And for those of you to have yet to meet me in real life...I'M OBSESSED.
So engrossed with it, that from now on, you should only think of me as "Brooke, the fanatical LOTR fan". In November 2011 (at the end of my so-called "Epic Trip of a Lifetime") I found myself traveling through New Zealand...WHILE COINCIDENTALLY STALKING THE FILM CREW OF THE HOBBIT.
So engrossed with it, that from now on, you should only think of me as "Brooke, the fanatical LOTR fan". In November 2011 (at the end of my so-called "Epic Trip of a Lifetime") I found myself traveling through New Zealand...WHILE COINCIDENTALLY STALKING THE FILM CREW OF THE HOBBIT.
Yup, you heard me right. I started in Auckland and made it all the way down to Queenstown at the same time Peter Jackson and the rest of The Hobbit film crew was there. (Yellow dots are all the places I stopped along the way)
While I was there I got to be a part of the first tour ever let back in to Hobbiton (aka The Shire) since filming commenced for The Hobbit years earlier. I cried like a little baby...
I stopped in the National Park to hike across the mountain they used in the movie as Mount Doom...
And in Wellington (the capital of NZ) I did an incredible LOTR tour with the best group in the world, Wellington Movie Tours NZ where we re-enacted many of the famous LOTR scenes filmed around the city.
But enough of my ranting (I've had a few coffees today)...because I'm not here to write about my 2011 New Zealand trip. I'm writing this blog post because of the most kind, thoughtful, and incredible gift ever given to me in the history of my 22 years on this planet.
On December 1st, 2012 Angus and I had only been dating each other for a few weeks when I got a text from him telling me that we were going on a trip on December 10th and I was going to need my passport. Naturally...I flipped. "Where are we going???" I replied. "It's a surprise," was all he would tell me. He did tell the family I was staying with, however, and they instantly began to psyche me out. Telling me that I would love visiting Ayers Rock, even though it wasn't that romantic, and I shouldn't be upset if it's only to somewhere like Melbourne or Canberra. So for ten days I sat and worried about where Gus was taking me, and for ten days Gus, the Smith family, AND MY OWN PARENTS kept it a secret from me, my mom completely messing with my head when she told me "I hope you know some French!"
So when the morning of December 10th rolled around, I packed a small bag for two nights and anxiously waited for my ride to appear. Susan said she had never seen me look so scared in her entire time of knowing me.
Soon enough, my phone rang and when I went outside...there was a sleek black car and driver waiting for me who took my bags and began the long drive from the suburbs to the city to pick Gus up from work. By the time we made it I was so nervous I could hardly speak. Gus got in the back of the car with the biggest smile I've ever seen. I knew my fear was etched all over my face. I tried to play it cool, but I literally couldn't speak as my stomach flipped around inside of me.
When we made it to the airport, Gus grabbed our bags and as we walked through the front doors, he turned around and handed me a crisp $10 New Zealand note.
"WE'RE GOING TO NEW ZEALAND?????" I screamed, sheer joy exploding through me. "SERIOUSLY??"
He laughed but wouldn't tell me which city until we got to the check-in counter and I got the ticket for Wellington, the capital.
We made it through security and all the way to the Qantas lounge with Gus STILL not explaining what it was we were going to Wellington for (though I was more than okay just to be going in the first place). We got into the lounge and had a glass of champagne and some snacks...when Gus pulled out two tickets and slid them across the table to me.
They were two tickets to the FIRST-EVER, WORLD-WIDE, PUBLIC SHOWING OF THE HOBBIT AT MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 12TH.
I literally screamed out loud like a little Justin Bieber fan when I saw them, causing half of the lounge to turn and stare at us...but no way on earth did I care. I couldn't believe my eyes. Gus was flying me all the way from Sydney to Wellington, NZ to take me to a midnight premier of The Hobbit, a movie I had been waiting literally a decade to see since the last Lord of the Rings movie was released.
I was shocked/surprised/ecstatic...and desperate to share my joy with the world. I called my parents immediately (who had already known about this) and as I sat on the phone screaming, all I could think was "this is WAY better than an engagement". Seriously though, I don't think my engagement day will beat the surprise and joy I was feeling at that moment in time.
Gus explained later that he wanted to do something special for me because he knew how much Lord of the Rings meant to me. And he had seen a few of my friends making fun of me on Facebook because The Hobbit was going to premiere in America, almost two weeks before it would premiere in Australia. And since they filmed the entire movie in Wellington, that was where the first ever public premiere was going to be held.
We boarded the flight and made it to our hotel in downtown Wellington just before midnight. The next day Gus had booked a Lord of the Rings tour throughout the city, but since I had already done one in 2011 (above pictures) and it was raining like crazy there...I told him to cancel it.
So instead, Gus being the most ridiculously awesome man on earth, he surprised me with a helicopter tour over the city. It was my first time ever in a helicopter...
Then we roamed the city, visiting the WETA workshop and stalking Peter Jackson's studio where all the movies have been filmed.
And that night Gus surprised me, YET AGAIN, by taking me to dinner at Peter Jackson's favorite restaurant in Wellington where we had a three hour dinner before our midnight movie premiere.
