We planned on getting an early start, but ended up laying in. By the time we loaded up the car and cancelled our utilitiesit was coming up to midday. A lot later than we wanted.

We finally headed off with the car full to the brim. Luckily the car was an automatic so we could handle the weight. After getting lost a couple of times we were finally on our way. We always wanted to go and see Hobbiton from The Lord of the Rings which is in Matamata. About 2/3hrs south of Auckland. We were planning to stay the night at Matamata and see Hobbiton the next day but luckily we arrived there just after 3pm. We arrived just in time for the tour bus. We both were really excited. We headed to Hobbiton which is located on the Alexander Farm. It was dicovered but Peter Jackson but pure chance as he was flying over. We all unloaded out of the mini bus and entered the Shire from the famous track that Gandelf rides in on in the opening scene.

It looked just like the movies, we were like Japanese tourists taking photos of everything. There are around 40 Hobbit holes all different sizes. What they would do is film the Hobbits at the big holes to make them look small and Gandelf at the smaller holes to make him look big.

We went to Bilbos house at Bag End and saw the big party tree. We learned loads of interesting facts. It was only by pure chance that the set remained on the site. The film crew was meant to knock it all down, but had to prospone it due to bad weather. Then the tourits started coming.....

We saw Samwise Gamgee's house, the mill next to the large lake, the little stone bridge and finally ended with a free beer in the in the Green Dragon pub. After the tour we jumped on the 'Special' bus and headed back to the car with our heaps of photos and said goodbye to the rolling hills of Hobbiton....

....Back en route we headed back to Route 1 past Rotorua down to Taupo following the Waikato River the longest in New Zealand. On the Waikato river we stopped off at Huka falls which was amazing, as the water was from glaciers the water was a powerful blue making it one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have seen. I was gutted that the battery went on both my camera and phone. We eventually headed to Lake Taupo which is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray (Papua New Guinea). This is a popluar destination for Kiwis and as it was holiday season it was rammed. We were hoping to get a Motel on the lake but everywhere was fully booked. So we decided to have dinner on the lake and try outside of town. On the way out we stopped off at a few lookout points that gave us a great view of the lake. We eventually found a Motel in then next town, just before the sun went down...