Day 7
Woke to a rather soggy day but you can't control the weather... Today is a "Max Indulgence Day", as we are heading to Hobbiton for a tour as well as lunch at the Green Dragon Inn. For those of you that don't know, it was used as the base for the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I last visited in 2006 and thoroughly enjoyed it although at that time, the Inn was under construction and was only ever going to be a facade for exterior shots with the internal shots being filmed on a set in Wellington but due to the popularity of the place and the interest shown by visitors, they decided to turn it into the full blown place (as seen in the movies) and the rest is history.
Any hoo, I'm ahead of myself. We headed off at 0930, as we needed to be checked in for the 1140 tour by 1120. Whist it is a 1h40 m drive by Google maps, there is a large amount of roadworks at Karangahake Gorge, with 3 different traffic light controls with a maximum wait of 20 minutes at each, so wanted be on the safe side. As it was, we got there about 10 minutes early. The amazing thing was, that as soon as we passed through the Gorge and was on the other-side of the coastal mountain range, the weather was totally different. Sunny with a minimal cloud cover but if you looked back towards the ranges, it was covered in a rain cloud. Like I said to a friend the other day, "they don't call NZ the Land of the Long White Cloud" for nothing...
Once again, for those that aren't aware, the HQ for Hobbiton is called The Shire's Rest which is where you park, buy tickets or check-in if pre-booked (which we were), there's a shop, toilets and a cafe. From here, you board a bus for your specific tour, that transports you to the actual "village", which is located on a farm, some 5 minutes away. As I mentioned previously, we had booked a tour that included lunch at The Green Dragon Inn. Then we were there!
A most enjoyable slow paced walk through Hobbiton, with a guide providing commentary on the place as in Gandolf's Gully. The Dell Bags End, The Party Tree, etc...
One major change they had made since my last visit was to create a new house called Open House, that allowed you to go inside a Hobbit's house and see "how they lived". Fantastic... So good and even the kitchen stove had something "bubbling away" on it.
Then it was off to the Green Dragon Inn for lunch, via the The Mill House. On arrival at the Inn, you could have you choice of either a dark or pale ale, cider or non-alcoholic ginger beer (included as part of the tour) If you had the lunch option, it was a buffet that amongst a wide range of dishes had beautiful Roast Lamb & Fush & Chups. Desserts and tea & coffee. VERY YUMMY!
And then it was all over. Back on the bus to the Shire's Rest and a wander through the shop before heading home. I got myself a pair of Hobbit Feet slippers!
We were back in Waihi around 4:45pm, a slight rest then off to dinner at the Fisherman's Club for a dinner on Liam & Triona's 4th Wedding Anniversay