"My bum is burning!"

To any family/friends who were still wondering where this post was: blame Amy. She was supposed to write it. To any other readers: enjoy.

Our day began with frost in Taupo. It seemed to be much colder in central North Island than anywhere else. That said, it seemed to clear quick - the roads were fine heading north out of the town towards our first stop of the day. Let's face it - most of New Zealand is beautiful, so me saying this drive was gorgeous doesn't actually mean a lot.

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The funny shaped hill, by the way, is Mount Pohaturoa (I think). Geologically, it's a volcanic dome or plug, all that remains of an old volcano. Historically, there is an old pa on the top, a Maori village site. I'll admit I only looked it up because of the weird geology, but I can see why you'd put a pa on it - it looks pretty secure up there.

Amy had a weird reaction to Backstreet Boys coming up on shuffle... But we'll skip over that bit because first stop of the day was Hobbiton.

Well, Matamata, with it's excellent Hobbiton Movie Set. Yes, it's sad. Yes, it's geeky. But I am a massive Tolkien fan and it was something that had to be done. Look, there was a bus called Legolas.

Ahem. So the tour was amazing. Here, have some photos.

I won a leaf from Bilbo's tree. Amy and Claire filched some fallen ones. Thieveses.

Another member of our tour group landed in a heap trying to recreate that iconic "I'm going on an adventure!" leap over the fence.

And then we got a free pint in the Green Dragon. Pretty good, that cider, actually.

Altogether now...

You can search far and wide.

Basically, Hobbiton was amazing.

After that, another scenic drive through the Waikato countryside to the little town of Rotorua, famous for its geothermal features. A quick stop at the hostel to dump bags and then on to Te Puia.

Here we hit a snag, because I left my camera at the hostel and as yet I still don't have any photos from Claire or Amy. Let's have a go though.

Te Puia takes in a geothermal area on the outskirts of Rotorua and a Maori cultural centre including the National Carving and Weaving Schools. Our experience there began with a walking tour of some of the main sights, including Pohutu Geyser and the Kiwi House. The geyser was impressive, as were the bubbling hot pools of mud. Our guide was most informative and as with many of the guides was a member of Te Awara, the group of tribes who are traditional owners of the site.

Following our little tour, we stuck around for our evening Maori cultural experience, Te Po. This began with a hongi, the traditional welcome between people. Claire has some excellent photos of this, somewhere.

This was followed by a performance of poi (a dance), haka (a war dance) and Maori song. Brilliant stuff but once again I have no photos.

Then it was time for tea, with delicious food cooked in the Maori hāngi style. This involves putting stones in a pit, heating them, placing the food on top (wrapped) and then burying the whole lot for a few hours. Some really delicious dishes and the staff kindly found us to let us know which dishes had nuts in, since Claire's allergic.

Much delicious nomming followed. I tried mussels and crayfish for the first time and discovered they're yummy.

Our evening ended with a trip on the waka (read: giant golf buggy) back down to the geysers. Hot chocolate and a seat on hot rocks while our evening guide told us stories about both the area and his experience of growing up around the valley were a brilliant end to the day.

The highlight, though, might just have been Amy jumping up in a quiet moment yelling, "My bum is burning!"