Rotorua to Whitianga

Chris and Chels had a shall we say, “unexpected journey” on their way from Rotorua to Whitianga. (For the non Lord Of The Rings fans, that was the tagline of the first Hobbit movie)

We stopped at the Hobbiton movie set to check out where the shire scenes for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy were shot. Interestingly, the entire set was dismantled after the lord of the rings trilogy was shot, and the original green dragon inn was actually burned to the ground during the Shire scenes of the final movie. The orcs running around chasing the hobbits were actually real New Zealand firefighters in costume!

The lord of the rings trilogy had such success that when Peter Jackson asked to rebuild the set to shoot the Hobbit trilogy, the farm owner asked if they could collaborate to build a permanent set that could be used for tours afterwards. This then became their family business versus their historical farming history, and the family has created a very large tourism business out of the movie set.

The tour was super interesting, and some of the hobbit holes were even built out inside with full props for guests to check out. The Green Dragon Inn had a full bar and restaurant, and everything on the property was in theme.

Following Hobbiton, we journeyed to Te Weihou Blue Springs, which was the clearest water we have ever seen! This spring system supplies over 70% of New Zealand’s drinking water, and we could see why. It was incredible to be able to see completely through the water, seeing fish and plant life with no obstruction.

After relishing the views at Blue Springs we continued on to the Karangahake Old Railway Tunnel. This was a 1,100 meter long tunnel that was built to transport gold and mining materials between Waihi and Paeroa. Construction of the tunnel started in 1900 and finished in 1905. Now the tunnel is used as part of a hiking path, and we enjoyed exploring both the tunnel and the wider area.

Once we completed our hike we finished our journey in Whitianga and tried out New Zealand’s version of Mexican food. This was actually really good and unique, items like squid were served, and our appetizer was fried cauliflower dipped in beet hummus. Chelsea’s tacos were pumpkin!もっと詳しく