Hobbiton
As Nicola and I planned and organised our trip (mainly
Nicola if I’m being honest) we (royal we) discovered that we could catch a bus
to a place called Matamata on the way from Auckland to our next destination (Rotorua)
and visit the set of The Shire in the Lord of the Rings and The hobbit films.
From Matamata we could catch a bus on to Rotorua – two birds one stone. The
journey from Auckland to Matamata was around two hours through lovely rolling
hills that reminded us very much of Wales. We were dropped off at the best
information centre we have come across before and the pictures will illustrate
why.
We caught a bus from Matamata to a farm around twenty
minutes away. The farm is still run as a sheep farm but they now incorporate
the Hobbiton film set tour (and make a killing in the process). We learned that
Peter Jackson (Director of the LotR and The Hobbit) was flying over the region
and spotted the Alexander Sheep farm and decided it would be the perfect
location. The original set for The Shire in LotR only lasted three months
before it was partly dismantled, however, the complete dismantling never took
place due to poor weather conditions. People from all over the World were
flocking to this farm to see what was left of The Shire set – not much from
what we were told. Due to this interest, as a condition of the farm being used
for The Hobbit, the set would be built to last permanently so the Hobbiton film
set tour could be set up by the Alexander family. How it works now, I gather,
is that the film studio own the hobbit holes themselves but the Alexander
family owns the land; so you can work up to and around the hobbit holes but you
cannot go inside them – there isn’t anything in them anyway.
We had a lovely guided walk through The Shire, with our
knowledgeable guide Carolynn who may or may not have been in love with Peter
Jackson, walking past hobbit holes and little allotments that you can see in
the film.
The particular highlight, obviously, was Bag End the home of
Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins. The house is situated on the top of the hill
and the tree that you can see on the roof of the house is actually fake – it
was constructed specifically for the film and placed there and the leaves were
from Taiwan and individually sewn onto the tree – over 250,000 of them!
After visiting Bag End we walked back down the hill, passing
the Party Tree, until we came to The Green Dragon, the local pub in The Shire.
We were all pleasantly surprised to find that The Green Dragon is a real pub
(of sorts) and we were treated to a complimentary glass of ale or cider (both
were nice). An interesting side note, the beer you see in LotR: The Fellowship
of the Ring party scenes is real, only it’s 1% beer. Peter Jackson bought a
brewery for the film and created an ale – called “SobeRing Thought” – for the
cast to drink whilst filming the scenes.
In all it was a great day, more magical than the pictures make
it look and for LotR fans like Nicola and I, it was great to see the set up
close. The countryside around the area is truly beautiful and the whole place
seemed so idyllic.
As Nicola and I planned and organised our trip (mainly
Nicola if I’m being honest) we (royal we) discovered that we could catch a bus
to a place called Matamata on the way from Auckland to our next destination (Rotorua)
and visit the set of The Shire in the Lord of the Rings and The hobbit films.
From Matamata we could catch a bus on to Rotorua – two birds one stone. The
journey from Auckland to Matamata was around two hours through lovely rolling
hills that reminded us very much of Wales. We were dropped off at the best
information centre we have come across before and the pictures will illustrate
why.
We caught a bus from Matamata to a farm around twenty
minutes away. The farm is still run as a sheep farm but they now incorporate
the Hobbiton film set tour (and make a killing in the process). We learned that
Peter Jackson (Director of the LotR and The Hobbit) was flying over the region
and spotted the Alexander Sheep farm and decided it would be the perfect
location. The original set for The Shire in LotR only lasted three months
before it was partly dismantled, however, the complete dismantling never took
place due to poor weather conditions. People from all over the World were
flocking to this farm to see what was left of The Shire set – not much from
what we were told. Due to this interest, as a condition of the farm being used
for The Hobbit, the set would be built to last permanently so the Hobbiton film
set tour could be set up by the Alexander family. How it works now, I gather,
is that the film studio own the hobbit holes themselves but the Alexander
family owns the land; so you can work up to and around the hobbit holes but you
cannot go inside them – there isn’t anything in them anyway.
We had a lovely guided walk through The Shire, with our
knowledgeable guide Carolynn who may or may not have been in love with Peter
Jackson, walking past hobbit holes and little allotments that you can see in
the film.
The particular highlight, obviously, was Bag End the home of
Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins. The house is situated on the top of the hill
and the tree that you can see on the roof of the house is actually fake – it
was constructed specifically for the film and placed there and the leaves were
from Taiwan and individually sewn onto the tree – over 250,000 of them!
After visiting Bag End we walked back down the hill, passing
the Party Tree, until we came to The Green Dragon, the local pub in The Shire.
We were all pleasantly surprised to find that The Green Dragon is a real pub
(of sorts) and we were treated to a complimentary glass of ale or cider (both
were nice). An interesting side note, the beer you see in LotR: The Fellowship
of the Ring party scenes is real, only it’s 1% beer. Peter Jackson bought a
brewery for the film and created an ale – called “SobeRing Thought” – for the
cast to drink whilst filming the scenes.
In all it was a great day, more magical than the pictures make
it look and for LotR fans like Nicola and I, it was great to see the set up
close. The countryside around the area is truly beautiful and the whole place
seemed so idyllic.
No comments:
Post a Comment