Half day at Wai-o-tapu Geothermal Park, NZ North Island

lagi kisah percutian lampau - takde lah lampau sangat - just 6 month too late gitu

second day kat Rotorua tu aku gi to Wai-o-tapu Geothermal park. Aku book a shuttle to go there - with pickup depan backpacker yang aku stay tu. So, sangat convenient lah. Aku travel sorang so malas la nak sewa kereta bagai ..and murah lagi just used the shuttle. Aku lupa company mana aku ikut ..hahaha lama sangat dah ..but the price include the transport pergi and balik to Rotorua CBD, plus entry fee into Wai-o-tapu ..masa aku gi tu entry fee is $32.50 ...and it also include gi melencong ke mud pool ....

 kawasan mud pool nie outside of the main Geothermal park ...

 menggelegak ..tak sanggup nak dekat pon

mud pool memang panas sesangat le ...mengelegak jer lumpur tu ...and our shuttle driver, Lisa, bagitau ada company ambik mud kat sini - with permission of corse - utk dorang buat mud mask and mud soap etc ...kalau tak silap Helena Christiensen duta produk tu :-) mud from mud pool Rotorua gitu

 viewing deck for the mud pool ...dua org tu from my shuttle group :-)

the famous Lady Knox Geyser

pick up pagi at 8 or 8.30am gitu ..dia punya pick up quite strict sebab nak make sure arrive on time to see Lady Knox Geyser's (induced) erruption at 10.15am ....ada le mamat tu akan nagitau the history on how the geysey was found zaman tok kadok dulu ....and how it errupts etc ....kat area nie dia buat cam amphitheatre with seating etc ..dtg awal sket boleh dapat tempat yang elok ...kalau tak jadi macam aku ....nampak kepala org jer lebih!

nie masa dah abis show - baru aku gi dekat hahaha ...

plus it rained masa tu ..so nak elak payung orang lagi ...memerlukan kesabaran sungguh :-) from there baru aku gerak explore the park - it is approximately 2-2.5 hours bejalan in the park ..you will be given a map ..and just pepandai sendiri le follow the track ..just follow jer the number assigned to the track ....

 nama kawah kat sini seram seram belaka ....devil's home lah ...pastu ada satu tu (fav aku) is Devil's bath :-) abang ngah keramat - ngko harus melawat tempat2 nie hahahaha tak kan aku ajer kannnn kiter kan sama arah perjalanan :-)

 yang nie dipanggil artist's pellete ..coz of the campuran warna ...warna tu terhasil sebab tindakbalas the mineral kat situ ...sangat cantik dan mendamaikan ...tapi busuk tak tau nak cakap ..sulphur kannnnn

 

 track dia cam nie lah ..ada ditandakan ngan nombor ..so ikut nombor-nombor tu ajer ...ada yang berbukit ..ada yang mendatar ..ada yang track betul betul sebelah kawah ...

 the famous Champagne Pool ...nak ambik gambar tanpa gangguan bontot orang menang susah kat sini ...sebab orang punya lah ramai (cam ulat taik kata abang ngah)

 ini lah Devil's Bath ...air nya hijau

 aku rasa aku pusing area tu about 2.5 hours ...byk stop ambik gambar

 then abis pusingan tu ..stop pekena cappucino and pie ..sebab dah lunch time! sementara tunggu the shuttle ambik ....

nie shuttle service yang aku guna aritu ...pickup kat accommodation around Rotorua CBD and drop off pun sama ...but aku mintak drop off kat i-Site sebab nak sambung lake tour after this ...

Visiting a Maori Village at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua

Nie cerita my holiday early this year hahaha I went at the end of Jan - baru sekarang nak update kan ...better late than takde :p

Went to Rotorua on my own - kan I am in my travel alone mode sekarang nie. Lama dah tak buat - last travelling alone sebelum this trip was masa dok jejalan kat Shanghai dulu ..before than my UK trips lah - zaman malas nak gi ngan orang coz kalau gi ngan orang - banyak kerenah and kesonggelan.

