Imagine this: Hanging out in Narnia, every day. That's New Zealand, my friends.

Hi, my name is Mollie Shambeau and I’m a closeted lover of weird trilogies/book and movie series. I love nothing more than curling up with a good Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter or Chronicles of Narnia book. Heck, I wouldn’t mind watching one of the movies made from the books. I love watching beautiful Elves battling for Middle Earth, chuckling at Yoda being his wise self or cringing at the evil doings of the White Queen in Narnia.

Actually, I take that back. Closeted, I am not. I don’t care who knows it: For some reason, I’m naturally drawn to these books (and movies) because I think they’re sweet. Plain and simple. Who doesn’t fantasize about having magical powers at some point in their life? If I had a wand like Harry, or if I could make up whole languages like Tolkien, you don’t even know how awesome that would be. You know even KNOW.

When I was in high school—no joke—I used to bring my Lord of the Rings books to school to read in my free time (we weren’t required to read them for class). But here’s the thing: Normally, that would be totally accepted just like any other reading material. But not my LOTR books, oh no. You know those leather-bound classic books that they sell on infomercials like encyclopedias? My dad must have splurged on that deal many years ago, because he has all the leather-bound classics—Moby Dick, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a bunch of political titles I don’t recognize, and yep: The Lord of the Rings trilogy. PLUS he had The Hobbit too.

JACKPOT.

The glory of my reading material doesn’t stop there. Get this: They have GOLD TRIMMED PAGES. Imagine me sitting at a table before choir class with my nose buried in an oversized, leather-bound, golden trimmed sci-fi novel.

The epitome of cool.

And then in college, a group of my friends and I—OK, really just me and Alice—decided that we knew how to get to Narnia. It usually happened around bar-time, and usually near that weird alley by the Blue Velvet Lounge in Madison, but that’s beside the point. I SWEAR there were nights when we actually came face to face with Mr. Tumnus.

Anyway, my point: New Zealand is a haven for trilogy lovers like me. Er, more like a place full of tourist traps waiting to scam foreign nerds out of their money for a lame “exclusive tour.” You will be proud of me here: I haven’t spent a PENNY on those crappy tours. Partially because Sean would probably never speak to me again if I did, and partially because I do have a little common sense rattling around in my head.

And even without spending any money, I’ve gotten some great photos and footage of the places nerds like me want to see, such as this:

Here I am, posing with Gollum—a.k.a. Sméagol—from LOTR. The scenes set in Hobbiton were shot in this tiny town on the North Island, and when I saw that we were going to drive right through it, I nearly peed my pants with excitement (partially because I have a tiny bladder to begin with).

Then, when I heard that the tour was $65, I decided instead to get a free picture with the statue that was erected in the median that runs down the center of the town. BAM—can’t scam me. Plus, I figured that a town made for movie Hobbits won’t be filled with ACTUAL Hobbits when I see it—it’s like a movie set. Where’s the fun if you can’t meet a real hobbit?

Now down on the South Island, they shot a lot more of the majestic, scenic shots from Lord of the Rings, and their tours run all the time. Well, I’ve gotten my fair share of majestic shots (which you saw in my last post), and I don’t even need that tour. Even if they do provide you with capes and swords to pose with in your photos. (OK—that part made it really tempting.)

What was REALLY cool was Castle Hill. We stopped there our first day on the South Island, and it was awesome—even if it was covered in snow. Castle Hill is the location where the final battle scene from Narnia was shot. It has all the jagged rocks and rolling hills with mountains in the background. Absolutely gorgeous. So I took a video, and I dedicated it—as you’ll hear—to Alice.

Alice: Thank goodness you are proud to be a sci-fi nerd like me and we can unabashedly love fake creatures and characters that can do unreal things, and then catch the marathons on a Sunday afternoon and make popcorn and force our other roommates to watch the movies we love.

Though this may be the worst video ever recorded, I thought it was about time I posted up some actual Mollie Shambeau Show, like I promised I would.

Here’s to you Alice:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qVWqO0myhw]