The Road To Wellington

Our bad asses were ready to hit the road. Rotorua was so yesterday and we were ready to skip town. Like proper gentlemen we decided to partake in a modest breakfast before saying our goodbyes to the township that had treated us so well. We found a modest coffee shop that offered a quick bite. I ordered an eggs Benedict muffin and it was probably the best breakfast style sandwich I have ever had. Mc Ds, you better take note.

All gassed up we were ready to go.

Not long after departing town a series light showers greeted us. Nothing too substantial but I suppose it was worth noting. After a while beautiful blue skies beamed down upon us and lifted our spirits.  

Driving through the majority of the north island presented us with a diverse package of landscapes. We started with the mountains

Followed by the parries

Followed by Kansas

Followed by New Mexico

Followed by small town after small town  

We stopped at the first substantial town and decided to grab some lunch. The deal of the day seemed to be the butter chicken on rice. We both ordered a portion.

Not the best meal I have ever had but the loose tea made up for it. It is important to note that the town did have one of the more interesting claw machines I have ever seen. It featured a rather large claw that was designed to grab a rugby ball.

If I had more dollery doos I think I could have scored a try on this machine, but it was not to be. After some down time we adventured on. On our way out of town we realized we missed our big chance at some comfort food. Would have been neat to see how they messed up a hot dog.  

With the sun beaming over us we continued onto Wellington.

We totally understood all of the posted road signs.

As we pulled into town a strong America west coast feel swept over us. This city was familiar yet strangely foreign.  

This became especially clear when we discovered a business named after a euphemisms for genitals. Go get em ladies.

Our hostel was right in the middle of the city. And when I say hostel I mean hotel. This hotel apparently also advertises as a hostel. Regardless it was super nice and the shower was amazing. The photo you see is in the dark because I forgot to take one when we arrived. Just try to maintain the magic of the blog if you can.  

We checked in and set out on the city. Let me tell you that Wellington is pretty awesome. It is the San Francisco of the Kiwis. There were some very pretty sights.

After some wondering we set off to find some dinner. We hit the hip street and found a small satay place that seemed interesting. It did not possess the best decor in the area but the food looked damn tasty. 

After filling our faces we hit a local pub on the way home. Rugby of some sort was playing and we set our sights on picking teams so that we could yell obnoxiously at each other for no reason. It was a good evening and a decent way to wind down from our day of car travel. Go Swans.  

Rotorua Review

Our first day in Rotorua started at the local museum. It was housed in this neat old building that use to be a thermal bath house.

They had a small cafe near the entrance where we grabbed a light breakfast.

The museum featured a lot of Maori artifacts and history. There was also a large section on the Maori's contributions during both of the World Wars. Being that it was Anzac day in New Zealand the exhibit was especially appropriate. Unfortunately most of the exhibits were off limits to photography so what we are left with is some pretty lame stuff.

Most of the Maori stuff was pretty good but they had this horrible exhibit on the top floor that featured 'artwork' constructed from that stuff that use to be on Slurpee cups where you could see two images that changed based on the viewing angle. We both agreed it was super lame. After some turrable art we headed to the car. On the way we saw directions to the local all night party but decided to pass this time. 

We drove out of town a bit to a local redwood forest that was featured in Lord of the Rings. 

Peter loved it.

The 5k loop was pretty neat and featured some nice thermal pools of death. 

After our hike Peter decided he wanted to try driving on the left side of the road. He thought a spaceman costume would be appropriate for this momentous occasion. 

We drove around some lakes that were in the area. Lacking swim suits we just admired them from the shore. 

Lunch time crawled around and we went back into town for some nourishment. It was a bit late so a lot of the places were closing but we found a modern Italian place that would serve us. I got the cumin and blue cheese soup. I had never had anything like it but it was quite good. 

Having exhausted enough funds for the day we decided to take a stroll in the local park that featured a number of thermal pools. Our favorites tended to be the rather muddy holes. Watching them engulf leaves and sticks appealed to our younger side.

The pictures look kind of lame but there were some pretty cool sights. Pools of all sizes and varying temperatures were present. At the edge of the park we found a pretty awesome playground that we took advantage of. New Zealand has amazing playground equipment all over the place, I want to play on it all. Maybe that's why their kids are not fat. 

We walked back through downtown to get back to our hostel. In the time we were at the park a street market had popped up. These Kiwis move fast. It was complete with street food, home made goods, crappy art, fresh produce, and kitschy home things. 

