Whangamata 22nd October

On the move from Rotorua to Whangamata today which is on the Coromandel  peninsula. Stopped off at Matamata to see the Hobbiton movie set where they filmed the Lord of the rings and the hobbit. Cath and Mary have taken the 2 hour tour and I have decided to catch up on my writing the blog and doing some reading as we need to leave some books behind before the flight to Fiji at the end of the month. Apparently the tour takes in the Green Dragon inn and offers traditional Hobbit 'fayre'!!!
Rotorua was a great place to stay with people and property situated right next to hissing and steaming holes, boiling water and hot plopping mud. One of the best things about New Zealand is its attitude to health and safety. They warn you of the dangers but leave it to the individual and their common sense to take responsibility  themselves. Consequently you can get really close to things that would be fenced off in the UK and other countries with their more claims conscious legislation. After a few days we got quite blasé about walking next to steaming fumaroles.
Looking forward to visiting hot water beach and sampling the delights of the bay of plenty which includes an active volcano (white island). Still enjoying the trip immensely.