Day 6- January 27

We were buzzing with excitement when we woke up at 7 this morning to get ready for the day. We ate the hotel’s free breakfast, then left at 8 AM. Ready to learn more about the history in New Zealand, we felt the Auckland Art Gallery Tao o Tamaki (technology) is a must. Jill noticed that on their website they had great reviews and many people were raving about the beautiful and historic artwork that was within the museum so we decided there was no way that we couldn’t go.

 

Just walking up to the museum had us in awe. The structure itself was beautiful, with warm lights to illuminate the outside, and a crazy looking over-hang. As we entered the beautiful building there were many different sculptures and light displays which amazed us all. As we walked through the museum we noticed that there were many different holographic type displays as well as intricate thought out moving displays that we were all amazed by. One art piece consisted of flowers moving in a pattern that looked as if they were blooming, dying, and then re-blooming like they were going through their life cycle which we all agreed was our favorite of them all. 

As we continued walking through the museum it was an incredible experience we learned about many historic events and cultures of Auckland. One of our favorites was the ancient tale about how New Zealand’s islands became to be. The tale talks about how the demigod Maui went fishing with his brothers. When he caught a fish he told his brothers to wait before cutting into it, or because he needed to please Tangaroa, the god of the sea, yet they did not listen.When the brothers cut into the fish, the ridges and deep cuts made by the knife represent New Zealand’s rivers, valleys, and mountains, then forming the island of New Zealand as a whole. After learning about this amazing tale we had a whole new outlook on Auckland culture.

Rachel and John's bagels

Sooner than we realized, lunch time rolled around, and we were all ready to have out next meal for the day. We decided to go to a bagel place for lunch that was only 8 minutes away from the Art Gallery. As we were driving John looked up the “Best Ugly Bagels”, which was the restaurants name, and saw that it had a 4.5 out of 5 star review so we expected our meal to be delicious. We all ordered the most raved about bagel on the menu and agreed it was one of the best meals we’ve ever had.

Bilbo Baggins's house in the movie.

While enjoying our meal we all discussed how excited we were for our next adventure which was to “Hobbiton (ecosystem)”. Hobbiton is the place where The Hobbit movies were filmed. We left Best Ugly Bagels at 11 AM, since the Hobbiton is a 2 and a half hour drive away. We all talked lively in the car, sharing jokes and expectations for the Hobbiton tour. We arrived at the hobbit place at about 2:20 PM and the tour started at 2:35 PM. This place is where the hobbit movie was recorded and all of the houses are still there and are able to be viewed and walked around for people's pleasure. We took so many pictures from Hobbiton world due to the difference in size of this land and it is a once in a lifetime trip.

A house in Hobbiton

 After this excitement we drive home and stopped for dinner at a McDonalds right next to the Royal Park Lodge. It was a fast, easy, and cheap dinner option for us, and we all enjoyed out greasy meal in our hotel rooms. After making plans for tomorrow and watching the sunset, we finally went to bed.