We also ran across this. Not sure why a shop is needed for this industry...

After some downtime we headed out to a local pub called the pig and whistle for some dinner and drinks. I ordered the steak sandwich which turned out to be quite ridiculous. Steak fillet with onion relish, tomato jam, lettuce, tomato, cheese, aioli, and a fried egg between two pieces of focaccia bread. 

We were lucky enough to score a table right in front of the rugby games going on which provided our entertainment. Somehow the local team managed to snap a long loosing streak while also remaining undefeated. crazy foreign sports.

Hippity Hobbity

Out time in Auckland had come to an end and it was time to move onto Rotorua. We grabbed some breakfast and checked out of the hostel. The rental car place was not far from where we were staying so we set off to fetch our steed. We had to dodge a bit of rain in the process but finally got to the office. After some light paperwork we obtained the mean machine that would be taking us around the north island. Meet the Nissan Sunny.

She is a mid 90's dream with automatic transmission and seat belts  She also is into casual parking which we appreciate. No need to rush things baby. 

We headed out of town and as soon as we hit the highway we were slammed with torrential downpours. It was like a rain bomb slapped us in the face out of nowhere. Its one of the heaviest rain storms I have ever driven through. Not really the thing I was looking for when trying to remember how to drive on the left side of the road. 

Eventually the rain died down and it was just us and the open road.

After some driving our first stop was the town of Waikato. As you can see we share the same set of core values. 

The guidebook recommended a pub which we stopped at for lunch. Unfortunately we missed out on the meat raffle. Next time it will be us on the big screen. I predict a four maybe five-peat.

We both got the spicy lamb burger which appeared to be made with all fresh ingredients  The chef was taking a photo of it as it went out the window so we took that as a good sign.

As we headed out we realized one important thing about the sunny; It has a very small bladder. We estimated it at around 8 gallons. On top of that its not super fuel efficient so we needed a quick fill up before heading off. This has worked well with peters small bladder. They seem to be on the same servicing schedule. If the sunny ran on urine we would be set. 

While paying for our petrol I discovered the most delicious gum known to man. The flavor only lasts a few minutes but it is totally worth it. Four thumbs up.

All fueled up we headed to our main attraction of the day which was Hobbiton. This is the set where large portions of the Lord of the Rings/that new hobbit movie were filmed. Having not seen any of them I did not know much about it but peter is a big fan. We arrived just as the next tour was departing. 

The set is built on an functioning farm that features beautiful rolling hills. I have never seen anything like it. I can see the appeal of filming here.

We loaded onto the bus which took us onto the farm and over to the set. They had the New Zealand army build a network of roads on the farm so that they could move in all of the needed people and equipment during filming. 

The first stop was the location of all of the 'Hobbit Holes'. This is where most of the characters in the movie lived. Sorry if I am talking down to you LOTR fans this was all new to me. 

We shall now explore the many emotions of peter at Hobbiton. Take the proper time to analyze the distinct differences.

I also got in on the fun.

Our next stop was the Green Dragon which was the pub and I am guessing inn for the hobbit city. This building was full scale for human measurements. This was different from the hobbit holes which varied in size based on the filming needs. If the hole was to be seen with a wizard it was made small so that the human actor would seem large. If the scene called for a hobbit the hole was made larger to make the actor seem smaller.

Everything was meticulously planned and you really felt like you were engulfed in the fictional universe. The level of care they take to make sure everything is accurate was quite impressive.

We entered the set and were offered a free goblet of beer. Some annoying LOTR historian like character on the tour corrected me and said they only drank ale in the movies. So I guess I had a goblet of ale.

It was warm and gross but it was neat sitting and a fitting end to the tour. We had a jolly good time.

We left Hobbiton in good spirits and drove the rest of the way to Rotorua. The hostel was easy to find in the small city and we checked in to a weird room with three beds and a really stupid bathroom system. More on that later. 

After some rest we walked around the surrounding area only to stumble upon this puzzling sign.

For most of you this will mean nothing but for us Oregonians this is quite odd. Klamath Falls is a small town in southern Oregon which we all know about but never want to visit. It also is a name which is rarely seen outside of Oregon so this was a surprise. For it to be seen in another country is quite random. Upon further investigation we found that Klamath Falls has only one sister city, and that city happens to be Rotorua. Who would have guessed. Way to date up k-falls. 

We also wondered into the local grocery store which featured quite the selection of premium bologna. I know what we are having for dinner.