Hello from the land of the Kiwis! We had an enjoyable flight over from Aus; there was a selection of movies on Middle Earth, so naturally you know what we watched!

In Auckland we picked up our Spaceship, Zosma. It's safe to say she's a huge upgrade from Otis. She's much newer, more roomy, silver and has automatic sliding doors on either side (oooo-ahhhhh!). We love her.

Our first full day in NZ was spent in Auckland, exploring the amazing walks and views of the city. Auckland is built on around 50 dormant volcanoes so has a mixture of luscious, green rolling hills. To begin, we parked at the bottom of Cornwall Park and trekked (or 'tramped' as the kiwis call it) up to the top of One Tree Hill. The 'hill' is called this because there was only one solitary tree standing on it when Europeans first settled in Auckland. From the top you could see 360 degree views of the city, the sea and other mountains in the area.

From one hill to the next, Zosma whooshed us over to Mount Eden, the highest natural point in Auckland. Once again, the 360 degree views were indescribable. At the top of Mount Eden sits a gigantic crater caused by volcanic activity - it's pretty darn impressive.

Last stop, we went tramping around Mangere Mountain. A local kiwi dared us to do the 'Death Climb' up the mountain, where the local rugby team finishes their training. As we'd already reached the top, we wussed out of doing the climb once again. The formations of the land here are unlike anywhere else in the world (at least, anywhere that we've been to or seen pictures of).

Our NZ schedule is so tight that after Mangere Mountain we jumped on the road to a tiny place in the middle of no-where called Matamata. For those of you that are avid Lord of the Rings fans, you'll start reading more carefully now... After a nights sleep we drove the short distance, listening to Concerning Hobbits at full volume, to Hobbiton.

Hobbiton is built on a 1,250 acre sheep farm made up of gorgeous hills, trees, ponds and lakes. It's no wonder they picked this place to film the trilogies, little had to be done to the area to create the scenery. Our tour departed at midday and began on a Hobbiton coach that takes you through the farm to the Shire.

The first track you walk down is the path that Gandalf rides down with Frodo in his kart at the beginning of the first movie. We learnt that during the filming of this scene, Frodo was in fact sitting 3 metres behind Gandalf in the kart in order to achieve the perspective of him seeming smaller.

We soon stumbled upon a number of hobbit homes built into the hills. Altogether there are 44 hobbit homes that were only built with permanent materials for the filming of The Hobbit. Prior to this, 39 of the hobbit homes were only built with temporary materials for the Lord of the Rings and were set to be demolished. So many were demolished until bad weather struck and some tourists approached the owners of the farm, the Alexander family, to see the set. Upon this occurring, the Alexander family subsequently requested that the hobbit homes be built with permanent materials. 5 additional hobbit homes were built for the Hobbit trilogy. All of the hobbit homes are of varying sizes, in order to make the hobbits look small and Gandalf look big.

We visited Bagend and saw the largest of the hobbit homes, Bilbo's. A short stroll down the path takes you to the party field, where Bilbo holds his eleventy-first birthday celebrations. In the field is the giant party tree, together with the party tents. Just around the corner is Sam-Wise's house.

Our final stop in the movie set was at the Green Dragon for a cup of apple cider and amber ale. It was very special to see the set, learn how it was made and see how lived in Hobbiton feels. We can't believe we didn't bump into any hobbits on their day to day business!

On our departure from Matamata we headed south to Rotorua. Our first impressions of the place... It stinks!! As we approached with the windows slightly down, an eggy smell came into the car. Rotorua has an abundance of volcanic activity and the eggy smell is sulphur.

Rotorua is infamous for it's hot pools so this afternoon we went for a bathe in a 39 degree pool.

Exhausted, we bid you good night. And good morning to you.

Steph and Max x