"Not all those who wander are lost" (thanks to Garmin.....)

Since we stopped by "the Shire" on our way to Rotorua today, I thought it was appropriate to use a quote from the wizard Gondolf as the title of this blog -and to give credit to Garmin, without which we would probably still be wandering around the North Island looking for the appropriately named "Solitaire Lodge".
But first things first.  We rented a car this morning, and left Auckland for Rotorua - on the wrong side of the road- that is, the left side of the road, which here, happens to be the right side of the road.....  yep, that's about how your brain feels when driving here.....  I have to say that Joe did a great job at staying where he was supposed to, and I did  a great job at not screaming unless it was really necessary - like toward the end of the trip, on the narrow and winding road that goes to the lodge, when Joe's tendency to hug the left side very tightly became just too scary.   Then again, he is not completely to blame for this - here is what the dashboard of the car looks like:

 I guess they deal with a lot of tourists who need to be reminded to stay on the left.....
On the way to Rotorua, we stopped in Matamata, where the "lord of the Rings" trilogy was filmed, and where one can visit the sets.   They must get a lot of tourists from all kind of places, because this is a sign in the bath room.....  it made me giggle......

 The visit would have been worth it, even without the sets, because it is so beautiful there.  I now understand why Frodo did not want to leave the Shire.....  I did not want to leave it either!  Pictures don't quite do it justice, but here are a few anyway:
This used to be a sheep farm (still is) - so there are  a lot of sheep around.....

 For those who remember the movie: This is the view across the lake to the restaurant and the wind mill

 This is the view from the bottom of the shire, including the "party tree" and hobbit holes.

This is joe and me in front of the party tree, and a nice view of the party area and the valley behind.

and this is me pretending to be a hobbit.....

Now, we are chilling at the magnificent solitaire lodge, on lake Tarawera - this is the view from one side of our deck.  Much more about that tomorrow.