Author Archives: thecuriouskiwi

The Green Dragon Inn – Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

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“Oh, you can search far and wide, You can drink the whole town dry, But you’ll never find a beer so brown, As the one we drink in our hometown …” so goes a song written by the film writers of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

If you like dark beer the Oakbarton brew may be your choice of complimentary beverage at The Green Dragon Inn. You visit The Green Dragon for about 20* minutes as part of a Hobbiton Movie Set Tour (blog post) – Hobbiton website.

Mike matched a stein of Girdley fine grain amber ale … Read the rest

Hobbiton Movie Set Tour

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“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to”, so wrote J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings.

After visiting the Hobbiton Movie Set I can see why the hobbits were content with life in The Shire, but I’m glad we ventured out our door and onto the road to Matamata.

Lots of people start their tour from Matamata i-SITE, however there is plenty of parking at Hobbiton and your own transport gives you more flexibility. From … Read the rest

Carried away in Carterton

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Getting carried away for us was rising before 6am on a Friday morning to hook up the caravan and head to Carterton. We were keen to see hot air balloons lift off at 7am as part of the Wairarapa Balloon Festival*. The balloonists got carried away on a beautiful March morning, it’s definitely a sport for early risers, we won’t be taking it up any time soon.

The big attraction at the 2014 event was ‘Patriot’ – a replica space shuttle. The balloon is close to 54 metres high, has a wingspan of 35 metres and weighs 449 kilograms. … Read the rest

Royal Tour: The Duke & Duchess come to Cambridge

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One of my aunts has a photo of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The photo was taken at Wanganui Airport in 1983 during her Royal Tour with Princes Charles and baby Prince William. I used to look at the photo as I was growing up and think ‘wow, the Prince and Princess went to Wanganui’. While in Wanganui they visited Prince Edward who was a house tutor at Wanganui Collegiate which I thought was pretty wow too.

Thirty one years later Prince William has returned to New Zealand with his beautiful wife and son. When I read that the … Read the rest

Crafty Trout Brewing in Taupo

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It’s been a while since I dipped my toes into the Mediterranean Sea in Greece and had a stein of beer in a Munich beer hall, but that’s where Crafty Trout Brewing in Taupo took me. The upstairs Bier Kafe was once a Greek restaurant, it’s been redesigned with Austria and Oktoberfest in mind.

There’s an alcohol free German beer on the menu, and you can get a one litre stein for around $18. Crafty Trout’s Austrian lagers, ales and ciders are brewed downstairs and have fishy names like Hook, Lure, Jigger and Spinner. A tasting tray of four brews … Read the rest

Beach Hop 2014

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Hot rod, classic car, motorbike, and cool caravan nirvana – Beach Hop, Whangamata. Was it the biggest Saturday crowd ever at the Grand Parade? It certainly felt like it.

The sun was shining and so were the cars as they rolled through the streets lined with thousands of hot rod enthusiasts. Given the crowd I took my chance to head to the Retro Caravan Show. The show was the biggest yet with around 85 vans on display. The cool caravans included Betty who crossed the ditch with her Vauxhall Cresta tow car. The Cresta and Betty are part … Read the rest

A cheap sleep at Auckland Airport – ibis budget hotel

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Updated post – 14/2/2018

I’ve never slept in an airport, I should have in Prague when flight delays meant I arrived in an unfamiliar city late at night with no accommodation booked. Lesson learned, ever since I’ve pre-booked a bed for my first night. Curiously there’s a website devoted to Sleeping in Airports, Auckland Airport comes out on top for the South Pacific.

Personally I need a decent sleep so I’m not wrecked for my next day of travel. To bypass traffic and to make an early start not quite so early we stayed at ibis budget hotel, … Read the rest

Climbing & Camping in Mount Maunganui

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When we read that around 900,000 people walk or run around the base of Mauao (the dormant volcanic cone) in Mount Maunganui every year, I have to admit we were sceptical. It just seemed unlikely, but a few days camping at the base of Mauao at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park showed us just how popular the walk around (and up) the mountain is.

We chose a camp site closest to the beach, just in front of the caravan was a path to one of the walking tracks, the people flow was constant. There was no way we could have … Read the rest