Woke early, and drove down to Hot Water Beach again. Sat & had a coffee then saw you could hire a spade from the lifeguards, buy it was $10 cash only & I have none.
I walked to the 'hot spot'. People were digging & it already felt hot under foot. One of the pools had very hot water in, about 60°C....a hot tubs usually around 38-40 I think.
I got chatting to an Australian couple while watching a family dig a massive hole, mixing the water from two ends. They had heavy duty spades & clearly knew what they were doing.
You can see bubbles, but this is CO2 gas, not because its boiling!
After about 20 minutes they said to me, 'Do you want this pool, we're going'
'Yeah thanks' I said. I was already wearing my bikini under my clothes so I got in, joined by an English couple on their honeymoon.
They had been trying to dig with a hired spade, & not in the right place, and we chatted & joked about it and about travels etc. The water was only enough to cover up to my waist while sitting but it felt nice and was pretty hot.
At one end you - the 60 degree end, it was way too hot and people kept trying to stand in it then jumping out again.
After this I had a walk along the beach.
There were these amazing birds with long red beaks - oyster catchers I think, digging & eating all sorts of shell fish.
I also saw this beautiful bird, two of them,
The New Zealand Dotterel that are endangered. They are so pretty with their faint peach coloured breast.
I visited Mercury Bay, containing Cook's beach and the Purangi reserve, famous because it is where Captain James Cook observed the transit of Mercury & why he named it this.
I then decided to head to Hobbiton, as I had found a campground near there. It was a 2 hour & 20 minute drive but I got there at 3.15pm. You could see, just by the surrounding countryside, why they picked this area for 'The Shire'
At the ticket office the sign said they had no more availability today. I was fully prepared for this & to come back tomorrow, but I asked & they had room on the 3.40 tour. The tour is guided & you get taken in by bus.
I was with a group from Taiwan & some Americans. The tour guide was English.
The site is a working sheep & cattle farm.
The link below explains how the place was found I998
It was fun looking round - I wish Archie & Eve could have been with me - they would Love it!
I remember watching the beginning of the hobbit with them
Incredibly, the oak tree above Bilbo Baggin's house is not real - they wanted a tree that looked exactly like Tolkien's sketches. For 'The Lord of the Rings' they cut up a real tree & stuck it back together, which of course, did not last. For 'The Hobbit' they built a fake tree with silk leaves - hand painted - then these were replaced with a more durable material.
Samwise Gamgee's house:
Only for the last two years, they have had a Hobbit hole you can go inside!
and we got to have a drink in 'The Green Dragon Pub'
My campground was 25 minutes away - it wasn't bad for a free one - a beautiful spot by the Waikato river - Little Waipa Reserve - teeming with bird life and black swans. It had long drop toilets & no water, but hot showers!
There were a few people there - bit of a weird vibe from the group camping to the left of me. They were staring, a lot! I said hello to the guy walking his dog and he blanked me. I didn't feel comfortable after that but had a reasonable night's sleep & the stars were amazing - finally spotted the southern cross.....and I get the emu's footprint now!
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