NZ Adventures #2: The Endicott's Rent a Place in Hobbiton

I feel like Day 2's post could be one entirely of pictures.  #becauseNZ #Hobbiton
Stardate:  72338.5 (aka November 15, 2018)

Agenda:  Auckland ➜ Hobbiton @ Matamata ➜ Rotorua

Executive Summary

Corporate Friends, you know that first page of a presentation that gives the high-level summary and recommendation?  These pics are the executive summary if you don't have time to read the post.  But that would be foolish, you should read the whole thing.  The recommendation should be implicit, because #Hobbiton.

I mean come on.  This place is freaking fantastic.  Whether or not you appreciate Peter Jackson's marvelous imagination or Tolkien's great work, the freaking HOBBITSES live here!  And we are so moving in.  See, we already have a place rented:

Club Endirock, 1 Hobbit Way, Matamata 3472, New Zealand

I plan to make bird houses for a living.

Not joking, it's under consideration.  Or maybe sheep farming.  We did mention the sheep, right?  See, plenty of sheep here, too.

Hobbiton

After breakfast (#PBtoastFTW #grocerystoresmarts), we are up and ready to go!  Adventuring in New Zealand!!  I'm jet lagged and may have been a tad bit grumpy, (which is such a rare occurrence, I'm sure Jayme would agree) but we've got a 2.5 hour drive ahead of us, and I'm determined to perk up.

Traveling south out of Auckland we emerge into beautiful rolling hills dotted with fluffy sheep.  It's amazing.  Jayme's a champ and maneuvering rush hour traffic just fine.

We find our way to Matamata, a precious village near Hobbiton.  Most towns in the country are two-lanes down a quaint downtown strip of cafes, boutiques and unfortunately an American fast food joint or two.

Even the signage is cute!  And check out the visitor's center (called an i-site).  It's a Hobbit-themed visitor's center with a human-sized round door.  Why can't all building look like this!

At this point, I'm getting really excited to see Hobbiton.  Our tour is at 1:00pm, so we have some time to walk along "main street." 

But first, lunch!  More like 10sies, but fortification is needed.  We stop at a cafe along the downtown route for a bite and definitely moar tea.

NZ cafes are amazeballs. Fresh, simple food.  And fab fries.  I go for a fruit smoothie, because I'm trying to make up for the 1,000,000 calories consumed in burgers, fries and freaking tasty Giapo (catch up pokey, if you didn't read episode #1 where we highlight Giapo goodness).  Jayme decides on a steak sandwich.  The plate 'o steak arrives.  This is not your average American-style anemic steak sandwich.  This is a STEAK sandwich.  A 2" cut of steak on two lofty slices of crispy white bread.  A dripping 2" of steak.  Jayme's eyes are huge.  And he digs in.  Yes, thanks for asking.  The smoothie was delicious, as was the cuppa tea.

Bellies full, we are off to Hobbiton.

We wind through yet more beautiful rolling pastoral scenes.  And viola, here we are!

We have half-an-hour to kill, so I check out the shop full of every bit of LOTR gear you couldn't even imagine you needed.  Believe me, I'm not a die-hard fan and I thought I needed it.  Full Gandalf robe and hat set, yes, I could use that at Halloween and just to lounge around the house.  Gollum Funko Pop.  Of course I need that to showcase in my office.  I was unsupervised and newly into this adventure and everything in line of sight had dazzling sparkles.

No, I am not the proud owner of Gandalf robes or Funko Pops.  I settled on a great book, The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook, which turned out to be a terrific overview of random NZ facts and took us off the beaten path a couple of times to see cool LOTR things, which by nature are also cool NZ sites.  Win.

Finally it's our turn and I'm pretty excited!  We load up on the bus to drive us out to the film site.  The tour guides are fun, but mostly I'm digging the views and random facts about where they kept the set props, where lunch was served and other random movie tidbits.  We unload and walk down a roughly overgrown path, the Hobbiton sign pointing the way.  And we emerge into the Hobbit village.  At this point, I'm smiling like a loon and taking pictures of every single detail.  I freaking love this place!


This was our introduction to Hobbiton when you emerged from the path into the village.

I love the crazy attention to detail.  The authentic lamp post.  The vegetables and flowers in the garden.  The props set up outside each cottage.  The wittle Hobbit laundry hanging on the clothesline.

The place is amazing.  And like I mentioned in the summary, we may be moving in.

