Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

We awoke on Christmas Eve morning knowing we had a pretty jam-packed day so we got up, got ready, and hit the road! 

Heading back into Rotorua from our riverside Airbnb, our first stop of the day was at Hells Gate Thermal Pools! Rotorua is a geothermal hotspot, so was time for some spa-like activities! We checked in and decided to upgrade our experience to include a tour. We came for mud but it made sense to actually check out the place. Walking around, it reminded me a lot of Yellowstone National park with all of the acidic mud pools bubbling about. Very apocalyptic vibes! We walked the loop and read about the spots-many of which were named by a British dude and he clearly had babies and hell on the brain since some of the names included: The Infants, Baby Adam, and Devil’s Bath.

After walking around, we circled back to do what we came for- soak in hot baths and cover ourselves with volcanic mud! Laughing as we went, we covered all the skin possible that sat outside of the waist deep pool and then let the mud dry. It was like a facial for your whole body. After 20 minutes, a worker let us know it was time to get out. Getting the mud off wasn’t quite as hard as I thought it was going to be and we then had free time to go in a few other (non muddy) pools, including a cold plunge pool (always gotta go for the plunge)! Definitely had a blast but I was ready to leave when we were done since we were both starving. 

Struggling to find a spot to eat, a nice guy at the front desk gave us a recommendation for some great Māori cuisine at Kai Caff Aye and we were grateful for the tip! We arrived in our towel ponchos and ordered the hangi which was delicious! Not wanting to eat too much before Zorb (again lol) we split it and that was definitely the right move. 

This time for Zorb we did 3 total runs, and 2 were new to us! We also brought the GoPro inside the ball for the runs and oh my god the video footage definitely helps paint the picture of how WILD it is on the inside! Again, it was so much fun but this time we both got a little more banged up. Still totally worth it! 

Next on our list was the long-awaited HOBBITON!!!! We traveled back to our Airbnb to shower and get freshened up before driving the short distance to the epic movie set tour. After parking and checking in, we boarded a tour bus that took us to the actual SHIRE aka the movie set of the hobbit’s home in the Lord of the Rings(LOTR) and the Hobbit trilogies. This place is more magical than I could have ever imagined. I teared up a few times at how glorious it was! 

The set was torn down after the LOTR filming, however when the decision was made to film the Hobbit, the owner of the farm teamed up with Peter Jackson to build it permanently so that it could be enjoyed by fans afterward. It was so incredible to learn about all the little details that went into building such a massive set! The gardens are meticulously kept and I took so many photos for future garden inspiration 😍 

I never realized just how many hobbit holes there were! Many of them are just the front facing facades and are not actually built out. Each had their own personality showing what that hobbit might have specialized in or contributed to in the shire: a carpenter, bee keeper, cheese maker, bread maker, and lots of gardeners just to name a few!

Out of 40+ hobbit holes, 2 are completely built out for touring, with Samwise Gamgee’s being one of them! (They are a little larger to accommodate human size folks)! It was so fun being able to go on and have a look about because the attention to detail was unmatched to anything I’ve ever seen. Every tiny detail to make the hobbit hole feel like a lived-in home was done from having toothbrushes in the bathroom, to wall decorations of “flowers of the shire”- the designers and artists thought of everything (and more)! 

Our tour was late afternoon/early evening, so by the time we were having our beer at The Green Dragon, the lighting was spectacular and it truly felt like heaven on earth. 

Words and pictures don’t even do this place justice. It needs to be experienced in person! 

Floating on cloud nine as our tour ended, we of course grabbed some goodies at the gift shop including a map, a Green Dragon ceramic mug, and I got a pin that says Éowyn‘s famous, ‘I am no man!’ quote.

After the tour, we drove back through the endless rolling green hills doted with trees and the setting sun casting golden light in all directions. Cue the tears, again, at the sheer beauty all around. 

Hungry after running around all day, we ended up in a sleepy town (it being Christmas Eve and all) of Matamata and got some seriously delicious Indian food at Indian Tadka Matamata (it might even be the best I’ve ever had? The garlic naan for sure was the most amazing ever).

Truly exhausted, we passed out once we got home- feeling so grateful to have experienced another wonderful day in New Zealand!

Coming up next is Christmas in New Zealand and our last full day in Rotorua/Maungatautari region before we continue south for Wellington! This will be my first Christmas away from home ever- truly wild. 😳 Subscribe below to keep up to date on new posts!