hike, but was unlucky this time. However, the area was so peaceful, & so Ithilien. It's clear why Peter Jackson chose this spot.

On the way back to the car I got a few sprigs of mint to have with tea.

I had even less luck with Closeburn, but, due to the previously mentioned mini-hike, I was too knackered to walk up the peninsula to the place where Boromir breathed his last, but at least I'd been close :-))

Back at Nomads, I bumped into roommates Krystle & Lauren (from Halifax) in the kitchen & we all had some mint tea.
For a few sprigs there was loads of flavour: I must've made about 2 pints of the stuff - Yum !

After, I went for a paddle on the beach (it was even colder by evening time & my toes went blue!), & then I went to a bar, & hung out for a bit.
Then it was time for bed (said Zebedee!).

The following day (Monday) I went up Bob's Peak on the gondola, & after a brew at the top, did the tourist thing, & went on the Luge.
This is not flat on your back, feet 1st - like on the Olympics, but sitting in a little 3 wheeled cart jobby, where you steer & break with the handlebars.
For a laugh I videoed most of my run. It's quite funny watching it back. However, as with the Edoras stuff, not recommended for those with dicky tums ;-)
At 1 point, 3 chunky blokes shot past me down 1 of the straight bits - well, having more mass than me, their acceleration would naturally be greater, & I didn't know the route (well, that's my excuse!)
Anyway, at the next bend, I passed them on the inside, as their greater mass caused reduced ability to corner, & they'd had a mini pile-up. Aahh !
That's 1 to Shirl, then ;-).

I'd also booked for a touristy Maori show up there in the evening, so between whiles, more sunbathing, sudoku & swimming seemed in order.
This time I went the other way & chilled all afternoon on the Queenstown Gardens promontary. As the lake was shallower here, it was noticeably warmer & I stayed in for quite a while, swimming between rocks sticking up out of the very blue, very clear water.

Evening arrived & it was time to go back up the gondola for the show - via the supermarket for some food for tea (as usual I ended up getting too much, & had it tonight for tea as well, with enough left for lunch tomorrow).

At the show, I sat on the front row & had chunky Maoris sticking their tongues out & widening their eyes only feet away!
The show was OK, but one of the warriors, when demonstrating how to use the poi (like balls on a string) let go of his, & it hit me on the shoulder. Oops - how embarrassing ;-)

Then they got some of us ladies up to have a go, & it's harder than it looks, especially when you have to twiddle & catch the poi, & do stuff with your feet at the same time.
Naturally, the Maori maidens made it look like a doddle.

Then it was bedtime again, as I was up early to take the car back.

Today was a day of many moods, but more of that next time.
OAO