L0p3z and Neno's Upside-Down Adventure: Wellington to Hobbiton via Rotorua

We left the rain of Wellington hoping for better weather further north. After a long drive through Turangi with the weather finally clearing enough to see the bottom of Mount Tongariro we stopped in a motel and had a nice meal in the motel pub.

Still raining - Tongariro National Park

Tongariro River - Turangi

Finally sunny at Lake Taupo

The next day we wanted to show Carol and Boyd Lake Taupo and some of the sights on the thermal explorer highway to Rotorua. Luckily the weather cleared by the time we reached Lake Taupo, although it wasn't as hot as it had been a few weeks ago. We stopped at Huka Falls which is more like a rapids system, the water flows incredibly fast with an average flow of 200,000 litres per second. Near Huka Falls is the Honey Hive Cafe, so we had to stop for the daily caffeine fix and to sample some Honey products. I tried mead which turns out to be pretty awful, Janine liked it, amazingly.

Huka Falls

Stretching out the hamstrings - Huka Falls

Carol walks the Tongariro Crossing - Well a sculpture of it anyway

Next stop was the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. This is large system of hot pools and thermal springs in a range of colours. We spent a couple of hours walking around, the main thing we noticed was the eggy smell from the sulphur. Some of the pools are really hard to photograph as they have created large craters over the years. It's an effort to peer over the edge to see into them let alone sticking a camera over to get a decent shot.

It's hot

Bubbling mud pool - Wai-o-tapu

Champagne Pool - Wai-o-tapu

Wai-o-tapu

Sulphur Lake - Wai-o-tapu

Tour guides

In the evening we let Carol & Boyd enjoy a Maori cultural performance while we went back to Ohope for a less cultural pub quiz with JB, Michelle and Greg. We came 2nd again.

The following morning was the day I'd been waiting for, the Hobbiton tour! Situated on a farm just outside the town of Matamata, this is the real set used in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. The tour was awesome and even included a free beer in the Green Dragon pub. It felt strange to be walking round such an iconic movie set, being able to pick out elements from the films. It makes me want to re-watch all of the films again, but that's for a rainy weekend back in Bucks. Despite most of the north island being in drought Hobbiton has been kept watered by the groundskeepers. As a result the wild life is abundant just like the films there are loads of butterflies floating around, it gives the place a magical feel.

One of the coolest facts about the set is that the large oak tree at the top of Bag End is actually fake. The original tree from the first 3 movies was taken down and destroyed (it was already dead). For the Hobbit films they needed a younger looking tree so Weta (the special effects company) built one. It cost $4 million and apparently confuses the birds when they try and nest in it.