Anyway on my last day di Rototua tu aku gi visit Whakarewarewa (pronounced as Faka-Rewa-rewa) - which is a living Maoiri village ..memang ini kawasan perkampungan yang dorang masih diami ...open to public everyday kecuali on Christmas Day .... click here for its website ...entrance fee dalam NZD35, or if you ambik package to include pengangkutan lagi mahal le ..dalam NZD45-60 gitu. I initially nak ambik package ..coz tak tau tempat tu kat mana ..and I am the Queen of convenience kan ..so nak yang senang ajer ..but the owner of the backpacker that I stayed in said takyah ambik package as I can get there using a bus ajer (will explain at the last section in this posting on how to get there) ....and i get a cheaper ticket jugak at the time as I bought my ticket at the tourist info centre yang kebetulan was offering discount to a few places that weekend

It is actually a geothermal village ...kampung tu terletak kat atas kawasan geothermal ..so memang nampak le berasap sana sini ...looks so beautiful jugak ....dia ada tour every hour ..aku sampai ngam ngam tour nak start so I just join in ...but kalau tak nak tour..jalan je lah sendiri ...i ikut tour tu as the guide (dia keturunan ke-5 ke 6 jadi tour guide kat situ) tu akan explain the different parts of the area

sebab dorang ada akses to the geothermal tu kan ...it has been their way of cooking since azali ...takyah guna dapur gas pun ...jagung tu dorang clean ..buang the kulit and drop dalam that kolam air panas ..literally less than 1 minute ..and walla ..siap jagung rebus! that is their communal cooking pool ..usually for vege .....aku beli la jagung tu ...and rasa cam jagung rebus biasa ajer ..aku ingat ade le rasa sulfur ke apa ke hahaha ...ngades lebih

 

yang nie plak dia demo kan cara dorang masak Hangi - a maori food yang dimasak bawah tanah. Kat sini, sebab geothermal, they put the things kat situ ....like beef..lamb..ayam ke apa ke ..and the vege ..and even cake ...and using the steam to cook it ...

 

dia kata now ada foil, org guna foil le ..dulu alas ngan daun ....but this one is a communal one ..and yang dorang guna utk buat demo for tourist ..tapi bila aku jalan jalan aroung kampung tu, memang nampak kat depan each hoouse akan ada their own hangi pit ...kelas gitu ..save duit tak yah pakai gas or dapur electric!

 

 

and this is their communal tempat tanam sayur..and yang macam tempat burung tu kan - that is where they put their extra vege yang dah di harvest!

 

 

and this one is their common pool ...we were told, after 5.00pm selepas the tourist semua takde, pool nie akan digunakan ...usually by orang tua tua ...and air from this pool is said to have that properties yang healing ...utk yang sakit sendi etc ...kata the guide ...aku rendam kaki ajer ...panas gak le ...tapi tak dibenarkan berendam :-)

Pohutu Geyser

 

from this side of the village, boleh nampak the famous Pohutu geyser kat village sebelah (Te Puia) ..kalau ikut sejarah, dulu dorang ni satu kampung ..but the one next door tu dah macam diambik alih oleh corporation and more commercialise ...and so happen the Pohutu Geyser kat belh sana ..but masih boleh nampak from belah sini ..and dia meletup when we were there ... aku nie kan development studies punya org ..choose to go here sebab tau hasil kutipan gooes back to the village and village depa nampak lebih asli :-)
 

 

and daily akan ada show - the cultural show - sekali waktu pagi, and sekali waktu petang. So need to time perfectly jugak le. In my plan, i sepatutnya gi sini the day before - but I missed the bus, so if i gi jugak using the next bus maksudnya akan sampai akhir sket and pasti terlepas cultural show ..so sebab tu tunda le Sunday...pagi2 akak pergi ...

lepas cultural show tu aku stop at its cafe ..nak balik tapi ari ujan ..so better lah carik tempat teduh kannnnnnnn ....here i tried the pie yang dimasak hangi style ....plus another jagung ....

