Morning came entirely too quickly. You know this is true when the alarm goes off and you find yourself completely disoriented, unaware of what day it is, much less where you are. We had a scrambly morning, yet for being 6am it was relaxing, trying to make sure we had everything. Elizabeth introduced me to the crumpet which is more or less a hybrid between an English muffin and a pancake: yeasty and doughy and delicious. Hitting the road promptly by 7am, I was only too grateful for the tea I drank in copious quantities.
The drive to Matamata was uneventful in comparison to all the amazing scenery we’ve had thus far. We did cross a fault line on the way out of Elizabeth’s but we had no idea where it actually was… just that it existed and we crossed it. However, on the way out of Taihape we drove on the eastern side of Tongariro national park which gave us some spectacular views of the mountains. The areas around the peaks was desert, the Rangipo desert, but not like the sort we normally think of; these were desert regions due to the presence of the volcanoes. This area is also known as Mordor, or at least the outskirts of it. We also drove past Lake Taupo, a volcanic lake that was formed in 186 when a massive eruption took place and shot up the stone 30 miles into the air. Apparently people around the world wrote about it including the Romans. Wild!
We somehow managed to squeak into the Shire’s Rest Café literally with no time to spare. The tour began at 11:05… we arrived at 11:02. Just enough time to run to the bathroom, which were hobbit themed, and get our tickets!
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| Super comforting. "At any time explosions can occur on either side of the road" |
The tour began with a leisurely drive out to the Alexander’s farm to the set. Peter Jackson’s crew began re-building for the Hobbit filming in February of this year and lucky for us, Peter got a little sick and they can’t begin actual filming there until November though everything is ready to go. I feel bad for the poor mastermind, but thanks to him not feeling so good we got to take the tour. We were able to see every aspect of Hobbiton, all 40 hobbit holes, the party tree, the green dragon, the newly built stone bridge (the one in the LotR film was styrofoam) and quite a few little gardens. Our guide pointed out some important film spots including where Gandalf set off the fireworks for the children, where Bilbo gave his speech (Annie and I have a great photo there), where Merry and Pippin quarreled, and of course- BAG END! It was amazing. It was like the hobbits had gone on vacation and left the property for us to check out! We also got a sheep shearing demonstration from a very very attractive kiwi. Then I got to feed little lambs before realizing that I had left the lights on AGAIN and the battery was dead. Lucky for me, the sheep shearing guy jumped the car. What a way to leave the Hobbiton tour….
From Matamata, Annie and I hit pedal to the metal and headed to Rotorua. Even nearing the town the entire ground steamed. Looking out into the forest were patches of steam that seemed to come from the middle of nowhere. We checked out the town, reeking of sulfur, and then headed south again from there to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland (I didn’t make this name up) where I took the whirlwind tour bolting from one spectacle to the next, snapping photos at rapid speed. Annie took a little drive about the area, looking at the surrounds and finding thermal pools. The park itself was amazing- steam and bubbles from every corner of the 18 square kilometers. My personal favorites had to be the Lake Ngakoro waterfall or the Devil’s Bath. The former of the two was a cascading waterfall of hot thermal water (some upwards of 100 degrees C- YIKES!) and the latter being a still pool of water with a neon green hue. The park boasted sulfur caves, a greenish opal pool, geysers, and steam as far as the eye could see. I also stumbled upon (not in thank goodness) the Champagne pool which is the iconic red shore that comes up in so many photos of Rotorua surrounds. On the way back into town Annie and I stopped at the mud pool which was literally as it sounds: a giant pool of boiling grey mud. Exciting.
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| The steam seemed to come from nowhere! |
The rest of the night we occupied with mad chases for dried fruit (delicious here), hello pandas (Annie’s favorite food EVER), meringue/pavlova (I don’t even want to know how much I’ve eaten on this trip), and McDonalds. All three: success.
Trying to get an edge in for tomorrow’s trek, we drove up to Whangamata which consisted of windy bits and curves that were unimaginable. Taking these at about 25 km/hr was necessary, something that I prefer not to do, especially when a local is riding your bumper. The winds here are unbelievable considering as I write this the van is actually shaking back and forth from the gusts: this is what we were driving in, in the dark, up and down a mountain, possibly (likely) on a cliff. But before hitting up these lovely pathways at warp speed, we drove by a town of Te Puke, where a few km south of it is a GIANT fluorescent kiwi. It was fabulous.
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