Hobbitses, Glow Worms & T-Shirts, Oh My! (Plus, the Milky Way)
Aside from hanging with family, we had a couple things we really wanted to squeeze in to our time in Rotorua: Hobbiton and the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves . Ned booked a package tour with a driver who would zip us (well, zipping is a relative term in NZ) from the house to Waikato for Hobbiton and then to Waitomo for the caves. All told, we'd be on the road and touring from about 8:30 am to 6 pm. Our driver to Hobbiton was Fran--who had some very definite ideas about migration into NZ that were balanced with a wide-ranging sense of NZ history and geography and solid recommendations on ice cream. So, six of one, half a dozen of the other. On the drive, we were struck by the beauty and variety of the countryside. For a few kilometers, we'd be surrounded by mounds in the earth that served as pressure release valves for the region's volcanic activity; then, rolling farmlands with hundreds of sheep or cattle; then, acres of corn; then, small suburbs; then, ...