There and Back Again: on a Hobbit's Trail
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2005
1
13
14
Trip End
Sep 03, 2005
Auckland,
New Zealand
Saturday, September 3, 2005
Picking up where I left of last time: As I checked out of the hotel on Saturday and told the concierge that I was headed to New Zealand, he told me that he was a Kiwi and suggested some places to go and things to do. He also told me, "There's no infrastructure in New Zealand, so we spend our time inventing new ways to kill ourselves." That's why New Zealand is a center for white water rafting, sledging (on modified "boogie boards"), bungy jumping, "zorbing," etc. Since it was winter in New Zealand (i.e. really cold water), and I had a number of places I wanted to see, I wound up not doing any of those - but wait until next time!
Instead, I did basically a "Lord of the Rings" tour with a few extras thrown in for good measure. Saturday I drove from Auckland to Rotorua; it was a nice drive until it got really dark and I still had quite a bit of driving to do. New Zealand doesn't light its highways between towns, so you get "country dark." (Note to self: next time go during their summer when the days are longer.) Driving in the dark around the edge of Lake Rotorua, where I stayed, was definitely an adventure.
Sunday I drove to Matamata to go on the Hobbiton tour. (My sister-in-law said that their kids think it's cool they can tell their friends, "My uncle went to Hobbiton, Mordor and Mt. Doom on his vacation.") It was a lot of fun. Hobbiton is the only LOTR set that has anything not originally there still up, and it was saved only because it started raining before they got everything demolished, and the supervisor decided it was too dangerous to continue.
01 The Party Tree and Party Field
By the time things dried out six months later, the Alexander family (owners of the property) had worked out an arrangement with New Line cinema to be able to do tours of the site. Otherwise, the site would be like other LOTR sites: nonexistent. The standard contract included a clause that required returning everything to the way it had been before they began. In addition to visiting Hobbiton, we heard lots of behind-the-scenes information. Peter Jackson used a lot of Polystyrene (British term for Styrofoam) for the facades of the bridges, buildings, etc. - so much, that someone put up a sign at Hobbiton that read "Polywood." When they built the bridge over the pond, it was just plywood with fake rock façade. Mr. Alexander, the owner of the farm, saw the bridge and drove his equipment across it, thinking that everyone on the set was just being friendly as they waved to him. Since the bridge held the farm equipment, Peter Jackson decided that Gandalf could drive his cart across the bridge as well. WETA chose the Alexander property because of the location of the tree next to the pond as well as the fact that from the site, only one man-made structure is visible: a hayrick that gets disguised as a tree in the film. Two years prior to that, Mr. Alexander had wanted to fell the "Party Tree," but his sons talked him out of it. BTW, although the tree is supposed to be an oak, it is really a pine tree - it just grew in a way that resembles the way oaks usually grow rather than like a typical pine. When the WETA/New Line representative knocked on the Alexanders' door, they were watching a rugby game.
02 Mill and Pub
The rep told them why he was there, and Mr. Alexander said, "That's nice. Can you come back after the game?" He had never heard of Lord of the Rings and had no idea what they were talking about. In spite of the fact that the Alexander family are sheep farmers, New Line imported "stunt sheep" because the New Zealand sheep are all one color, have legs that are too short, and have bellies that are too round and close to the ground. The local waterfowl were also wrong for the movie, so they imported "stunt ducks" as well. There were lots more anecdotes, but I won't bore you with all of them - besides, I've already forgotten a lot of them (unless something jogs my memory).Monday was a non-LOTR day. Instead, I explored the area around Lake Rotorua (where I stayed is directly on the north shore of the lake) and found out about the eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886. First I went to the Rotorua museum, which has an exhibition on the eruption and several interesting videos about the area. One of them is "Rotorua Stories" and tells anecdotes from the first settling of the area by Maori. One of the stories is about the maiden Hanuera and her love (whose name I can't remember). They were from warring tribes, and their fathers forbade them to be together. However, one night Hanuera swam from the southern shore of Lake Rotorua where she lived to the island in the middle of the lake where her love lived. His servant discovered her hiding in a hot spring and told his master, who came and got Hanuera. When they were discovered together, their fathers - unlike the story of
Romeo and Juliet - decided that they might as well let them get married and settled their differences.
