Today, we have an exciting plan... We're going to visit Hobbiton Movie Site just outside of Matamata! I've done my research and watched all the Lord of the Rings movies and Hobbit series before coming to New Zealand!

We boarded the bus at 8:15am along with other people from Matamata. It was a 1-2 hour ride there. The sights as usual were phenomenal. The greenery was ridiculous with tons of vibrant green rolling hills and forestry. 

When we got there, our driver told us to remain seated as he went to pick up a tour guide. The tour guide came on the bus and assisted with the closed gates in the farm. The farm still belongs to the owners and is still functional. So there was still tons of sheep and cow around! They have worked a deal with Sir Peter Jackson in terms of the movie set and land.

We drove by the area where they did maintenance and built some parts of the sets. We got to the entrance to the set and saw the "Welcome to Hobbiton" sign. Yay! Our tour guide said that most of the set was 99% real. They had 44 hobbit holes and gardeners to made sure all the greenery and vegetation was maintained! Most of the hobbit holes don't have anything in it, as it is being filmed else where. Also, I learned that the scene with Gandolf hitting his head was accidental but Peter Jackson kept it in the movie.

We were given some time at each section of the movie set to take photos and ask questions. The tour guides were very helpful in pointing out scenes on the site. Our tour guide pointed out that the farm was chosen for the Party Tree and the body of water next to it during the aerial search for shots.

The tour guide lead us to Green Dragon Inn where all the visitors were given a free drink to choose from (three different alcoholic and one non-alcoholic beverages). Keri chose an amber ale and I chose apple cider! It was quite cool being in inn as they kept a lot of the decor the same as the movies! There were postings and also a guest book where it shows that Elijah Wood signed!

After the tour, we were driven back to the gift shop. There were cool things like the alcohols that Peter Jackson had requested to be made specifically for the movies. After getting our "retail therapy" as our driver said, we headed back into Rotorua for 1pm.

Once we got back to Rotorua, Keri and I had lunch at the local sushi place. It was alright.. Once you've had the good stuff in Japan, it just isn't the same.

We walked to the Rotorua Museum which used to be a bath house! As part of the admission, we got a fantastic tour from 3pm to close. The tour was suppose to be 1 hour but our group was extra curious with questions and the museum closed at 5pm. Our walking group consisted of two other Kiwis (New Zealanders) and two other Canadians from Grimsby! Such a small world!

The museum was amazing, you get to learn so much about Rotorua, the volcanoes, thermal springs and so much more. I'd definitely recommend coming to Rotorua. Maybe next time, I'll try the zorb!

After the museum, we went to the King Size Burger Bar which is next to the police station. They had delicious food and for a good portion size as well! Our total cost was $40 for 6 oysters, 3 sets of chips, 3 fishes and a strawberry milkshake. Ridiculous! Almost made us feel like we were back in Toronto pricing. Definitely recommended!

We got packing and planned the next few days. I'm definitely learning to plan day by day within the 24 hours versus putting everything on the calendar several days before like I used to. Next day, coming up!