Thursday 1st February
After around 26 hours flying we picked up our hire car (upgraded to an AWD Rav 4) then drove all the way to Northland to our first Airbnb. A lovely cabin with all facilities. A great comfortable place to rest up and get over jet lag.
Friday 2nd February
We visited the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where the Waitangi Treaty was signed between the British and the Maoris in 1840. Very interesting history but clearly not straightforward as there were two versions, one in Maori and one in English. Such a beautiful setting though.
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- Carved meeting house
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- great setting
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- Mauri war canoe made from 3 trees
Saturday 3rd February
We visited Kerikeri to see the transport museum but instead went to a very popular market. Loads of food stalls – so we had to have a bacon and egg sandwich (lovely) and bought a kilo of fresh avocados for about £2.
Then off to Paihia for the boat trip to see the dolphins. This was really amazing, loads of dolphins, who seem to put on a show for us. Then out to the islands (this is the Bay of Islands) to see the bay where Captain Cook first landed and then on to see the amazing Hole in the Rock formation. Too rough today to sail through it though!
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- market in Kerikeri
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- where Captain Cook first landed
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- Dolphins
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- lighthouse
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- Hole in the rock
Sunday 4th February
Today is a travelling day. We moved from our lovely Airbnb cabin to go South. We have booked another Airbnb near Matamata (near Hobbiton) but to break the journey up we have booked a hotel room half way.
Our “hotel” is not quite what we expected but it is great. It is a cabin (the only room for this hotel!) right in the middle of a working Macadamia nut farm. Its only for one night but it is lovely.
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- our “hotel” cabin
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- Macadamia trees (1000 of them)
Monday 5th February
After a fairly early start we drove the three hours to our next cabin, a lovely cottage with a great view. Our home for the next 4 nights
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- The new cabin
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- Full kitchen!!
Tuesday 6th February
Today we visited Pauline’s old friend Lorraine and her partner Dave in Rotorua. We had a lovely lunch in the garden in warm sunshine.
Wednesday 7th february
Today we visited the Hobbiton film set which was originally a large sheep farm and then in 1998 began a journey of conversion to the film set of Lord of The Rings and then The Hobbit. It was crowded – amazingly popular but incredible attention to detail – a fake tree with 200,000 leaves all individually painted!!
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- a Hobbit hole
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- Hobbit hole
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- Hobbit hole (home)
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- another Hobbit hole
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- Pauline and a Hobbit hole
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- view over the lake
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- by the tavern
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- Pauline in Hobbit attire!
Thursday 8th February
We visited three geothermal sites near Rotorua. Loads of sulphur in the air and hot steam and colourful pools. Its really amazing and a great experience.
