Hobbiton tour
Sunday was a bit of chilling day heading to Mission Bay beach to catch sun than picking up the car hire from the evening before, the girls drove down to our next destination Matamata for the Hobbiton movie set. The whole of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot entirely in New Zealand. We ate at the café, before our early morning tour start. BLT sandwich was tasty and the kiwi love of aioli dip is almost everywhere. The coach drove us to the Shire Rest, and the tour guide began taking us around the set. It was an aerial search by Sir Peter’s Jackson’s team they found Alexandar’s farm that is still fully operational till this day.
Hobbiton tour movie set
Being on the movie set was a spectacular scene, most of the vibrant green grass and greenery faded away over the years. Bag End hobbit hole was my favourite of them all. Once the guided walking tour was over every one went to the Green Dragon
Inn for a drink before being taken back to the main entrance.
Waitomo glowworm caves
Our next tour booked was the Waitomo glowworm caves, no photo’s or videos are allowed inside the caves which are a real shame. Guided down the stairs going deeper into the dark caves, the temperature plummeted to the chilly icy air. Our guide sang a song that echoed and bounced from the walls and finally, we took a boat trip and saw the glow worms’ glow into a bright blue galaxy. Being on the boat was serene, the quietness cleared my mind from thoughts and hearing drops of water hitting the surface was peaceful.
In the evening we drove back to Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge to check-in for the night, the owners are lovely people and even told us where to see glowworms out in the wild. The owners toured us around the bed & breakfast and pointed out to a haunted hotel we almost stayed at Waitomo Caves Hotel.