Our Tour Guide, we would like to think lovingly, named us "Team Tex."  Jayme was not super fond of that, but Team Tex we became!
  

 

And this Friends, is Bag's End.

You know, Bilbo and Frodo's house.  And fun fact.  Notice the rather large tree perched on Bag's End?  Fake leaves!  Hand-wired, fake leaves.  #movietrivia

After touring the village we walk down the lane, by the watermill and over a bridge to the Green Dragon Inn. 

Did you hear me?  THE GREEN DRAGON INN!  Yes, we had ale and mead there.  WE HAD ALE AND MEAD AT THE GREEN DRAGON INN.

Will anything beat Hobbiton?  I'm doubtful.  And I can attest, that our next stop wasn't my favorite.

Rotorua

Next stop Rotorua (emphasis on the rua, roto pronounced quickly... not Ro-to-ru-a, as Team Tex said with their hick accent) in the Bay of Plenty region.

Driving to Rotorua was loverly.  Driving into Rotorua down out of low mountains was also loverly.  Driving through Rotorua was not loverly.  After the delightful scenery of Hobbiton and cute city of Matamata, we were expecting something more quaint.  Rotorua seemed like an industrial / building supply town.  And who thought it would be a great idea to develop a city directly on a live geothermal center.  Like oh look at these smelly, bubbly pools.  Let's develop our city right here.  Rotorua is perched on Lake Rotoarua, and I get that.  But right on bubbly, poop pools?  Nope.

And all tourist literature highly recommended Rotorua.  But why, oh why?  Not only did it have an undercurrent of stinky poop, it just didn't compare to the rest of New Zealand.

I will own that I chose our motel poorly in Rotorua.  The name should have been a clue, but hey TripAdvisor is always right, yes?  RotoVegas.  Yes, I chose a motel with the name, RotoVegas.  A weak moment in the weeks I spent researching.  It was disgusting.  Everything was dirty and old and dirty.  They tried a kitschy make-over, which might have worked if it had been clean.  But it wasn't.  And two nights?  In retrospect, I wished we'd stayed on Lake Tuapo instead.  So, I just tried to remember, "We're in freaking New Zealand!"

None of the typical tourist activities appealed and we were listless about dinner.  We opted to pick up dinner from the grocery (surprise!) and eat in the motel kitchenette, after washing everything first.  Kale salad mix for me and Jayme had a weird butter chicken pot pie thing.

After dinner we decided to check out the Redwoods Treewalk, which was a pretty cool treat.

The Redwoods are in Whakarewarewa Forest.  In episode 3, I'll tell you how to pronounce Maori words like Whakarewarewa.  I promise you'll want to hear about that.

Anyway, the Redwoods Treewalk, is a series of bridges hung 20 meters high between 27 huge California Redwood trees.  The bridges are designed to preserve the trees, and each platform had an informational plaque about the trees, history and such.

We learned that the New Zealand government imported California Redwoods to replenish the forest that they decimated for farming when they settled NZ.  California Redwoods grow more quickly than pines and are great building materials.  And the north island is a similar climate to Northern California, so the trees grow well.  Clearly.  They were huge, and only a century or so old.

I was glad to learn the history of forestry during the Treewalk because the rest of the trip we could pick out tree farms and where they had recently cleared a patch.

During the day, the Treewalk is pretty neat.  At night it's even cooler.  There are large, arty lanterns hung throughout the trees that are lit from the inside.  It's a totally different look.  We enjoyed exploring while it was light, and then about 8:00pm dusk descended and the lights came on.  That was pretty magical.

Overall, a nice topper to a fabulous day (see what I did there).

Back to the RotoVegas for a fitful nights sleep.  I'd like to tell you I was out like a light, but not so.  I'm too much of a hotel snob to be that exhausted.  On a high note, every other place we stayed was a palace compared to good 'ol RotoVegas.

Today's favorites:
- Jayme:  Steak sandwich in Matamata
- Bonnie:  Hobbiton!

You won't want to miss the third episode where we contend with serious jet lag, rose gardens and being old.

NZ Adventures #1: Hey! We're in New Zealand!

Ok finally.  Uploading the New Zealand adventure story from my head to your eyes.  It's been about a month and a half since we set off on this adventure, and I'm itching to re-discover and remember all of the details and share them with you.

We have 16 days of adventures to recount, so we're releasing episodes by day or two...  And we're such an exciting couple, I know you're going to want to check back.

