There and back again

Hobbiton!

(the saga continues)

On our last day in Rotorua, Robert and I went to Hobbiton.

Oh, come on. We were in New Zealand. We had to go to Hobbiton.

I haven't seen the  Hobbit, by the way. I can't quite bear to go through with it all. 3 hours! 3 hours of my life!

Times 3!

Sorry. Probably too much exclamation marks.
It's a subject on which I feel strongly.

As a long term LOTR fan, it was a very disconcerting and familiar feeling, stepping into that scenery...

And Hobbiton was a strange place, all different sizes and scales.

Look at the tiny pears!

It was all unbearably cute and right in every detail. A model village, in fact.
I found myself quite wanting to live there.
Some of the holes were even just my height......more or less.

The guide took us around and showed us all the familiar things. The party field and the big tree, Bag End and the oak growing above it...

Speaking of which -
The tree growing above Bag End?
It's fake.

Or rather, it used to be real. Peter Jackson saw a real live tree he liked
The leaves are from Taiwan, and they're wired on.
Now they're falling off.

These artistic types eh? Imagine that. Imagine seeing a tree somewhere and thinking, "MY GOD. That is the ONE. I must have that tree OR I DIE. No other tree will do." And believing so strongly in the integrity of this that you have it taken to pieces, labelled, reconstructed, wired, and glue millions of tiny fake leaves onto it, to achieve your perfect tree forever.

The guide told us this happened with a plum tree as well - the book said the hobbits were eating plums, but they couldn't find a miniature plum tree, so they took a miniature pear tree, and took all the pears off, and glued tiny plums onto it. Because that was authentic.

I wonder how his personal life is.

Anyway, here is the leaf from the tree for your viewing delectation.

And here is Bag End, and the Fake!Tree
I feel that Frodo is just about to come out
Oh, Elijah Wood

The whole place was so carefully gardened and set out to look like the English countryside I found myself getting quite nostalgic for England. Even though all this would, if it were in England, be under 6 inches of snow.

I know. I've seen pictures.

A tiny stool!

*snigger*

After all that strenuous enjoyment, we went to the cafe where, of course, they served 2nd breakfast.

I didn't have it. Though I quite wanted to. 

I have some regrets.

After Hobbiton, we went to the Waitomo gloworm caves, and marvelled at the glowworms. This was a slightly more gentle version of the terrifying underwater dark climbing up waterfalls trek I'd done previously, involving a gentle downhill stroll, and then a little cruise on a boat.

Clearly I've grown old during my stay in New Zealand.

All those strenuous activities. They've aged me. 

Unsurprisingly, Robert and I were both destroyed after this relentless schedule of events.

But there was more to come. 

The next day, we went to Taupo and mooched about by the lake. We swam - turns out Lake Taupo had warmed up rather a lot in the 3 months since I'd been there, embarrassingly for me since I'd gone on and on about how bloody cold it was to Robert and really built it up and then it turned out to be quite balmy. Which was pleasant for swimming but not so pleasant for my ego. And we bathed in the hot pools. And we saw a bungee jumper (definitely putting paid to any ideas of ever doing this in the future). And we ate prawns at the prawn farm. And and and

And then - we went home!

And that was a relief

And I slept for a VERY LONG TIME

And then I went back to work
- which was very interesting
- and I got my South African work-seeking permit - the first on a long series of steps to the South African part of our adventures - which was very exciting
- and I finally bought a new pair of shorts

THE END