After a much needed night’s sleep, we got up early to hit the road for the road trip part of our adventure! First though, we picked up our rental car at the airport. New Zealand drives on the left side of the road (like the UK), so driving takes more focus. So, being the control freak I am, I drove. Fortunately we got a nice SUV so the 3 of us all had space. Phone Google Maps work great here too, so getting around is easy!

Our first road trip stop was Hobbiton! Yes, you read that right, Hobbiton. Lord of the Rings was shot in New Zealand and the town of the hobbits is still intact! We arrived, got our tickets, and then had a nice elevensies meal at the cafe. The only way to see Hobbiton is on a guided tour, so we hopped a bus and began. The tour guide was super sweet, friendly, and informative. For example, we learned that Peter Jackson flew in black-faced sheep instead of using local sheep because they looked better. Also, trees had fake leaves and fruit added to look better. The gardens of the place are truly STUNNING! Everything is green, lush, and covered with bees. They kept to themselves though.. We had such a great time walking around. The nerds in all of us came out and we absolutely embraced every moment!

After the tour we got back on the road and headed to Rotarua, a backpacking town famous for their hot springs. Our hostel was pretty basic.. but we just needed a place to sleep. It was raining pretty steadily when we got in, but decided to walk around as much as we could. We saw the town museum, a couple pretty gardens, and walked along Lake Rotarua. Then, we decided to go grocery shopping! Every foreign country has fun local food, so we decided to check out what snacks we could get — we came out with teriyaki chicken, champagne and shallot, and pork belly potato chips; fruit juice, and a bunch of bulk nuts and snacks. We were pretty stoked!

Then it was time for our Maori dinner (pronounced mow-ree). The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. We learned that NZ is one country that handled relations with the indigenous folks well throughout the years and now this dinner was a celebration of their culture and history. This was a bit of a big tourist activity, but we were up for it. Our bus driver was silly, but did teach us the greeting ‘Kia Ora’ meaning ‘Greetings, good health’. When we arrived at the beautiful lush grounds we were treated to a wonderful display of Maori greetings – the Hakka! Complete with battle dance and amazing faces!

After the intro, we went through a few activities learning about dancing, sports, and the culture of the Maori. Then they showed us how they roast their meat and vegetables via Hangi (underground cooking using rocks). So cool. We ultimately got to eat that underground cooked food, but there were a few more shows we saw first. Oh, and Justin got to learn to dance!

We were quite hungry when we finally got to eat – and the food was delicious! They had roast chicken and lamb, potatoes/ carrots/ kumara, and a delicious kiwi dessert. By the end of dinner we were exhausted… but the show wasn’t quite over – there were more songs and a lively bus ride home that included Kathryn and I falling asleep and waking up to our driver spinning loops in a roundabout.. it was a bit much. We made it home and crashed hard, despite a rowdy party at the hostel.

Next up road tripping, caves, and glowworms!

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