I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging or gloating about all this, because that's not the point of all this...I just can't get over the lengths Gus went to to make me happy. Especially with us only knowing each other for less than a month.
It wasn't until this trip to Wellington that I really began to let my guard down around him. I have a lot of walls and a lot of trust issues from my past (who doesn't?) and this...well this just proved how much he cared.
Any guy could take me to a midnight showing of a movie or buy me a cool poster of it. But Gus, knowing how much Lord of the Rings meant to me, knowing how unbelievably happy it would make me...went above and beyond. I'm not used to guys going lavish for me, nor do I ever expect it...but it was the thought behind every little thing he did that made me realize just how incredible he was.
And made me 100% sure that I could trust this boy with something I hadn't given to anyone since my massive break up in 2010...my heart.
<3
-Little Blonde Traveler
On December 1st, 2012 Angus and I had only been dating each other for a few weeks when I got a text from him telling me that we were going on a trip on December 10th and I was going to need my passport. Naturally...I flipped. "Where are we going???" I replied. "It's a surprise," was all he would tell me. He did tell the family I was staying with, however, and they instantly began to psyche me out. Telling me that I would love visiting Ayers Rock, even though it wasn't that romantic, and I shouldn't be upset if it's only to somewhere like Melbourne or Canberra. So for ten days I sat and worried about where Gus was taking me, and for ten days Gus, the Smith family, AND MY OWN PARENTS kept it a secret from me, my mom completely messing with my head when she told me "I hope you know some French!"
So when the morning of December 10th rolled around, I packed a small bag for two nights and anxiously waited for my ride to appear. Susan said she had never seen me look so scared in her entire time of knowing me.
Soon enough, my phone rang and when I went outside...there was a sleek black car and driver waiting for me who took my bags and began the long drive from the suburbs to the city to pick Gus up from work. By the time we made it I was so nervous I could hardly speak. Gus got in the back of the car with the biggest smile I've ever seen. I knew my fear was etched all over my face. I tried to play it cool, but I literally couldn't speak as my stomach flipped around inside of me.
When we made it to the airport, Gus grabbed our bags and as we walked through the front doors, he turned around and handed me a crisp $10 New Zealand note.
"WE'RE GOING TO NEW ZEALAND?????" I screamed, sheer joy exploding through me. "SERIOUSLY??"
He laughed but wouldn't tell me which city until we got to the check-in counter and I got the ticket for Wellington, the capital.
We made it through security and all the way to the Qantas lounge with Gus STILL not explaining what it was we were going to Wellington for (though I was more than okay just to be going in the first place). We got into the lounge and had a glass of champagne and some snacks...when Gus pulled out two tickets and slid them across the table to me.
They were two tickets to the FIRST-EVER, WORLD-WIDE, PUBLIC SHOWING OF THE HOBBIT AT MIDNIGHT ON DECEMBER 12TH.
I literally screamed out loud like a little Justin Bieber fan when I saw them, causing half of the lounge to turn and stare at us...but no way on earth did I care. I couldn't believe my eyes. Gus was flying me all the way from Sydney to Wellington, NZ to take me to a midnight premier of The Hobbit, a movie I had been waiting literally a decade to see since the last Lord of the Rings movie was released.
I was shocked/surprised/ecstatic...and desperate to share my joy with the world. I called my parents immediately (who had already known about this) and as I sat on the phone screaming, all I could think was "this is WAY better than an engagement". Seriously though, I don't think my engagement day will beat the surprise and joy I was feeling at that moment in time.
Gus explained later that he wanted to do something special for me because he knew how much Lord of the Rings meant to me. And he had seen a few of my friends making fun of me on Facebook because The Hobbit was going to premiere in America, almost two weeks before it would premiere in Australia. And since they filmed the entire movie in Wellington, that was where the first ever public premiere was going to be held.
We boarded the flight and made it to our hotel in downtown Wellington just before midnight. The next day Gus had booked a Lord of the Rings tour throughout the city, but since I had already done one in 2011 (above pictures) and it was raining like crazy there...I told him to cancel it.
So instead, Gus being the most ridiculously awesome man on earth, he surprised me with a helicopter tour over the city. It was my first time ever in a helicopter...
Then we roamed the city, visiting the WETA workshop and stalking Peter Jackson's studio where all the movies have been filmed.
And that night Gus surprised me, YET AGAIN, by taking me to dinner at Peter Jackson's favorite restaurant in Wellington where we had a three hour dinner before our midnight movie premiere.
I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging or gloating about all this, because that's not the point of all this...I just can't get over the lengths Gus went to to make me happy. Especially with us only knowing each other for less than a month.
It wasn't until this trip to Wellington that I really began to let my guard down around him. I have a lot of walls and a lot of trust issues from my past (who doesn't?) and this...well this just proved how much he cared.
Any guy could take me to a midnight showing of a movie or buy me a cool poster of it. But Gus, knowing how much Lord of the Rings meant to me, knowing how unbelievably happy it would make me...went above and beyond. I'm not used to guys going lavish for me, nor do I ever expect it...but it was the thought behind every little thing he did that made me realize just how incredible he was.
And made me 100% sure that I could trust this boy with something I hadn't given to anyone since my massive break up in 2010...my heart.
<3
-Little Blonde Traveler
