The end of our New Zealand adventure

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Monday Evening in Rotorua - We went to a traditional Mauri Hangi meal. They heat up stones for a few hours then bury them in the ground with the food to cook it for a couple of hours. Before we could eat we (the guests - a tribe of 14 nations) were greated by the Matai tribe who own the land. We took the peace offering and were shown traditional dance and Haka. The food tasted excellent. After dinner we went for a night time walk through the tribal lands and into a conservation area. Here they are raising and releasing Kiwi birds which are funny looking things, although cute. We also saw trout in a fresh water spring which was surrounded by glow worms and possums.

The next day we drove to Matamata. From here we took a tour to the farm where they had the set of Hobbiton. At the farm you can see the remains of the Hobbit holes and the party field. The guide was excellent and told us loads about the filming that took place there and background information about the set and the working farm it is on. Although the set is not in its original state it was still a good tour.

That evening we drove to the West coast to Waihi beach for the last 2 nights in the Campervan. There was very little to do in Waihi, we enjoyed a couple of days of relaxing and walks along the beach. Excitment came from sea kayaking, we were going to surf but the waves looked too small. After paddling around the coast a small way the waves grew so we decided to invent kayak-surfing. This was great fun and we caught some big waves. The kayaking came to an end when we crashed into each other, Steph caught the worst of it as my kayak ploughed into her - she now has a slight black eye, and several bruises! but it was good fun...

On Thursday we drove to Auckland, a few hours away. We dropped the van off then headed to our lovely hotel in town. It was so nice to have solid walls, a lovely hot shower, TV, etc...
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, it has a lovely waterfront and shopping area. We went up the Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere and decided not to do the base jump from it. We explored the winter gardens and museums.

Last night we went to the theatre to see King Lear, starring Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Dr Who (Sylvester McCoy), and a few other famous faces. It was an excelllent performance if a little confusing.

Today we are blogging as you can see before we catch our flight to San Francisco and arrive before we left.

So that is it from our New Zealand adventure;

3000km of driving
24 nights
17 Hobbit holes (one Gandalf)
12 camp sites
8 toilet rolls
8 vehicles over-taken
6 luge runs
4 spas
4 cooked breakfasts
4 fallings over skiing
3 types of penguin
2 islands
2 ferries
2 kayaks (one crash)
2 haka's
2 loaves of bread
2 geysers
1 bungy jump
1 hangi meal
1 glacier

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Photos

Maori village
The warriors arrive in their canoe

Hangi Meal
The meal in the ground!

Kayak
Post kayak

Sun Rise
The sun rise at Waihi beach on our last day in the van

Auckland tower
Sky Tower in Auckland

Winter Gardens
The winter gardens in Auckland

Comments

[anurag]

Adam wifebeater!
heyyy- Steph is covered with bruises and Adam blames the 'kayak-surfing'! Whoever heard of that :) And the 2 of you would fit in perfectly inside the hobbiton residences. Things are well here- mexican meal out was fun (good food, good attendance, nice place), the SHOs are settling in well, Im off to Swansea from Tuesday. Shall see you guys soon. have a great time in San Fran. Cheers

[mum]

How good it all looks - I would go just to see the Hobbitts in thier houses I hope they dont mind all the tourists. I cant belive how quick the time has gone - Hugo thinks so as well - he didnt seem to be very interested in the blog and has no intention of sending you a message. Take care Luv mum