Day 7 Rotorua to Taupo
We had underestimated how popular Hobbiton was and being low/shoulder season we thought we'd be able to rock up when it suited us. A couple of days ago though we thought we should test this theory, only to find out all places were booked out online. K phoned to see if there was any leeway or standby tickets, and was told we could book an 11am visit on Monday taking a bus from and returning to Matamata. Why we couldn't just drive directly to Hobbiton and pick up the tour there was never made clear, but as this was our only option we hit the road early and backtracked the hour's drive to Matamata to get the bus.
The Hobbiton site was much better than we expected with lots of hobbit homes and interesting facts about the construction and movie making process. A thoroughly delightful, pretty set and definitely worth a visit.
Back to Matamata by bus, then into the car to hightail it south again to try and make it to Orakei Korako Geothermal Park before the last boat of the day left at 4pm. We arrived with a minute to spare and spent the next hour on the trail around the bubbling hot water sulphur, mud pools and geysers waiting to erupt, another nice and worthwhile visit.
From there it was on to our final destination for the night, Taupo. Rotorua to Taupo by car is usually just an hour or so, but today because of our poor planning we'd had at least three hours on the road!
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