We made it!!  Wow!

We met with a Maori chief and we’re greeted in the traditional way. We learned the traditional Maori greeting, the hongie.

Then we experienced our Day of the Rainbow!

First, outside our hotel came a beautiful, clear rainbow which morphed into a double.

Then, on our drive to Rotorua came EIGHT more and here are pix of the ones I could snap,

This pretty much made the ride great!  But what came afterward made it truly wonderful!  Yay!  Made it to probably the most famous town in these parts.

Some of the places we saw were the meadow where Frodo ran down the hill to begin his great adventure, the Green Dragon in the distance beyond the double arched bridge, Bilbo and Frodo’s house with the steps and little bench, the blue door of the house belonging to the gardener, Sam’s house with the yellow door, and the green dragon carving over the bar in the Green Dragon.  What a fun day!!

We learned some of the secrets of the films.  The set was first built out of plywood and polystyrene but all dismantled after Lord of the Rings.  When The Hobbit came along Peter Jackson went into partnership with the farmer on whose land the film was set to build permanent buildings.  It took months and had huge cost overruns but they’re making money hand over fist now with an average 3500 people each day in the summers.  Now we’re going to have to watch all six films again to see if we can catch the things the guide told us about.

We will be seeing more of Middle Earth as we go along but I can tell you right here and now, New Zealand is as spectacular as I ever could have imagined!