Welcome to Bagend

We set off bright and early from our campsite as today was Hobibiton day. My level of excitement was like a 5 year old waking up on Christmas Day! As we got about 5km out the brown tourist signs for the movie set started appearing. I instantly got the phone out to take a picture but was told firmly by Alex to wait until we got there to get a proper photo! On pulling into the car park we were faced with loads of official Hobbiton tour coaches and people everywhere despite it being before 9am. I made Alex take a picture of me below the movie set sign. He took it extremely swiftly-maybe I embarrassed him haha! Check in was quick and we were soon aboard the bus. A tv at the front started playing the famous LOTR soundtrack and the director, Peter Jackson, gave a spiel about the movie set. It was all so exciting.

The set for LOTR was fake but it was then remade using lasting materials when the Hobbit was being made. Your first encounter of the Shire is from the bottom facing up to Bilbo’s house. It’s such an awesome sight. The detail is unbelievable – from a fake oak tree to an apple tree that had all its fruit and leaves taken off and replaced with plums and plum leaves to reflect Tolkien’s books. After wandering around on the tour Alex and I decided that we wanted to move in! It was such a sweet little village. We also got to enjoy a local ale at The Green Dragon which was fun. All too soon the tour was over and we were back on the bus heading back to our car. Whilst not a cheap experience by any means it’s defo worth the money.

We made our way to Rotorua, the town that smells like rotten eggs due to the sulphurous volcanic hot springs that are dotted all around the town. It was supposed to be a brief stop as Alex needed a haircut. Unfortunately it was Monday and all the hair salons were shut so the long hair remained. We got some cash out from the atm and were infuriated that they charged us with no warning. After some quick legal research we were sure we had been diddled so asked to speak to the manager. It sounds pretty silly asking for $7 back but it all adds up when you are on a long trip. The result was that they paid us back the charge, so that was good, and hopefully no one gets diddled in the future.

We stopped off for a quick food shop and then walked around the nearby Blue Lake to stretch our legs. It turned out to be more of a walk in the trees than a walk next to a lake, so we strode out and finished it in quick time. Jumping back in the car, we were soon whizzing past Lake Taupo and onto a campsite near Mt Tongariro, ahead of the 20km hike over the alpine crossing, which goes over active volcanoes, that we had planned for the next day. Live volcanoes were certainly going to speed up our pace! We had decided to skip Taupo and to do it on our way back to Auckland on our return journey. We got to the campsite shortly before nightfall so after a quick dinner it was time for bed as we had an 0445 alarm. Grim. We just hoped the rain would stay away. Over to Alex for the crossing…