So to the last couple of days with Lee of the Rings. No nothing bad happened to him, he just went home as all good Hobbits do.
On the second to last day, after our long night drive we got up at about 10am. We decided this would be a shopping day for last minute souvenirs but, when we came out of our apartment and looked across Lake Taupo it was so clear we could see Mount Doom, (Mt Ngauruhoe) and her sister ( I’m not sure if they should have female pronoun’s, but they are so awesome they deserve it!).
We decided we should go back to Tongariro National Park as the sky was completely cloudless.
I was so pleased that finally, Lee got to see Mount Doom in all her glory! What a view, she was quietly smoking while we watched her.
The next day we visited the Glowworm Caves at Waitomo. No pictures I’m afraid as it was not allowed but it was very interesting. Basically it’s the lava of a fungus Gnat that is luminous, it hangs stick threads and then lights up (not smoking this time) to invite insects for dinner. We were taken on a short silent boat trip and it really was like a starry night.
The guide was Maori, very knowledgeable and amusing. Her family had been running the tours since the 1850’s when one of her descendants discovered the cave. He had 16 children (nothing to do with discovering the cave as far as I know) and now he has 3,000 direct descendants!
After this we returned to Hobbiton so Lee could get more gifts. He also bought me a lovely illustrated hardback book of the Hobbit and so a quote from it;
“I beg your pardon, I haven’t asked for anything!”
“Yes you have, Twice now. My pardon, I give it to. In fact I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you…….”
J.R.R Tolkien
Thanks Lee I’ve had a blast! What will I do without my tech support and foot-in-mouth monitor!
The Travelling Bee 