Rotarua 2016

What's covered?

Rotarua was the next stop as we progressed northwards on our tour.

26 November

The weather was better and improved en route. We encountered the cycle race that had prevented us from booking a hotel anywhere around Lake Taupo but the main body was led by a motorcyclist who waved cars past when safe so not a major delay.

We stopped when we saw signs for Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. It proved to be manically crowded so we just had a coffee and decided to ask later at the hotel if it was worth going tomorrow. When we did, we decided the attractions were things we had seen in Iceland so we looked at other ideas.

On arrival at the Millenium Hotel our room was not ready so we had lunch in the hotel and after that the room was ready.

First we went to the Polynesian Spa opposite where we had a private pool. Then Gill had a massage in the hotel while I went for a walk around town and got lost!

We then looked at the information about what to do tomorrow and I found that Hobbiton was less than an hour away. Gill had thought it was on our original route before the earthquake caused a detour and was delighted to find it was somewhere we could still go. The coach tour from Rotarua had times that did not work for us so we decided we would drive out. The hotel booked the Mitai Maori evening for us tomorrow.

Having looked at a restaurant in town that had been recommended, we dined in the hotel! The restaurants were all together and it all looked a bit crowded together.

27 November

The drive out to Hobbiton was easy and took about an hour. We arrived about 10.30 and the earliest tour available was midday. A couple of coffees and a read on our Kindles made that time pass quickly enough. It was easy to see why Peter Jackson had decided this farm was the ideal location for the filming and later the rebuild. Normally a film construction is dismantled and that's the end of it. However, by the time The Hobbit films were recorded after Lord of the Rings, the following was huge and it was decided that for The Hobbit the site would be constructed to last between fifty and one hundred years. Candice was our guide and she was really good. The attention to detail in the buildings and layout was very high and you could almost believe Hobbiton was real. After the tour there was a choice of drinks in The Green Dragon to round things off. For the film, The Green Dragon interior was set up elsewhere but now it has a real interior and as everywhere, attention to detail was quite something.

In the evening we went to the Mitai Maori Village where the Maori culture was explained both through a welcome talk and a show. We had met Mathew, an American travelling alone, and chatted to him on the coach out to the village. He was "elected" as one of two chiefs of the visiting tribes (the audience from various countries) and Gill offered to video that for him. Later he was told he could invite four people to the front row of the show so he asked us to join him giving us an excellent view.

The meal after the show was cooked in the traditional way in pits in the ground and was very nice. Simple chicken and lamb with many accompaniments, a welcome change from some of the rich dishes we had been eating.

There was then a bush walk which I went on alone as Gill's cold was bothering her. It explained a bit more of the culture and we also saw glow worms.

An enjoyable evening.