When a mineral spring was discovered in Paeroa in 1904, the water was bottled for its health benefits, but fairly soon lemon was added and Lemon & Paeroa, the iconic soft drink of New Zealand was born and we spotted the big brown bottle as we drove through town. We’ve since tried some, lemony and a bit sweet and Joanna thinks it tastes like Refreshers …
Onwards then to The Shire and Hobbiton. Situated in the middle of a 1250 acre sheep and cattle farm owned by the Alexander family, the original set for Lord of the Rings was temporary, but was rebuilt for the Hobbit to be an ongoing attraction. And oh so many hobbit holes! Each one was different, beautifully presented with natural planting and thoughtful props that made it look like those hobbits had just popped out to market or the Green Dragon for a drink. In fact some 44 holes in all, and different sizes so when they film they can pick the right size hole depending on who is filmed in front, a short hobbit or tall Gandalf.
We wandered round for a couple of hours seeing the fence that Bilbo set off over with his contract saying he was off on an adventure …
…the party tree for Bilbo’s eleventieth birthday …
… Sam’s home, seen at the end of LOTR …
… and of course Bag End, home to Bilbo and Frodo.
The tree above Bag End was real for LOTR, but present tree is steel and silicon with individual leaves attached, which had to be sprayed as the leaves were the wrong colour.
We ended at The Green Dragon, which has been given an interior so it can be used for weddings, where we were offered a mug of beer or cider, especially brewed locally or Hobbiton, and very nice it was too.
Continuing south, we drove through the plain ahead, full of flat grassy pasture and grazing cows. until we reached Rotorua, which marks the start of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Our first stop was Te Puia where we joined an excellent guided tour and learnt about their star attraction, the Pohutu Geyser which erupts once or twice an hour up to 30m high.
Geysers have several chambers below the surface containing hot water, steam and gases and when the water heats up and the pressure rises, she blows! There was also a kiwi house, but they were all asleep …. not surprising since they are nocturnal.
Next stop was our campsite for the night at Waikite Thermal Pools (Wai-water, kite-clear) where as campers we were able to luxuriate in the hot pools both on arrival and again before breakfast.
The water bubbles up from a spring at around boiling point, and the minerals dissolved in the water make these lily pad type deposits of silica and calcite. Some of the water is diverted over cascades to cool it slightly before it is fed into the various pools with great views over the countryside. The pools are community run having been built in 1972 by the local people contributing 4000 hours of labour to the project.
Next morning, we had a 10.15 appointment with Lady Knox, the geyser at Waiotapu. It was discovered by inmates at the open prison around 1900, who used the hot water pools for washing and laundry, and they were surprised at how suddenly the geyser spurted once detergent in the water reduced the water pressure. They have been getting the geyser to erupt on time for visitors since 1903!
We actually enjoyed the rest of the park more, following the path passed various hot pools, some with bubbling water and others amazing colours from the various metal oxides present in the water.
There were also mud pools … but you will have to imagine the thick gloopy mud spurting and splodging all over the surface because trying to catch it effectively in a photo was really hard!
200,000 litres of water drop 9 metres over Huka Falls every second, as New Zealand’s longest river, The Waikato, leaves Lake Taupo. It also provides 15% of the country’s power.
Five Mile Amenity Area on the shore of Lake Taupo provided our second freedom camping spot where we cooked up green lipped mussels and were treated to a lovely sunset.
Next stop, more volcanos!
Off Travelling Together 