03 Bag End
Many descendants of the two lovers still reside in the Rotorua area. After the museum I drove to the Buried Village of Te Wairoa. It was completely covered by ash and soot from Mt. Tarawera. 17 people from the village were killed. There had been plenty of warnings: earthquakes, rumblings from the mountain, steam, etc. However, no one understood the significance, since they had never experienced a volcanic eruption before, so they stayed put. In all over 100 people died. The village has since been partially excavated. From Te Wairoa I drove to a lookout to see Mt. Tarawera before returning to Rotorua. On the way back I stopped to view the Blue Lake and the Green Lake. They lie side by side, yet are very different colors because of the minerals in them. Finally I went to Whakawerawera Village, where the survivors from Te Wairoa settled. It's in a very active geothermal area. When we put our hands to the ground, it was hot; there are active geysers within the village boundaries; they also have bubbling mud pools. The people have maintained their traditional way of life, including communal cooking pools and steam vents, the Whare or community house, communal bathing sites, traditional songs and dances, etc. They have also continued the traditional custom of entertaining tourists for pay.On Tuesday I drove to Waitomo and went through the glowworm caves. The New Zealand glowworm is actually an insect. In its larval stage, it secretes a sticky substance from which it makes "fishing lines" that it hangs from the roof of caves.
04 A visitor at Bag End
(It lives in the dark.) This secretion also produces a blue-green light that attracts its prey (other insects) that have entered the cave by the stream that flows through it. The larval stage lasts about 10 months; the entire life cycle is about 11 months; the adult insect lives about 3 days, has no mouth and cannot eat but only propagates the species. Coming back from Waitomo, I saw a sign for Wingspan Bird of Prey Trust, so I decided to stop. I arrived at the center (pardon me, centre) just after 15:00. They closed at 15:00, but when I introduced myself to the trustee and told him that I am a falconer, he very graciously let me look around while he went about some of his duties. Later Nigel came out to the mews where I was, and we talked about falconry, the Trust and its work, and birds we have known. There are two diurnal birds of prey in New Zealand: harrier hawks and New Zealand falcons. (There are also owls and a bird called the morepork, which are nocturnal.) The centre houses captive-bred, injured and ill birds, primarily the falcons. Because falconry is not a recognized sport in New Zealand, the goal is to rehabilitate the birds and hack them back into the wild; but the trustees of Wingspan enjoy working with the birds in the process. In addition, there are some birds that can't be released back into the wild, yet still need the exercise and experience. One of these is Dimond, a female with a lower beak deformity that would mean death within weeks if she were released into the wild. Yet, she is one of the best hunters at the centre.
05 Waitomo Glowworm Cave
Red is one of the big successes of the Trust, which has been in official existence only since November 2004. He was successfully hacked into the wild, later adopted a pair of fledglings that were being hacked, fed them, and taught them to survive in the wild. Being able to spend some time at Wingspan was a very nice serendipity.DISCLAIMER: If you are not a Lord of the Rings fan or have not watched the films, the following section will probably be boring or unintelligible or both.
