New Zealand: Rotorua to Auckland, via Middle Earth

I was up for breakfast, then packed up and said goodbye to Rotorua. I drove back to Auckland, stopping at Matamata along the way. Just outside Matamata is the tourist attraction called the Hobbiton, which is the film set for The Shire in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I was on the tour at noon, and we walked all around the set. The tour took about two hours and I really enjoyed the stories about how the movie was made the guide told us.

The most interesting one, in my opinion, was that the scene where Gandolf and Bilbo are sitting under the (fake) oak tree on top of Bilbo's house smoking pipes and watching the sunset, is actually the sunrise. They filmed that sequence in reverse order, then edited it and put it in story order so that it looked like the sun was actually setting and not rising! Ah the genius of filmmaking!!!

It took another two hours to get to Auckland, driving along scenic roads. I don't know what setting the GPS unit in the rental car is on, but it won't take you on a large highway to save your life. That was fine with me as I enjoyed the scenery!

I got all checked into my hotel and settled, and was tired after the long drive, so rested for a bit and got everything ready to get on the ship tomorrow! This is the 24th hotel I've checked into so far this trip, and I will be very glad to get in my cabin tomorrow and unpack and not have to pack again for over a month!

I walked around town and eventually grabbed a bite to eat (Indian, yum!), and then headed back to the hotel for my last night on land for more than a month!

New Zealand: Rotorua

Today was a busy, but great day! I was up and out of the hotel a little after 8, to make sure I was on time for my 9am helicopter ride. It was great to see the area by air. It was just the pilot and me in the helicopter, and she gave me a lot of good information about the area.

After the helicopter ride, I drove outside of town a little ways to a geothermal park and watched the Lady Knox geyser erupt. I then spent about two hours walking through the three trails that went through the park. The colors and the bubbling water and mud were amazing.

I drove a scenic route back into town and stopped for a late lunch. I went back to the hotel to drop a few things off and then was picked up for my late afternoon/evening activities. I went to a Maori cultural show, where they danced, chanted, demonstrated the war canoe, and gave us lots of information about their culture, music, fighting styles, weapons, clothes, and much more.

One thing I found interesting is that the big fern trees they have here that look prehistoric, are called silver ferns because the underside of the adult fern is silver in color. The Maori people used the ferns by placing the underside up and lined their paths with them. That way, they could see their way at night as the moon and stars illuminated the silver of the ferns.

We finished the cultural portion of the evening with a traditional haka, or feast. It was delicious! After dinner we took a nature walk and saw glow worms, some other native creatures, and the endangered kiwi bird. Afterwards we were driven back to the hotel.