New Zealand Road-Trip: Part Seven

That's right, folks, I'm back and better than ever! This time I come to you through the power of: Wireless Internet. It's true, I wrote all of the other posts via ethernet cable. But now that I have a (relatively) decent internet connection, I can post every single picture from my time in New Zealand (but I won't).
This will be the final part of the critically acclaimed Road-Trip series.
Wellington-Matamata
The next day was set to be another long driving day, so I decided to drive again. Getting out of Wellington was...difficult. The streets were confusing, and it didn't help that I make horrible last second decisions while driving. What didn't help my driving was the unanimous criticism of my driving finesse from my friends. Apparently, it's illegal to drive into an intersection during a yellow light. It's also especially illegal when you run (drive, mind your verbs) through yet another yellow light soon after your friends explain to you that it is illegal. So I only drove for a few hours (and subsequently never again in New Zealand).
The main plan was to drive close to Matamata and find a campsite, but we would visit a certain mountain.

Recognise it? There's only really one guess you can make. Please don't get it wrong.

We were going to try climbing it, but we arrived late in the day (sleeping is nice. I can almost remember what it feels like). We did, however, find a hill nearby that gave us a good view. We deemed it Mount Dumb.

I'm holding a ring. That's the joke. You can laugh. Please laugh. No one ever laughs.

You know what's fun? Running down a hill. And there's now a certain way you need to run when running down a hill. I think Alex (not you, Alex Boyles. No) will be the only one that knows what I'm talking about. I had to show it to him in a video game I brought with me (sometimes I got bored in New Zealand. Shut up).
Scenery on the road

Driving down a large hill

Now for a story. Finding the campsite was difficult at night (we left Mount Dumb late) and we were driving around the area longer than we should have. During the drive, we either almost ran over two hedgehogs or two Kiwi birds. If you ask any of us, we almost ran over two Kiwi birds. They are rare, and we had wanted to see at least one the entire trip.

The Campsite

We arrived late at night and were welcomed by a canopy of constellations (did I do that right? Was that a good metaphor?). It was at that point that I finally saw the Southern Cross. I've never been a fan of constellations because it seems like you can just make up whatever constellation you want (stupid imagination). But the fact that we saw an exclusive constellation was cool.

The morning was just as impressive. A sheet of dew covered the landscape. And we were greeted by this.

Matamata

Got breakfast here. Still no bacon. Just Canadian bacon

Hobbiton

Well, here it is. Hobbitton: The Happiest Place on Earth (don't tell Disney, they'll sue).

I think I'll let the pictures talk for me, and then I'll talk about it.

These vegetables are real

Gandalf shows up here. Also, "I'm going on an adventure!"

Bilbo jumps this

These were grown larger so Hobbits would look smaller

Hobbitton's only true resident

Hobbits need jobs too

Over here are a few Hobbit houses not shown in any films

The only Hobbit house you can walk in

This tree takes a longer explanation. The original was cut down after the filming of the trilogy. When this place was rebuilt (to be more permanent to tourists too), the tree was artificially recreated to look 60 years younger for The Hobbit.

I wasn't on party business

Sam's House

The sign reads, "Green Dragon"

We got a free drink. I'm a lightweight when it comes to Ginger Beer

One last look

The Final Day

We were going to camp out at Cathedral Cove (used for one of the Narnia movies), but we were all sick of each other by this point. It had been a week. Instead, we decided to visit Hot Water Beach. I didn't take any pictures because it was dark. At the beach, you can dig a hole in the sand and find water. The water's temperature ranges from ocean to lava. So we spent the next few hours looking for a nice spa and not suffering burns. Afterwards, we drove 2-3 hours back to Auckland.

That's it, the end of the journey. Maybe now I can talk about school.