“I have crossed many mountains and many rivers, and trodden many plains, even into the far countries of Rhûn and Harad where the stars are strange.”
— Aragorn, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
For our much-belated honeymoon, Jeff and I crossed the equator for the first time and spent two weeks in New Zealand, where we hiked a glacier, walked through a redwood forest, explored the world’s youngest geothermal system, cruised a fiord Rudyard Kipling called the eighth Wonder of the World and, of course visited the Hobbiton Movie Set.
It was all Jeff’s fault.
When we were floating ideas for a honeymoon, I wasn’t sure how big we could or should go. There are plenty of places in the U.S. I’d love to see for the first time or revisit. But when he suggested Middle-earth, there was no looking back.
So, a year and a half after our wedding, we found ourselves in Auckland, jet-lagged but high on adrenaline, as we navigated highways, roundabouts and Christmas parade road closures while driving on the “wrong” side of the road. Once we unloaded bags and took a quick shower at the hotel, we immediately went out again, eager to explore and not waste a minute of our long-expected journey.
© 2016. St Kevin’s Arcade, at the start of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. St Kevin’s Arcade, at the start of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. St Kevin’s Arcade, at the start of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. The walk to Myers Park from St Kevin’s Arcade, part of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. The walk to Myers Park from St Kevin’s Arcade, part of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. The Edwardian-era Queen Street Shops, dating to 1909, part of a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Women’s Suffrage Memorial mural, depicting Amey Daldy, Anne Ward, Lizzie Frost, Matilda Allsopp, Elisabeth Yates, Annie Jane Schnackenberg, Fanny Brown and Ida B. Wells, in Te Hā o Hine / Khartoum Place, as seen on a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Ektar +2, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Vulcan Lane, as seen on a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Auckland harbor, as seen on a self-guided walking tour through Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Sheep and the Auckland cityscape, as seen from One Tree Hill Domain in Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Cornwall Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Sheep graze in Cornwall Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
© 2016. Cornwall Park, as seen from One Tree Hill Domain in Auckland, New Zealand. Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Portra 160+1, Pentax 6×7.
A selection of these photos can be purchased as prints at prints.christhedunn.com.
Words and Light 
Leave a Reply