LOTR weekend

Did the hike around Mt. Doom over the weekend. It was absolutely fantastic and gorgeous and demanding and exhausting at the same time. Eight hours of "tramping," as they call hiking here in New Zealand can take a toll on a computer geek's body. It wasn't just a friendly stroll through nature, this hike. No, no, on the contrary, there were parts where we had to scale small mountain ridges, which were grueling and cramp-filled. Some parts almost felt like rock-climbing! But after each painfully gruelling climb was a summit filled with views like no other. Each stunning vista outshone the previous (yes, there were multiple painful climbs and descents). If you'd like to check out some pics of the hike we totally conquered (in eight hours), go here. But if you don't want to ruin the surprise and sense of accomplishment, I suggest you skip it and come down to see it with your own eyes, as it is simply amazing.

The Tongariro Crossing is about a four hour drive away from Wellington, so on the way back, we all stopped by another location filmed in The Two Towers. It was the scene where Gollum rolls around in the stream over a bunch of rocks trying to catch a fish. Sam calls Gollum a "stinker" and Frodo asks him why he calls him those names and puts him down like that. So, we all decided to re-enact the Gollum scene and here are some sweet pics of the hilarity.