When Ms Sabina of the Czech Republic announced that we would shortly be travelling to Hobbiton, there was much talk and excitement.
Hobbiton is probably the most talked about touristic attraction in New Zealand. Some say it’s absolutely amazing, there are those who complain that it’s overcrowded or simply not worth the money, but one thing is for sure, it’s characteristic of New Zealand and has to be one of the best movie sets to ever exist. If Tripadvisor is anything to go by, there are around 8000 reviews on Hobbiton, the vast majority of them very positive, and so being in the nearby area ourselves, we were faced with a decision - do we go to Hobbiton or do we keep our spending low?...at least for now anyway.
A figure lies beneath the dappled sunlight of an old tree, reading a book, and gathering information about all the movie-set tours, trying to save money as usual. Suddenly the figure in the grass sits up. Looking straight at her boyfriend Liam is a small girl, with pineapple-shaped hair and wide brown eyes. This is Sabina. Putting her book to the side she begins to complain..
“Have you finished the article yet!? You’re 3 days late!”
Liam glowers at the small girl.
“An article is never late Sabina, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it is meant to.”
Spending money is something Sabina tries to do as little as possible, but having watched the LOTR films prior to coming to New Zealand, the excitement was too much and we decided that we just had to go no matter what.. can you imagine coming back from the other side of the world and having missed out on the most famous activity in the country? There are people who know nothing about New Zealand, except for the fact that the LOTR was filmed here and the movie set still stands. Even if paying to see a movie set wasn’t something we were particularly keen on, we agreed that we would regret not going and seeing this spectacular place for ourselves. It would be like going to New York and not seeing Times Square, or going to Ikea without having meatballs.
For the big savers out there, you may be slightly displeased to know that having a non-guided tour of Hobbiton isn’t an option... yes, you will have to pay for somebody to take you around at a set place. Don’t be dishearted though, because as it turns out, some of the guides are brilliant; the one we had made our tour absolutely amazing and we learned so many interesting things. So with that said, listed below are the options for the tours of Hobbiton: The prices vary depending on which tour you choose, the pick-up location and of course, on your age.
Prices are categorised as: Adult (over 17) / Youth (9-16) / child (under 8)
Pick-up location: Matamata or Shire’s Rest
Tour only $ ... 84/42/Free
Tour + Buffet Style Lunch $ ... 120/78/Free (only available from the Shire’s Rest)
Evening Banquet Tour $ ... 196/152.50/100/Free for under 4 (only available from the Shire’s Rest)
Pick-up location: Rotorua
Tour only $ ... 119/77/35
Every now and then special events are held in Hobbiton, such as the Beer Festival, Mid-Winter Feast, Christmas, Chinese NY or International Hobbit day.
We booked the cheapest tour available... of course we did... did we even need to mention that? We also tried to find some coupons or a promo-code but had no luck in doing so. The tickets for Hobbiton usually sell-out quickly. We must have been lucky to get ours as we only booked them two days in advance. Fortunately we were not limited by time or pick-up location and so had the freedom to go whenever we wanted, from wherever necessary which helped a lot. We ended up with two seats on the bus departing from Matamata Visitors Centre on Tuesday 12th March at 11:25.
Matamata is a lovely small town in the north of Waikato region hidden in the shadows of the Kaimai Range Mountains. A couple of LOTR Easter eggs (references) can be found around town - one of them being the already mentioned visitor centre, which has a 170kg bronze statue of Gollem inside. The other is a ‘Welcome To Hobbiton’ sign not far away on Broadway street.
After having a quick look around the town, we headed to the visitor centre to pick up our tickets (even if you book online, you need to pick up your ticket) and then to the bus stop just outside. The bus arrived 10 minutes before our planned departure, giving us enough time to board and get our desired seats. At the bus we were greeted by our first driver of the day, Kim, who explained what was going to happen during our transport to the hidden location. Hobbiton is kept hidden from the public by the way, and you won’t find a viewpoint to see it from either - we got excited the night before and tried to have a sneaky peak from a nearby hill... no luck - they did a good job of hiding such a large set.
On the bus, we watched some videos from behind the scenes and Peter Jackson talking about choosing the best location for Hobbiton - Alexander’s sheep and beef farm. We learned some interesting facts from the videos which we will share at the end of the article because we believe not everybody wants to learn these before going ... we didn’t read any spoilers. If you like, you can pop back to this article after your visit - maybe you missed something.
Our first stop was at the other of the two pick-up locations, the Shire’s Rest. The Shire’s Rest is a woolshed converted into a cafe with a souvenir shop. Just a few more people jumped on the bus along with our guide Eli. Funny enough Eli reminded us of Elijah Wood (Frodo) and then the name ... With Eli on the board the flow of information started. We were super lucky to have such an amazing tour guide as Eli.
A short time late we arrived in the heart of Alexandra’s farm, where the movie set is located between rolling hills. When we got off the bus, we couldn’t see any hobbit holes yet, but the excitement building up for the last hour was growing by the minute, and the movie soundtrack that was playing through the journey only added to this. We were just on the edge of the Shire. Just a few steps later we felt like we were in the heart of the Middle Earth. The only thing what was missing was Bilbo Baggins running away on an adventure.
