So no wifi, the TV wouldn’t work during to atmospheric conditions, everything shut by 7pm but it was the most comfortable mattress and shower to date.

Up at 7, out by 8, first stop bakery to buy croissants for breakfast. Had a quick drive around the ‘Waterways’ in Pauanui, basically an area of outstanding wealth where every individually designed house comes with its own jetty and boat or even a helicopter!

We then began our drive to Rotorua. Not much to stop at on route although we did a little detour to the outskirts of Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park for a very quick short walk to stretch our legs. Then onto Matamata where we had already prebooked our tour of ‘Hobbiton’ where they filmed some of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. It was a very enjoyable tour of the set, along with a drink in The Green Dragon and a buffet lunch also included. For those of you who thought I was short, I did actually hit my head in a hobbit home so I must be officially taller than a hobbit.

We had planned to see The Blue Springs and do a walk there but these are currently closed so we continued to Rotorua and drove a whole circuit of the lake (2nd largest in the north of NZ and actually an extinct volcano crater) prior to checking into our hotel.

A quick check of what to do and timings etc, then we ventured out for a walk of the area and lake front before having a swift half in the Pig and Whistle (a former police station) before driving out to the Redwood Forest for a night time tree walk. Although we had to queue for 35 mins, it was worth it, 700 metres long, across 28 swing bridges, 20 metres in the air, all in the dark. We finished just as the rain started and headed back to our hotel for the night.