Day 08 - Wed 17Apr2024 - Tauranga, NZ

 After a very smooth overnight sailing, we slowly cruised into the Tauranga harbor accompanied by at least one tug.  The currents here are quite strong and entry and exit is governed by strict rules.  We sailed right along side of Mt. Maunganui  which can be walked around in about an hour.  We met our friends Jo Ann and Gary in the Marketplace at 8am and we then made our way down to deck 6 to join a very short line at the gangway.  We were among the first ones off and we found the local shore excursions booth and purchased the last 4 seats on an excursion to the Hobbiton movie set.  SCORE!  After our purchase, the entry on his advertising whiteboard was erased.  We did this excursion 2 years ago and loved it and really wanted to return for a second visit.  Only this time we wanted to share it with our friends.  With a 10:30 tour departure time, we had time to walk around the city.  We did just that and included a loop around Mt. Drury and visited the beach area before returning to our shuttle pickup point.  



Gary, our driver, indicated we were the last cruise ship of the season and the 110th to visit Tauranga this cruise season.  We drove about an hour and a half and reached the movie set at noon for a 12:30 tour time.  We had time to browse the nice gift shop and then were loaded onto local buses to take us down to the movie set.  Down at the set, we were then escorted around the movie set to examine the Hobbit holes and shoot all the pictures we wanted.  It's a really amazing place and so delightful to see again.  Last year we had not seen any of the movies or read the books, but the tour was amazing.  Subsequent to that visit, we binge watched the Lord of the Rings series and really liked them.







The loop takes about 2 hours and there is now a tour of a hobbit hole near the end that is quite nice with lots of hobbit memorabilia and decor.  When we were here last time they mentioned that there was an air bed and breakfast going to be opened.  It turned out that the AirBnB was short lived for a few weeks as a promotional item and then closed.  At the end of the tour, various alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks were served and some pastries were available for purchase.  We enjoyed a meat pie which was scrumptious.  After the tour was over, we were driven back up the hill and had a few minutes to explore the gift shop.  For more information about the Hobbiton movie set, goggle it and there's lots of interesting facts to learn.


Gary then drove us back to the ship with a side trip to the McLaren farm and cool waterfall.  We arrived back at the port at 5pm and unfortunately the shops were closed so we just went back to the ship and enjoyed a nice dinner in the Marketplace.



Today we also learned why there were no Princess shore excursions to Hobbiton.  It seems that in prior years there were a number of last minute cancellations (some legitimate and some questionable).  The local tour operators then required the cruise ships to guarantee and pay for the excursions upfront with no possibility of refund for the inability to make the port stop.  The cruise lines declined.  So now all bookings are made directly with the tour operators.  For our tour operator, he paid for nearly $500,000 in Hobbiton tickets and then began selling them.  Before the ship sailed, I was unable to book an excursion to Hobbiton, so I bet on the ability to purchase tickets upon arrival.  Fortunately that worked out and we got the last 4 seats available from this tour operator which was https://shoretripsandtours.com.  I do highly recommend them based upon our experience today.  However, it's really important to book this tour early and be very aware of their refund policy for cruise ship no shows.


Our evening entertainment was an Irish comic, William Caufield.  He was really funny and has another set tomorrow in the Vista Lounge.  Afterwards we watched the game show, "Can you survive? Australia.  It was kind of dumb in some ways, but the small challenges were quite interesting to watch.  



Tomorrow we have a shore excursion in the Bay of Islands.  We missed that port stop last year on the Westerdam, so we are looking forward to making it this year.  

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