The tour around Hobbiton takes approximately an hour and some say it’s rushed. From our experience, we’d say it depends on your guide. Eli was absolutely amazing; his knowledge of the movie set was incredible and he didn’t seem to be stressing about the time. We can’t say the same about the guide from the group behind us though, who caught up with our group and was trying to make us move faster. Luckily, Eli stopped her group from getting mixed in with ours and made sure to always finish his speech or taking photos of the members in our group.
We honestly can’t think of anything in the film that couldn’t be found in the movie set, except for the hobbits and Gandalf himself, of course. The attention that Sir Peter Jackson paid to every little detail is incredible and all the effort that the staff and management put into maintaining the grounds is superb. It really is perfectly looked after. It’s also interesting to see some of the hobbit holes twice as they were built in both ‘full-size’ and ‘hobbit-size’ for the scale effects. Each one is complete with everything you see in the films, down to the clothes hanging on the washing lines.
Nearing the end of the tour you’ll pass the famous party tree as you enter the heart of Hobbiton village, and then crossing over the lake via the bridge you’ll eventually get to The Green Dragon. Just like in the movie, you can walk into the pub and order food and drinks for it’s an actual working pub and has been since 2012! The Green Dragon was the place to gather and socialise for all the hobbits of the Shire, and it’s still a great place to have a beverage. They serve traditional ales, cider and beer, all of which is hand crafted and exclusive to The Green Dragon. To make things even better, you’ll get to have one of these for yourself, free as part of the tour.
Sat outside on one of the benches with our free drinks, we looked out over the village and couldn’t stop taking photos. It’s amazing, and sitting down to have a drink at the end gave us time to soak it all in and enjoy the experience even more. Sabina tried the dark ale and Liam went for the blond version, both of them were nice, and we had just enough time to drink them - roughly around 15 minutes.
So what do we think? Well, this should be pretty obvious but after visiting Hobbiton, we’d absolutely recommend everyone to go. It may not be the cheapest of attractions but we feel it was worth every penny. Walking through the Shire was an unforgettable experience that Sabina will remember for the rest of her life and Liam will have photo’s of to remind him weekly. The place is so magical and extremely well looked after that it makes you want to stay forever and move into one of the charming little houses. Unfortunately we can’t because we don’t meet the ‘Hobbit criteria’ - Sabina doesn’t have a round face and Liam isn’t short enough! But you’ll learn about this on the tour bus ;)
Speaking of learning... here are some interesting facts we learnt on our visit to Hobbiton (if you are planning on going, you may not want to read what’s next - spoiler alert!)
Why Alexanders’ farm? Sir Peter Jackson’s team were searching for a big tree in a suitable location, that was close to a lake/pond - the one we know as the Party tree. While flying over the country they discovered a large pine tree by a pond, sat between the green rolling hills right in the middle of the farm.
Rumor has it that when the filmmakers knocked on mr. Alexander’s door to explain that they wanted to film on his land, they were asked to come back later as the rugby game was on... Possibly because of the fact that the Alexander’s didn’t know who Sir Peter Jackson was and had never heard of Tolkein’s books.
The production was struggling with a budget. In order to build Hobbiton in a desired place, there had to be a road leading to that location so the crew could transport all the materials, food, equipment etc. To build a road costs a lot of many and that is when the NZ government helped. They couldn’t lend the money to build a road but they provided a free labour - the NZ army.
New Zealand army shone once again as the orcs fighting for Saruman.
The first book mentions children playing under plum trees and Sir Peter Jackson wanted to use this in the film. Plum trees are too big and so he had someone to plant apple and pear trees and the fruits and leaves were replaced by fake plums. For some reason the scene never made it to our screens though.
Speaking of fake trees, the only thing which was missing on Alexanders’ farm was the large oak tree above Bag End, Bilbo’s home. The one you can see while visiting the movie set is completely fake. The tree is made of fibre glass and its silk leaves were imported from Taiwan and individually attached by hand.
Although the location of the movie set is on a sheep farm, none of its 13,500 sheep are to be seen in the film. Sir Peter Jackson preferred the Suffolk sheep with dark faces and legs, and so had them brought in to star in the films instead.
Attention was paid to every little detail... not only the trees and sheep. Someone was paid to walk between the washing lines because it needed to look like there were paths being used regularly. Someone else’s job was to move the frogs from the pond by the party tree to a different one. The frogs were simply to loud and interrupting the filming. Also the length of the grass was regulated, by supervised sheep who took care of its perfection.
As many already know, the original movie set was mostly made of polystyrene and plywood and was dismantled after the filming of LOTR was finished. In 2009 Hobbiton was rebuilt with permanent materials that had been artificially aged and weathered. Unfortunately for the visitors, almost all of the hobbit holes are just facades. All the interior shots were filmed in Weta Studios in Wellington.
Did Bilbo’s birthday party look authentic to you? Well, that’s exactly what Sir Peter Jackson intended, and so he let the actors to drink as much as they wanted.
In the first film, Gandalf hits his head in Bilbo’s house. This was indeed an accident. But because the actor Ian McKellen didn’t stop acting and the scene looked very professional, Sir Peter Jackson decided to keep it in.
If you are interested in geography you might notice that Bilbo’s house faces east. That makes the scene where Bilbo and Gandalf watch the sunset impossible, right? The solution was to film it during sunrise and reverse the scene. Not an easy thing to do, and it actually took seven attempts to get it right.
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