2.1.20 At the Hobbits

The sun is still obscured as I wake up at 7am. The smoke from the bushfires in Southeast Australia is now reaching thousands of kilometers further east, causing red skies and an almost apocalyptic-looking sun. I'm on the road by 9:30 and heading to Kohi Point again.

Already halfway to the Outlook, where I took photos of the city yesterday evening, you can now see White Island. Smoke clouds are rising in several places. Still. According to locals, this was not the case before the eruption on December 9, 2019. Almost 20 people died in the eruption. Since then, the volcano has been continuously smoking.

A rather unexciting countryside trip along Hwy 35, passing by some lakes of impressive size that remind me of Canada.

I drive along the northern edge of Lake Rotorua, passing by Hells Gate where the smell of sulfur is strong again. The Opal Hot Springs Campground is located 5km from Matamata and 20km from Hobbiton.

As a camper, you can use the three pools here, which are heated up to 38 degrees Celsius. I'm not a fan of hot springs where many people are cooking themselves, so I pass on this offer. I arrive at the campground shortly after 12 and start a load of laundry.

A few pants, pajamas, pillowcases, T-shirts, shower towel. After 30 minutes, everything is done and I spread it out around the car and inside to dry. It's warm and the sun has finally broken through the haze. While I write the first postcards of the trip (yes, I also write postcards!), the clothes are drying for the most part. So, at half past two, I head towards Hobbiton, stopping for a quick shopping trip along the way. The tourist information center in Matamata already looks like a house from the Shire.

I had booked a ticket for today from Te Araroa at East Cape. I actually wanted to be here at the beginning of my trip on December 21, but the weather was so bad that I postponed it. Because with sunshine, it will definitely be better. When the weather forecast was finally good two days ago, I checked online if there was still availability. Fortunately, there was a ticket available for 5:05 pm - the rest of the day and the following days were fully booked. At $84 (around 60 EUR), the 2-hour tour is not a bargain, but it's a must-do on my fourth trip to New Zealand ;-) The timing is great because I have a just over 3-hour break after the short drive from Whakatane to Opal Hot Springs.

Since I arrive in Hobbiton way too early, I have time for the shop, but they don't have such great things. And very expensive. A Gandalf-style felt hat costs $50. But... I found something 😅

The tour starts at 5:05 pm with the sun shining and a gentle light. First, our bus is surrounded by a huge flock of sheep, because the film set is an active farm with 13,000 sheep. The filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy took four months. The later filmed Hobbit movies only took 12 days.

The facility is really nicely done, including clotheslines with Hobbit laundry and small details in the decoration. However, the tour with a group of 41 people is not that great. You're pretty much herded around, and it's not always easy to take photos without having several people in the picture. At the end of the tour, you get a free drink (cider or beer) at the Green Dragon, and then you go back to the Visitor Center by bus.

So the main benefit of the area is for the tours with up to 3500 people per day, who pay entrance fees of 84 NZD for adults. A dinner at the Green Dragon costs 250 NZD. But it was definitely nice.

I drive to Matamata and connect to the Wi-Fi of a pub, uploading photos from today to Polarsteps since there is no 4G network at the campground, and everything else is unusable for photos. It's almost 8:30 pm when I finally have something to eat. Breakfast was ages ago. I had bought chicken breast fillet and now have to cook the whole package. A huge amount including tomatoes, vegetables, and some noodles. So, I already have my dinner for tomorrow evening ready.