On Wednesday I began my LOTR journey to the River Anduin, Mordor and Mt. Doom, Rivendell, Lothlorien, Isengard, Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith - or at least to sites that served as sets for all of those places. Leaving Rotorua, I drove south on SH1, toward Wellington. Past Lake Taupo, I took the Desert Road that runs east of Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom) and Mt. Ruapehu (Mordor). Along the way I stopped for a picnic lunch with a spectacular view of the two mountains. When I arrived in the Rangitikei River (one of the rivers used for the Anduin) area, I discovered that I had left my LOTR location guide in Rotorua (fortunately I was returning there before leaving New Zealand), so I was going to have to try to remember how to get to some of these places on my own. I missed one spot both on the way down and on the way back to Rotorua, not because I didn't remember the instructions, but because the sign that I was supposed to look for isn't there anymore - but more about that later. New Zealand's landscape is incredible. Within 480 km (300 miles) I passed through geothermal area, rolling hills and pastureland, desert, pine forest, native forest, beach forest, gorges, volcanic area, and plateaus - and all of this was just on the North Island.
06 A Whare (house) at Te Wairoa
It's no wonder that Peter Jackson was able to find everything he needed to provide the backdrop to the film. At Waitarere I made a side trip to the beach and found the Waitarere forest, which served as Trollshaw Forest, where Frodo and company meet Arwen (who really should be Glorfindel; sorry, one of my few quibbles with the movie coming through there) and part of the Shire's "Old Forest." Eventually I found the street that provides access into the forest; it, too, was different from what the location book had described. (Not the fault of the book; these things changed after the book was published.) I decided not to go for a walk in the forest because I wanted to be in Wellington before dark, but I did take a short drive on the beach (one of the few where that's permitted in New Zealand) and discovered that it was the site of a shipwreck in the 1800's. Farther on I made a side trip to Otaki Gorge, another of the places used for the Anduin. The gorge is magnificent, and the broad valley on the way to the gorge was used for parts of the Shire as well.When I got to Wellington, I found the hotel surprisingly easily. The main part of town is fairly compact, and I had to go around a bit only because of one-way streets, but it also took past a gas station where I filled up. The surprise there was that gas had jumped 5 cents a litre since that morning. (Over 15 cents a gallon in less that 12 hours) It made me glad that I had signed the empty-tank agreement with Hertz. They would be filling the car and charging me 8 cents a litre (over 25 cents a gallon) less than the current cost at the pump.
07 Lake and Mount Tarawera
Since I returned the car with only 18 kilometers worth of gas left to go, that represented a nice saving. My other surprise was parking - or rather lack thereof. The hotel had no parking, so I had to park on the street. Street parking was NZ$4.00 per hour and limited to two hours; the lot next to the hotel was almost as expensive but didn't have the time limit. Fortunately, the restrictions on street parking ended at 18:00, and I arrived at 17:30, so I had to pay only for half an hour. Inside the hotel, the concierge told me I was incredibly lucky to have found a spot; I told her it wasn't luck but divine providence. She also told me how to find cheaper parking. Wellington has a coupon system. At the "Postal Shop" (places authorized by the postal service to sell their goods and service), I could purchase a coupon that let me park all day in designated spaces. The only problem would be finding a space. Both the concierge and the very helpful people at the Postal Shop gave me suggestions on when and where to find a space.The next morning I followed their suggestions and had no problem finding a space for the day on a side street near the hotel. Then I had breakfast and met my guide for the LOTR tour. Originally I had though I would just follow the location guide written by Ian Brody, but since I had left the guide in Rotorua and had discovered the issue of parking in Wellington and had found out that one of the places I wanted to see was seeable only on a tour, I was glad I changed my mind and opted for a guided tour.