Air New Zealand flight, economy class
#becausewe'recheap

And off we go... and apparently we are also purple (because #winningatphotos).  DFW ➔ IAH ➔AUK ⬥ November 12, 2018, 3:50pm arriving November 14, 2018 @ 5:30am.  In reality, delayed departure until ~4:50pm with a mad scuttle in IAH to the international terminal to hop on Air NZ.  Way to go <un-named US airline>, raising our anxiety levels before a really, really long flight that leaves just once daily.

Day 1:  We're in Freakin' New Zealand, Y'all!

We are tired.  We are feeling old, and feeling really tired.

Middle of the night en-route.  I'm looking around and everyone is out like a light.  Expect for me and my achy legs.  How are they sleeping?  They've been sitting for like 10 hours?!  I'm trying not to squirm, but that's not happening.  Tylenol PM is not a win.  Melissa McCarthy, I'm sorry that I only fuzzily remember your really bad outfits and the rendezvous I think you had with a boy who could be your son in Life of the Party.  Probably for the best.

Jayme is uncomfortable because the seat in front of him is practically touching his face.  But he's a trooper and is so much more patient.

Needless to say when we arrive, we are worn out.  But we're in freakin' New Zealand, y'all!  Auckland airport is a manageable-sized airport, so it doesn't take too long to get through customs, get our luggage and find Hertz.  First adventure:  driving!  Well, first adventure is finding our car, while navigating large luggages.  It's a Nissan.  Safe.  And steering on the right, orientation on the left.  Right!  Wait?  Left!

Driving the first couple of days is a group effort.  "Stay to the left," was said frequently.  Jayme is a pro, and city driving was no problemo.

First order of business:  breakfast.  And eating being a priority, we (I) already had a place mapped out.  Don't judge.  Priorities.  The Orchard Juicery and Kitchen.  Just like the regular business crowd stopping in for a bite or a coffee before work... we were not.   We ordered one of everything.  The Stack, a huge chicken sandwich, a smoothie, slices of tasty goodness to go, the largest hot tea they made.  Plane food is not stellar, especially for the vegans in the house.  And waking up to drive (on the left) and not being hangry were priorities two and three.

Did I mention that we were in New Zealand?  While a forever nap sounded great, we had seven hours until check-in and a city to explore.  New Zealand!

Exploring Auckland.  First Stop, Mount Eden

First stop:  Mount Eden.  It's a volcano, y'all.  Vol-ca-no.  And it's really, really beautiful.

Auckland is on an active volcanic field of 53 volcanoes.  Mount Eden (aka Maungawhau #saythattentimesfast in Maori) is the tallest on the mainland at 196 meters and the highest natural point in Auckland.

53!  53 make it lovely and mountainous and green and lush.  It's a rolling kind of mountainous surrounded by blue, blue coastal waters.  So what if they are live volcanoes?  It's the ones that erupted 25,000 years ago that you have to watch out for.  Pompeii anyone?

We wound up a trail, enjoying the fresh air, sunshine, bright blue skies and lovely green grass.  Doesn't it  look like you could roll all around in it?  Maybe perfect for a nap?



The view of the city was grand from this height.  It still hadn't settled in that we're halfway across the globe in a different hemisphere.  And in the future!  We are living in the future!  A trippy thought pretty much the whole adventure.

How does one install a cone on the top branch?

And the trees are tall.  And apparently also hazardous.



















The tippy top of the volcano, also has a name in Maori -- Te Ipu-a-Mataaho.  Named after a diety who is the keeper of the Earth's secrets.

I don't know about secrets, but it looked prime for a nice, soft roll down the hill.  It must be a thing, because signage.

Adjacent to the crater was an old geodetic (#lookitup - we did) survey site.  And a cool copper map showing distances and direction.  We're a long way from home, baby.

We look tired, don't we?  But hey!  We're in New Zealand and we're off to see volcano #2 -- One Tree Hill.

Oh wait, but first, more food.  Grocery store supply run!  Yes, we like grocery stores.  And Jayme especially liked Countdown grocery stores.  So much so that we visited one in most cities.  His Countdown radar was in peak condition.  You always need something from the Countdown.

Water + snackage = priority.  Now we're off to see the volcano.

Second Stop. One Tree Hill

Aka Maungakiekie.  It's a volcano, it's a park, it's a sheep farm!

