March has been one helluva crazy month for me! Not only did I successfully publish my debut novel, but I also finished up my job as a Lord of the Rings Tour guide, and packed up my life here in Wellington, New Zealand, in preparation of moving to Australia for the next year.
Last day as a Lord of the Rings Tour Guide for Wellington RoverI can’t believe my New Zealand journey is nearly at an end. I can’t believe that two years have already flown by. I can’t believe how absolutely wonderful and creative and fulfilling my life has been since starting my Middle Earth adventure.
And now it’s all about to end.
I arrived in Wellington on the 23rd of June, 2014. I remember stepping off the Stray bus and having this instant feeling of ‘home’. It was a completely inexplicable reaction considering we’d only just arrived in the capital, done a quick drive-by of all the ‘tourist’ points and then driven straight to the hostel. We arrived late afternoon with enough time only for a quick trip to Te Papa museum for a few hours before it closed. And yet, I distinctly remember turning to my travel companions and stating “This is my city. This feels like home.”
And home it fast became.
Wellington is such a vibrant, creative little city. With amazing people and places. And there is always something happening here, from the buskers on Cuba Street, to the weekend night markets, to various seasonal events. There’s hardly a weekend gone by when there isn’t something being held in the city for everyone to enjoy.
And I will no longer be around to enjoy it.
I’m still not ready to say goodbye to this gorgeous country, and especially not ready to say goodbye to Wellington, but at least I’ll be enjoying one last event before I have to leave, an event tailor made for a Lord of the Rings fan, an event that is quite possibly the best way to say goodbye to Middle Earth…
That’s right, I’ll be spending my last two days in New Zealand participating in a Middle Earth Marathon!
Called “The End of All Things” the marathon is being hosted by The Roxy cinema and the local Tolkien society Welly-Moot, whereby we will be watching all three Hobbit movies, and all three Lord of the Rings movies– Extended Editions!— one after the other over 24hours! We’ll have dinner, breakfast and lunch provided, as well as all snacks and drinks throughout the event. Plus- special guests!! (I know we have at least one ‘dwarf’ attending!)
Exciting right!? (;
It might not be appealing for most people, but for someone who came to New Zealand for the sole reason of exploring Lord of the Rings country, this really is the perfect way for me to say goodbye.
Plus, it’s one last time to don my Tauriel gear and get my Elf on, as I sincerely doubt there’ll be much call for it over in the land of Oz!
The event will be running from around 12:00pm Thursday 24th to 2:30pm Friday 25th, and my flight to leave the country is at 5:00pm that same day. It’s cutting it pretty close, but there was no way I was leaving the country without a proper farewell!
I will be live tweeting and instagramming the event over the next two days too, so if you’re at all inclined to follow along with the activities- just add me on either platform to keep up with the crazy!