Apologies folks but we cant upload pictures of Hobbiton due to a privacy agreement we signed. As its a working film set for the up and coming Hobbit films we can't tell you what we saw. On a lighter note - while booking the tour we met an oriental lady who believed hobbits were real. She repeatedly asked the information worker where she could find the little people as she needed to see them. We helped her understand that they are fictional and she seemed very dis...

We arrived in Rotorua around midday and went to a campsite, which was run by probably the most friendly kiwi women ever. We decided not to waste the nice afternoon so we went Zorbing. The place we went to was where Zorbing was created, thus why we wanted to make sure we did the activity there. Me and Kim decided to go all out and do all three of the different types of Zorbing. The first type involves you being harnessed in a seat in the middle of the Zorb while i...

Before Taupo we spent one night in a free DOC campsite so Si could have a rest from driving for a while. When we arrived in Taupo Kim was unimpressed with the cloudy sky as she had planned to do a sky dive here. The next morning we visited the I-site to see how much it would be for Kim to do her sky dive as we had been told it was the cheapest place in New Zealand to do it. Later on that day we explored what Taupo had to offer for free, mainly being a few waterfa...

The ferry port in Picton was only a short drive from Renwick where we had to catch the ferry from the South Island to the North Island of New Zealand. After stocking up on food at the super market, we had a hour or so to kill before catching our ferry so decided to play a round of mini golf. This game of mini golf was round three of our New Zealand mini golf experience and was definitely the best course, where Si won again much to his delight. After finishing the...

On the way to Hanmer Springs we stopped in an 'old local pub' which reminded Si of the Plume of Feathers. We enjoyed a cider in the garden but it became chilly so we moved inside. Beside the bar was a guy wearing the Speights 'Southern Man' top and sporting a Speights logo tattoo on his upper arm. The only other person in the pub was a large chef who had a high pitched friendly voice - the kind you find on Balamory. The Southern man was warming up to a clay pigeo...