It’s funny to wake up near a farm. I never knew cows can make such loud noises. Besides the cows, there are sounds of many birds and the rain on the roof of the car. I don’t mind that it’s raining, I am thankful for the great night I had in Hobbiton. It was a grand final of this trip and I’m ready to go home. Since I still have a couple of days left here, I plan to drive to another nature area today. I drive to Port Waikato, also one of the movie location of the Lord of the Rings. It’s raining the whole morning and it shows me again how special it is that we had perfect weather last night.

It’s still raining when I arrive in Port Waikoto and I go a local coffee store to upload the pictures and update my blog. I also order the books of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings online, I think it’ll be nice to read them this winter. I’m not so sure what to do the coming days. It’s a strange thing to be ready to go home and still have some days left. It looks like it’ll keep on raining today, but I decide to drive to the nature area anyway. The road turns into a gravel road without notice and the scenery gets more and more beautiful. Wide spread out green hills with rock formations everywhere. It finally stops raining, which makes it even better. When I arrive at the movie location there is a sign that it’s private property and that unauthorized access is not allowed. For a moment I decide what to do and then I drive back to a farm I just passed by. A friendly man is sitting in front of the farm and I ask him if it’s his property and if I can get permission to walk there. He turns out to be the owner of the land and gives me permission to walk on it. I’m happy and drive back to where I just was and climb over the fence. First I walk through a field with cows, then a field with turkeys and finally when I get closer to the hill with rocks where I want to go, I walk by hundreds of sheep. The sheep keep running away as I walk further. The rocks are very big from nearby and except from some fences for the sheep, this area looks completely untouched. It’s so beautiful to see all these rock formations and little crooks hidden between the green hills. I think that not many tourists have walked here. I keep walking and almost get lost between the green hills that look very similar, but I find the car back after about an hour. It was a beautiful hike. It’s nice that every time when I think that the journey is almost over, I find myself on another adventure.

I decide to keep following the gravel road which goes further through the green hills. I can’t drive too fast, because the road is in quite bad condition. There are random holes in the road and sometimes there is water flowing over the road. It isn’t too bad, because it gives me the opportunity to look around and enjoy the scenery. There is no one here, only lots of sheep and some goats and cows. It’s a real backroad, mainly for the few farms that are here, I think. After about an hour I arrive in a small town. There is not much in the town, but they have a free campsite next to a football field, so I decide to stay here for the night. There are a few other cars parked, but since it’s a bit raining again everyone stays inside. I do the same and watch a movie in my car. It’s nice that even a quite ordinary day can become a bit of an adventure if you search for it. It was a beautiful hike through the green hills and steep rocks.