Hobbiton and Hot Pools

Saturday 29th October Daily Mileage 274
Cumulative Mileage 274

We had a tight schedule today so Peter got up early and went to collect our hire car – Toyota Rav 4 4x4. After another of Marlene’s wonderful breakfasts that set you up for the day we were ready to hit the road. Today is one of the highlights of our trip, we are going to Hobbiton, the Movie Set. The directions we had been given and downloaded from the internet were poor, we had been warned about this but thought we had it covered. Instead we ended up having to ask a local and arrived 3 minutes late. Our tour had already gone but there were 3 places left on the next one, so joined that one instead. The farmer who owned the land, Russell Alexander, ran a working cattle and sheep farm when he was approached by Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit Trilogy. He thought the farm was the perfect site for Hobbiton, it had a big tree that was 110 years old by a pond and undulating hills. A deal was struck and Hobbiton was created. After filming was complete the set was dismantled, only to be rebuilt a few years later after much interest by fans of the film to visit the place it was filmed. It is a wonderful place and the attention to detail is incredible. There were varying sizes of Hobbit holes depending on what shot was being done, the field where Bilbo Baggins had his eleventy first birthday party complete with maypole and gourd bunting, windows with glass, frilly curtains and plants inside, lines of washing blowing in the wind, Hobbit tools, decorated post boxes on sticks, jars of honey for sale with an honesty bag next to them, little Hobbit rocking chairs outside Hobbit houses, fish drying, and so much more. The whole set flowed over the hills and surrounding area. There was the double bridge over the pond next to the house with a watermill leading to the Green Dragon public house where roaring log fires burned and we could sit in the battered arm chairs for a glass of something. We were very fortunate as it was a sunny day and everything looked magical. Peter Jackson had been very particular to keep as close to the storyline as he could. So, chimneys rose from the hills behind doors of Hobbit houses, plants in terracotta pots bloomed outside the doors and the vegetable patch, complete with scarecrow was in very productive. Apparently, there are 5 full time gardeners who work on the set to keep it looking as it should. It was simply fantastic and if you ever get the chance to go you shouldn’t miss it. I have decided I want to be a Hobbit and live in Hobbiton. I don’t see why not; has it ever been proved they don’t exist?

We drove onto our next night’s stay at Robertson House in Rotorua and were met by John, our exuberant host from Worcestershire UK. He was on his own he explained, his wife who was a cellist was performing in Australia. The house is fabulous, very colonial. It is one of the two oldest buildings in town and dates back to the 1880’s. John explained that he bought the house sight unseen off the internet for $80,000 10 years ago. He and his wife, a Kiwi, lived in a flat in London at the time. His business went bust so he sold the flat, bought the house in Rotorua and the rest is history. It had been uninhabited for 10 years but apparently wasn’t too bad. It is made from a local indigenous wood that is very solid and long-lasting. He set about renovating it slowly, uncovering beautiful tiled fireplaces that had been hidden behind walls in each of the bedrooms. Ceilings were stripped back to the natural wood panelling from the ugly paint that was covering them. The outside fretwork also needed replacing. The bed in Janet’s room is nearly as old as her, it was made in 1827 and came with its full history intact.

John recommended local sights to see and places to eat. We decided to go to look at the local parks with bubbling thermal pools. The smell of sulphur was very strong everywhere around the town. The pools in the park were fenced off for safety but the larger ones had boardwalks over them that you could explore. It was a strange experience to be walking over the wooden paths with steam rising from the surrounding bubbling water and the acrid smell of sulphur all around. Mineral deposits lay in the pools, greeny yellow in colour, looking very slimy and nasty. Most plant life was dead apart from two species that could survive in such conditions, a fern and a small green feathery plant. The thermal steam and gasses escaped from cracks in rocks all over the place and mud boiled and bubbled in the pools and by the paths. We were getting hungry by now so made our way to the Fat Dog, which had been recommended by John. As he had promised, the portions were huge and very good value. We couldn’t eat all our food; it was just too much. Peter’s fish and chips had 3 large pieces of fish!

Finally, to round off the day we went to the Polynesian Spa, a haven where you could rest in the natural mineral spas. It was very relaxing. There were several rock pools, each hotter than the last. They started at 32 degrees and went up to 42 degrees. We found the 36 degree one to be most relaxing. We did try them all, but found the 42 degree one just too hot, not many people were lying in it, most were sitting or standing.Read more