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4. Matamata (Hobbiton), New Zealand |
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| On Tuesday, January 6th, we hired a car and left Auckland behind us to drive down to Matamata. The motorway takes you south of Auckland and across the Hauraki Plains until you get to Matamata. | The town of Matamata by itself is not too spectacular, although the area is gaining a reputation for horse breeding, something we in Kildare can relate to. No, what put Matamata on the map is a little | village born in the imagination of one J.R.R. Tolkien: Hobbiton. Yes, folks, we had entered Middle Earth and I profess to being a bit of a Tolkien anorak... |
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New Line Cinema, makers of the Lord of the Rings films, only had legal permission to make the film, all other rights remained with the Tolkien Estate. Therefore, all film sets had to be destroyed once filming had wrapped up. |
Parts of the Hobbiton set survived, however, by some twist of fate. You can now travel by tour bus across private land to see the remains of the hobbit holes and other bits and bobs. Aside from the set itself, it's also a fantastic scenery. | Most impressive is the party tree, which dominates the area. Unlike the hobbit holes and the tree on top of Bag End, it is completely natural and was one of the reasons the place was chosen for the film. | ||||||||||
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