Hobbiton

We broke camp at the Russell Top 10 Tuesday morning and drove, at length (we've got to get a proper map), to Matamata, more in the center of the island, and to...Hobbiton. As our friends and family well know, we are Tolkien fans, and part of the attraction of New Zealand was the filming of The Lord of the Rings here in the late 90s. The Hobbiton scenes were filmed on a sheep ranch outside Matamata, now open to the public, for a price, and Tuesday afternoon found us riding the “Gandalf” bus with a couple dozen or so others out to see the site and the remains of Bag End, Bag Shot Row, the Party Tree, and so on. It's all a long story, what remains of the set, what New Line Cinema has permitted, what the owners of the farm can do, but, for Students of the Lore, it was a great and special experience, standing where Gandalf and Bilbo blew smoke rings, where Bilbo made his farewell speech, where Pippin and Merry set off the fireworks, the actual stone steps leading down from the door....

In the evening, we went to Mitia, a Maori village/tribe experience, dinner and a show that was actually very well done. The dinner was traditional, steamed in a below-ground oven, lamb, chicken, sweet potato, etc., and the cultural show and tour informative, respectful, and fun.

In a driving rain, we stayed at yet another Holiday Park. Fortunately, the Bongo does not leak.

Bag End

The Party Tree and Lake at Hobbiton, from Bag End