Finding...Frodo?

Before I left, a friend told me that I shouldn’t discriminate against Lord of the Rings, which was also filmed in New Zealand. Well friend, I have found Lord of the Rings: the trail from Gondor to Mordor. Seriously. I actually found it the moment we stepped off the plane in Queenstown. As I stepped off the plane, I realized that I was completely surrounded by mountains, like completely. I later found out that these mountains are called “The Remarkables” and it is where the quest was wonderfully filmed. 

The search for the “ring that ruled them all” was much easier than I presume the hunt for Narnia will be. I keep thinking I see Narnia, since everything here is so majestic and breath-taking, but I can’t be so sure yet. Until I see a lamp post in the middle of a snowy wood, a centaur frolicking around with a parcel and an umbrella, a witch with turkish delight, a mouse with a feathered hat and proportioned miniature sword, or a lion with the mane only a God so beautiful could create, will I know I’m in Narnia. 

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” 

         -Psalm 90:2-4

A dirty book is rarely dusty.

As I was trying to make the time fly before heading off to the airport, I pulled out my series book of Narnia, which I can safely say is the most worn and torn book I have ever owned. Nine years after the purchase, I have delved into the series and poured over the pages more times than I know. The corners are all upturned, the pages have highlights and margin notes scrawled everywhere, there are unknown food stains, my name is carefully yet horribly scribed on the front, and various pages are folded into the margin to never forget what C.S. Lewis mentions. Although this book has seen it's days, is falling apart, and kind of gives off a curious odor, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

P.S.  As I was thumbing through pages in the Narnia book this morning, I fell across something: a little something that will help with my search tremendously. The "Wildlands of the North" which is above Narnia, I am assuming means the North Island, and coincidentally we are spending three weeks on the South Island- my plan is coming together very nicely. 

Houston Photography Class, still.

No signs of Narnia from here, then again I am still in Houston. The opposite of Narnia, actually. Just a forewarning- this blog is not going to be all about Narnia, only about half of it will be (seriously though). It's going to be mainly about experiences in a new, beautiful country. But hey, that's not saying I won't peek into every wardrobe I find (does anyone even use a wardrobe anymore?). Anyways, we have to post a few pictures that we took today in City Centre during our photography class- I'm not sure how interesting pictures from Houston can be, but enjoy, I guess.

"Oh, my God 
Shine Your light on us
That we might live"

                                 -Robbie Seay

Houston Photography Class

Two days before we depart: I haven't packed yet. I think I've been looking forward to this trip for so long, that I'm in denial that we are actually leaving soon, or at least that's my excuse. Hopefully I get my act together eventually, or else the rest of this blog will only be about the things I have forgotten. I named this blog "Finding Narnia: New Zealand" because it is a true dream of mine to find this "fictional place" (people have been telling me it's not real, but what do they know?). The Narnia series has defined my childhood, my adolescence, and my adulthood (because I'm an adult, right?). The books have taught me how to love, how to believe, and how to have faith- you may laugh, but I'm seriously not kidding. Even though the Narnia series are "books for children", they have so much more hidden in them that I discover new, enlightening things after each read. Yes, I am going to New Zealand and Fiji, yes I will have a wonderful time, yes my life will change, yes I will find Narnia.

"Aslan was gone. But there was a brightness in the air and on the grass, and a joy in their hearts"
         -The Horse and His Boy