 

dorang banyak ukiran cam nie depan rumah and di area village tu ...aku rasa le utk halau hantu hahahaha aku lupa apa guide tu cakap ..aku pepandai ajer assume kan gitu ...jgn plak korang quote aku!

and last stop at its gift shop ...sembang le ngan minah jaga kedai tu. She told me that memang kampung tu dah lama, and semua rumah tu dihuni. Ada yang kosong pun coz penghuni kerja kat Taupo or outside Rotorua - so weekdays kosong but weekend or masa keramaian akan balik situ ..teringat macam Malaysia plak ....

How to get there by bus ..Naik bus Route 2  and ticket is like NZD2 ajer one way..about 10 mins from CBD ...so cheap compared to kalau nak ambik package shuttle ke apa ke ..kalau ikut pla asal aku tu..so the extra money aritu aku gunakan utk beli souveniour for my dad ...a nice home made Maori carving from the village ...

Hobbiton tour - melawat kampung hobbit

The second day in Rotorua tu aku bangun awal ... sebab my bus will pick me up at designated point at 8.15am but was told to wait there at least 15mins before ..so tak sempat breakfast pun, pas mandi siap semua, kuar hostel by 7.55 terus menapak 5 mins to i-site office at Fenton Street. Sebab tu aku pilih that hostel, knowing that it is just minutes away from i-site, which is often the pik up and drop off point sepanjang percutian aku kat sini

The destination of that day is Hobbiton Movie set in Matamata ...kira nak balik Shire le tu..nak lawat hobbits ...aku ingatkan shuttle kecik ajer yang kami guna ...sekali sampai memang bus gedabak tu ..and it was nearly full off people!

hari tu aku lupa snap gambar bus hehehe but while waiting for my bus back to Welly on my last day, kebetulan bus Hobbiton nie lalu ..so aku snap jer lah

I booked a tour tu before sampai kat Rotorua. Takut takde ticket kalau beli the day before. I booked with a tour company - costs $107 for a half day tour with return transport from  Rotorua, entrance fee ke movie set plus guide.That day that bus hampir full..but the tour company banyak kat sini and all buat two trip a day ..trip pagi start at 8.15am and yang petang start at 1.15pm. Nasib I choose to go on that day coz the day after that weather was on off ujan ...

Hobbiton ni terletak kat Matamata ..on a sheep farm ..owner dia masih lagi keep the sheep around the farm kat sini. Matamata ni kat Waikato region, so the bus took us from Bay of Plenty region menuju ke Waikato region...perjalanan dalam sejam lebih gitu lah ...i kan travel alone, so all the way I was listening to my audiobook...it is very thereaputics hahaha sebab all these while, aku sempat dengat 2-3 chapters ajer ..but that day I have ample of time to listen to my book (Mao's last dancer - a really good book!)

then, when we reached Hobbiton, the bus driver stopped so that we can have toilet break and also spent time kat souveniour shop ..coz we all sampai awal and at that time tak ramai orang ..so spent a few minutes kat situ and then i lepak luar admiring the view ..padahal tak masuk pun lagi kawasan tu hahahaha ...souveniours as usual mahal le ...aku beli poskad and stamps jer ..and stamps here semua gambar hobbitons ..so worth it lah beli here :-)

The tour started here ..kitorang dengar safety briefing dulu lol and one of them is to apply sun block ..i lupa nak put on my face - as a result i got sun burnt! NZ sun is very strong - jgn lupa pakai sun block ..sebab walaupun cloudy, it is quite strong

our tour guide - Sam

and our tour started at the Garden ...a plae where Bilbo lalu masa dia berlari2 nak join Thorin and the dwarfs the day after the party at his place ...

