can there be too much green grass?

Cambridge to Matamata to Mclaren Falls to Tauranga to Rotorua.
More rain overnight and woke to a broken sky, threatening more rain. Had breaky at the van park and on the road by 9, en route to Matamata, a short drive away. Following the signs we made our way to Hobbiton, the site where part of the Lord of the Rings was filmed. It is now called a tourist farm but instead of growing tourists, they just fleece them (thanks Simon for the pun). A very slick setup with buses used to escort the tourists through the scenery/farm and just happen to go through their own cafe & gift shops, for a discounted price of $79 each. Spent some time debating whether to do it until 2 bus loads of tourists turned up and took over the whole show so we skipped out and continued driving north. Went on roads winding through endless lush green pastures, full of fat sheep & cows, bordered often by hedgerow fences and immaculate farmhouses.
Stopped at Mclaren Falls for coffee, but as usual, it started to rain and we had to finish and get inside. The falls were pretty modest at present, must be the only place in NZ that hasn't been drenched with rain.
Headed into Tauranga, the start of the Bay of Plenty. Is a much bigger city thaan we expected and took much longer to get through it. Set the gps to find the tourist info office, only for it and the local signs to fail us, until we asked a local man walking along the beach shore and he directed us to both the best beach frontage and also to a nice cafe from which to view the said ocean. We did both but had to do so from indoors due to the frequent showers.
Fed & watered, we headed out, stopping at a shopping mall to buy pillows, foam underlay, groceries & grog (all essentials for continuing happy camping).
An hours drive got us the 65km to Rotorua, through steady rain and arriving in darkness at the Blue Lake Caravan Park about 10km out of town. The sulphur smell is much less out here and the park is again of excellent standard.
Retired to the kitchen for drinks where Sue and Michelle found some more people to interrogate, this time a Dutch couple who own a small winery near Queenstown. They finally escaped to their table to play scrabble while we had a delicious dinner of pork steak & veg.
Retired with more showers passing over.

Cool day, showers to rain about 18C, a bit warmer on the coast and cooler inland.

Highlights
* So much green grass, almost too much!
* great views from the mountain pass.
* avoided paying $79 each for being driven around a tourist farm, Hobbington.
* had excellent meal in Mt Manganui.Read more