When my friends Drew, Kes, and I decided to visit New Zealand, we were advised not to go to both North and South island on such a short span (a week) but in the end we still decided to do both because we really wanted to see Hobbiton in the North. It was worth it for Hobbiton, but honestly, the South island is really much more beautiful than the North.
Gray Line Waitomo Caves & Hobbiton Movie Set – Full Day Tour With Lunch
Tour Inclusions:
- Luxury return coach transport
- Entertaining and informative commentary from your driver guide
- Morning tea
- Guided tour of Hobbiton
- Buffet lunch at the Shire party marquee
- A complimentary Hobbiton ale, cider or ginger beer at the Green Dragon Inn
- Waitomo Caves – 45-minute guided tour
- Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off
Begin your action packed day with a trip to the famous Hobbiton Movie Set for a guided tour of the largest “green set” in the world. In this beautiful natural setting you’ll see 44 hobbit holes, the Mill and double arch bridge, the Party Tree, and the Green Dragon Inn. Take a photo at the door of Bilbo’s house, “Bag End”, looking out over the whole set to the hills in the distance. At the end of your tour you’ll be treated to a delicious Hobbiton themed buffet lunch, fit for a hobbit, at the Shire Party Marquee.
The Hobbiton is really worth a trip if you’re in the North. It is so beautiful and I really enjoyed it even though I am not a fan of the Lord of the Rings.
After walking around the beautifully constructed movie set and learning interesting trivia about the movie while posing for pictures, we were treated to a drink at the Dragonfly Inn.
After that we had a sumptuous lunch at the shire party marquee.
At the world famous Waitomo Glowworm Caves, take a 45-minute guided tour through impressive underground caverns and learn how stalactites, stalagmites and other limestone structures were formed over millions of years. Your tour includes a boat ride through the Glowworm Grotto – glide silently along an underground river as you gaze at the twinkling glowworms overhead.
We were not allowed to take photos or make noise during the tour so as not to disturb the glow worms, so I unfortunately have nothing to show here.
The glow worms were just pinpricks of light on the ceiling caves, and to be honest I wasn’t really that impressed with them, probably because I’ve seen fireflies in Bohol and they were more magical.
If you love caves, stalactites and stalagmites, this is worth a trip, but if not, you might not enjoy this.
Intercity Bay of Islands Day Tour + Hole in the Rock Dolphin Cruise
Our tour included a bus trip from our Auckland hotel to Paihia, where we had a delicious pork ribs for lunch.
The tour itself was not that memorable for me, to be honest. It was just sightseeing of islands, and nothing really stood out to me, not even the hole in the rock island. Maybe I’m just not the target demographic for this tour.
Auckland
We didn’t see and do much in Auckland, which felt just like a typical bustling city to me. The only landmark we saw was the skytower.
We just used it as our North New Zealand base, and booked tours to Hobbiton and Bay of Islands that would start from there.
The hotel we booked was VR Auckland City which came with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and even a washing machine in the bathroom. It’s reasonably priced, too. We loved it.
While we were there, my friends discovered Nando’s Peri Peri Chicken, which is not available in the Philippines, and they loved it so much we ended up eating there twice. This was fine by me even if we do have Nando’s in Singapore, because I love it, too.
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND ENTRIES 🇦🇺 Australia: Bridge Climb * Canberra * Hunter Valley * Melbourne * Sydney 🇳🇿 New Zealand: Glenorchy * Hobbiton * Milford Sound * Queenstown See all: Australia & New Zealand Tours
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