up there is Bilbo's hobbit hole (pintu hijau at top of this pic)..and he ran down here across the garden ..pagar yang dia lompat tu tersembunyi kat sini ...i didnt get the close up of the gate

and from here it is just one wonderful feature after another ..the guide tu sangat suka bercakap hahaha so memang informative ..and he also gave us longer time to take pics ..the tip is that we should be as close to him as possible ..and he will try akan stay lelama sket at each place so that we have longer time hahahaha ...

as a huge fan of LOTR and Hobbit (ok, I watched LOTR and Hobbits for numerous time, read the book and listen to audio books multiple times - yup - a huge fab indeed!!!), this is a dream come true ..cant believe I am here ..at the movie set where the sceneries seemed so familiar ...OMG, it was surreal ...

According to the guide, masa LOTR dulu, the hobbit holes were temporary and mostly made from non-permanent structure..ada yang buat pakai polisterin and then diwarnakan etc masa tu dorang buat 39 hobbit holes ...and bila abis penggambaran LOTR, the structures semua di buka - sebab itu yang agreed by Peter Jackson dan owner of the land. But kata nya, sebelum abis semua structure dibuka, filem dah kuar kat wayang ..and neighbours realised lokasi itu actually farms dekat diorang (the ridge and everything else was so identifiable oleh tuanpunya tanah sekitar kawasan ni), and neighbours started to visit the farm to see the structure ...masa dorang shooting yng first filem, tiada siapa boleh bagitau jiran apa yang actually dorang buat kat situ ...so bila jiran dah tau, org pun kecoh le nak tengok ...

rumah cousin Bilbo yang nak lelong rumah Bilbo at the end of Hobbit 3 ... sackville-baggins kalau tak silap

Then bila Peter Jackson kata nak guna lagi kawasan ini utk Hobbit, the landowner kata boleh ..tapi dengan syarat, buat structure permanent and tak yah buka after abis shooting ...hevat le request tu coz now org buat tour ke situ ...

but the highlight of the tour is at Bag End - the name of Bilbo's hobbit hole ...the one yang warna hijau ...and queue to take pic was so long lol ..but we waited patiently and by then dah ada geng dah ...all fans of LOTR and Hobbit kan ....so memang helped each other ambik gambar ..tak perlu tanya dah ..aku toleh jer kat belakang and the two guys will take my camera and took my pics ..so sweet hahahaha ..

 the seat where Bilbo first met Gandalf!

that tree above Bilbo's house is probably the most expensive tree in the worls hahaha it is an artificial tree made from steel and silicon :-) katanya artificial leaves dari Taiwan and individually wired into the tree! kan hobbit dibuat selepas LOTR padahal in terms sequence, Hobbit tu dulu then LOTR ..so, the tree has to be smaller ...

 saw this and teringat kan labah labah yang dok serang the dwarfs in Hobbit and the huge one yang tangkap Frodo in LOTR! so uncanny hahahaha

see how long the queue is! at least it is teratur ...and not bersesak sesak ..so dapat jugak gambar sorang tanpa gangguan ..but seriously, the place is crowded and we were told it is still quiet sebab kami antara group terawal for that day!

our guide

and another familiar feature is the party field ..with the party tree as the centre of attention! Ingat tak the opening epiosds in LOTR masa Bilbo nak celebrate his 100th birthday ..well, that is where they had the party!

From here, we ended the tour by going to Green Dragon - the pub where Frodo jumpa mamat ansem tu ..the hero a.k.a Aragorn. we also had free drinks there ..nak kata free tak free lah as it is part of the entrance fee hahaha ...

 after walking for over 2 hours! muka dah peluh dah masa nie ...

after a short rest at the pub ..it is time to say goodbye to the Shire ..tapi sangat puas hati, and that feeling of awesomeness hahaha cannot believe I have been here!!!!!!!