Rotorua, a town set on its namesake lake on New Zealand's North Island, is renowned for its geothermal activity and Maori culture. In Te Puia’s Whakarewarewa Valley, there are bubbling mud pools and the 30m-tall Pohutu Geyser, which erupts many times daily. It’s also home to a living Maori village and the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, with traditional wood carving and weaving schools. We rented an Airbnb on Lake Rotorua as our base not only to be able explore Rotorua and Whakarewarewa, but also to enjpy a day at The Hobbiton Movie Set, a significant location used for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film trilogy, serving as a stand-in for the town of Hobbiton in the Shire in both trilogies.

Whakarewarewa is a sprawling area home to the Te Puia geothermal preserve, with its Maori cultural centre, bubbling mud pots, and the spouting Pohutu Geyser. Alongside steaming thermal pools, Whakarewarewa The Living Maori Village offers cultural dance performances and traditional feasts. Nearby, the vast and wild Whakarewarewa Forest has an elevated walkway among soaring redwoods, and trails for hiking and biking.

We also spent some time touring the Government Gardens, historic gardens that surround a Tudor-style spa bath house and an ornate Mediterranean-style public swimming pool in downtown Rotorua. This site is of legendary and historical importance to local Maori people, for here many significant battles have taken place. In the late 1800s, the Maori people gifted 50 acres of this land to the crown "for the benefit of the people of the world". Today this magnificent building houses a museum and an award-winning exhibition on the days when people came from all over the world to 'take the waters'.

Hobbiton proved to be a very exciting day as we embarked to see to The Shire, home of the Hobbiton Movie Set where The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies were filmed. Location scouts found the Alexanders' spectacular 1250 acre sheep and beef farm nestled in the rolling green hills just outside of Matamata, New Zealand. While we had booked tickets in advance, the day was a bit dicey, as tours can be haulted by rain. There is a lightly guided tour with a chance for a drink at the Green Dragon at the end after a short bus ride to the set location, with added music and narration on speakers as you make your way in.

Our day was very rainy, and after a few short delays waiting for our turn on the bus we were able to make it to our tour spot. Seeing all the different practical effects to make the Shire come to life was remarkable, with many different sized prop poeces and hobbit holes. Some were even large enough to step inside for a photo opportunity. We were greated by some moments of sunshine as we looped around, but even a little water couldnt wash the grins off all of our faces all day.

Queenstown was a big trip highlight, and the near end to our journey being our second to last stop in New Zealand before flying home out of Sydney. Queenstown's beauty and city vibe gave us many driving views including a national park and fjord tour, many hiking adventures, delicious eats, and a fun travel tattoo to boot. Our stay was directly on the outside of town along the shores of Lake Wakatipu, granting us great mountain and lake views on our way coming and going to our adventures.

Driving Glenorchy Rd was one of the best experiences, being constaly surrounded by beautiful mountains reflected on the lake, or within the many river crossings. I can really see why it is one of the most photographed roads in the world. From our accomodations in town, we made our way to Elfin Bay for some hiking via Kinloch taking in Bennett's Bluff Lookout, the Rees River Bridge Viewpoint, and the Isengard Lookout at the Dart river along the way.

Our hiking adventures included many different types of terrain, and included a variety of Lord of the Rings filming locations. They included:

• Ben Lomond summit
• Saint Omer Park, Queenstown (a nice place to park and take in the town after a long drive in)
• Sunshine Bay Track (views galore along the lake beach)
• Seven Mile Point Track
• Amon Hen (LOTR)
• 12 Mile Delta (campground, did a couple small hikes from the campground as base)
• Glenorchy Walkway (1-2hrs)
• Start of Diamond Creek Walk
• Greenstone Track & Lake Rere walk (awesome hike with river crossing, fields, forests, and a lake)

While we technically started our New Zealand in Auckland, and drove most of North island before exploring Queenstown in the South island, we also capped our final day in Auckland. We spent most of our time exploring The Auckland War Memorial Museum, also known as Auckland Museum. This museum is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory Hill, the remains of a dormant volcano, in the Auckland Domain, near Auckland CBD. The surrounded views were a nice look at the city and Pukekaroa Hill while enjoying the rest of the gardens.

Auckland Museum tells the story of New Zealand, its place in the Pacific and its people. It has pre-eminent Māori and Pacific collections, significant natural history resources and major social and military history collection. Being a combination of both natural history and war memorial made for a interesting view into changing times of the nation and surrounding areas. Especially exciting for those interested in prehistoric exhibits as well.