Day 3

Off to Hobbiton, but first a hike In the NZFrenzy we found a hike for the tallest waterfall in New Zealand.  It was on the way to Hobbiton and seemed like a great way to start off our day.  After packing up Van, which was much simpler then we imagined, we punch in the GPS coordinates to the Wairere waterfalls.  The drive was simple enough.  We played The Cow game until our eyes felt like they might burst out of our heads there were so many sheep and cows.  Carefully, we parked Van in the small gravel lot near the end away from the small bunch of cars already there.  Two locals were sitting in the back of their car drinking.  It was only 10am on a Sunday.  Crazy. This beautiful hike meandered through the fern tree forests over amazingly constructed plank ways that zigzagged over the river and in the end, up a steep hill. The staircase must have been almost 5 stories up in the middle of the forest.  As we walked around a bend we heard the rushing of water and there was the 150 meter falls crashing into the rocks below. 

After a few pictures, som  Our minds were thinking of Hobbiton and whether or not we would need tickets, the Connecticut tourists had tickets for the 12:30pm tour. 
e taken by some Connecticut tourists, we turned and headed back.

We tromped back down the trail, still in awe of the lush green around us.  At the bottom of the trail we saw the lot was starting to fill up.  We needed to make our escape soon or who knows how we’d get Van out.  With Owen at the wheel and my eyes closed we back out of the lot and were back on the road.  To Hobbiton! But wait, tickets?

Once we’d gotten into town, no longer surrounded by thousands of sheep and cow, we pulled over and check the internet.  Yes there were tickets left.  We decided to get back on the road and get to Hobbiton to buy them. None of this tangled online mumbo jumbo. As we reach the turn toward Hobbiton we see a sign, Hobbiton Tourest Farm.  Oh god how that summed up the feeling of being at the “base camp” of Hobbiton.  Yes, a tourist farm with green and gold matching buses, a café (but not serving hobbit themed food), a souvenir shop, and people from all over the world to see the set of The Shire. 

We bought tickets for the 1pm tour, bought some post cards with stamps, and got ourselves some lunch.  After some pictures of the local sheep it was time to hop on the bus to The Shire and land of Hobbits.  It was beautiful! 48 round wooden doors tucked in the lush green hillsides.  Bag End, where Bilbo Baggins lived, was in the top of a hill under this big oak tree.  It turns out the oak tree is fake, made of metal and plastic, with millions of leaves wired on to it.In one of the shots for the films the director didn’t like the color of the leaves and made the crew take them off, repaint them, and put them back on.  After the tour we had a drink at The Green Dragon.  The brews we had were quite good and we ended up buying a few bottles on our way out of Hobbiton. 

One might think the day was full enough, but to Rotatura we went.  Knowing that Rotatrua is a center for the culture of the native Maori people we wanted to immerse ourselves in that culture.  We dashed our way out of the green rolling hills of Hobbiton and to the iSite in Rotatura.  Oh the knowledge of the iSite! Here we got a reservation at a local campground, so we could plug in and get repowered up but also tickets to go to Te Puia. 

Our campground was everything we could want it to be.  We had access to hot showers, power, a pool and mineral spa, and even a full kitchen.  Sadly, we weren’t planning to use many of these amenities, but we did get a chance to take hot showers.  We did however on our search for a watch discover a store next door to the campground the read “Camping and Tramping”. We didn’t find a watch.

After we were all set up it was time to go to Te Puia.  With a not so quick bus ride we ended up at the school of the local Maori tribes.  Here we got a tour that explained the Maori culture, saw and participated in traditional dances, a buffet of honi, and tour of the local geyser. It was quite amazing.  Their culture is rich and they are a people very proud of where they came from and how they are keeping the culture alive today in an every changing world. 

Day three was a full day.  We had wanted to stop by the hot springs near the ocean side of town, about ½ a mile from camp but we were just too exhausted.