New Zealand Adventure Day 5 – Omokoroa to Rotorua

Hi Lovelies,

We left a wet and pretty miserable Omokoroa to head for Matamata for our adventure to the world of the hobbits. Hobbiton was one of the most anticipated places on our holiday, and it did not disappoint.

When we arrived, it was still a little windy but the rain had cleared and it turned out to be an amazing day for our adventure.

Hobbiton is located on a working sheep and cattle farm. It is lambing season and we were excited if not a little grimacy at seeing a couple of very icky new borns. They are so very cute though, with there long tails and looking like they are wearing woolly socks.

Onto the bus for our tour. It is a short drive from Shire’s Rest to Hobbiton. Then you take a leisurely walk around the town, checking out the hobbit holes, the gardens and hearing lots of stories about how the set was put together.

There is some telling of how things were done, which could spoil some of the magic if you let it, but we are stronger than that 😀

After wandering around and seeing all 44 hobbit holes it was off to the Green Dragon for a pint, apple cider for me and ginger beer for Rob.

We were then taken into the marquee where we partook in a magnificent feast. We were encouraged to eat like hobbits - Breakfast, Second Breakfast etc.

Then it is a trip to the gift shop, back on the bus and back to Shire’s Rest. I have to say the tour guide, the bus drivers and all the staff do an amazing job keeping everyone entertained while still keeping us on task. We are here during the slow time and tours only run every 10 minutes, During Summer they must have an enormous number of people through.

Sadly after lunch we left the halflings and headed for Rotorua. Found our van park, then set off for a walk through the local free thermal park and down to the waterfront.

The thermal trail is incredible, and a little on the nose. Most of the areas are fenced off and you can only view them from the path, but there is one area where you are encouraged to remove your shoes and have a paddle. I braved this one, and the water is HOT. I did not stay in too long, and still ended up with very red feet. But today my feet had friends.

Walking through the park is quite eerie in places and there is an amazing diversity in the colours of the pools. It was raining most of the time we were there so the colours do not come out so well.

From there it was down to the waterfront where we found a small settlement Te Papaiouru Marae and St Faiths church. The area was not open but visitors were free to walk around and see the area.

By then the afternoon was nearly over and it was turning dark as well as cold, so we made a quick trip lakes edge to watch some ducks and swans and then headed home.

We are again a little weary tonight, and I am sure we will sleep well.

Things we learned today,

Little new born lambs are icky.

Thermal areas are a bit smelly but really cool and interesting.

Caravan parks in NZ have hairdryers and heaters in the showers, as well as music and hand towels.

Have a great night.

Rob and Lizzy

Hi all, Here a brief overview of our 2 day adventure on Fraser Island with Fraser Island Explorer Tours. Here is a link to our trip in video format. https://youtu.be/QY8tr093G4o We were picked up from our accommodation by our tour guide who then picked up some more of our group and headed to the barge to go across to the Island. It was very smooth no seasickness this time :) We got on the 4x4 wheel bus and headed inland to Lake Mackenzie. This was a very picturesque spot. The water was very cool and the sand as white as we've seen it. After this we headed to Central station , the old tree clearing head quarters. Next we headed for Lake Wobby which was a 45 min trek in and 45 out across lots of sand. It sits on a big sand-blow which will eventually disappear. A small fresh water lake with a couple of cat fish in it. Then off to our accommodation for the night. The next day we headed out to run the beach pretty much all day heading all the way up to Champagne Pools. We eventua...

New South Wales Adventure - Armidale

We today we ventured about Armidale on foot. We started at the markets having a look see at what they had at the farmers market. A few marketers so not much to see today really. Off we walked around town to see the historical sights. Lots of old buildings from the early days. In Armidale 100 years ago you had a choice of 21 Hotels!! Today there are 9. Sorry beer lovers. The original Bank of NSW These guys had a 4 displays of miniature figurines- really cool Baptist Church Lots of churches within cooee of each other ; Catholic, C of E, Pressy, and Baptist. Lovely old buildings to be admired. Catholic Church grounds - Large area. Home to the St Ursuline Convent Pressy Church Town Hall Court House This Celtic cross was erected to commemorate the first Christian service held here in 1845. A walk through Central Park we came across some structures to commemorate efforts of soldiers in wars. Bore war memorial band ro...

Three days in the snow.

Hi lovelies, We have had the most amazing 3 days at the Perisher Valley Snowfields. Warning this is a very text heavy post. Photos are limited, you cannot take many while you ski/board. Robbie will have a video soon. On Monday we headed up just for a drive and to see what was around. The day was perfect. Not too windy and bright and sunny. We parked at Bullock Flats and caught the Skitube to Perisher. This is really the best way to get there. Nice highway all the way, and while the train is a little expensive at $55.00 per head return it is preferable to an extra hour drive on roads that may be a little less than ideal. There is also only limited parking at Perisher so the train is the way to go. We had a bit of a look around Perisher before heading off to Blue Cow, again by Skitube. It was so lovely to wander around. We were thankful that we hired boots as it wa...

Rob & Liz's Blessed Adventures

Search This Blog