From Middle Earth to the middle of the earth
In the end, we had a night off campsites and spent Saturday night in a familiar spot: the Auckland Airport Holiday Inn. A good bed, shower and unlimited WiFi helped restore our spirits and in the morning we set off south, destination: Matamata. Tomtom said we had a couple of hours drive ahead, long enough to get to know our new vehicle. Thankfully the roads are a lot wider and easier to drive than in the Northland, and we watched the rolling countryside all around us. It is extraordinary how green and unspoilt this country still is, but then being a similar size to the UK, with a population of 4.5 million, it's not that surprising. Hobbiton!! Matamata, our destination, is known for 3 things: horse breeding, farming, and the location of Middle Earth, the home of the Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. It's sounds like a bit of touristy thing to do, but I'd had on good authority that Hobbiton is a Must See. In fact, it's...