Getting ready for the trip
Sunday the 2nd of november. Goal of the day : to buy a car and drive away. Ellerslie Car Fair is open from 9am to 12am. There is a lot of sellers, but there is even more buyers, and the cars that are not too bad are sold very quickly. In the middle of the morning, we finally find a car which looks good, and which is not too expensive. Money and papers exchanged, here we are : alone with our new car. It’s a Honda Odyssey from 2000, dark green, 7 seats, 150 000km on the odometer, and 4 new tyres. We name it Léonie.
Now we need to equip it ! We spend the afternoon in K-Mart and Wharehouse, and buy everything we need for the kitchen. Then we run at Bunnings to build a bed. A few minutes later, we’re in the middle of the car park, mesuring, sawing, screwing… At least, the bed structure takes its place inside the car and we’re ready to go on an adventure !
Our first destination is Hamilton, big city of the north island, with some awesome gardens that we heard a lot of good about. We’re driving in a little mountain road with a landscape probably wonderful, but it’s hard to say : it’s pitch black outside ! No rest area around… Freedom camping is forbiden here outside the very very rare car parks where it’s allowed, then that obliged you to stay in some bloody expensive holiday parks (the fine if you’re caught doing freedom camping is 200$). It’s too late, the night is all dark, we’re in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. We stop the car on the side of a little road, next to a pine forest, under a beautiful sky full of shiny stars. Perfect place for our first night in Léonie !
Hamilton and its wonderful gardens
When we wake up in the morning, it’s raining. All the nature around is bright green. We arrive in Hamilton under the heavy rain, but it does not matters. Hamilton looks like a huge shopping center with a lot of industrial areas and large streets full of big and ugly shops. But Hamilton has also a very charming main road full of good restaurants (which have a national reputation) and bars. In the middle of this main avenue, you can find Riff Raff, from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, at the exact place of the hairdresser shop where O’Brien worked and imagined this silly alien/vampires bi/trans sexuals show, during the 60’s.
While it’s still raining, we take time to solve some administratives points (again !) for our car : insurance and road assistance. We also must take Léonie to the mechanics, she (yes it’s a she !!!) needs some new CV boots to be perfectly healthy.
The next day, the weather is perfect and invites us to have a look at those very famous gardens, renowned to be among the most beautiful in the world. There is all sort of gardens there : japanese, chinese, italian, indian, maori, tropical, rose gardens, and more. All more beautiful than the others, is the perfect place to have a daydream walk in the middle of flowers, sweet smells and colors. Wonderful place for photographers, amazing landscape for flowers amateurs, and gorgeous walk for everyone. When we pass through the rose garden, some memories of our week in Istanbul comes back to us : the whole garden smells the rose turkish delight ! We spend a few hours walking inside the gardens, but unfortunately we don’t have enought time to see all of them. It’s time to take Leonie to the mechanic.
When we get our car back, it’s too late to leave Hamilton. So we stay another night here, waiting until tomorrow to visit a very particular village…
Matamata and Hobbiton, the Hobbit village
In the morning, we drive in the direction of Matamata on another amazing mountain road, where some little green hills share the landscape with big mountains that disapear in the horizon in a mysterious purple mist.
Matamata is a small farming village, prospering with dairy products and horse raising. The village life changed when Peter Jackson decided to film the Shire scenes for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy 20mn out of the city center. Today, the village is very famous for that and has hundred of buses full of cheerful tourists (like us :-)) who come to visit Hobbiton, the Hobbit village.
The weather is supposed to be good all day long. Happy, we take our chance and reserve a ticket for a Hobbiton Movie Set Tour. Perfect occasion to have a trip in Middle Earth and say hi to Bilbo ! After the painful fare of 75$ each, we discover a charming little village with round and colorful doors. Everything is real ! But the tree up to Bag End and the moss on the fences. Our guide tells us a lot of amusing stories about the filming and some crazy visiting fans.
Everything is perfect, the place is magic ! But when we arrive in front of Bag End, the weather betrays us ! Traitor ! A huge rain falls on our heads ! Deception… We didn’t had time to take a decent picture of Bag End. But then, thunderstorm join the party, and the ambiance became dramatic. We feel like real hobbits walking in the mud in the direction of the Green Dragon pub where we’ll enjoy a delicious home made beer. Unforgettable experience !
We decide to spend the night on a camp site in the Te Aeroa aeroclub. The night cost 13$ per person per night. When we arrived we don’t have enough cash to pay, and we cannot pay by eftos. That’s when Bevan, a maori guy who manage the camping, invites us to stay in his home ! He even offers us a hot shower, some chocolate and we watched a movie together. Very nice guy this Bevan. Thank you very much mate !
Tomorrow, we’ll head in the direction of Rotorua and its famous volcanic area.
Cheers
Tintin & Riette
Tips
Hamilton :
- Camp at the Glenview Bowling Club : 10$/night for a car. Showers 2$/7mn. The club sell some good local beers on tap, and you can enjoy it with a view on the Waikato River.
211 Peacockes Rd
Fitzroy
Hamilton 3206 - Hamilton gardens : Free entry ! You can spend lot of hours walking in there in the middle of flowers. Full of colors, sweet smells.
- Waikato Maori museum : Free ! Introduction to the Maori culture with a very nice permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions are not free.
1 Grantham Street (au sud de Victoria Street)
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