Hobbiton and Hot Water Beach

So, my trip was fun! Short, but well-worth it.

Joe and I picked up the car at 8am on Wednesday and headed off to Matamata. He said he wasn't too confident with giving directions, so I let him drive and became the designated map-reader. The drive to Matamata was filled with green, rolling hills dotted with sheep. It's so strange how something so simple can actually be so beautiful.

We got into Matamata and headed for the iSITE, where we arrived just in time to get on Gandalf, the big white Hobbiton bus. The drive out Matamata was again filled with beautiful green rolling hills and dotted with sheep while the mountains in the distance gave a subtle hedge above the hills. Now, I had to sign a confidentiality waiver saying that I would not mention anything to friends and family about what I saw and heard at Hobbiton, so that's about all I can tell you. I don't want to get sued. I can tell you though: not even being a huge LOTR nerd, it was really cool. I wish I could post pictures! Ah well. I have them for me to remember what I saw.

Gollum and me are besties

Gandalf, the big white bus

see guys? this is why I can't say anything about the Shire

After Hobbiton we stopped at the Shire's Cafe, where I saw a sheep getting sheared and bottle fed a baby lamb! I'm pretty sure I can post a picture of the lamb/tell you about that part because it doesn't have anything to do with the movie. Anyway, I took a bit of wool and fell in love with the little wooly babies. So cute.Joe and I returned to the iSITE at Matamata and then continued towards Thames, where we were meeting Maddi that afternoon. We stopped in Paeroa - got an L&P "world famous in New Zealand", which is a lemony soda actually produced by Coca-Cola - for a few minutes but besides that we drove to Thames and got Maddi. Maddi had gotten a lot of information from the iSITE people in Thames about things to do in Coromandel, so as it was about 3:30pm, we left straight away and headed to Hot Water Beach.

Hot Water Beach is this beach (obviously) where you can dig holes in the sand and the water is really hot! Obviously... We got there just as sun was setting so we got to dig our pool with little light but it was fun. It was crazy because some of the water was scorching hot, other were lukewarm, and others were cold. Regardless, Joe and I got our hands in the sand and dug out a small hole. However, the tide was starting to come in so it didn't last long. Also, I love the beach at night. Fact.
Since it's winter, the sun sets just after 5pm, so there's not much to do after the sun goes down. We stopped at New World for some food and cheap wine, parked at a picnic site just off the highway, and hung out in the car until we fell asleep. Sleeping was not the greatest - I was in the passenger seat and I swear I woke up every half hour. It was easy to wake up at 7am and get started with the rest of the day. We even saw the end of sunrise at the beach!