Hello fellow travellers,
This is part two of my blog, covering my six months journey through the world. Still in New Zealand, we will travel from the bubbling pools of Mordor to the lush green of the Shire and beyond. If you are interested in the other blog posts, you can find them here:
Part 1:
https://steemit.com/travel/@icountedzero/six-months-of-freedom-new-zealand-part1
After finally making peace with the Coromandel Peninsula, we jumped back into our trusty ride, Eduard, and headed Southwest to the small city of Rotorua and their boiling and bubbling mud pools. 2003 a small vulcano errupted near the city center, transforming the once lush city park to a steeming, smoking vulcano wonderland. (Sulfurus "egg smell" included)
"No swimming" signs are posted on every corner. I don't know who the heck wants to swim here anyway.
Sauron has to hide somewhere around here...
Our desire for boiled eggs faded immediately
Two things you get used to traveling New Zealand very fast, are the distinct smell around vulcanos and GERMAN TOURISTS. It seems to be a thing in Germany to go to NZ in your gap year, so all the hostels are FLOODED with german youngsters between the age of 17 and 23. (Once a busdriver asked me, if there were any germans left in germany :) ) Don't get me wrong, we are living in Austria and are very fond of our German neighbours, but the thing is, travelling youngsters seek different expiriences than the average traveller and for most of them it doesn't make a difference if they are partying in Christchurch or in Ko Samui, so sometimes travelling on a low budget can be quite annoying.
Fleeing from Modor we were heading for "The Shire" in the heart of the northern Island. As we are both big LOTR fans, we just couldn't skip this expensive tourist trap. Shame on us. (The ticket was around 70 NZ$ :( ) Looking back i still do not regret going there, as they kept the place in lovely shape (Most of the plants are real) and the tour around the village took around two hours and included lots of insider information and a free beer at "The Green Dragon Inn".
The Shire, including "Bag End" at the top of the hill
Most of the houses are empty, but still there is quite a hands on mentality when it comes to exploring the place
"Bags End" featuring the famous oak at it's top....
...which is one of the few things completely artificial. The tour guide shared the story of Peter Jackson recognizing the plastic leaves beeing the wrong color and having all of the 400.000 repainted by hand just before the filming started. To artificially age the wood around The Shire one person, probably a poor student, was busy for two months smearing the doors and fences with a mixture of yoghurt and moss.
Driving west we were heading for another potential tourist trap, the Waitomo Glowworm caves, we, scared by the price, luckily skipped for a smaller guided tour around private caves. (As you might see in later posts, we found some "wild" glowworm caves too.) These strange creatures are actually non-flying bugs that are producing a sticky string hanging from the ceiling, waiting for an unware victim to fly along -> straight out of a horror movie. They are dwelling near underground rivers and seas.
Sticky glowworm strings, waiting for their prey
Hard to capture on pictures, but you get the idea
Our guide used a classic magnesia latern to flood the impressive caves with brigth light for a few seconds
Now we know why peaple on vintage photos always narrow their eyes to a small slit
In the upcoming posts we are discovering the thermal baths, rainforests and beaches of New Zealand before taking off to Fidji and beyond. If you enjoyed this post and want to support me and my work, feel free to Upvote/Resteem/Follow.
Thank you for reading.
Florian