North Island Itinerary: Hobbiton and Waitomo Glowworms

Flying back to New Zealand from Sydney, we arrived in Auckland and had two days to explore around before the trip was over. The first day, we chose a long day driving down to the Hobbiton Movie Set and the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and then back to Auckland. It was a beautiful, sunny day for Hobbiton, and it was lambing season, so there were lots of sheep and their lambs on the green hillsides. We even saw a lamb that had just been born a few minutes prior, which the bus driver had seen on her way to pick everyone one up.

My phone battery died on the way to Waitomo, so we were left without navigation and got lost, which was not fun. We had to use the old-fashioned paper map from AA and stick to the main highway so we wouldn't lose more time. But this was my first time seeing the glowworms and they were very cool. They take you into the caves and then on a boat so your eyes can adjust to the darkness and see the thousands of glowworm larvae above and around you. Since you can't take photos down there (which is nice - frees you to actually enjoy the experience), I've only got one of the exit of the caves.

 

The recreation of Hobbiton in The Shire

 

Bilbo Baggins' house

The Hobbiton cat had the best seat in The Green Dragon Inn, next to the fire

Exiting the Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Hobbiton

We finally made it to Hobbiton. It was raining, cold, and muddy, unfortunately, but that's New Zealand. Unpredictable weather always. There were lots of hobbit hole facades and real fruit and vegetable gardens. I recognized some of my own plants there which was cool! Since we've watched the behind-the-scenes documentaries of the LOTR and Hobbit movies, there wasn't much new from the guide. We had the ginger beer (ginger ale soda) in the Green Dragon Inn and a chocolate chip cookie with lemon frosting. We would have appreciated a little more effort toward atmosphere on the tour, as listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and other pop music on the bus ride to and from the set wasn't quite the movie soundtrack and experience we were expecting. They packed a lot of people into our group and the walkways aren't designed for that many people, so there was a lot of crowding (especially with us all using umbrellas). We plunked down a bit in the gift shop for some souvenirs and were on our way to Auckland.