08 Mineral Pool at Whakawerawera
Garth (aka Gollum 1) picked me up at 08:50. On the way to get the others, he pointed out the record shop where cast members bought CD's, etc., and Roger's Tattooart on Cuba St., where the Fellowship (except John Rhys-Davies) got their now-famous tattoos. Also on Cuba St. is the "Bucket Fountain," which consists of brightly-colored buckets that fill with water and then dump into the bucket below or into the pool at the bottom. Wellingtonians consider it the ugliest fountain in the world but are fond of it, because most of them played in it when they were children. It is also now a LOTR spot because one night Elijah Wood came out of the nearby Matterhorn bar, climbed to the top, and took a leak. Of course, he was drunk, and he nearly got arrested.After picking up everyone, we headed for our first stop: the rock quarry that served as both Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith. It's right on a main road, but since it has returned to being a business, tourists aren't allowed to go in and just look around. However, the view from across the street is good. From there we went to a site on the Hutt River that was used as the River Anduin, one of the places where the Fellowship put their boats into the water. Next we headed for Kaitoke Regional Park, site of Rivendell. We saw the location for Frodo's room, the courtyard where Frodo is reunited with the other Hobbits, and the site of Elrond's council Of course, all of this was restored to its pre-filming condition and has had at least five years to grow. You have to use your imagination, but our guide also had still photos of the places as they looked during filming, so we could compare how things look.
09 Steam Cooker
The company has worked out precise locations as much as they possibly can, and since our guide was also a LOTR fan, he shared the group's interest. Just down the hill and across the car park is a swinging bridge across the Hutt River. From the bridge we were able to look down on what became the Fords of Isen, where Theodred is killed by orcs (extended version). Peter Jackson donated quite a bit of money to the park after release of the movies, and the ranger has been using it to improve the park and upgrade paths, re-plant native species, etc.Following our visit to Rivendell, we drove over the Rimutaka Pass to the Wairarapa Valley for a visit to Fernside, location of Lothlorien and the Gladden Fields. The road was quite winding and the pass quite windy with a spectacular view to both sides. The area had once been farmland but is now covered in gorse (an introduced shrub). Unlike most introduced plants, gorse ultimately helps native flora. It's one of the first plants back into a cleared area, but when allowed to grow up, it provides cover for more slow-growing native species and is eventually supplanted by them. In 500 years, if left to itself, the gorse will be gone and the area will once again be entirely native forest. Fernside is a beautiful place that has been a private residence for a couple hundred years. Peter Jackson chose it because of its gardens and pond. When we were there the asters and other spring flowers were coming up, and you can definitely imagine Galadriel and the other elves coming through the mists toward you.
10 Mount Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom)
The neighbor was doing a burn and the wind was blowing the smoke across the pond, so we had lots of "atmosphere." Garth showed us where Galadriel stood to bid the Fellowship farewell, where the other elves stood, where Smeagol and Deagol fought over the ring (He said he has witnessed many stranglings on his tours), etc. We discussed camera angles, set design and logistics. The bridge on which the Lothlorien elves stood is still there because it was part of the original property; they just disguised it for the film. The house was where Peter Jackson had his headquarters and watched the daily rushes. Fernside once served as the American Embassy in New Zealand.The next stop was for lunch at the Lady Featherston café (in Featherston), where we enjoyed an excellent meal (mushroom-and-bacon soup [Hobbits would have loved it] and salad). During lunch we shared stories and rumors about LOTR and other Peter Jackson ventures. One of the women on the tour was a real LOTR fan and had been to the South Island. She said the scenery there is spectacular and was especially impressed with the site of Edoras. Peter Jackson's brother-in-law was on a Flat Earth tour and indicated that Jackson has purchased the rights to "The Hobbit." He has "King Kong" to finish and another movie to do, but after that . who knows? (BTW, Peter Jackson re-names his production company for each film he does. For LOTR, it was three-foot-six productions; for King Kong it's Big Ape Productions.) Supposedly both Ian Holm and Ian McKellan have agreed to come back to do the "pre-quel." Since the film needed lots of riders, and more women than men in New Zealand ride horses, many of the Rohirrim are women.
