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Trip Start Jun 24, 2008 Previous
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  Matamata, North Island, New Zealand
Friday, August 8, 2008

After zorbing, the second reason I wanted to come to New Zealand was because of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Until yesterday, however, we had not seen any of the places where the movie had been filmed.  The four of us set out from Rotorua and headed towards Auckland.  On the way, we decided to pass through Matamata, which was where the scenes from the Shire had been filmed.  Upon our arrival in Matamata (which had a sign saying "Welcome to Hobbiton"), Connie and I stopped by the tourism office.  There we learned that there was a tour to the privately-owned farm that had been the setting for Hobbiton.  Connie and I badly wanted to go on the tour, but Jeremy and Paul were not particularly interested.  After begging and pleading, however, Jeremy and Paul eventually relented and signed us up (although Paul asked the cashier if he could use a fake name so that no one would know he had gone on the tour). 

Half an hour later our bus arrived, and we headed to Hobbiton

Me

.  Along the way, we learned about how it came to be the set for Hobbiton.  It is a large farm (1250 acres) owned by 4 brothers.  Apparently, Peter Jackson discovered it while flying over looking for sites.  One day the brothers were watching rugby on tv when a man knocked on the door and said he was from New Line cinema and wanted to discuss something with them.  They asked if he could come back later, because they were watching the rugby game.  Nonplussed, the exec said they wanted to use the property for a movie, and the brother who answered the door told him to go ahead, but to make sure he closed all of the fences so the sheep didn't get out.  The exec left but showed up a few weeks later to discuss the terms of the contract.   The farm itself is spectacular.  It was green and hilly, and spread out as far as the eyes could see.  Plus, it had beautiful trees, including the one that would become the party tree in the scenes of Bilbo Baggins' 111th birthday--a tree now referred to as the "money tree" because it was that tree that made Peter Jackson want to use their farm. 

The tour was a lot of fun, and even Paul and Jeremy agreed it was well worth the money.  Plus, we learned that it was the only area in the country that still had part of the set--apparently New Line Cinema tore down all of the rest of the sets.  I got teased quite a bit on the tour because, having watched the movies fairly recently, I knew quite a bit.  For example, when our guide Benjy (who looked a bit like a hobbit himself) asked us what Gandalf said to Frodo at the beginning of the movie when Frodo said "you're late!", I was the only one who knew, to Paul and Connie's embarrassment.   I can't help it if I have a good memory.   The tour was also fascinating because it made you appreciate the imagination and creative genius Peter Jackson and his crew had to create the farm into the Hobbiton of the movie

Sign and the Gollum

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After the tour, we got to watch a short presentation on sheep shearing.  The sheep shearer was one of the Alexander brothers who owns the farm, and he was pleasantly down to earth.  The farm is still an active sheep farm, and we saw several of the brothers on the farm working with the sheep.  I am willing to bet that the money they made from leasing the property to the movie execs for 18 months and from the tours is probably enough to keep quite comfortable for the rest of their lives.  Yet, they are still running a sheep farm.  It's just another way that New Zealanders are different from most Americans.  The sheep shearing presentation was interesting, and I was relieved to see that the process did not hurt the sheep.  We also liked having the opportunity to feed a couple of baby lambs, who were adorable.  It almost made me want to have a farm.  Except for the smell. 

After leaving Hobbiton, we headed to Auckland for our last two nights in New Zealand.  It's hard to believe it's over already; it feels like we just got here.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Gollum	Me and Paul	Benjy our Guide	Hobbit Holes
Connie and Jeremy	Hugging the Party Tree	The Shire Lake	1-Connie and Jeremy
Samwise Gamgee's House	Bag End	Me and Connie	Me
Paul	Me and Paul the Hobbit	Sheep--the new residents of Hobbiton	The Party Tree
1-Paul	Me and Connie	All Four of Us	Shearing the Sheep
1-Shearing the Sheep	Naked Sheep	Touching the Sheep	Connie and the Lamb
Me	Me and the Lamb	Cuddling Lamb	Connie Cuddling Lamb
Jeremy and the Lamb	Dancing Under the Party Tree

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