Day Nine: Hobbiton and Rotorua

 After our second visit to the Museum (see photos on Day Eight), we headed to Hobbiton with Carters.  I was not certain about taking time to see Hobbiton because I have never seen the movies (I loved the books too much) and there are so many interesting geographic things in this area of New Zealand because of the volcanic nature of the islands.  But the Carters encouraged us to go and offered to go with us even though they have been several times already with guests who have come to visit them.

I was very glad we did.  It was just a fun place to visit and to experience--even if it is all man-made into a beautiful farm/ranch in this spot in New Zealand. The director and producer was from New Zealand and very much wanted to film the movies there.  They needed a big tree and a pond/lake surrounded by open land.  It was bit a of a production to find this right spot

They build it for the first movies, but then tore down the sets.  When they decided to film the additional movies in the Hobbit series, the land owner and his family decided to make it permanent and offered it to the country as a tourist spot.  People come from all over to visit this place.  It was fun to see that.  Think what you want about Hollywood and the film industry--I am not a big fan.  But there is a uniting that comes from shared film experiences.  The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies are perfect examples of that.

We were able to walk into an "actual" hobbit home.  These are new to Hobbiton.  They were added to allow guests to see the interior of these homes for themselves.

The doors of the homes are all round.  They are actually different sizes, however.  Some are very small to make the actors look large compared to them--an

The details are so fun--here is a bakery shoppe.

I caught the blue butterfly on this white flowers--so pretty.

May day pole in the field where a birthday party was held in the movie.

It almost looks like a painting.  Everything was so perfectly overgrown in a magically way.

Us with the Carters

More insects enjoying the flowers, too.

Even the clotheslines with little hobbit clothes were so quaint and enjoyable.

And there is your brief look at Hobbiton.  Watch the movies, read the books, and then enjoy the creative vision of the film makers who designed "Hobbiton." It is definitely worth a visit.

We then headed to Rotorua.  This is a major tourist town with lots of things to do all around the area. It sits on a volcano site and has areas of hot springs and geysers plus a number of Māori cultural experiences.  We singed up for the  Te Pa Tu- The Gathering Place described as "Attraction offering Māori dance & music shows, crafts & a feast in a re-created indigenous village."  I became a bit nervous when Carters indicated that they had never heard of this one, that they had gone mostly to the ones connected with some local hot springs.

It turned out great.  It was very different than we expected, but it was amazing. Our tour group was divided into four groups and we rotated between four different stations where we learned a bit about the culture and got to taste bits of different foods.  We then had a concert of traditional Māori songs and dance, and then had one of the most amazing meals I have ever had. It was 9 or 10 courses of so much food served in a formal dining room with linens and the whole "works."  Now the photos--

Formal greeting from our group to the chief

some of our treats

Learning the Haku

Learning about some of the history and culture

This was yummy but I can't remember what was in it.

PLaying the Stick game

More about custom and culture

The concery

Our dessert after eating so much other things--mutton, rack of beef--literally a rack--ham, different fishes, rice, potatoes, vegetables, it just kept coming.

This man and his niece and nephew (which I didn't get in the picture) sang songs as we had dessert.  No matter where you were from, he could sing a song from that country--usually sung in English but related to that country.  Many were show tunes. Some were sung by the niece and/or the nephew. It was amazing.  "Take Me Home Country Roads" which talks about West Virginia was the song for the US.

It was a wonderful experience and while I can't quote everything I learned, I loved the additional exposure to the Māori culture in addition to the things I had read prior to going on this trip. So glad that we got to share it with the Carters.

They dropped us off at our hotel which somewhat unfortunately was out of town the wrong direction for them......we were grateful for the time we spent together and for their kindness as hosts to us. Farewell, sweet friends. Can't wait to see you in October.