Windows Screensaver, Fireflies, Hobbits, and Rotorua (- you stink)...

The first night with Jason was surprisingly good and we wake up quite refreshed with the sunrise early in the morning with full enthusiasm to explore the area. The first stop today should be Cathedral Cove, a rock that has been eroded by tides and now resembles a cathedral. Well, most people (including my colleagues) know it as the Windows screensaver.

Arriving at the parking lot, we were the only car or camper and on the way to the beach, walkers already greeted us with the fact that we are early birds.

We took ten thousand photos to get there, but in the end, the pictures had to be edited 5,000 times 😂 if you Google it, you get thousands of pictures that all look different. In the end, no photo resembles what you can see with the naked eye, and that's why it's worth seeing it for yourself. The way there (about 40 minutes walk) is really cool with lots of little coves you can still go down to.

It's a good thing we were so early because in the end, when we walked back, a lot of people came towards us, which would have made the whole thing less relaxed. Lucky us!

Afterwards, the road led us to an exciting, winding, unpaved road to Coromandel, where even I got sick in the car 🤢 the city itself is nice, but that's it... we just had a cappuccino and made our next plan.

So we headed towards Waitomo Glowworm Cave, where we chose our next free campsite. On the way, we also stopped at Pak n Save, which is like Metro but accessible to everyone... we walked through the aisles with open mouths (especially when we were a little hungry) and put a lot in our shopping cart. Surprisingly, the prices here are not much higher than in our country, and you can buy medication here easily. So we also replenished our collection of ibuprofen after having had shoulder pain for weeks...

Loaded with seven things, we then set off for the parking lot and landed directly in a thunderstorm - now we also know why everyone talks about how quickly the weather can change here 😂

There is not much going on in the parking lot (a couple who have been on the road for 5 months and an Australian), and we can enjoy the lake view again.

On Saturday (we are slowly planning which days are), we went to the Glowworm Cave at 8 am after breakfast... we booked the simplest tour because we still wanted to go to Hobbiton. The tour was really well done and the "fireflies" that are actually not fireflies are really fascinating. We don't have any photos of them because a) we weren't allowed to take any and b) we wouldn't have been able to do it in the dark anyway, so here is a Google image 😂

Afterwards, as with every tourist attraction, we ended up in the souvenir shop where we actually bought something (which we NEVER do) but hey... we flew for so long - you want to take memories home.

So Kiwi also landed with us - a small plush kiwi with a Glowworm Cave hoodie (by the way, that's my Christmas present from Thomas 😂)

At the cave, there is also a small viewpoint that you can climb up to (15 minutes) which reminded us a bit of home, only without palm trees ☺️.

The way to Hobbiton was quite easy and on the way there, we made our first stop at a dumping station. When we arrived, we were clueless about how the whole thing worked and first drained our shower and dishwater into the canal with the hose that was attached to the camper (now we also realized that the hose is broken, which reminds me that we wanted to buy a new one). Thank God a Kiwi came who explained to us that the water has to go into another channel because it goes back into nature that way... plus, we took the wrong tap to refill.... so we let everything run hot again and refilled it again with the right tap. Why should it work on the first try 🤨😉 the next highlight will probably be flushing and changing the toilet for the first time. But that will take a while because we only use it in emergencies and always use public toilets.

Upon arrival at Hobbiton, we had lunch at the parking lot under a giant tree and the way there already showed us a bit of what we can expect from nature. In general, you can only constantly look around and be amazed at how beautiful everything is (but see for yourself)...

I was initially skeptical about the tour because they start every 10 minutes and it seemed very touristy to me, but in the end, even though we didn't watch the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movies (or gave up from the 2nd one onwards), it really convinced us. The tour lasted a total of 2 hours and took us through Hobbiton with background explanations, taking photos, and having beer afterwards in the Green Dragon (okay, I had to Google what it's called 😂).

No matter where you looked, you discovered another great detail, and the landscape was magnificent! No wonder they chose it as a set.

So for all travelers, it is a must to come here!

Afterwards, we headed towards Rotorua, which took us another 1 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, it was already late, so we couldn't get a free parking spot and had to switch to a low-cost place. But we have to say - a stroke of luck, the 20 minute drive was worth it, and the $20 was well invested. The parking lots were less beautiful, and the smell of sulfur probably wouldn't have let us sleep so well. So we ended up at a beautiful mountain lake with a direct view.

So Sunday morning could start great with a sunrise. Sunday took us to Wai-O-Taupo, a geothermal region with steaming sulfur craters. When you imagine that they are all not that old yet, it is truly impressive. We also took Lady Knox Glacier there right away. The walk through the "park" actually only takes 75 minutes, but in the end, we stayed there forever because we were so impressed by it all. Only the smell was a bit annoying and made us forget about hunger 😂😝

After the tour, we first did our laundry at a laundry station, which went pretty quickly, and once again, there was a Pak n Save to buy wine and dinner for our next camper evening.

We wanted to spend our next night near a small waterfall where kayakers were also starting, and since free spots are rare here, we wanted to arrive early in the afternoon to see the waterfall, have a leisurely meal, write a blog, and make plans.

The plan to arrive early was the right one because actually everything was already full at 4:30 pm, and luckily, a regular car of the camper van spots left shortly afterwards. As it turns out, it is a great spot for kayaking and swimming. A quick jump into the waves (well, Thomas, because I'm a chicken) and a chat with Germans we saw at Cathedral Cove make the afternoon nice and relaxed. Only Thomas was lost in the waves after he missed the exit (I gave myself away 😂).

So now we're sitting here with salmon, salad, and white wine overlooking green mountains and sheep - New Zealand pure!

P.S. For those wondering why we have so much time to write all this - you have to take the time... we ourselves noticed that if we don't write it all down, we forget a lot quickly because so much is happening here and we see/experience so much ☺️