Marina Feb. 7 - Want Tour to Hobbiton?

[mrsringo]

My husband and I are looking for others to join tour to visit Hobbiton while at Rotorua - Feb. 25th. We found an 8-hour tour through hobbitontours.com but need minimum 4 people to go. Tour name is Texel Package, and cost is $544 NZD per couple. Any interest?

[aZ4me]

My husband and I are looking for others to join tour to visit Hobbiton while at Rotorua - Feb. 25th. We found an 8-hour tour through hobbitontours.com but need minimum 4 people to go. Tour name is Texel Package, and cost is $544 NZD per couple. Any interest?

I believe this is the link for your Roll Call.

 

You might have success visiting the Roll Call to find fellow cruises who will be interested to join you on this tour. (There are 14 pages of posts...so it's a very active Roll Call.)

 

Have a great time on your cruise!

[potterhill]

Last March we rented a car for the day and made reservations online. It was a great day and we were in complete control.

 

By the way, I loved Hobbiton and I am not a huge LOTR fan. My DH is the one who wanted to go.

 

Mo

[Mary Ellen]

I see that your first post on the CC was to your roll call. As the email you received when joining stated, that is the place to look for others sailing with you.

 

Even though you've already found your roll call, maybe reading What is a ROLL CALL and how do I find mine? (that is a link) might help you use the Roll Call forums here on the CC.

[Shining Clem]

My husband and I are looking for others to join tour to visit Hobbiton while at Rotorua - Feb. 25th. We found an 8-hour tour through hobbitontours.com but need minimum 4 people to go. Tour name is Texel Package, and cost is $544 NZD per couple. Any interest?

 

As others have said, you need to check your roll call.

 

Almost a year ago we were there and really enjoyed it. I would say that the price you have been quoted is waaay out of line. We had rented a car, and drove to different places on the North Island before boarding Regatta a year ago.

 

Go to the tour website. As you can see tours, including bus transport are $75 each adult from Matamata. I can't believe renting a car for the day would be $400. NZ!!

 

We drove to the ticketing place in town, parked the car on the street (leaving nothing visible in the passenger compartment), and boarded a bus which took us to the site. Riding the bus on the one lane, steep, sheep trails to the 'village' is half the fun! (This I would not want to drive personally!) Drivers are fearless! YMMV

 

Although we were a couple mixed in with 18 other polite strangers, we had a great, cheerful Hobbiton provided guide, who was loud enough that even this hearing aid wearer could hear her most of the time. She allowed dawdling for pix. They were accurate about the return time to the town.

 

At the same time there was a bus with people from a Royal or Princess boat there. I was puzzled at why Oceania didn't offer this outing to their customers.

 

I think the idea of renting your own car, perhaps with another couple is a fine one. The roads are very curvy, with NO shoulder, and they have the Brit system of driving on the left, which may be a factor for you. There are lots of Tourist Info places all over NZ - esp at ports & in towns - called i-site. They are very helpful and will provide maps, etc. You can always get a GPS from the car rental people.

 

Are you AAA members in the States or Canada? Then you will have access to the services of AA New Zealand . They are terrific. We booked B&B's and hotels through them, and when our plans changed due to an injury (I spent a night at a hospital in Hamilton - also very good) they took care of a hotel credit for a future night due to our delay. Their website is a fountain of info.

 

We are GREEN with envy! NZ was one of the best places we have ever been! If you like nature be sure to visit Natures Wonders, Cape Kidnappers and the Great Ocean Road (OZ). What a wonderful cruise we had on Regatta. Wishing you and all your shipmates a great trip and the same wonderful weather we had.

[Shining Clem]

I gave you aren't linking.

 

You already know about www.hobbitontours.com.

 

The other one mentioned is http://www.aatravel.co.nz

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I see that Texel Package also includes the Maori Village, Te Puia, which in part accounts for the extra cost. We went to this too. Some people like to buzz through these places. In our opinion, they are each worth nearly day long stops with each having quite a bit of walking. At Hobbiton, you will be on hills. (Also consider for foot wear, that the grass is long and often wet - it is civilized pasture!)

 

At the very interesting village, it is paved, but also follows the curves of the land. I have the map for it right in my hand and it says to allow 90 minutes for the guided tour. This does not include time to visit the fun Ngamokaiakoko mudpool, the geysers for any length of time or see the performances. Their shop was one of the most reasonably priced ones we encountered with a nice variety of items. Food was expensive - but we found that to be true in both NZ & OZ.

 

Do be aware that taking any wood (such as carvings) or ag items out of the country is not allowed. They even inspect the bottoms of your shoes for clumps of dirt.