Thursday the 11th of February 2016
This morning Abby and I awoke in the highly disppointing hostel room in Rotarua. The bizarre humming noise from outside the window had not prevented sleep but I was tired. Abby was on the phone as I blinked and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I considered getting up; thoughts of the grimy shower kept me in bed. I heard Abby's side of the phone call:
"Ok so the 8:30 tour is available and what about the 9am? It's 7:10 now so we probably can't make the 8:30 right?"
She was right, the drive to Hobbiton was going to take 1hr15mins so we'd have had to have been leaving that second and since I needed the toilet....
Covering phone Abby asks me "shall we do the 9am tour then?". I nod sleepily realising that now I am definitely going to have to move and then rush about. I allow myself a little indulgent sigh and I hop out of bed while Abby sorts out the booking on the phone. I am glad Abby woke up in time to do this as Hobbiton does sound fun but now the race is on to get there in time and so we'll have to have very quick showers in the on-suite-of-doom :)
Race to hobbiton
It turns out, after a day of travelling together Abby and I have really found our groove and we move around each other with ease and efficiency, brushing our teeth in parallel to save time :) When we are washed, dressed and everything has been crammed back into our rucksacks we head out of our room and down the long corridor. We split up, Abby heads to check out and I head to prep the car ready for the journey. By the time I have my stuff in the car, the radio volume checked, the map set up and the vehicle reversed Abby is appearing from the reception jogging towards the car "I asked the reception woman which way to Hobbiton and she wouldn't stop talking!" Abby was right that we didn't have time on our side today. She hopped into the car and I drove thankfully the correct direction out of the site.
Our rush to leave has resulted in my being in the car with hair that is Un-brushed and skin that is un-moisturised and protected with sunscreen and so as we drive along Abby preps the required tools and then at traffic lights we act like a polished surgical duo:
"Scalpel... I mean hairbrush.."
It's actually hilarious and results in a lot of giggling during the hourlong journey. We are clearly both optimistic about today and the mood is a very excited one :) We’ve got this!
Google directions in New Zealand feels a bit laggy to me, as if it takes the map a while to catch up with where we really are yet we manage to agree on the turnings and we make it to the main highway! Hurray!
The land of the Hobbits
We arrive in Hobbiton and, as expected, only have a few minutes to spare so we park up, I change into jeans as it is a kinda cloudy and cool and we head into the ticket office.
Something I have noticed during my travels is that I have become much less bothered about who sees my knickers. If I want trousers on, then the shorts just come off and the trousers on. If I want my swimmers on, then I just do it now without really caring. Bra and pants in the car park seem very reasonable if it helps me get changed faster. I wonder how this would fair in much colder England.
Abby heads to the desk to get the tickets. Would you believe that we now have time to buy coffee and gluten free cake - bless you New Zealand! 😍 Ah coffee, my dark delicious reviving friend.
Then we set off, in the back of the tour bus... where the cool kids hangout... still giggling about our race to the shire!
Photo bananas!
Hobiton is incredible! My expectations were modest but it was sooooo much fun I am so glad Abby had suggested it. The sky was cloudy and grey at the start of the tour, casting the scenery in a Scottish highlands look. So green and rolling, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to look at. No wonder the hobbits spoke with such fondness of it 😊
We arrive in Hobbiton. The attention to detail is outstanding. Each home front crafted with a keen eye, prepared to outwit those eagle eye movie nerds constantly checking for continuity errors.
We are shown an enormous fake tree that was constructed at great cost and effort and all for a total of 6s of footage.
We are told about the birthday cake that caught on fire, with the smoke visible in the movie.
From birds flying backwards to the local cats appearance, there is plenty for the movie geeks to hunt out and for the rest of us Hobiton is a magical place to dissolve ourselves into a world that captured our minds and hearts.
More photos to follow :)
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