Tauranga Shore Excursion with Hobbiton and Rotorua Geyser

Hello 5858936 I was very surprised by your review so much so I have read and made notes of how you have reviewed our tour! The first is bad itinerary ? so your itinerary was pickup 7:15 drive to hobbiton arrive at 8:15 your hobbiton tour was 8:40 (tour takes 2 hours) free time for coffee and sandwich (as it was an early start) leave hobbiton at 11:15 (after 35 minutes of free time) 60 minute drive to Maori village arrive at 12:15pm Guide for 1 hour then free time then culture show at 2pm (show last for 30 minutes) 2:45pm leave village travel back to Ship (60 minutes drive) The itinerary is set so you are relaxed have free time and guides?? Its interesting you say Te Puia is better when you didn't experience it? and also the village you experienced dates back hundreds of years so much so it dates back to before europeans arrived in New Zealand! Te Puia on the other hand has just built a new restaurant of glass so you missed seeing the shinny new restaurant at Te Puia, and the replica homes that where built 20 years ago (3 small dwellings). The reason for the Maori guide talking to you before you enter the village is because the guide is explaining about their culture and history, where they come from and what defines them today as a people such as the the name of their village! "Tewhakarewarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiiao" some of guide's break down the word to explain all the meanings and cultural significant in relevance to their village which by the way is truly there home and where once the tourist leave at 5pm it returns as their home! living and utilising the geothermal for every day living, for instance bathing in the waters as they have done for hundreds of years! I am sorry the drive between venues was to long for you 60 minutes each drive, but we do try to talk and educate along the way sometimes pointing out interest along the way! (guiding) I can only guess that you didn't read your map as there is a viewing platform that you can walk to that is 30 meters from the geyser same distance as the Te Puia's bridge to the geyser! As for the geyser there is no valve to open and it is not induced but usually erupts within the hour! I can only surmise that maybe it was just bad luck that it erupted while you was watching the Cultural show? So I apologise that the natural geyser didn't wait for you to arrive in time! Out of all the review what upsets me the most is that you say we lie to you!!! We do not lie to you and the frequency of the geyser changes over years and at the time of writing this reply (just weeks after your visit) its frequency is approximately every 60 minutes! I thank you for your views, comments and points of view as always I will take this on board and continue to strive to providing the very best tour we can do, we truly want you to have the very best tour you have ever experienced, so Sorry we could not please you on this occasion! Oh by the way You spelt Whakarewarewa wrong the word the guide talked for 15 minutes about!