Last days of 2017

After eight beautiful days at Tara and Taka, I left on the 19th of December towards Tauranga. Most of the day, I spent walking through various shopping centers, shopping (in Bethlehem hehe), and meeting Jacky in the afternoon at Papamoa beach. Around six-thirty, I picked up Hannah at the bus stop, and we drove to the campground in Papamoa.  

The campground also had two cats. One of them allowed us to pet it without any problem and stopped meowing only when we did so. The other one just constantly meowed and hissed whenever one tried to touch it. It was annoying because it kept jumping into my car and didn't move out of it

Tauranga itself is a nice city, but we didn't really know what to do there in the long run. On the first full day, we just walked around the city, found a few nice side streets, and took photos in front of the graffiti wings.

Afterwards, it was still early, and we went to Mount Maunganui and hiked up. We thought it would be a several-hour hike, but we reached the top in half an hour. From up there, you have a beautiful view over Tauranga and the sea.

On the next day, we spontaneously went to Matamata, where we visited Hobbiton. We both weren't sure if we should go there and if it was really worth paying the money, but since so many relatives and friends recommended it, and it somehow belongs to a trip to New Zealand, we decided to do it. The information center in Matamata is built like a Hobbit house.

So, we waited for our bus with the last tickets for the 12:30 pm tour and drove for about ten minutes to the Hobbiton Movie Set. Clips from the movies were shown on the way. Actually, it was supposed to be an introduction, but for us, it showed us what we were actually going to see. Our tour guide, "Gar" or "Dar," picked us up with the bus and explained everything to us for about an hour (maybe even longer). We weren't the only ones who were clueless. Apparently, 40% of the visitors are people who haven't seen the movies or read the books. Hobbiton was nice for me, but it's not more than a few huts on a large piece of field. We had no idea why fans enthusiastically took selfies in front of certain huts, so we randomly took photos of huts for fans in Germany.

I diligently wrote down some of the facts that "Gar" or "Dar" told us, even though hardcore fans probably already know all of them.

• On the premises, there were apple trees that had to be stripped of fruits and leaves in order to attach plum leaves and plums to the branches with glue and wire. You can see the tree for three seconds from far away in the extended version. You can't even recognize that it's a plum tree.

• The artificial tree that was built for "The Hobbit" for two months had the wrong shade of green in Sir Peter Jackson's eyes, so all the leaves had to be hand-painted in a different shade of green. Again, a tree that is not really noticeable. By the way, the plum story was also his idea.

• There is apparently a scene in which Gandalf and Bilbo (what kind of name is Bilbo?!) smoke and watch the sunset. However, the hobbit hole was built on the wrong side for that, and the sun goes opposite of the hut instead of underneath it. So, they filmed the sunrise and played it backwards for the scene. It worked well until people noticed the birds flying backward in the scene. The film had to be edited again.

 

• Sir Peter Jackson saw the big tree on Russell Alexander's farm and immediately decided that it would be the tree for Bilbo's birthday party and that he wanted to film the movie there. So, the tree is the reason for the many movies and the much money that the Alexander family earns now. Fun fact: the birthday was a night shoot, and so that all the extras had good mood, the children got a lot of candy, and the adults got alcohol.

• And lastly, the whole crew was only allowed to film the Hobbit movies if they would build the set in a way that it could remain permanently. The Alexander family wanted to offer tours. The set was built for 2 years, and now, all fans can visit Hobbiton.

At the end of the tour, we got a free drink at "The Green Dragon". It looked super cute on the inside, but my ginger beer wasn't very tasty, and Hannah's "Surprise me" also wasn't.

  

Overall, the set was nice. I'm not sure if it's worth the money for someone who is not a fan, but the German mother in front of us who kept emphasizing how "everything is so beautifuuul!" was right.

On the 22nd of December, we left for Hamilton, which was on the way to Raglan, where we would spend Christmas. Hamilton is highly praised in travel guides and among backpackers, but we didn't really understand why. It was just crowded, and we couldn't really find more than stores – a bit like Auckland without the ocean. However, we found a side street called Victoria Street that was built and designed in honor of Richard O'Brien. Very cool. Especially the fact that the laboratory is a public restroom, as Hannah noticed.

From Hamilton, we drove to Raglan. We stayed there for four nights in total and actually saw everything after the first day. The town is quite small and quite expensive, at least when it comes to groceries. We quickly noticed that and drove the 30km back to Hamilton for shopping. We could have saved the gas, but we spent a day basically just buying groceries ... and eating at Pizza Hut for dinner.

We also spent Christmas in Raglan. On the 24th of December, we were greeted by 20 degrees and a sunny sky. However, the other backpackers we were going to celebrate Christmas with only arrived in the afternoon/evening, which quickly bored Hannah and me. So, we walked to Raglan again (the town and campground are only separated by a pedestrian bridge) to look for a board game. We found Monopoly and thought it was just a small travel edition. No, it's a card game. It took a while for us to understand the rules, but then it was a lot of fun.

Eventually, the other 10 girls arrived. Four au pairs and eight backpackers (including us). We had a barbecue and planned to do a gift exchange at the beach afterwards. However, it started to get cloudy during the day, and as soon as we gathered around in a circle, it started raining and quickly got worse. We all went to bed in the rain. We continued the gift exchange under cover, and in the end, almost everyone was happy with their gifts. I now have a cotton bag with kiwis and a water bottle with a New Zealand pattern.

