Hobbiton
Matamata, New Zealand - Day 2
Today's adventures first took us to Wairere Falls, the tallest waterfall on the north island. The drive there took us on tiny, winding roads with the beautiful Kaimai range as a backdrop. Hiking the trail to the viewpoint was fun and took us about an hour and a half with the extra climbing around on the numerous big boulders and photo ops. This also marks the first time I've used the drone on our trip! Katie helped me keep track of it as I pretty much had to fly the whole time out of sight. Got some amazing footage though.
Our big attraction today took us to Middle Earth, to visit Hobbiton. This is one of those things that you almost have to go see if you are in New Zealand and a Lord of the Rings fan. You just have to swallow the fact that it is really touristy and that there are going to be a lot of people there. Katie and I both picked up on a vibe from the guide of "It's ridiculous how important this is to some people," which we didn't like so much. The set itself is pristine, with several full time gardeners tasked with keeping the gardens, vegetables, and the overall grounds. There was amazing detail in each unique hobbit hole, from the doors and windows, to the tiny painted mailboxes and tools scattered about. Some of them were full size to look normal with human actors playing hobbits, while others were hobbit size to look small compared to Gandalf. The tour ended in the Green Dragon where we got apple cider and ginger beer to drink and a couple meat pies for lunch.
To finish the day off we drove north to Tauranga to visit the coast. Katie and I took a nice stroll down the beach with the soft white sand and calm waves. Towering above us was an extinct volcano, Mount Maunganui. We dinned on the coast at a Japanese restaurant and had sushi rolls and grilled salmon.
