In case you couldn’t tell in my posts leading up to this one, I am obsessed in love with Lord of the Rings. Call me nerdy, but I don’t care! The Fellowship of the Ring came out when I was in 6th grade. Before it came out, my parents gave me The Hobbit. I instantly fell in love. That led them to getting me the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and of course when the movies came out, I made my dad take me to opening weekend. He enjoyed it, he loves LOTR. Now it has come a tradition in my family whenever I came home from living abroad and now when my sister and I are back home from our lives in different cities. We always do a LOTR marathon. This is where my dream of visiting New Zealand started.
When we first started talking about going to New Zealand there was NO doubt I was going to do several, YES SEVERAL, Lord of the Rings and Hobbit tours. So sue me. At the top of my list was Hobbiton. You cannot be a fan of the trilogies if you don’t have a desire to see where it all begin, in good ol’ Bilbo Baggins hobbit home. Luckily, you can do a Day Trip from Auckland to Hobbiton. We thought about renting a car and driving, but the drive can be long and typically you need to be on a tour in order to get into Hobbiton. We went through Great Sights tours, and it was packaged with a trip to Waitomo Caves – the famous glowworm caves that you see when Googling ‘Things to do in New Zealand.” What could be better?
Before I talk to you about how amazing it was, let’s talk about getting to Hobbiton. As mentioned, tours are the only way you can get onto the set. This doesn’t mean doing a tour like I did. You can book directly through Hobbiton Movie Tours. This requires you to be near and around where the set is located – closest city is Matamata. So, if you are open to renting a car from Auckland and hitting the road to Matamata, then go for it! If your time is limited, then you will want to do a Day Trip from Auckland. However they also haver multi-day trips that also take you to the beautiful Rotorua. If you want to learn more about Maori culture, I highly recommend that option!
Anywho, our first stop was at a gift shop located a couple miles before actual Hobbiton. Currently, there isn’t a gift shop on “set” so this is your ONLY way to get souvenirs. They are in the midst of making one on site too, but I am not sure when it will be open. They are making it look like a hobbit home, which is cool. So, until that is made, make sure you stock up. There is a mix of LOTR and Hobbit souvenirs, with most being related to the Hobbit. I could have gone nuts here, even if a lot of the things said “Hobbiton Movie Set!” on them. I got a deck of cards for my sister, postcards (duh), a mug like the ones at the Green Dragon, keychains, and possibly more… Sorry not sorry. This is also a great rest stop as you aren’t going to have access to a bathroom until after your tour at Hobbiton.
Next stop, HOBBITON! I was supper bummed because it was a dreary and rainy day. However, the minute we unloaded off the bus, I kid you not the sun started shining. I couldn’t believe it! Our guide met us and led us on a wonderful tour about Hobbiton, building the set, what things were made out of, etc. This was actually one of the last sites found for the movies. Peter Jackson wanted the site to be just right and after months of scouting couldn’t find anything he envisioned. After sending someone on a last ditch effort, the guy found this after flying over in a helicopter. It is a sheep farm and thankfully the owners were more than happy to let them film and build the set.
Peter Jackson’s crew was supposed to come back and clean up, but due to insane storms and then a new movie he was directing, things got left for months. No one in the surrounding area had any idea that Lord of the Rings was being filmed here, as I mentioned, the farm is extremely secluded. However, there is a glimpse of a hill/mountain in the background and the locals instantly recognized it as their town and started snooping around. They realized it was this farm and started to visit asking to see the set. Unfortunately, it was heavily damaged due to being made with styrofoam, plastic, and other weather-damageable, but that didn’t stop people.
Almost a year later, Peter Jackson came back to the farm and asked if he could film again, because he got the green light for The Hobbit. The owners of the farm said this was no problem, but only if Peter used more sustainable material in order for people to come visit. Peter told them he would go above and beyond that and made it one of the most realistic places I have ever seen. (Take that Disney!*) No attention to detail was spared and you truly feel like you are a Hobbit when strolling around. It. is. Amazing.
Our tour ended much too soon, with me takings a ridiculous amount of photos BUT it ended at the Green Dragon with a free pint. Yes, the Green Dragon that the hobbits get their half pints from in the movie EXISTS. You get a free beer, cider, or soda depending on your preference/age. We also were on the tour that included a hobbit feast, so we headed over to a tent for a full on hobbit buffet! It has things for meat lovers, vegetarians, and dessert connoisseurs! It was a nice way to end the tour, meet others from all around, and feel like a true hobbit.
I could literally go on about Hobbiton all day, but I will spare some details and tell you that you NEED to go! Stay tuned for part two of the tour, Waitomo Caves!
*I am obsessed with Disney too, so no offense!
