I'm on a Waterfall

See that waterfall?

We totally hiked to the top. That's right, from the ground.

It was a beautiful hike, with mossy boulders, palm trees, and sturdy bridges over the stream.

At times it was also very, very steep.

This was the halfway point, which took us about 45 minutes to reach.

Here it is again, with some geeks for scale:

We hiked up the muddy, slippery slopes for another 45 minutes.  As we worked our way towards the waterfall, the air became very cool and damp. It was also strangely quiet and devoid of wildlife - we saw no animals except for a few birds. No snakes, squirrels, lizards or even slugs. It was kind of strange. There were a few other hikers, including a few people who were actually running up the mountain - unbelievable. At one point there was a sign pointing to an "Ancient Maori Trail - Very Steep and Not Maintained." And I thought "wow, how cool it would be to go down that," but decided it was probably not wise to attempt while wearing Converse. 

When we reached the top, the stream seemed deceptively calm and still.

Just a few yards down was the waterfall, we could see out over the whole valley.

A strong wind was blowing the waterfall upwards, right into our faces. Standing at the edge felt like standing in a lawn sprinkler of Biblical proportions.

These photos and my "lawn sprinkler" description don't really capture the power of the waterfall, so I also took a video, which gives a better impression of what it was like to be up there:

Hobbiton

And now the post you've all been waiting for: Hobbiton. And by “you” I mean “me.” I've been waiting for this. Yes, yes we have, precious.

It was a blindingly sunny and warm day. Hobbiton was just a 10-minute drive from our b&b.

Hobbiton was surprisingly large, with two ponds, several hills and seventeen hobbit holes. Our guide took us around from one spot to the next, pointing out which scenes had taken place in which areas, and the lengths that the film crew went to in order to get an “authentic” feel. For example, prior to filming Peter Jackson had someone hang up clothes on the clotheslines every morning, and take them off in the evening, so that they would wear down little trails in the grass.

Some of the hobbit holes were human-sized...

And others were hobbit-sized.

The hobbit holes were beautiful, overflowing with flowers and color. Many little details could be found at each entrance, such as benches, wheelbarrows, drying herbs, smoking fish, or jars of honeycomb for sale.

This hobbit seemed to be a painter.

It was simply the most lovely and idyllic little village you could imagine.

Bag-End!

My favorite hole was this one, which belonged to Sam and Rosie Gamgee, because of the pink roses framing the door.

At the end of the tour we had a drink at the Green Dragon Inn, which you can see across the pond.

Do you see this girl?

That is a happy girl right there.

Yes, precious.

We Hike Up a Volcano; Jasson Eats a Burrito

Yesterday our b&b hosts told us that they would have a farmer's market booth in Tauranga, a beach town about an hour's drive away. We decided we would stop by and check out the town.

To get there we had to drive over the Kaimai mountain range. On Google maps it didn't look so bad. But as we approached the mountain, we started seeing ominous signs.

HAVE A SAFE TRIP OVER THE KAIMAI RANGE (police car parked just beneath the sign)

SLOW DOWN. STAY IN CONTROL.

CONCENTRATE. WANDERING MINDS CAUSE CRASHES.

The road up the mountain became very curvy, and quite quickly we were enveloped in a thick fog that significantly reduced visibility. I was gripping the edge of my seat and Jasson was gripping the steering wheel.

SLOW DOWN FOR THESE BENDS.

"This farmer's market had better be amazing," he said through gritted teeth.

TOO FAST DOWN THIS HILL CAN KILL.

I suggested that we turn around, but before long we were heading down the mountain and the fog was clearing, and we could breathe again. I was mildly surprised to find that I hadn't peed my pants.

The farmer's market was just like American farmer's markets, complete with a bluegrass band. I did what I normally do at farmer's markets, which is shamelessly nibble on the free samples at every booth.

Jasson got a burrito, because he is a burrito aficionado. I asked him to rate it on a scale of 1-10.

Jasson: I've never tasted a burrito like this before. This isn't a Mexican burrito; it's a New Zealand burrito. So it can't be compared to the burritos on California; it needs an entirely different class. Like how men cyclists and women cyclists have to be rated in different classes. And this is the first New Zealand burrito I've ever had, so I have nothing to compare it to. So it is by default both the best and worst burrito. That being said, it's very good. I mean they cooked the steak right in front of me, and it just melted in my mouth. The roasted salsa was amazing. I would put that salsa on all burritos if I could. If I could take this steak and this salsa and put it in a burrito from from burrito shack in Los Molinos-

Me: That would be a 10?

Jasson: That could quite possibly be a 10.

Next we went to Mount Maunganui, which is an extinct volcano.

(image source)

You see this thing? WE WALKED ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP OF IT. The trip was very beautiful, which gorgeous views of sandy beaches and turquoise water.

Then it started to get steep. It just kept going up...

And up...

And up...

And up...

And up...

Finally we made it to the summit, very sweaty and tired.

I was surprised to see a few families with small children running around up there. Did those kids walk the whole way? If so, I'm in worse shape than I thought.

Back at the bottom, there was a boardwalk-like area along the beach. We bought a milkshake to reward ourselves for completing our hike and give ourselves courage for the trip back over the mountain. By this time the fog had burned off the mountain so the drive was merely nerve-wracking rather than pants-wettingly terrifying.

When we got back to our guest house, we passed out on the bed for about 2 hours.

A Ride Through the Shire

Today Jasson and I biked 20 miles around Matamata. It was a tough ride - not only are we out of shape, but there was a strong headwind and hills the entire way. (If you like you can see the ride data at our Strava page.) But otherwise it was a great ride - smooth roads, few cars, some friendly cows and of course amazing scenery. The Shire theme from LOTR was playing on repeat in my head during the entire 2-hour ride.

Believe it or not, I did not increase the saturation on any of these photos. New Zealand really is this unnaturally vivid shade of green.