Rotorua & Hobbiton
August 13th 2023
Great start to the day. Morning coffee in the hot tub next to Lake Rotorua. We had breakfast in the Airbnb, then picked up some meat pies to take for lunch from a place called Better Quality Pies. Meat Pies are a staple food item that can be found at any gas station or convenience store. I wanted to see if there was a difference by getting some at a place that makes them fresh. They were delicious.
Morning coffee in hot tub overlooking Lake Rotorua
Meat Pies at Better Quality Pies.
Kuirau Park is a free park in the center of town. The park is known for its impressive geothermal features, including constantly bubbling mud pools, hissing steam vents (fumaroles), and a large, steaming crater lake.
sweets!
Grace wanted something sweet, so we found a bakery near the park and picked up sun sweets.
This is the actual film set for the Shire in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy. The original set was temporary and removed after the first movie was made. So many people kept stopping by to see the area that when they decided to make more movies, they made a more permanent set that we see today.
We did the evening Banquet Tour. This included a tour of the set where we could walk through the set and even into some of the buildings. The tour also took us to the Green Dragon Inn where we got a free drink that included a pottery mug. The tour ended with a large banquet with dinner for us. It was very festive and fun.
Green Dragon Inn
Evening Banquet
The tour also included an evening banquet. It was very festive and fun.
Gift Shop.
They also had a gift shop with everything Lord of The Rings you would want. (including a picture with Gandolf!
We ended the day with some conveyor belt sushi with bullet train delivery! Then we went adventuring into the woods to find glow worms. Found them! They were on the sides of a steep wall along Blue Lake.
