Rainbow Mountain Reserve

We both slept well in the camper which was a huge relief as I had convinced myself that I was going to have on average 3 hours a night. The plan was to head to Waitomo to see the glow worm caves then head to Hobbiton but due to our lack of planning (again!) we realised en route that it was it was going to be an expensive ballache to do both so opted to have a chilled day and just see the Hobbit holes. Turns out you have to book in advance so had a 2.5 hour wait for our tour. We used the time to do a bit of planning (good idea) and booking using their iffy WiFi. When it was finally our turn we got on a bus with the worlds most enthusiastic guide and went down to the set which was spectacular (new adjective used) the attention to detail was incredible and we walked through the (real) vegetable patches up the hills to see all 44 of the hobbit holes. I thought it was going to be a total gimmick but it was lovely especially since the sun came out and we got a free beer. We then headed to our campsite which was another hi de hi job but had great facilities before driving to the redwoods and doing the treewalk. We got the whole place to ourself and walked along walkways and platforms in the forest. It was like being back in California again (as much as that makes me sound like a wanker)Read more