Updates from the Campervan #1

Our second camper day was full of highs and lows. We woke up to a beautiful sunlit valley just beyond the flowering wisteria tree our tilted camper was parked in front of. We had breakfast and headed to the Waitomo caves where we toured two different caves, learning about glow worms and cave formations. The Ruakuri cave has been doing tours for over 125 years and we felt our guide was one of the best we have had on any tour yet. The Waitomo Glowworm Cave tour included a boat ride through the cave tunnels where we saw amazing displays of glowworms but couldn't take photos. It was a very fun and educational experience as who knew that the glow worm light up snuggles once so popular were actually based off of a real creature!  Glowworms we learned are technically maggots, but the guides joked that people would be less excited about "glow maggot" caves. [We have better pictures but our computer is dead and we cant charge it until we find power - hopefully post later].

Glow Worm Strands when lit by light

Inside a cave

Wall formation

Unique Wall

From here we drove to the Shire - literally. Hobbiton is where the Shire filming for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit was shot. It's turned into quite the tourist trap and many locals we have talked with seem to scoff an the notion of Matamata (the nearest city), but the country truly is breathtaking. Apparently Peter Jackson flew around in helicopters in 1998 looking for sights for the movie and came across the Alexander's family sheep farm. They came to terms, constructed the set, filmed and tore it down as the materials were mostly styrofoam and plywood. But when some local people saw the movie they sort of figured out where it was and began asking for tours. The first tour was literally a van with four people. Then in 2008, when they wanted to film the Hobbit, the owner required that the set be made out of permanent materials, and that set is what exists today. It's truly amazing to see and the beauty is breathtaking. At the end of the tour one gets a drink at the Green Dragon, which is said to serve more beer right now than any pub in the country. 

Hobbiton

The Shire from Bag End

The Green Dragon

Yeah, she's cute!

Bag End - the tree above is 100% fake

Our third night in the campervan we realized that the stories were adding up quickly. Entering Rotorua, our next destination, we managed to make a wrong turn, get on a narrow street, and proceed to run over a large piece of concrete as we were in awe of the steam shooting out of the ground randomly in people's yards! The wheels did not run over the concrete 'rock,' but it took out our grey water cap, which we use to dump grey water. (If you are unaware, grey water is sink and shower water while toilet water is referred to as black water.) The cap stuck out ever so slightly further than the wheels. Additionally, we mangled our little step which no longer pulls out in front of our side door. So as we pulled into our first official RV park we were dragging our little cap that got ripped off. We needed to dump both water tanks, which is why we opted for a paid park on our second night.  However, the broken hose prevented us from being able to hook the hose up, so we had to do that with buckets (and some swear words--spoken out of ear shot of young ears of course). So safe to say our deductible is probably blown at this point. Ughh, but we do make a lot of jokes about Eddy and Christmas Vacation with his RV... $h**ers Full!

(Photo coming in future)

Score: RV-1, touring family-0

This has created a new disciplinary tool though as children who cant behave are required to empty the $h**er - yeah we'd do that. 

All in all it is funny to try to figure out all of this camper living stuff on foreign soil. The next morning some park staff helped figure out a sort-of-fix and we were set. 

We headed off to a park which has a luge track, gondola, wine tasting and mountain biking (perfect mix wouldn't you say?). Purchasing our pack of races we safely navigated the various courses 4 times, having a blast. Mom and dad partook of a little wine tasting (after luge) and pretended to be on a date, learning more about the many New Zealand wines, before heading back to the RV park.  

 
Luge Time

Survived!

Wine tasting with some cheese - why not a  mid day date?

The RV park is a street away from Rotorua Lake's beach, so we headed there and dug a hole in the sand until hot water bubbled up. In addition to being a thrill-seekers paradise, Rotorua is a geothermal wonderland with hot spots, steam, and bubbling mud all over the place. Right next to the lake, which is cold, you can dig about 18 inches down and the water is like a hot tub!

While the boys dug, mom was intrigued by these black swans that were nearby. Dad tried explaining the financial meaning of black swans, but eyes glazed over quickly.

Following this feat we showered up at the center, did some laundry, and changed clothes for the first time in a few days (no one's been brave enough to use the campervan bathroom which is emitting a horrific odor).

That evening we attended an authentic Maori dinner where we learned about the history and culture of the natives of New Zealand.  The boys were able to participate in a haka and train their lower bodies, Mom learned how to keep her forearms in shape while creating rhythm, and Dad and our oldest worked on response time and quick feet -all of these activities were ways the Maori would stay in shape so that they were prepared for battle at any  moment.  The evening ended with a traditional hangi dinner cooked in the ground.  It was interesting to learn a bit more about the Maori.

Traditional Maori Hangi dinner cooked in the ground

Agility training - a "ladder", ironically which dad made the boys do in basement at home.