Not Our Finest Travel Day

Our first full day in New Zealand started off great. Tim and I were up about 5am (after going to sleep the night before at 6:30pm!). Taylor woke up about 6am. The sun came up about 6:30am and I headed out for a run. Wyatt woke up shortly after. 

By 7:30am, with a packed van, we rolled out of the Hahei Beach Resort in search of breakfast. And we found it just a few blocks away at the Little Blue Kitchen. Oh. My. Gosh. Breakfast was so, so good at this tiny cafe. We ate outside at a picnic table and watched as kids got dropped off at the general store next door -- that's where the school bus (which was a legit city bus with 'school bus' painted on the side) picked them up. 

After breakfast, we headed for the Hobbiton movie set, about a two-hour-plus drive from Hahei. The drive was beautiful -- lots of green everywhere plus trees starting to turn color for the fall. 

When we pulled into Hobbiton, we marveled at the sheer number of tourist busses in the parking lot. We found our own parking spot and walked over to the ticket line. And once it was our turn to speak with the cashier, we learned that there were NO MORE TICKETS to Hobbiton that day. We were told that "bookings were essential," as in, "Don't come here without tickets, you idiots." We quickly jumped online and saw that Monday was indeed fully booked (not that we doubted the cashier) and Tuesday had just a couple openings in the morning, and that there were spots available here and there throughout the week, but not much. So then we spent some time googling, "Is a visit to Hobbiton worth it?" and the responses were overwhelmingly yes.

Ha! Count our visit to Hobbiton as a travel fail. We assumed we could roll up the movie set and just jump into a tour. Not so much. But we did take a great family photo in front of the main sign...so that's a plus. 😉Hobbiton isn't really easy to get to based on the rest of our NZ itinerary; we haven't completely ruled out a visit, but it isn't looking likely. We'll just watch the movies again instead...

Family photo in Hobbiton, which we did not go see because we were those tourists who did not buy tickets in advance!

We jumped back into the Staria and got on the road for Rotorua, home to 18 lakes and some super impressive geothermal parks. We knew there was a lot to do and see in Rotorua, and we were motivated to make the most of the remainder of the day. 

On the drive in to Rotorua, on the main road, Taylor spotted giant inflatable balls rolling down a large hill. She piped up from the backseat, "Look at those balls! Can we do that?!" We said we'd look into it over lunch.

We drove about 10 more minutes into the city center, parked the car, and walked down to Eat Street, which is exactly what it sounds like. We popped into a restaurant stall on Eat Street and plotted out the rest of our day over lunch. The giant inflatable balls -- called Zorbs and invented in New Zealand -- were a go. 

Following lunch, we walked down to the waterfront and the kids played on a super cool playground. From there, we walked through a geothermal park and dipped our feet into one of the hot water pools. At this park and all around Rotorua, there's a sulfur smell. In some places, it's pretty strong; in other spots, you don't notice it as much. But the smell is definitely always there.

This was the COOLEST playground.

So many activities here...

Stuff you don't get in the States...

Everybody loves a good seesaw.

In a geothermal park after the playground. The sulfur smell is strong...

Dipping feet into a hot water pool at the geothermal park. This water is HOT!

Soon enough, it was time for the Zorb experience. Tim, Taylor, and Wyatt all participated. I stayed back to take photos...and because I was starting to feel a little off (#ohhhhnoooo).

Taylor and Wyatt about to hop into the Zorb van that will take them up the hill and to the balls.

Coming out of the ball after a fun run.

After Zorb, we headed to the Tasman Holiday Park, which would be our home for the night. At check-in, we were given a small bottle of fresh milk (random and sweet; the kids drank the whole thing!). We had a cabin with a queen bed and two sets of bunk beds -- but no bathroom. No problemo -- the shared bathroom was fairly close...and we reminded ourselves, "We get what we get and we don't get upset." Full-on camping vibes at the Tasman Holiday Park, folks; we loved it.

And of course, wherever you are in Rotorua, there are mineral hot water pools, including at our Holiday Park. Naturally, after plopping our bags into our cabin, we changed and walked over to the nearest hot pool. Tim and I got in the water, while the kids played on a nearby jumping pillow and rode rental bikes around the complex. 

I'd been in the hot water pool for about 10 minutes, when all of a sudden, I felt absolutely miserable. That off feeling I had felt at Zorb just burst open. My throat was on fire. I got out of the water, showered, and went back to the cabin to lie down. When Tim and the kids came back, I had a pharmacy pinpointed. I needed throat meds ASAP. 

We walked into town and toward the pharmacy. I picked up some meds and then we found a restaurant across the street for dinner. I ordered a lemonade to drink with dinner to soothe my throat and got...a Sprite. Good to know -- lemonade over here means Sprite. 

We walked back to the Holiday Park after dinner and fell into bed by 7:30pm. Fingers all crossed for Tuesday...

Btw, I am blaming my current state of existence on the three 20-somethings immediately behind me on the flight from LA to NZ. They must have coughed for at least 11 hours of the 13-hour flight... This is what masks are for, people!