Whitianga to Rotorua

We headed south today to Rotorua, on the way we stopped at Matamata whih is where Hobbiton was filmed. I know I'm a massive fan of Lord of the Rings but I didn't fork out $50 for the set tour as I had heard that it wasn't that special. When LOTR had stopped filming all the sets were taken down and the land returned to normal. This is private land where Hobbitton was filmed so the farmer has set up a tour and put in some wood to depict the doors etc!

However in Matamata there is a sign which says 'Welcome to Hobbiton' so I did my photos! We headed straight to Rotorua from here and went up the gondola to the top wich views over Lake Rotorua, it was a bit miserable with spots of rain so it wasn't a brilliant view!

The reason to go up the mountain is the Luging! Basically it's a little Go Kart thing which you speed down the mountain! There's a scenic route, intermediate and advanced routes! Our ticket gave us 2 rides, the first has to be the scenic. What fun! I zoomed down the scenic and went to the intermediate, I then bought two more luge tickets and although I stayed on the Intermediate there is a fork so you change where you go! This was such good fun and really good value!

The hostel situation was a bit funny as I opted to stay in Base, which is part of the chain that I have stayed in in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland so I know what I'm getting. Everyone else stayed in a place called Hot Rocks which is the same chain as the one I stayed in in Paihia! No surprise I didn't stay there! When I gotdropped off I was a bit worried as it was just in the main shopping area and Hot Rocks was opposite a thermal park - smelly but nice views! However when I got inside I was given a dorm room to myself - mainly as they were quiet so I was lucky! It was lovely, 2 single beds and a bunk and the bathrooms were immaculate!

That night I went to a traditional Maori Hangi and Concert, a Hangi is the traditional method the Maori use to cook food, they cook it under the ground and steam cook it! The others from the bus trip also went and were all very jealous as their hostel was awful; really dirty and very basic!

Our buses showed up at the Tamaki Pa (Tamaki is the company/family name and Pa is the hill they live on) and we went in and our chiefs (voted for on the bus) were challenged by a Maori Warrior - rolling eyes and tongue sticking out - think of the All Blacks Haka! We then went through and there were traditional huts set up depicting Pre European Maori life. They then opened the Marae (meeting House) and we wnet in took our seats and watched a Maori concert, they sung tradiotional songs and danced. It was really good, they did the Haka which was hilarious - more rolling eyes and tongues!

After the concert we were led through to the Hangi, this wasn't in a traditional setting, more like a cafeteria! The food was really nice, there was beef, chicken, fish, potatoes, kumara (sweet potato), veg and all sorts!

After we had eaten we went out to see the traditional Hangi and looked around the gift shop. The Maori did a closing ceremony which was a bit cheesy - holding hands and singing along!

One of the best parts of the evening was the bus journey to and from the Hangi! Our bus driver was called Mark and on the way he said Kia Ora (good health/ hi in Maori) in 54 languages! But like in English it was like 'Ah it's jolly nice to see you old chap' in a fake english accent! in Scottish 'Och see you jimmy' of course!

On the way back we sung a few national anthems and a classic - the wheels on the bus!