Hobbiton and starry caves

Only one thing could be on the car radio this morning, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. It continued in the green bus that ferried us to the set. Our guide was called Haydn and he'd read the books in and out and was full of LOTR trivia. He was also good at ignoring inpolite chinese tourists, and rounding them up as neccesary (you can imagine my look of horror every time one of them spat 😲).

The set is amazing, there are over 40 hobbit holes, each with a different theme- the butcher, the deli, seamstress etc. They come in different sizes too to fool your prospective to make Gandalf look tall and the hobbits small. Part of the tour is a free drink in the tavern, the green dragon. We nabbed the seats by the fire and enjoyed our pale ale.

Continuing on from Hobbiton we shot across to Waitomo. With a tight budget that week the black water rafting was out, so we opted for the footlight cave tour, a family buisness that allows photos in the caves. As others didn't turn up we had a private tour, which Roz the guide informed us usually costs $400!!

Decending into the dark as our eyes adjusted we started to see the gloworms on the roof. With dim lights on amazing stalagmites and stalactites emerged. The main corridor of the cave was like a star constallation, a shame our cameras could not pick them up as it was an aweinspiring site. They were spread apart from each other as they tend to eat each other! The tour ended with a cup of tea made out of the cousin of the fijian kava.

After a packed day it was nice to have a room to ourselves in the hostel and a roaring fire in the lounge. The staff member was a kooky guy but he had a lovely terrier called Max that curled up on James' lap.

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