11 Mount Doom (Mount Ngauruhoe)
Liv Tyler was afraid of horses, so her stunt double did nearly all of the work on horseback. She fell in love with the horse, and after filming Viggo Mortenson bought it and gave it to her. Apparently Mortenson was the genuine class act in the cast: very low key and unpretentious but absolutely professional. The original Aragorn was supposed to be Stuart Townsend, but he left (i.e., he couldn't cut it), and Viggo stepped in. Peter Jackson several times called him the savior of the film. However, the first shot of Aragorn, hooded, in the Prancing Pony, is said to be Stuart Townsend. You can check it out for yourself and decide. Peter Jackson, like some other directors - most notably Hitchcock - always puts himself into his movies. In "Fellowship of the Ring" he's a drunk at the gate of Bree; in "The Two Towers" he's a Rohan warrior at Helm's Deep (The one who throws the first rock at the orcs); in "Return of the King" he's a Corsair captain.After lunch we drove back over the hill and turned into a residential tract. At an alley we pulled in and stopped to view where Aragorn washes ashore after falling over the cliff during the warg attack. (In reality the "cliff" was about four feet tall) Then we continued on to Harcourt Park, or the Gardens of Isengard. Our guide laid out the set and its roads and showed how the Tower of Orthanc kept jumping around. When Gandalf and Saruman are walking in the gardens, Orthanc was digitally added to hide a tower for power lines. It was here that the famous orc trees were located.
12 Otaki Gorge
The trees had been cut down elsewhere - in consultation with New Zealand's Department of Conservation -, the parts numbered, plastic leaves added, and the trees reconstructed at Harcourt Park. That way they could be felled repeatedly. The scenes in the movie were filmed at night; it took about eight hours for just a few seconds of footage.Next we drove back to Wellington to Miramar and Seatoun (pronounced "C-toon"), where Peter Jackson lives and many of the actors had houses. On the way we stopped outside the film studio, then drove around the peninsula past Peter Jackson's house and Orlando Bloom's residence (A neighbor once identified it to our guide in the typically Kiwi understated way by saying, "Oh yes, some chap by the name of Orlando stayed there. He was a right nice bloke."), to the Chocolate Fish Café, where members of the cast and crew often ate, and looked across the bay to where Bree was located. The site of Bree is totally inaccessible today, so we didn't even try to go there. Liv Tyler's house was also in the area, and one of Orlando Bloom's jobs was to drive her to the studio. Returning along the peninsula and over a hill, we saw the two locations now occupied by WETA Workshops. According to their website they will soon be retailing "chainmaille" and weapons.
Then we headed to Mt. Victoria and the sites for the Shire woods and encounters with the Nazgul. We located where the Nazgul first stands in silhouette against the sky, where Frodo senses the Nazgul's presence, and where the Hobbits hide from the Nazgul.
13 Helm's Deep
The tree and root system where they hide was fake, but our guide showed us where it had stood. (The location guide by Ian Brody is in error at this point; one of the few places where he got it wrong.) We also stood on the cliff overlooking Dunharrow where Aragorn and Theoden look out over the encampment (which was put into the shot via a horizontal blue screen; the engineering required to extend a blue screen horizontally over empty space must have been something).We finished the tour by stopping at the summit of Mt. Victoria for a spectacular view and then returned to our hotels. The next time I go to New Zealand (and I intend to return!) I want to visit a couple of places associated with the film where we didn't spend time: the Embassy Theatre (which still shows movies and one weekend a month does a LOTR marathon), have a meal at the Chocolate Fish Café (which has tables on the opposite side of the road, so waiters have to cross the road to serve customers), go to the Pinnacles on the south coast (site of the entrance to the Dimholt Road - Paths of the Dead), and also see some of the non-LOTR sites, such as the Te Papa museum.
Friday I had to drive back to Rotorua, so I got up early and got my car. (Not only was it still there, but I had evidently done the coupon correctly, because there was no ticket.) Before leaving Wellington I drove a couple of blocks, stopped where Ellice Street dead ended into the site of Dunharrow, and viewed from below the same place we had seen from above the previous day.
