MataMata New Zealand
10 :38am NZTime

Picked up the Camper at the airport yesterday in a torrential downpour (perfect). As we picked up the van, the counter girl told us that they'd be needing $5,000.00 cash as a security deposit or we would have to pay $40.00 a day for insurance... Feeling like I'd just had some rough anal sex, we drove away five grand lighter and into the storm.

After a few miles, the rain stopped, the sun came out and we realized that this was the actual start of the trip. We started singing like the Von-Trapp family and birdies chirped and the little forest creatures came out onto the road so we could squash them. It was a nice moment.

We pulled into a hot springs and "Holiday Park", set up the camper and relaxed.

A note on Holiday Parks:
They're clean and full of incredibly friendly people. Probably one of the most inexpensive and pleasant places to stay. The bathrooms are clean, working, free of graffiti, it's quiet and the air is clean and there's little woodland creatures hopping around and hobbits come and give you massages.

We're off to the Shire this afternoon to see where Peter Jackson built the Hobbit Holes in the hillside. Should be a good place for photos..

Leaving the Hotel in Auckland! Finally getting out of the city.

This is "Spuckler", the VW camper van. Stick Shift, Right Hand Drive.. AAAUUGGHH!!!

The Holiday Park. Pastoral and calm... I'm drinking heavily this night to relax after the drive through the country.

We realixed after parking, that the four of us will be living in a closet for two weeks... pretty cool closet though.

More shots of the closet... Deb stoked us with a really yummy meal last night, built in the Van! How cool is that?

Yummy meal and super tasty Kiwi Juice (Yes, it's pureed Kiwis).

Cool! Just got done with the Shire tour in Matamata. The Kiwis are so cool. The tour guide told us all about the location scout coming to this local farmers house and asking him if he was interested in being a location for the movie.. this guys a local hero now.

Deb and the kids are waiting for me out in the van right now, so I'll do a quick image dump and be on my way. We're off to Rotorua next and need to get in before dark tonight.

Kaya displays the "Official Hobbiton Map".

Hobit holes and sheep... lots and lots of sheep.

Sheep Poop. I thought it was funny.

"Bag-End". Pretty neato to be here.

This is the giant tree from the party scene in the first movie.

Kids by the lake in front of the Shire..

"Bag-End" looking a bit worse for the wear...

The kids and I hanging out at Bilbos Crib.

Deb inside Bag-End... somewhat different from how it looked in the movie...

The Lindsays hanging out in Hobbiton...

The most beautiful woman in New Zealand..

Tauranga and Papamoa Beach, New Zealand
06:27pm NZTime

Got out of Hobbiton and headed back north over the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest range to the beach in Tauranga. Found a holiday park at Papamoa Beach on one of the north-facing coasts of the North Island. If I keep saying it's beautiful and warm and friendly, you guys are gonna get sick of reading this, but, sorry, it was. Kaya found a little French girl to hang out with and they spoke broken english and french at eachother and bounced on the giant rubber pillow out in front of the camper.

Deb and I drank some beers, made dinner, put the kids to bed, made love on the beach... the usual.

The view from the top of the pass into Tauranga.

Obligatory shot of "Spuckler", parked at the holiday park.

Deb catching some serious air on the weird inflated pillow thing...

Rotorua and Lake Rotokakahi, New Zealand
07:00pm NZTime

We got up early and went for an amazing walk on the beach. It's like a million miles long and full of strange shells... more evidence that I'm no-where near home.

After breakfast, we packed up Spuckler and emptied the waste water (my first experience with this... fun.) and headed out towards Rotorua. All the way along Hwy #2, there are blatant clear-cuts all over the place. The Kiwi's call them "Tree Farms" and aren't phased a bit. I think they look icky, but I live in a house made of wood,... so what are you gonna do?

Made it into Rotorua around lunch time and diddled about the shops for a while. Found some amazing jade and bought a necklace for Deb. I understand that it's bad luck to buy it for yourself, so we're safe. After lunch we went to the mud pools and geysers they have here.. actually, this area is so geothermally active that people wake up to mud pools in their garages sometimes. They lose cars to sinkholes all the time. Realizing that the Zorbing would have to wait for tomorrow, we headed out of town to Lake Rotokakahi and found yet another friendly and clean holiday park where I now sit, typing on this laptop.

On to the pictures...

One possible future plan for me in New Zealand....

Some of that hot water that just flows out of the ground, pooled for tired tourists like us to wiggle our feet in..

Deb and Kaya were at eachothers throats, literally.

Bubbling pools of mud...

Splort...

Blorp...

Geysers and my beautiful women.

Pastoral landscape and the pits of hell... we've got it all!

The Mauri (Locals pronounce this Ma-Ri) didn't use these pools for their healing waters or for day-spas,... they dropped their enemies into them and watched as the 270 degree water boiled the flesh from their bones... eek.

Say this ten times fast. Loosly translated, it means "Hey White Man, try and say this one".