Hobbits and surfing

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10th February 2011

Our slight change in plans yesterday meant we weren't in such a rush this morning. We had a plan to go and visit the set of Lord of the Rings, where you can do a tour of Hobbiton. The first tour of the day wasn't until 9:50 so we had time on our hands - so much so that we had a plan to stop off on the road there and go for a walk.

We hadn't slept that well as we had been disturbed by the trucks overnight, so we were a bit sluggish getting away. We got on the road and after about 25 minutes we stopped in a small town for a bit of breakfast. I noticed that the town was called Ngatea, and thought I'd check out how far we had to go to get to our planned walking spot.

It was at this point that I couldn't find the town on the map, I asked Lou where we were and her response was in Te Aroha (the town we had planned to go for a walk in) I knew that wasn't the case and thought I'd better check further afield on the map. I then realised that we had driven in the wrong direction for nearly half an hour and were a fair way away from Hobbiton.

With this revelation we got back on the road and started to drive in the correct direction, which actually involved going further out of the way to come back (we had gotten far enough that it was now quicker to keep going for a different road)

Once we got back on track we motored on for another hour in the direction of Matamata the town nearest Hobbiton. The info we had was that the town infomation centre was a location that you could be collected from to go on these tours, but we wanted to go onward to Raglan afterwards so thought we'd go there under our own steam.

Surely it would be easy to find a set, which is now a tourist attraction, from one of the biggest movies of all time. Actually no! There are no signs whatsoever for this place, so we took the wrong turn a couple of times until we got onto the correct road. When we got onto the first road from which the rest of the directions followed we thought we'd have no problems from here - again no! The first turning on the left, turned out to be a turning on the right, and the destination was meant to be a couple of km's along the road, we were about to turn around thinking we had missed the place we had gone so far when we finally reached our destination.

We got there at about 9:35 for the 9:50 tour, which was rather too close for comfort given we had planned to have time to kill. Not even time for a second breakfast despite the hour being perfect.

Anyway the film set is on a farm, and before you can go on the tour you have to sign a confidentiality agreement about anything you are told or may see on the tour. I have checked their website and it has been made public knowledge that the set is going to be re-used for the upcoming films based on the Hobbit. It's not really a surprise as the books were based in the same place that the films are going to be shot there.
As such from this point on all I can really say is we had a really good time, and learnt a lot about the way they made Lord of the Rings films. We did take a lot of pictures but again we can't put them on the site for the same reasons.

When we were picked up again by the bus, an hour and a half later, we were taken back to the cafe on the side of the road where you assemble for the tour. There was also as part of our ticket a demonstration of the most Kiwi of activities, sheep shearing, and feeding lambs by the bottle. We passed on this, as it was already nearing lunchtime and we wanted to get to Raglan to relax and possibly get in the sea (in my case.)

We drove away from the tour really glad we had paid the money to do it. As we drove towards Raglan we passed through Hamilton, we had planned to stop and take some photos of Lou with her passport in the city that shares her (old) name but we passed the sign on the way in without noticing it really, and then we were too busy navigating to do this on the way out. (Not looking good for pictures so far this blog, is it?)

As we left Hamilton, the drive seemed to Lou, to take on the characteristics of a Friday night drive from Plymouth to Treyarnon. Lou would say that my driving deteriorates on this drive at this time as I am excited about getting there - I would completely disagree. I would merely point out that there are a lot of bad drivers on the roads at this time and to get there without wasting a huge amount of time requires a swift approach. I would however agree that the countryside was similar in style to that which we pass through on that journey.
We got there (with absolutely no speeding - you quite literally can't in a van like this) and both agreed that we really like Raglan. It really didn't take long to come to this decision, and by the time we had driven out of the town, towards the YHA that we have booked into stay at, I was most definitely feeling that I could stay here for some time.

We had booked this place on the recommendation of one of Lou's school friends and it was a good call. The YHA is an eco retreat, which as well as having pitches for vans and tents has some accommodation which is made up from old train carriages. It also has an "Earth dome" which I assume is made from traditional materials (read mud)

The most impressive thing about this place however is it's views, and proximity to Manu Bay, and Whale Bay, which are the actual names of the place where the surf is. Raglan, for those of you who are not aware, is New Zealand's premier surf area. It is a world class surf spot on it's day, not like Fistral beach which claims to be but really isn't! The reason for it's reputation is that when it is a decent size the surf can link up between the various spots creating, supposedly, the longest left hander in the world! (A left hander is the description for a wave which you surf towards the left, (when viewing from the beach the person goes to the right) and is the opposite of a right hander!)

After checking in, we went and checked the surf, which looked pretty decent, before heading into town again to check out what the town has to offer. We parked up and had a wander around, in turns out that there is not a huge amount but that is exactly its charm. Like Padstow it can be circumnavigated in about 5-10 minutes on foot if you aren't stopping, but also has enough reasons to stop that you can wile away a decent bit of time should you so desire. On this occasion we only stopped for some provisions at the supermarket before returning home to get some lunch. When eating lunch we checked the time and were both a little surprised when we discovered our "lunch" was being eaten at about 15:40, so more accurately it should have been afternoon tea. This was far from ideal as I wanted to go in the sea and hadn't realised it was so late, which was going to push back my entry to the water until into the early evening.

Anyway we had a relaxing afternoon in the sun after this, and I can't really tell you what we did that used up all the time until we returned to check the surf in the early evening. This time I ventured into the line up being one of only about three people braving the water in only boardshorts and no wetsuit.

I didn't stay in too long as, with the sun starting to drop a little, the heat of the day was starting to wane and if I'm really honest it wasn't as good as it looked. It may be a world class wave but it isn't as great on a bodyboard as for a stand-up. Nevertheless it is another surf spot to chalk up on my list of conquests.

We came back to the YHA and used the kitchens to cook up a decent meal, which we ate whilst discussing travelling with a young american guy and a french girl. Nice to have some dinner conversation that isn't each other for a change.

We headed back to the van and bed at the rock n roll hour of 9:30.

11th February 2011

Awaking early, we still struggled to rise properly, and it was gone 9 before we really got going.

We checked the surf and headed into town to do some washing, as this YHA doesn't have a laundry. Whilst the clothes were in the wash we got some stuff for tonight’s dinner, and then went and had a burger for lunch. Collecting the clothes it was back for another afternoon of admin and getting another blog on the web.

The glorious sunshine faded to be replaced by a sea mist, and also a short shower. So we holed up in the van with some music, cards and tea for a bit.

We had a guy in a ute pull up next to us and ask us if we were selling fish? I suppose the van is painted up with a sea creature theme but it still made us laugh. After a light dinner, we decided to go out for a drive to check the surf again although it wasn't going to involve me going in whatever it was like. We got there and it had clearly dropped in size a lot. We watched the sun going down over the point, and took some pictures while the locals surfed in the fading light.

We then took a drive into town to see what happens in Raglan in the evening - turns out there is a little bit of life to this place after the sun goes down. The various bars had a decent number of people in them. We then headed home to settle down for the night. A lazy day but a welcome one after the hectic schedule we had been keeping.

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Photos

One of the rental units
they are all bits of old train carriage.

Buddha statue in garden
with Paua shells in front of it