14 Rivendell
Then I headed north. A couple of hours later I was looking for the turnoff to the Rangitikei River - another of the rivers used for the Anduin. (Peter Jackson had flow surveys done so that he could match flow rates to make certain that the rivers looked similar. His perfectionism was a source of much extra effort but also one of the reasons why his films are so good.) I had rechecked the location guide (our tour guide had had one the day before), and I was supposed to be looking for a sign to "Hightime Bungy." Unfortunately, it wasn't there, and I spent some time driving back and forth looking for it. Eventually I took a side road that looped through some stunning scenery and returned to the main highway. I didn't see specifically LOTR sites, but parts of the road had views that were certainly reminiscent of the filming locations. Later I figured out that the bungy place had changed its name to "Gravity Canyon." By that time, though, it was getting too late for me to take the time to go see it. One more thing for "next time"!At Waiouru I took the Okahune turnoff so that I could visit Mt. Ruapehu and see a different view of Mt. Ngauruhoe. Okahune is the carrot capital of New Zealand, and on the outskirts of town I was greeted by a giant carrot. In town I stopped for a lunch of delicious fish and chips before driving up to the Turoa ski area. With snow on the summit and ski lifts in full operation, this doesn't look as much like Mordor as the movie, but it's still magnificent. The woods and streams certainly look like Ithilien, and I stopped several times for pictures but didn't take the time to go on a couple of the possible hikes.
15 Lothlorien
As I ascended the slope, I passed through lush deciduous and then pine forests until I crossed the tree line. Then the volcanic nature of the area became increasingly obvious: the landscape is rocky and blasted, with jutting pieces of stone scattered about. Even in winter it evokes the idea of Mordor, although with the bright sunshine it was hardly the land where shadows dwell. Someday I would like to take the time to do a "crossing," or trek, in the area. There are some highly recommended day hikes in the Tongariro National Park. Returning from the ski area, I drove around Mt. Ruapehu and through the town of National Park to Whakapapa Village and ski fields. Once again I stopped for pictures. This time, though, I also made a short hike to Tawhai Falls. Although not listed as a film location, it certainly would have made a great fishing spot for Gollum. I could imagine him sitting on one of the rocks by the pool, smacking his fish and singing to himself.We now return you to your regularly scheduled travel blog.
After that I drove straight through to Rotorua, stopping only long enough to put some gas in the car. Before leaving for Wellington, I had booked a visit to the Tamaki Maori Village, and I needed to be at their departure point by 18:45. I arrived there at exactly 18:45, purchased my ticket and waited for less than five minutes to board the bus that would take us to the village. This is very much one of the tourist activities, but it is apparently fairly authentic. On my bus was a local family that was celebrating their patriarch's 78th birthday.
16 Bridge at Lothlorien
As part of the experience, each bus selected a "chief" to represent us at the welcoming ceremony, and the birthday celebrant was chosen as not only our "chief" but also the "chief of chiefs." When we arrived at the village, we had a couple of group pictures taken (available for purchase later, of course) before being officially welcomed to the village. Then we toured the Maori "village" where various performers were practicing traditional arts and crafts including playing the nose flute, carving tattooing utensils, starting a fire with a wood "drill," singing, practicing with wooden sticks to develop hand-eye coordination, and playing the Maori version of rock-paper-scissors. Following our visit to the village, we were ushered to the wharenui, or community house, for a presentation of Maori songs and dances, and then we went to the wharekai for the hangi, or traditional feast. The experience was very enjoyable, and all of the people were quite friendly. I sat at the table with the family celebrating the birthday and discovered that they were also Christians, so we had good fellowship together. At the end of the evening, all of us sang a traditional Maori farewell. The leader "fed" us the words, but I already knew the melody because it was borrowed for one of the hymns we sing in church ("Search Me, O God"), so it was easy to follow.The next day, Saturday, was departure day. Fortunately, my plane didn't leave until the evening, so I slept in and took my time packing. Then I enjoyed a leisurely drive back to Auckland.
