Rotorua - Day 2

Hobbiton

We had to wake early to shower and walk to the Hobbiton tour office because, of the three locations you can start your Hobbiton tour from, I chose the one that doesn't have free parking. Smrt.

The morning walk through the park was nice, though. It was cool enough that the steam rising from all the geothermal pools was more apparent and highlighted how many thermal sites there are. We found free footbaths and learned that there are also free thermal pools for soaking (but didn't see them).

Follow the steam for another thermal pool

The park and most streets were pretty quiet but as we got to Fenton (the main thoroughfare), we started passing tourists clustered at bus stops and in front of the i-Site.

We had intentionally given ourselves tons of time so we could grab a bite. When we got to the Hobbiton office, it was almost 7:30. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 8:20. So we picked a place called Milly's to have breakfast. The decision was entirely based on location, that it was open, and that it said "breakfast" in the window.

The Hobbiton office in Rotorua

The food was not impressive, but the atmosphere and unlimited toast station were pretty cool. Mike called it a Chinese place masquerading as a breakfast place. I don't think they are masquerading too hard; the electronic bell sound when people enter was "ding dong, 歡迎光臨." It felt very hostel-friendly, meaning casual and comfortable, like they'd let you lounge as long as you like; there were kids trucks (the kind a kid could sit on and scoot around the room) lined up under the toast counter. The toast counter was great. You grab however many bread slices (lined up in Tupperware boxes, not in their bags, so nobody needs to be touching any slices they don't intend to take) pop them in the toaster, and look over the spreads spread. There must have been 30 jars of jams and marmalades. That's also where you'd grab a ketchup or honey or HP, yum! This was where we got our first taste of Marmite!! It was very interesting. I think Mike doesn't mind not having it back home, but I wish we did. I like meat sauce! I like Bovril, so I'm not surprised I like Marmite.

Waffle and bacon

Bangers and mash

DIY toast

Back at the Hobbiton office, we waited with some other folks for the bus to arrive, got on it, and headed for Hobbiton promptly at 8:20 with driver Ben. The bus ride was pretty polished; Ben spoke a little, made some corny jokes, and played specific videos at certain points in our journey that were prepared by the family company (the Alexanders who own the farm) with Peter Jackson and some of the cast. Ben also gave tidbits as we drove through towns, Tarukenga Scenic Reserve, and Kauai-mamaku Forest Park. Possums are bad. Squash em if you see em.

On the bus

Counting sheep -- I did actually fall asleep on the bus

We arrived at the Shire's Rest, where the gift shop and cafe are, took a ten-minute bathroom break, and loaded back onto the bus, now with a few additional tourists and our guide, Kane. From there, it was a short drive through the Alexanders' property (about 2 sq miles) to Hobbiton. After a quick explanation of the rules (stay on the path, don't pick any plants, don't open and gates or doors, don't touch the electric fence), we started walking down a gravel path that cuts through a hill so that it narrows with dirt walls rising up high on both sides. This is the first scene from Lord of the Rings. This is where Gandalf came into Hobbiton with his cart and Frodo greeted him from above. "You're late."

About to head into the Shire

We rounded the turn and stepped into a storybook. The lush green hills, and the gardens manicured to look slightly wild, are speckled with the colorful doors of hobbit holes. The attention to detail here rivals Disney. They have clotheslines hung with little clothes, and lichen painted onto fences. The sets for LotR were temporary and the big oak over Bag-end was a neighbor's tree cut into 12 pieces and glued back together on set. All of that was removed after filming. They decided to make the sets permanent when they did the Hobbit, with real lumber and following all the building codes. The oak tree is the only plant in Hobbiton that's fake. They needed a tree that looked like the old oak, but 60 years younger, so they 3D printed it and wired individual leaves into the branches.

