DAY 5 (ROTORUA / HAMILTON)

July 29, 2018 

Today was a travel day, but first we went to a Maori church named St. Faiths Church to play some pieces for their service and we also got to participate in the service. It was so cool to sing in Maori during the service. The priest was really funny throughout his sermon and the service. The service was spoken in both Maori and English so we could understand most of it. We played during the prelude and the offertory. Following the service we had refreshments, then it was off to Matamata for lunch!

Following lunch in Matamata, we headed to the Hobbiton Movie Set. This is where some scenes took place in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies. We met our tour guide Tyla just as it started to rain! She began to show us around the Shire. The Shire is a town of hobbits. Tyla told us stories about the movies while showing us the different hobbit holes. It was really cool to see the different types of hobbit holes. It was also interesting to see the movie set in real life while learning about the details that made the movies possible. As we reached the infamous main characters house, the rain stopped! We took pictures and admired Bilbo and Frodo’s house. When the tour was over, we headed to Hamilton and checked into our hotel. We then went to dinner in town. Overall, we had a fun day of traveling, ringing, and touring!

Julia, Sydney and Cynthia