Saturday, March 18th, Auckland via Waitomo to Rotorua...

And we are off on the Big Adventure. We would travel from Auckland to Rotorua. We would spend two nights in Rotorua. 

First "Kia Ora". This is the greeting in New Zealand. It is pronounced kay-orah. It is a Maori term and means hello, good morning, good luck, and take care. Every morning Ray would start our coach travel by saying Kia Ora and we would respond Kia Ora. 

Next the word Kiwi. This is used to represent all New Zealanders, Maori and Pakeha (non-Maori). It is not a derisive term at all. 

We awoke to find we had heated towel racks in our bathroom. Nice! We opted out on breakfast. It was only sit down, order, be served and hurriedly eat. So, we opted out of that madness. Our coach took us to Waitomo. Here are pictures of the drive from Auckland to Waitomo. I mean, really, the scenery in this country is spectacular. In this area, it often felt like the bus ride through Ireland.

A couple of items of note on this drive which would pop up over and over again throughout New Zealand. McDonald's for one. Every time we would pass one, Ray would say, "American Embassy!" The second is a milk processing plant. Ray explained that New Zealand had a shift from sheep to milk cows when the price of wool went down due to synthetic fabrics becoming so popular. Now, don't get me wrong. New Zealand had lots and lots of sheep. But they also have lots and lots of cows. The milk is gathered at these large facilities and processed into powdered milk. Powdered milk is a major export from New Zealand. Ironically while talking to John, our coach driver and guide in the South Island, we learned that New Zealanders pay twice as much for their milk as we do for a gallon of milk in the States. An interesting fact from Ray was the cows give more milk when listening to opera and Oprah.

Wiatomo Caves was our first destination. Residing in these caves are glowworms. We wanted to see the glowworms. Waitomo is Maori. Wai means water. Tomo means hole into the ground.

In New Zealand and Australia, glow-worms are the larvae (maggots) of a special kind of fly known as a fungus gnat. The only places in the world they're found are in New Zealand and Australia! Glowworms are bioluminescent, meaning they produce and emit light naturally from an organ near their tails that is similar to a human kidney. They use the light as a way to draw in prey, similar to a bug light zapper. Glow-worms glow for a couple of hours at a time, turning off their glow after they've mated. Glow-worms cocoon themselves, similar to butterflies, to form a protective barrier while they prepare for adulthood. If you look closely at a glowworm during its larval stage, you’ll see that there will be fine beaded lines dangling from the larva. Glowworms create as many as 70 lines measuring 7-59 inches long. The beads are thick drops of sticky mucus used to catch small insects attracted but the glowworm’s light. Once metamorphosis is complete, glow-worms emerge from their cocoons as adult fungus gnats. Glowworms live their lives in four stages. First, they are an egg for 20-24 days. Next, they are a larva, which is when the glowworm builds a nest, makes its lines, glows and feeds. This stage lasts approximately nine months. Then, the glowworm becomes a pupa. This is when the glowworm morphs into a fly, taking 12 to 13 days. Finally, the glowworm becomes a fly. The females die quickly after laying their eggs, usually less than a day, while males can live up to five days. Glowworms in Maori are known as “Titiwai”. This loosely translates to “lights that reflect on the water”.

Sadly, no pictures are allowed in the caves. If you flash a light, the glowworm retreats and can hide up to six months. The first part of the caves was a nice guided tour through caverns with stalactites and stalagmites as you would find in other caves. Then you go down stairs into a lower part and you gingerly get on a boat. The guide has a rope above the boat and literally pulls the boat from point A to point B and turns and goes to point C. During all of this there is absolutely no light on in the cave. You sit in that boat and keep your hands and arms inside. Then you look up at the ceiling and it is covered in little white lights. One in our group said, "I see the Big Dipper!" I did purchase two postcards so I would have a picture of what it was like. One is the white lights. The other is the long strands of mucus used to catch foods. 

We could take pictures as we approached the light for the exit from the cave. These pictures were taken as we exited and the water further down from that exit. As the boat went out the cave, I looked up and saw one lone glowworm. I quickly pointed my cellphone camera and took this picture with no flash. Look closely and you can see the one glowworm I got a picture of!

In the gift shop, we did purchase one picture of Claude and me taken against a green screen and then the caves were added behind us.