That's a real cat

Smials

Bag End

Samwise Gamgee's home

After an hour and a half of wandering Hobbiton, taking photos, and listening to anecdotes from Kane, we went over the bridge and took 20 minutes at the Green Dragon, which is set up as a proper pub. There's a complimentary beer for everyone (ginger beer for kids). Then it was back to the gift shop and restrooms for 15 minutes. Back on the bus at noon, back in Rotorua just after 1.

Having a beer in the Green Dragon

Interlude

We took a roundabout way back to the motel. We walked through Government Gardens, which is a big park with lawn bowling fields, fountains, and an artistic entry that's meant to look like the crown (it was erected for King George's visit). The park was smaller than expected. Then we walked along the lake and watched the black swans. We'd passed a cat cafe earlier, and since we hadn't had lunch, we went but didn't actually go in when we found out they don't do food or snacks.

The crown

Bandstand

Previously the Bath House, now the museum

Black swans

Back through Kuirau Park to our motel, we stopped at the little pie shop across from our motel. The carefully named "Better Quality Pies" is full of fresh savory pies. Mike and I love meat pies!! So we got three to share back at the room. Delicious.

Te Puia

After a short rest, we headed out for our Te Po dinner experience at Te Puia. Te Po means "the night" and is a hangi (like a luau, but Maori), at a tribal village (that's not a real living village, just a cultural park). When picking which hangi experience we'd do, we saw one at an actual living village and another one that is completely set up indoors and just does the dinner and show. We choose Te Puia because they also have a geyser, kiwi house, and cultural exhibits. We figured we'd head over early and get to see some of the park's offerings before the main event at 6pm. Oops! Should have called ahead. The Te Po reservations don't let you into the park until 6pm. So we browsed the gift shop and Reddit for an hour.

While we sat there, I got optimistic that there weren't many people booked in for the Te Po, but then a bus (or two, maybe) arrived. There were more than 100 people. Our host for the evening, Guy, let everyone know their assigned tables and then brought us into the park entrance. He split the group and let everyone go see the hangi (just like at a luau, there is a cooking pit) before proceeding to the welcoming ceremony.

Hangi

Randomly, Guy picked a "chief" to represent the guests. Jeff, our chief, waited outside the house, to be greeted by the hosts. When the Maori dancers and singers came out, a warrior approached Jeff and demonstrated his athleticism and placed a leaf on the ground between them. "Chief Jiff" (that's "Jeff" with a New Zealand accent) had to politely pick it up and then got to do the hongi (Maori greeting where you bump noses twice). After this expression of friendship, our people were now welcomed into the house where the hosts would take care of us.

Chief of the outsiders being greeted by a warrior

There was a singing and dancing demonstration, as well as the haka. Haka is an aggressive-looking dance, with shouts and chanting. There are haka to prepare for war, for parties, with weapons, without, all prepare a person physically and spiritually. The Hawaiian analog would be the hula.

These performers have mastered the crazy eye.

Mike mastered it, too.

Then we were on to dinner! You would think that 100+ people would have a tough time organizing for a buffet. You'd be wrong. It was run a lot like the luaus in Hawaii -- a table would be told they could start heading to the buffet and from then on they can return as much as they please. The food was "decent cruise ship food" according to Mike. He was not blown away. I loved both soups and the pavlova. The pork was all right. The chicken was dry. The lamb was fine.

We made friends with the couple sitting next to us. They were finishing up their 3 weeks in NZ and about to head to their 3 weeks in Australia. "It's the longest trip we've ever done, but we're retired, so whatever!" I didn't catch their names (Mike made friends with them while I was getting food), but they're from Sacramento and gave us some tips for Wellington, where we'll be tomorrow evening (Thursday).

After eating, we made our way down the path to the Pōhutu geyser which was already going. Their geyser is unpredictable. Eruptions occur once or twice an hour, and go for anywhere from a couple minutes to 30 minutes. We caught a long one and it gave us lots of time to play with camera settings.

Pohutu geyser

That's that. We headed home and are mentally preparing for a day of driving tomorrow. You'll hear from us next when we're in Wellington.