Rotorua to Hot Beach.

We leave Rotorua and head for Hot Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula but take a detour to Hobbiton which is the set used in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films.  A bit Disney but interesting nevertheless.

When we arrive in Hot Beach we are just in time to hire a spade and head to the beach to dig ourselves a pool which fills with hot water. This is only possible 2 hours either side of low tide when the hot springs are accessible under the sand.

We dig ourselves a hole but the water is cold. We are directed into another, previously dug hole and the water is unbelievably hot. We settle in to the hot water until the tide comes in and fills 'our' hole with colder sea water.

A Hobbit house 

The Green Dragon pub in Hobbiton with Hobbits 

An old Hobbit in the Green Dragon Inn