Gold mines and Hobbit- holes

Thanks so much for your kind words, stars and hearts for yesterday’s Coromandel set - all very much appreciated! 

After yesterday’s sunshine, it’s disappointing to awake to yet more drizzle. Today we leave Coromandel, heading down to Taupo - and hoping that the roads will all be clear. And amazingly, but for a lane closure where they’re still clearing slips, they are, allowing for good progress. 

I’ve planned two stop-offs on this route - the first an old mining area in the Karangahake Gorge. It’s still raining when we get there, but we take a loop walk along the gorge path just above the raging torrent of a river and through a km long old railway bridge, before cutting back over the hill to return to the car park. The area is littered with the detritus of gold mining, with information plaques detailing processes used - such as cyanide being used to extract the gold. Obviously, this was a dangerous job on so many levels. It’s a beautiful walk through spectacular scenery along a riverside path - though I must admit the closeness to the raging river makes me nervous. Most interesting, however, is the almost endless walk through the ramrod straight 1100m  disused rail tunnel in the pale orange twilight of the minimal lighting. 

From here, the plan was to proceed to a geothermal area north of Taupo, but our tardiness means we’ll arrive just before it closes and so we need a rethink. Much dithering ensues before somehow we find ourselves heading for Matamata and Hobbiton. Whilst I’d previously expressed an interest in going here, G had been adamant he wouldn’t go, yet somehow we find ourselves suddenly in possession of two costly tickets for the next tour! 

I realise several blippers may have been, and several others may consider such a venture a total nightmare, but in fairness, it is well conceived and generally enjoyable. We’re taken on coaches to the location (used for the Hobbit rather than LOTR) with video messages from Peter Jackson and the farmer fortunate enough to own the land, and presented with extracts from the film. A fan of both the books and films, I must admit they’ve got me with the introductory music! 

It’s then a case of touring almost each and every hobbit hole. The detail really is amazing, and the setting’s beautiful - a rural idyll set in rolling hills. Maintenance is meticulous, with gorgeous gardens filled with flowers and vegetables - monarchs and bees flying freely amongst them. It’s quite enchanting - though of course very few of the scenes that we remember were actually shot here; rather in the studios in Wellington. And finally we end up in The Green Dragon enjoying a glass of ale! I probably could have done with the tour being a tad shorter, but altogether it was a really enjoyable experience, very professionally done. 

So it’s on to the final stretch of our journey and Taupo. We follow the directions to our Airbnb which turns out to be in a very exclusive gated community, The Point. We key in the entry code and proceed along the private road through an area which  looks like untouched bush, the houses here are all carefully concealed within the native vegetation. We are greeted by our hosts - a delightful couple - and shown around our ‘suite’ which has its own private garden area overlooking the lake, and sole use of the top terrace which has views to die for! Later, we sit there drinking wine and watching the sun set: I think we’re going to enjoy it here! 

My main today is of G in the railway tunnel - the second in what could become a series after the one of him in the culvert of Folly Dolly Falls last July! 

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2994307776366249901

And then, inevitably, there’s a Hobbiton extra!