When one adventures ends…

The world is not in your books and maps…it’s out there.

Ah, my most lovely and dearest of travelers. Thank goodness I have all of you to blather my woes and troubles to. Not really. I mean, I love being able to write to you, but we have fun here on The Wandering Ren, don’t we? So let’s keep the fun going!

First, the sad news. Yesterday was my last day working at Hobbiton. I wasn’t the only one. Heaps of people were finishing with me. All the talk in the staff room and on the buses was just a constant stream of asking who was leaving and asking what people were off to do next and how sad the whole thing was. There were more hugs at the end of the day than usual.

Got to hang out with these cool peeps on the last day. 

The whole thing was bittersweet for me. I’m glad to be done and off to other things but it is always tough leaving behind friends, and it hasn’t quite hit me that I won’t be walking the paths of Hobbiton day after day anymore. It may sound cheesy, but I really did work in a truly magical place. I was sad, but I wasn’t really sad until I found out I was giving the last tour of the day.

All during my last week I’d been saying to people I hoped my last tour was a good group. My first two groups on my last day were good, but the last one, though not terrible, they certainly weren’t one of the better groups I’d had.

It was certainly a memorable last tour. The evening tour arrived before we were ready to head down to set, so I gave a reverse tour instead, the first one I’d ever done. And with it moving further and further into winter, I wound up giving half of my tour in the dark. This turned out to be pretty sweet, actually.

I gave the best tour I could, but I was a bit lethargic through the whole thing, and blatantly took photos of set in front of my group. It was my last chance after all.

Endings are a natural and constant part of life. They range from the tiniest things like finishing a book all the way up to the big things like friendships and lives. Some are more painful and more difficult than others, but we persevere and carry on.

My next adventure came about quite swiftly. Almost a bit too quick for me to really process. Just a few short hours after I arrived home from my last tour at Hobbiton, I was awake and off to the airport to catch my flight to Nelson.

Now this was the weirdest airport experience I’ve ever had. Yes, even weirder than that time I walked to the Wellington airport. There isn’t much to the Hamilton airport, as you might expect from an airport associated with a small city. What I wasn’t expecting though was a complete and total lack of security. Like, nothing. Not even an x-ray machine. I just walked in, spent a bit of time waiting in the lounge upstairs, then came back downstairs and walked out the other side of the building onto the tarmac and then onto the plane. Weird. I didn’t even have to take my shoes off.

Hobbiton is following me!

(See?)

A couple of short flights later brought me here, to Nelson, where I am currently sitting and typing up this blog. It’s been a good first day. My AirBNB host was nice enough to pick me up from the airport and shortly after arriving at her place we went off on a walk together. As we came around close to the city centre, we parted ways: me into town and her off home.

Nothing very thrilling happened so I’ll keep it brief. I walked down Trafalgar Street and saw what Nelson had to offer. I had plotted my route to take me to a vegan cafe, which happened to be just around the corner from the bookshop I wanted to visit. I stopped in the shop first, bought a book (of course) then went off to East Street for lunch. And oh was it tasty. I even allowed myself dessert!

I was too busy eating dessert to take a photo of it.

Half way through my meal I noticed my phone was about to die and decided it would be good to look up directions back home before that happened. But alas, too late. My phone died right as I pulled up the map. I experienced only a brief moment of panic before deciding what I’d do is head back to Page & Blackmore (the bookstore, if you hand’t guessed) and ask is they could write down directions for me. You can always count on your local bookstore to help you out.

With my directions safely tucked in my wallet, I decided it was time for me to buy a portable battery pack so I wouldn’t wind up in situations like this anymore. I toyed with the idea of seeing a movie in town but thought it’d be best to walk back while I still had some daylight. Since then I’ve been writing a book review, a blog, doing finances and chilling out. First day in Nelson: successful.

The adventure continues tomorrow, my dear travelers.

~Ren