Over the christmas break I traveled up to Matamata or as my ex boss liked to call it Matamatamata (don't know why but calling it Matamatamata got stuck in my head). While Peter Jackson was traversing around NZ in a helicopter he spotted a lovely spot in the country side of the metropolis which is Matamata (population 6000). After many visits to Matamata we decided as the whole family was together (which is no small feat due to them living all over the world) to fork out 75NZD each to see Hobbiton. I can't say I know for sure but I believe Hobbiton is just a name they came up with instead of The Shire.
Hobbiton is what remains of the movie set from Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies. After the first films most of the set was destroyed however when they reconstructed it for the Hobbit they made it permanent for tourism purposes. Which is quite nice as it was a very cool tour seeing all the different hobbit holes all different shapes and sizes. Yes they are different sizes as we learnt that they used forced perspective in the film to make people look either bigger or smaller such as Gandalf and Frodo. Anyhow enough talking and some photos of some pretty neat modelling!
 |
| Just incase you are tempted, the bread is made out of car tires. |
 |
| My wife and I playing Hobbits |
 |
| Bagend |
 |
| At the top is bagend, the tree is also fake with leaves imported from China |
 |
| A view of the Red Dragon Inn across the lake |
 |
| Hobbit security is pretty advanced |
 |
| The Red Dragon Inn, or was it Green Dragon... |
 |
| My wife and I enjoying a free pint in the Red Dragon at the end of the tour. |
We discovered that the stout has an alcohol percentage of 1%. Critics tell us that it tastes like water, so we went with the ale which was aright.
All in all it was a fun trip although a little on the expensive side of things. I would recommend it if you are in the area and have a bit of cash to burn. Supposedly one of the tour guides is around 75 and does it for the love of the LOTR mythos.
