New Zealand: Part 7, Wetawesome

We left Stratford (and it's strange Shakespearean-themed architecture) as quickly as we could, for an herb garden that had the best water. in. the. world.

This is one of the only food pictures I took. This veggie benedict and fresh herb water deserved to be documented.

Michael, posing with the aloe vera. The volcano did not erupt, but we did get scorched on Mount Doom. Sunburn city. We were roaming around pharmacies earlier that day, hunting for aloe vera. An hour later, we found this giant plant.

"So, when do you get off tonight?"

We made it to Wellington! 

First stop? Hobbit feet and trolls: Weta Workshop!

Michael, convinced that he's taller than Gandalf. I'm not so sure. 

I am pretty sure that I'm not as tall as Lurtz though. We couldn't take pictures inside the studio, but we got to see all kinds of leftover props and learn about the process. There were two artists working nearby. One was gluing tiny palm trees onto a miniature island--she was on tree 600 of 10,000. Crazy! It was fun to see artists of all varieties with creative jobs. The tour guide furthered my Aragorn-appreciation, by reminding me that this clip (with the 40 second dagger throw) was done in one take, with real blades. He also let us play with the mace that the Witch King used on Eowyn. Are you nerded out yet?

Michael caught me playing with the trolls outside the workshop.  

 Weta is nothing if not realistic...even under the loin flap.

Michael didn't really want to touch them.

So fun!