  

On the 25th of December, we had really good weather. 24 degrees and sunshine. While everyone else went to see some waterfall, Hannah and I cleaned up and sorted out the car. Before Hannah joined me, I had already promised Franzi (one of the Christmas group) that she could sleep in the car, so the belongings of three people were in the car. There was quite a lot of stuff, and at some point, no one could find anything anymore. In the afternoon, we all met at the beach, sunbathed, and cooled off in the ocean. The latter was really necessary because it was quite hot, especially in the sun. And even though we all applied sunscreen, no one returned without a sunburn. After two hours on the beach, we were all lying on our towels, and suddenly, a wave came so far onto the beach that we barely saved our valuables. With wet towels and shoes, we went back to the campground. After I managed to completely drain the first load of pasta in the sink, we sat together after dinner until it started pouring again, and everyone went to bed.

  

On the 26th, we had to realize that we didn't have breakfast anymore and left quite early to go shopping. The Boxing Day sale didn't take place in grocery stores, but still, a lot was sold out already in the morning at 10:00, and we settled for a bag of croissants. With a new frying pan and a new spatula (I melted the previous one while frying eggs ...), we set off for Taupo. At that point, we had no plan at all for New Year's Eve because our group with whom we wanted to rent an apartment fell apart, and the apartment was gone. The place is called "Great Lake Taupo," but I didn't expect the lake to be that big.

In the information center, we found a bucket list with things to see or do in Taupo. One item on the list was going to McDonald's because the one in Taupo is awarded as the coolest McDonald's in the world. For us, that was a good excuse to eat fries and go there. However, we didn't quite understand what makes it so special. They just have an airplane at the playground and this award, but other than that? It's not better or different or cooler than any other McDonald's ...

  

  

So, we drove to a campground where we wanted to stay because there were farm animals roaming freely. There was still plenty of space, and we settled in for four nights. Alpacas, sheep, chickens with their chicks, dog "China," ducks, and unidentified animals were walking around freely. There were also goats and rabbits.

Then we spontaneously decided to watch "The Greatest Showman" in the cinema, which was released on the 26th of December. It was a really nice movie, until I suddenly remembered, shortly before the end (after about two hours), that I had left the car lights on. Unfortunately, they don't automatically turn on or off here like at home. And it wasn't the first time that I forgot to turn off the lights. So, as soon as the credits started rolling, we sprinted back to the car, pretty sure that the battery would be dead. Fortunately, it still turned on. Then Hannah wrote me a note.

  

By the way, the cinema in Taupo was quite cute. The auditorium probably had ten rows of seats, and the commercials looked like bad PowerPoint presentations. Everything was very old-school and somehow improvised. But luckily, the film itself was of normal quality.

The next day, I couldn't resist at Cotton:On, a store that I always pass by ... (also a lie, I always go in but only bought something now). But at least the top was on sale. Afterwards, we went to Craters of the Moon. It's a geothermal walk. Basically, there are just holes in the ground where water vapor escapes because the water in the soil reaches 70 to 140 degrees. It looked quite cool, everything smelled like sulfur, and just like with waterfalls – once you've seen it, it's enough.

 

 

And then my horror day began. I usually don't get seasick quickly, but the waves on the Great Lake Taupo really got to me. Already on the previous day, we bought the tickets for a boat tour to the Maori Rock Carvings because you can't see them from the land. The lake looked very peaceful from the harbor, but after just 20 minutes of sailing, I had to hide in the bathroom because I felt nauseous, and I only came out when the boat stopped – we had reached the carvings. However, I didn't see more than a quick glance because the girl sitting at our table didn't make it to the bathroom and vomited all over the table. It didn't bother us, but it made my attempt not to vomit even more difficult. The return journey was calmer, but I was really glad when I had solid ground under my feet again and will never step onto a ship again as soon as possible. But at least we got a free postcard with the carvings. I didn't see much of it.

Afterwards, we finally went to Huka Falls, and they were really cool. It's basically just a stream of water from the Waikato River, but because the water masses shoot through a narrow space, so many air bubbles form that the water looks extremely blue and white. Not only are the water masses impressive, but the colors of the water are crazy. Unfortunately, it doesn't come across as well in the pictures.

We spent the days until New Year's Eve more or less relaxed. We were given a bottle of wine because we made space for a 9-meter long caravan (they needed our pitch), and we were invited to a BBQ, which we declined because we had other plans for New Year's Eve.

In Taupo, there was a family event. Around eight, there was an open-air screening of the Disney movie "Trolls," which was not bad but somehow disturbing. The screenwriters were apparently on drugs the whole time. During the movie, we had a McDonald's picnic, and afterwards, we walked through the city and waited for midnight. The announced DJ was either not there, or we didn't find him. This is the problem with New Zealand and fireworks: Kiwis are not allowed to set off fireworks. It's illegal for private individuals, so I actually thought that such events would be celebrated with large fireworks. But no, we had a 5-minute small fireworks display, and then many people somehow rushed back to their cars. Like on Christmas, it was a nice afternoon/evening, but it didn't feel like New Year's Eve. But now we have 2018 – as the first thing – and with that, I'm ending this way too long entry and will continue with Napier in the next one.