One Tree Hill is in the midst of a sweet, Hobbitish park in the middle of Auckland.  Rather, I should say it's English-ish, because it is.  It's Cornwall Park and delightful for a stroll.  Except that it's strolling direction is upwards.  And upwards when you're tired is not as fun as it should be.  But explore we did.  

I think my favorite part of the park are the picturesque stone walls framing perfect trees on lush pastoral fields dotted with white sheep.  I never got tired of that scenery as we drove throughout the northern areas of the North Island.  It's peaceful.  It's idyllic.

So we climbed.  Up to the top of One Tree Hill.

There are three volcanic cones, or craters, for this volcano.  And an obelisk.  No trees.  Apparently the one tree was cut down in the 1850s for firewood, and then again in the 1870s and then again in the 1960s.  Currently there's a memorial to the Maori people and a Sir Campbell, one of the first European settlers of NZ.  We saw his house.  Acacia Cottage.  It was small and creaky, but cute.  He pretty much got finances and politics going for NZ Europeans. 

And exploring the park from your car is just fine.  I don't know who told you it had to be via feet.  It's a lie.  We discovered the tree lined path into Cornwall Park as we were wandering around trying to exit.  Lovely.

Oh, and did I mention sheep?  Up close and personal.  They are cute puffs of cotton from afar, but all dirty butts and matted wool up close.

And the trees.  The trees are just cool.  Can't you imagine craggy faces?  I'm starting to see the Tolkien  that Peter Jackson imagined unfolding.  Rolling green slopes dotted with puffy white sheep and boulders.  I can see Hobbit families popping out from behind a tree here or airing laundry by a wooden fence there.

It's about lunch time at this point.  We're snacking on the tidbits we bought from our grocery store run.  Smart, eh?  We've called the hotel and no luck with checking in early.  So by golly, we are going to see the coast.  I prod poor Jayme to drive across the city, on the wrong side of the road, so that we can see Mission Bay.

As we're driving through the city, enjoying the sites, we realize that Auckland looks a whole lot like San Francisco + San Diego + Vancouver.  Same temperature, foliage, coastal views, vibe + modern high rises like Vancouver.  It's uncanny, until we realize it's about the same equatorial situation, just south.  We are brilliant people.  Really.

We pass, then backtrack, then find the speck that is Mission Bay, and weave around looking for parking.  Parking meters everywhere.

Mission Bay, the city, is cute.  Art deco.  The beach is fabulous.  Beautiful, turquoise waters, fine sand.  Still chilly.  But by golly, we walk on it.










Beach or fountain?  I'm looking at this beach and puzzling at the guys acting like fools in the fountain.  Beach vs fountain?

We also discover BurgerFuel in Mission Bay.  It's fast food.  But it's way better than fast food in the States. So much better.

The veggie burger rocks and features beets.  Beets on a burger!  Best food discover this century.  And the fries, man, the fries in NZ.

Evening Adventures

We are finally able to check in to the hotel at 2:00pm, and it's a fight to stay awake.  The hotel is a good pick.  Plenty of room and a place to sit and regroup.  And a washer and dryer.  So why not do our first international load of laundry!

Jayme gets his techy self situated and I lay down for a few minutes.

I decide we should walk to Parnell Village.  Which ends up just being boutique shopping, and 100% upward.  We are beyond hangry and into like sleep deprived-gry, and it wasn't worth the very uphill trek.  But by golly, we saw it because it was on the tourist list! 

Oh and Bladerunner called and said they wanted their building back.

We aren't hungry, so opt for dessert instead.  And checking out the gelato art of Giapo is also on the list. 

Jayme navigates us downtown and we spend the equivalent of dinner to park.  The tasty goodness of Giapo is so worth it.   It's an upscale gelato experience.  Jayme chose the NZ Hokey Pokey and I opted for a hazelnut coffee fabulous something from the vegan menu.  That's right, a vegan menu.  And see that topping?  Rice crispies, dark chocolate and blueberries and in a chocolate dipped cone.  Life is good.  The end.

We ate five days worth of calories in our first day.  But food, it's all about the food.

We head back to the hotel.  It's 8pm-ish and still light as noon outside.  We'll discover that the sun goes down after 9pm.  More importantly, it's bedtime, and we are ready!

Oh wait, laundry.  An then bedtime!

Today's Favorites:

• Jayme's:  mega chicken sandwich at The Orchard + walking around and "seeing all the places"
• Bonnie's:  Giapo + Cornwall Park

Stay tuned for the second installment:  The Endicott's rent a place in Hobbiton