Hobbiton

Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” were filmed on a 14 acre plot of land that was part of the 1200 acre Alexander livestock farm. Located just 6.2 miles southwest of the town of Matamata, this area originally was marshland. By the 19th century, it had been drained and transformed into fertile agricultural land. The Alexander family purchased their property in 1978, turning it into a ranch for 13,000 sheep and three hundred cattle. Twenty years later, while scouting possible locations for his upcoming films, Peter Jackson fell in love with what he saw; feeling that it was the perfect spot for Hobbiton (home for the Shire’s Hobbits). After negotiating with the family for use of some of their land, Jackson arranged for the New Zealand army to create a one mile road into the site from the nearest highway. For “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, 37 Hobbit hole facades and a 29 ton oak (to be placed above Bilbo Baggin’s home, Bag End) were built. This first set was never meant to last, because it was mostly made from polystyrene. But when it’s popularity began to grow with visitors who wanted to see the set, a more permanent Hobbiton was created in 2010. Today, visitors to the movie set really feel that they have been transported to another place and time.

The small town of Matamata certainly has benefited from the films’ popularity. Peter Jackson, a native New Zealander, thanked the town for their hospitality during filming by throwing a huge party for the whole population.

Getting to the movie set was a bit of an adventure itself. From the Visitor Center, you board one of these special buses for the brief ride to Hobbiton.

During the ride you get a small glimpse of what awaits you.

And then...all of a sudden...there it is in front of you. The Shire’s Hobbiton.

All the little details that went into creating this fantasy world were breathtaking.

We were amazed at the creativity that was needed to build this set.

Because most of these were just facades, you could not go in...

...but there were a couple that were open to visitors...

...what we found inside, however, was not what we expected.

The vistas all around us more than made up for what was inside the Hobbit Holes.

One of the highlights was Bilbo Baggins’’Bag End. Even here, the creativity is amazing. The partially open door gives a glimpse of Bilbo’s interior. But this is only about a ten foot facade also, used for exterior shots only. The real interior was filmed on a sound stage.

This tree above Bag End is a 29 ton fake; the only tree on the property that is not real.

As we concluded our time at Hobbiton, we ended up at the Green Dragon Inn...

...where we enjoyed a glass of “Hobbit Ale” ( non-alcoholic).

This place was much bigger than we envisioned...

The Green Dragon’s namesake bid us farewell as we ended our tour of Hobbiton.