This is one day that was a highlight of our 6-month NZ stay: visiting the Weta Workshop in Wellington. (Weta Workshop made all the costumes, armour, swords, prosthetics... well, just about all the props for all the Lord of the Rings movies. This is LOTR fanboy/fangirl HEAVEN!) First, though, we drove out to the airport to take pictures of GIANT Gollum inside the terminal (he was still there from the 2012 premier showing of The Hobbit). (By the way, there are now giant eagles with Gollum, they were installed by Weta for the premier of the second Hobbit movie. We'll visit the airport again when we wander back to Auckland at the end of our trip.) We found the Workshop easily enough, but parking was a nightmare! We finally found a spot a couple of blocks away and spent a glorious couple of hours in the Workshop (after Anna made it past the trolls guarding the entrance!). Kimmy was our tour guide (she painted props and served as an alternate weapons/armourer assistant – that meant she helped the actors with their weapons and armour during filming). Even though the tour was short (about 40 minutes), we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the props up close and personal. You'll have to take our word for it as there was no photography allowed inside the Workshop. We restrained ourselves in the gift shop, although it was VERY difficult! So much cool stuff, so little money...
