We sadly leave Auckland (blog post here).

And we’re off starting our journey south to Rotorua, then to Turangi and Wellington.

On the way to Rotorua we’re visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set. This has been a dream for Jane since she watched the Hobbit movies (last month). I was a little hesitant to go especially at $120 a ticket. The reviews were good, and it was on the way, so why not?

We used Google maps for navigation, and it seemed to be taking us well into the middle of nowhere. At one stage we had to dodge sheep on the road. There were no signs and I was worried our old friend Google was leading us the garden path. We should have had faith because we arrived where Google said it was. Having seen few cars on the road I was surprised to see hundreds of cars, campervans and tour buses in the carpark. We arrived early for our tour and had lunch in the café.

Our tour guide, Susan was excellent and had some interesting and funny stories around the movie set and the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. The tour included Bilbo Baggins’ house, Sam’s house, the Green Dragon, and a special new attraction where you can go inside a Hobbit home. The house was spectacular with seven rooms with very detailed fixtures at Hobbit scale – including a toilet. The tour concluded with a beer at the Green Dragon Inn. The tour was excellent and so well organised, I’m very glad we did it.

On the road again for around one hour to Rotorua. We arrived a bit late to see anything. We checked in to our AirBnB and went for a drive around town. We visited the Redwood forest and then back into the town to see the Thermal Pools at Kuirau Park. Dinner was at the Pig and Whistle pub.

Day 5 – We checked out of our AirBnB fairly early so that we could visit Te Puia Geothermal Park. We joined the 10.30 tour which takes you through Maori culture, arts and crafts, viewing Kiwis, mud pools and geysers. The Maori culture part was interesting and informative, but the real reason to visit Rotorua is the geothermal activity. The bubbling mud pools and spouting geysers were high on my list to see. We saw a Kiwi in the nocturnal house, however no photos were allowed, so you’ll just have to believe me.

We continued our trip south to Turangi, through the town of Taupo. The road from Taupo to Turangi was very scenic hugging the east coast of lake Taupo.

We arrived earlier than expected to our accommodation at Kaimanawa Lodge and the reception wasn’t open. We took the opportunity to explore the town and visit the Information Centre. The Information lady said if we want to do anything outdoor best to do it tomorrow, as the rain is coming Sunday and Monday.