Day 47 - 11/18/22 - Tauranga, NZ

 We arrived on time if not a bit early and there was quite a bit of difficulty in setting up two gangways (on Deck 1 and on Deck2).  After the gangway was opened we met Rolf, our tour guide for the day, just outside the port gate and we had a full bus of 20 guests.  Rolf is from Germany and was an absolute hoot to have as a guide.  He was extremely informative, a safe driver, and a pleasant conversationalist especially when he learned that we had a motorcycle stored in Germany.  

Our first stop was the movie set for the Hobbit movie series.  It was initially constructed for the Lord of the Rings movie, but was disassembled after that movie was filmed.  When the Hobbit movie was completed, this set was left (probably part of the contractual agreement), and the pilgrimages began.  As a person who has never read the books or seen the movies, I was instantly charmed.  The tours are highly regulated and on precise time schedules.  One generally parks in the parking lot and is taken by Hobbiton buses to the Hobbiton movie set. In our case, we used our tour bus and a guide joined us.  Once off the bus, we then followed a prescribed path alongside Hobbit houses (or Hobbit holes as they are referred to).  There were dozens and dozens of them on a hillside and the whole scene looked so natural and believable.  Of course many stories were told by our guide and the movie aficionados instantly recounted the scene and the dialog!  I took over 300 pictures.  At the end of the tour a free alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink is served in the Green Dragon.  The amber beer and the ginger beer were delectable.  We also enjoyed some pastries that we purchased.  The whole tour is around 2-2.5 hours.  I highly recommend it even if you haven't read the books or seen the movie.  But I'm about to close that loop!

We next drove another hour to hour and a half to Rotorua where we did an abbreviated city tour visiting a major hotel that stands empty and condemned after earthquake damage.  The exterior facade is magnificent.  Rotorua is located in the middle of a very large caldera which has significant geothermal activity throughout the city. We also visited Rachel's Spring which is geothermal hot spot.  It's next to the Blue Bath which is also closed due to earthquake damage.  Our final stop was at Te Puia which is a Maori Cultural and Crafts Center.  There is a fine gift shop and 3 workshops where they teach native Maori arts in the form of weaving, wood carving, and fine jewelry making.  We were able to see 2 Kiwi birds but no pictures were permitted. The fourth attraction is a collection of geothermal items including a boiling mud pot, geo thermal pools, a very large geyser, and lots of smaller stem vents from the magma chambers below.  It was good.  As we got ready to board the bus for our return drive to the port, our guide informed us that the ship was staying overnight and cancelling the following day's port stop.  I confirmed this news with posts on Cruise Critic and we all began to wonder if we might be able to have a longer stop in Auckland than 4 hours.

It took about an hour to drive back to the port and as we drove around the port area, I finally recognized some land features that we saw when we visited in 2014.  On that trip, we stayed in the port area as we had no interest in the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit items.  My has my perspective changed.  Back on board, we ate a very light supper, and then watched the big screen movie, "Where the crawdads sing".  It was very good, but definitely not for children.

Tomorrow, we'll probably just explore the port area again unless we discover a last minute tour we can take.  As much as I liked the Hobbiton tour, I wouldn't repeat it so soon.

No Covid numbers were released today.