Another bright and early morning start for Day 5 of our trip. Our itinerary for that day was to get to Palmerstone North before sundown for a quick nights sleep before we head over to Wellington. It may sound like a long boring drive but it was actually to the contrary. There were so many things to see so we were able to make frequent stops to break up the tedious driving.

First stop on our way over was at Huka Falls. Huka Falls was about an hours away from Rotorua and was just before our first lunch pit stop at Lake Taupo.

The falls can be clearly heard from quite a fair distance away as it is an extremely powerful waterfall. It isn't very tall but you definitely don't want to get caught in that part of the river. The sheer force of the waterfall would definitely keep you down under the water. It is quite amazing. The water was also a pretty turquoise colour. Is there anything in New Zealand that isn't somehow beautiful?

Hobbiton, luging and zorbing | New Zealand Day 4

I've put my New Zealand trip blog posts long enough! Day 4 was spent in Rotorua and it was amazingly fun! Despite the gloomy weather we had that day, New Zealand still managed to stay beautiful.

We took a half day tour to the filming set of Hobbiton. For those unfamiliar with the Lord of the Rings series or the Hobbit this is the village in which the main characters hailed from. It was a 2 hour bus ride from Rotorua to Matamata which is where the set is located. 

This place was so wonderfully scenic. I've never seen rolling green hills until Matamata and the air was fresh and crisp. Straight from the scenes of a movie (literally).