17 Galadriel's Tree
This time I got to see the countryside that had been hidden in darkness on my way from Auckland to Rotorua. In spite of leaving late and taking a leisurely pace, I still arrived at the airport early. Since the range indicator on the car told me that I had less than 20 kilometers left, I decided not to drive into the city, but I did stop at a viewpoint and watch the planes take off and land for a while before returning the car and going to the check-in counter. Although I was the second person to the counter, all the emergency-row seats were taken. When I asked the agent about this, she told me that Air New Zealand assigns seats the night before the flight, including emergency rows. That surprised me, since most airlines are very choosy about who sits there. Fortunately, though, Air New Zealand also has adequate legroom in coach for that not to have been a problem. The ticket agent made a real effort to find me a good seat, as the "seating lottery" had put me in a middle seat in the middle of the aircraft. Given that the plane was full, that would have been uncomfortable on a 12-hour flight. Instead, I wound up with an aisle seat. After going through the security check I wanted to get something to eat. The cashier was very nice: after spending all but NZ$.80, I asked how much an apple would be. She told me NZ$.80. I marveled that the price would be so low at the airport and said, "So your apples are 80 cents?" She said, "For you they are." I'm sure I got a nice discount. I was really glad I had decided to get the food because our plane was delayed.
18 Gardens of Isengard
A number of passengers were arriving on an international flight that was late, and Air New Zealand chose to wait for them. That delayed our flight over an hour. Once on board, though, things went smoothly - though you never really get a good night's rest sitting up - and we arrived in Los Angeles with no problems. The news that got a cheer from most of the passengers, though, was that New Zealand's All Blacks had beaten Australia in the Tri-National Rugby Tournament. However, we never did make up the lost time, so our arrival at LAX was also late.After getting through immigration and waiting (and waiting and waiting) for my bags, I cleared customs with no problem, and headed to the terminal exit, where my mother met me. We stopped for an early dinner before I got home and started unpacking. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip, but it was nice to be home.
That pretty much ends my travel tales. I hope you have enjoyed them, and again I thank all of you who have sent e-mails or posted on the website. Now that I'm back I'll take a look at them again and answer the questions you asked. Thanks for your patience!
Llie naaya aman tel' Eru (That's elvish for "God bless you")
Robert
P.S. A word about LOTR-related sites and companies:
The only way to see Hobbiton is by taking a tour. You have to go on Hobbiton Tours (www.hobbitontours.com), but you have a couple options. If you drive to Matamata, they will pick you up at the Tourist Information office. (That's what I did.) Another possibility is to book through Free Wheeling (www.freewheelingnz.com), who will pick you up in either Matamata or Rotorua and include a stop at the Shire's Rest café and gift shop, but you have to transfer there to the Hobbiton Tour bus. (On my visit we picked up half a dozen people at the Shire's Rest.) Of course, the cost is correspondingly higher.
In Wellington, the main company that does LOTR tours is Flat Earth Tours (www.flatearth.co.nz), which is the one I went on. They offer a half-day tour and a full-day tour. I took the full-day tour, which includes a stop at Fernside, where they filmed the Lothlorien scenes. It's a private estate, so the only way to get onto it is to know the owners or go on the tour. The other company in Wellington that does tours is Rover Tours (www.wellingtonrover.co.nz), but they don't go to Fernside. For an extended LOTR tour there is Red Carpet Tours (www.redcarpet-tours.com), which offers as 12-day LOTR tour of both the North and South Islands. Each company will also do personal, custom tours at a correspondingly higher price.
The Stansborough Fibres company made the elven cloaks and sells them through their online store (www.stansborough.co.nz), as well as a retail outlet in Auckland, but since I didn't get into Auckland I didn't stop there.
The above was intended as a public-service announcement, and I am a spokesman for none of the companies mentioned. However, I did thoroughly enjoy both the tour of Hobbiton and the LOTR tour in Wellington.