After the glowworms, our coach would drive to Hobbiton. We had a stop in Otorohanga for a bite of lunch. Claude and I ate at the Village Green Bakery & Café. I enjoyed a new-to-me sandwich. It had chicken, avocado, and lettuce on it. No spread of any kind. It was scrumptious. Will have to make this one at home. This town has a kiwi sanctuary. There are several of these where kiwi's are taken to rehabilitate and then return them to the wild. I took a few pictures of the area.

These are pictures of the drive from Waitomo Caves to Hobbiton. Note how the land changes and you can tell why the spot was chosen for Hobbiton.

Then, we arrived at Hobbiton!! We were very excited to see this place. The set was built for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. The agreement with the owner was that the land would be restored as it was before they made the set. When filming was done, the set was removed and the land restored. Then someone decided to make a television series and they needed Hobbiton again. This time the owner agreed and made it a permanent fixture so that visitors and lovers of all things Hobbit could come and visit. You arrive at the check-in place and gift shop. You are put on a bus that takes you to the actual site behind a locked gate. Since we were in a coach, they let our coach driver take us there and pick us up. 

When you are at Hobbiton, you have a guide for your group. No one is allowed to just tour around on their own. Enjoy these pictures of Hobbiton. Notice the detail in everything. You can often tell what the hobbit living in that home did for a profession by the objects outside their home.

This is the hill where Gandalf rides into Hobbiton for Bilbo's birthday party and Frodo sees him from the top of the hill.

Why would one take a pictures of a board with mold on it? That is a good question. This is not mold. In order to make the board appear old and covered in mold, they have used a concrete mixture on the board. 

When you see a hobbit hole with dirt on the top it is one they are replanting. Gardeners take care of all this landscape. Normally it would be green all over the top and will one day again.

This picture looks across the Shire toward Bag End which is Bilbo's home. The little tree on the left at the top of the hill is right on top of Bag End.

Looking across Hobbiton to The Green Dragon.

The Green Dragon.

Claude and me in a Hobbit Hole. Actually, there are no hobbit homes you can enter. This is made so you can stand in the doorway for a picture. The interior of the hobbit homes were shot in a sound stage where light and sound could be controlled. There are plans to dig back into one of these and build it so that visitors could really enter a hobbit home. 

This is the tree on the top of the hill above Bag End. It is made of steel. The leaves are each attached by hand and then hand painted so they stay green all the time. You can look at it all you like and it still look real.

Bag End, home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

Sandi and Claude in front of Bag End.

The Party Tree seen in the scenes from Bilbo's birthday party. The party field is in front of the tree.

Bilbo's book and pipe.

This is the home of Samwise Gamgee.

This is the party field where Bilbo's birthday party was held. The big tree is around the bush on the right.

Claude delivering ale to The Green Dragon.

The Watermill

The stream leading to the Watermill.

The Water beside the mill.

Bridge in front of the Mill to the Green Dragon.

At the end of the tour, you end up at The Green Dragon where everyone is given a free beer. There are four types available, one of which is a ginger ale.

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Claude ordering our Ginger Ales.

What a treat for us to be at Hobbiton!!

 

The coach would now take us to Rotorua for the next two nights at the Distinction Rotorua Hotel. 

Here are a few facts and interesting tidbits learned while on the coach this day:

• There are 15 letters in the Maori alphabet. A, E, H, I, K, M, N, O, P, R, T, U, W, NG, WH. There are 5 vowels: A, E, I, O, U. There are 10 consonants: H, K, M, N, NG, P, R, T, W, WH. Of the consonants, 2 of these are digraphs (character pairs). 
• Volcanoes are named after women because you never know when they will erupt. Joseph Volcano was named after a man because it is sleeping. 
• Jandals are worn in New Zealand. They are what we call thongs or flip-flops.
• Pavlova is an egg white dish. Little bitter. It often has fruit in it. It is named after a ballet dancer. It is a favorite of Kiwis.
• Ray would share a story and often end with "It was a good thing".
• When someone has a baby, the baby is given a rugby ball.
• Tamariki is how you say children in Maori.

When we got to our hotel, it was dinner time. We were ready for a nice meal. We went to one of the restaurants. They told us they only took people who had a reservation. They suggested we go to the bar. The bar could not help because they only had one server. We gave up and went back to our room and ordered room service. That worked well for us. We would find a big shortage of staff in the hospitality industry throughout the entire country. It appears it was a result of the pandemic.