OMG! I couldn't believe that i actually took a year hiatus from blogging. As usual, being in service with medical field took a whole lot of my time and energy. If i'm not working, i'll be catching up on sleep or spending time with my family. Basically that pretty much sums up my year of 2019.
I believe the Covid-19 pandemic is no longer a fresh-put-of-oven news for the world. Some of the countries have already declared red zone and ordered a 'lockdown' for their citizens. Malaysia cannot escape this as well. From 18th March 2020 till 14th April 2020, we are placed under a 'Movement Control Order' (MCO). This is to slowdown the disease progression by limiting the people's outdoor movement. As a medical profession, i'm inevitably involved in this, working extra hours at the frontline, risking and sacrificing all our comfort, time with loved ones and health. There is always a flip side to anything right? The only thing we get in return from MCO would be more time to ourselves during isolation period. Hence, i'm back again in blogging mode and today i'll be bringing some ancient throwback of my NZ trip back in 2018.
Continuing from the last chapter, we went on to Hobbiton from Auckland. It was about 2.5 hours drive down south. Being one of the best destination of nature, the road along the way was so pleasant with luscious greeneries and pure blue sky. We stopped by Matamata to check into our hotel before headed towards the famous Hobbiton Movie Set.
Hobbiton Movie Set as its name suggests, was the filming location for the movie franchises: Hobbiton and The Lord of The Ring. It was said to be the chosen farm out of the entire North Island, owned by The Alexander family during the helicopter scouting by the production team. It was built according to the fiction books with great details and accuracy. The admission fee per person at that time was 84 NZD, inclusive of a 2 hours guided tour, photography opportunity and complimentary craft beer or ale at The Green Dragon Inn at the end of the tour. The bus will pick you up from the admission office to the designed film set and the guide will bring you around each section of Hobbiton, introducing each set along with some movie behind the scene stories.
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| Guess this Hobbit's occupation? |
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| Complimentary ale |
I find Hobbiton a very interesting attraction that every TLOTR fan should come. The price can be a little steep but quite worth it i would say. You get to enjoy the pleasant nature that NZ has to offered and the medieval fictional world that we grow up reading. Definitely a childhood dream comes true. The only downside was the time limit of 2 hours, making every photo opportunity a tad bit rush.
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| Homemade seafood pasta |
We spent our night at the nearest town--Matamata. Early in the morning we woke up for a morning hike at Wairere Falls, the nearest attraction near Matamata.
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| Post hiking breakfast with homemade scones and coffee at a nearby farm house |
The forest reservation was named as Redwoods mainly due to the main occupants of Californian Pine Tree that carries a distinctive reddish wood bulk. It was said that the NZ brought in this species of pine tree from California state in the US for its forest reservation. During the war era of NZ, this piece of forest land was severely damaged and the government would like to preserve its original look by planting these pine trees here. Therefore, some 40 years later, we are able to enjoy this piece of precious nature.
The Redwoods has several routes but we only managed to cover the second shortest one due to time constraing. Nevertheless, it was enough to impress us with its unique flora and fauna. Next up, we went for a geothermal spa experience in Polynesian Spa. We rented a private spa room for our family, enjoy a good soak of sulphuric water before headed to dinner.
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| Thermal pools everywhere |
More information~
- Hobbiton Movie Set: https://www.hobbitontours.com/
- Redwoods Rotorua: https://redwoods.co.nz/
- Polynesian Spa: https://www.polynesianspa.co.nz/
